Is it time?

[tjnamtiw]

As I'm sure everyone has noticed as more and more stoves are being put to work and owners are coming here for advice, there has been a lot of confusion as EVERYONE chimes in with their own special solution for THEIR brand of stove, which doesn't happen to be the brand in question.
Over on the now defunct iburncorn.com site, while it had many flaws, one excellent benefit of the site was that it had pellet stoves subdivided into brands. This allowed Quad owners to post Quad questions and Harman owners to post Harman questions, etc. It also allowed other owners of those brands to focus on people having problems with their brand of stoves.

Here it is a mish-mash of posts that have to be sifted through to find out what brand stove we're talking about and then, if appropriate, start a troubleshooting session with the OP. Invariably the process gets hijacked/ diverted by well-meaning owners of other brands or newbies who happen to stumble upon A solution that solved/covered up their problem.

I would humbly like to suggest that, if possible with this software, that this Pellet Mill section be so subdivided into the major brands that are owned here. Is it possible and does anyone have further suggestions to clear the clutter AND the air?

 

[heat seeker]

You make a good point, but I like it the way it is. That way, I am exposed to more information that I wouldn't otherwise see. If the posters put the brand and model in the topic line, that goes a long way to avoid confusion.
Just my opinion.

 

[Peterfield]

That is how many cellular phone forums do it and they use the same forum platform that is used here. They have general knowledge sections but also have subsections broken down to specific manufacturers of phones.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I understand your point of view Heat Seeker, but I don't need to know how to adjust or troubleshoot a St. Croix. Learning general information could be gleaned from posts from any stove, yes. Nothing would stop you from perusing all the subcategories just as you peruse the posts now. It would just make it easier to focus on specific problems/stoves. Maybe even have a 'pellet' category and a 'potential buyer' category.

All I know is that it was much more structured and easier to help people over on the other forum.

 

[Bob E]

One thing I've noticed on other forums with brand sub divisions, the forums for the most popular brands get all of the attention while the rest lay dormant to the point where if a person does show up and ask a question there is no one around to answer... There just isn't enough activity in those forums for people who could answer to check on a regular bases.

 

[tjnamtiw]

One thing I've noticed on other forums with brand sub divisions, the forums for the most popular brands get all of the attention while the rest lay dormant to the point where if a person does show up and ask a question there is no one around to answer... There just isn't enough activity in those forums for people who could answer to check on a regular bases.

Very true. Those brands are usually lumped into 'Others'. If there are few people using a particular stove, you can always private message someone who appears in that subforum to have some expertise. They could then be emailed that there's a question. You can do the same here.

 

[RKBAGUY]

Invariably the process gets hijacked/ diverted by well-meaning owners of other brands or newbies who happen to stumble upon A solution that solved/covered up their problem.

Agreed, though there are some good points made about unused forums.

We should never underestimate the ability of certain forum members to fail to read a post and answer questions that were never asked, just to hear themselves talk, or bump up their 'reputation points' for those boards that employ that mechanism.

If I had a buck for every time someone took a desperate post I made for help as an opportunity to grandstand about their own item or issue, I could heat my house for the winter.

I like your idea and would endorse it also, being that it would be especially helpful to newbies who may not even know where to start.

 

[pell it]

I say we let the EPA regulate the biomass heating industry to the point that supplies dwindle and prices skyrocket. Then everyone will seek other forms of heating and there will not be anymore pellet stove questions to answer!

 

[dmac80]

I kind of like the idea of brand sub forums

I'd have the general pellet stove forum that we have now at the top, for non brand discussions: types of pellets, thermostat discussions, anything general pellet stove/supplies, etc....then have all the major brands underneath...if someone is not getting help with an obscure brand they can put a thread in the main forum and someone will chime in to help.

I know I'd like to have a spot to chat with other quad owners. Either way if they change it nor this is a helpful forum.

 

[TimfromMA]

I may not own a Harman but there are certain questions I can answer about them and Im sure there are Harman owners who have enough pellet burning experience to answer any questions I might have about my St Croix. Theres tons of good information about other stoves that people could find useful regardless of whether they own that particular stove or not. I say leave it as is.

 

[bbfarm]

I like it the way it is. I think pellet stoves generally have a lot of parts similar and you don't need to be brand specific.

Room fan, exhaust fan, high limit switches, motherboards, venting, hoppers, augers, etc.

Reading someone's post about a harman might help me even though its a different brand and vise versa.

Same with their experiences.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I like it the way it is. I think pellet stoves generally have a lot of parts similar and you don't need to be brand specific.

Room fan, exhaust fan, high limit switches, motherboards, venting, hoppers, augers, etc.

Reading someone's post about a harman might help me even though its a different brand and vise versa.

Same with their experiences.

Some good points however you DO need to be brand specific. Cases in point > This week someone was trying to help a Quad owner with a problem with their convection fan. They told them to oil their sleeve bearings. Turns out the Quad has sealed ball bearings and the fan is a double squirrel cage while the 'helper's' fan is a single centrifugal fan.
Then exhaust fans run the gamut of designs as well. One particular case this week points to the possibility that the previous owner of the stove may have replaced the fan with an after market fan with the wrong impeller and even, perhaps, the wrong RPM.
Then we all know that every stove has its own proprietary motherboard/control system. Some have a simple switch such as Quads while others have a multitude of adjustments and numeric displays. One's knowledge of one can in no way help another.
Augers of course are two main styles but even the motors on those are quite different. There could be, admittedly, some interchangeability but one must be careful about rpm's.
Venting can be quite interchangeable but always either 3" or 4". Going to a tall 6" chimney can lead to serious problems unless one caps the top with the appropriate sized termination for his stove to reduce the draft affect.

Yes, there could be some cross pollination of ideas but more than likely it would be counterproductive IMHO.

 

[Big papa]

As I'm sure everyone has noticed as more and more stoves are being put to work and owners are coming here for advice, there has been a lot of confusion as EVERYONE chimes in with their own special solution for THEIR brand of stove, which doesn't happen to be the brand in question.
Over on the now defunct iburncorn.com site, while it had many flaws, one excellent benefit of the site was that it had pellet stoves subdivided into brands. This allowed Quad owners to post Quad questions and Harman owners to post Harman questions, etc. It also allowed other owners of those brands to focus on people having problems with their brand of stoves.

Here it is a mish-mash of posts that have to be sifted through to find out what brand stove we're talking about and then, if appropriate, start a troubleshooting session with the OP. Invariably the process gets hijacked/ diverted by well-meaning owners of other brands or newbies who happen to stumble upon A solution that solved/covered up their problem.

I would humbly like to suggest that, if possible with this software, that this Pellet Mill section be so subdivided into the major brands that are owned here. Is it possible and does anyone have further suggestions to clear the clutter AND the air?

Yeah I like it the way it is. I'm able to learn more from all stove users this way as opposed to just one type of stove but I do like heat seekers suggestion

 

[John Fortier]

Yes and No. Only coming from me. I have a stove not many have. I have soaked up so much info from all the posts I read, separate that info and apply accordingly. I agree with the expert in their field as Titanmatt in our private conversations has been beyond outstanding. I have my own personnel tech and cant ask for anymore. On the other side, I read and soak up all I can, the more knowledge I can absorb...some day I may be of help to someone. Keep it as is if I were to vote.

 

[hossthehermit]

As I'm sure everyone has noticed as more and more stoves are being put to work and owners are coming here for advice, there has been a lot of confusion as EVERYONE chimes in with their own special solution for THEIR brand of stove, which doesn't happen to be the brand in question.
Over on the now defunct iburncorn.com site, while it had many flaws, one excellent benefit of the site was that it had pellet stoves subdivided into brands. This allowed Quad owners to post Quad questions and Harman owners to post Harman questions, etc. It also allowed other owners of those brands to focus on people having problems with their brand of stoves.

Here it is a mish-mash of posts that have to be sifted through to find out what brand stove we're talking about and then, if appropriate, start a troubleshooting session with the OP. Invariably the process gets hijacked/ diverted by well-meaning owners of other brands or newbies who happen to stumble upon A solution that solved/covered up their problem.

I would humbly like to suggest that, if possible with this software, that this Pellet Mill section be so subdivided into the major brands that are owned here. Is it possible and does anyone have further suggestions to clear the clutter AND the air?

I'd like to see somebody fix iburncorn, so we could have both forums ................ If everybody sent jabbot $5 maybe he get it up again ...................

 

[Skier76]

I can see both sides. But personally, it becomes more difficult to navigate when there's more sub forums involved. Even with three here, it can be a lot to read new posts since my last visit.

A good compromise may be the ability to "Tag" each post when the post is created. Possible tags: Brand of stove, type of issue, general question, pellet brand. That way, you could get a very quick idea of what the thread is about before clicking on it.

 

[bogieb]

I like being able to read posts about other types of stoves without having to transverse all over the forum to different groups. Now, if this place had the traffic of say HDForums, I would be voting differently. the HD forum can literally get close to 100 threads going each day, in each group (touring, sportsters, dyna, softails, vintage, CVO etc) so it was essential for them break it up into different types of bikes. If this place ever gets that busy (or close to), I would say go for it, but for now this newbie likes it the way it is.

 

[RKS130]

Why not just "require" the stove brand in the heading? As a rule I don't like limitations on style or content, but stating stove maker in the thread name would certainly help those who want to zero in on a brand.

Personally, I like the accumulation of views, experiences and knowledge I am exposed to by reading/skimming through posts about all brands. It doesn't take much to stop reading a thread I find uninteresting. However, many readers may be thinking (in the back of their mind at least) about their next stove purchase, or about the problem their friend is having with his stove, etc., and gather lots of information for future use - even if just subconsciously. Besides, breaking into subgroups by brand will not stop an intrusive poster from commenting on other brands anyway.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Nobody likes change. (Political thought suppressed) It's just a simple fact of life, BUT if you frequented IBC, you would know that it was super-simple to just click on Quad and see who was having problems and try to help them. Navigating was a no-brainer. Click the mouse button one time and the work is over. If you wanted to see ALL of the latest posts, they were there to see in a separate list, just as they are here on the home page. Gaining knowledge or satisfying curiosity about other brands of stoves is a good thing and you can quickly read all the posts; however, the object of using subforums is to provide a place for people with problems to quickly go to and get RELEVANT troubleshooting suggestions about THEIR brand of stove. Of course, members with other brands can still read and comment but, since it is a brand specific group, they might be less inclined to add info about another brand unless they are sure that it's pertinent.

It was just a suggestion and we seem to be divided, which is not a big surprise at all.

 

[RKBAGUY]

Why not just "require" the stove brand in the heading? As a rule I don't like limitations on style or content, but stating stove maker in the thread name would certainly help those who want to zero in on a brand.

This. I think it'd be a good compromise.

 

[movemaine]

I think you do make some good points, but there's a lot of secondary information with each thread that helps all stove owners.
I'd likely not peruse other stove models than my own, and would potentially miss out on information that would be helpful to me.

Now if you could tag posts, then posts would exist in the general pool but you could click on posts tagged 'Quad' - that would be helpful.

 

[twodogs02]

I tend to agree with the OP. If I'm looking for something specific I search for it as there is no other quick way to drill down. Results would be much more useful if they were already broke down by manufacturer. I can see both sides, some want everything, others want to fine tune results.

If every post was tagged with manufacturer info, I think you could meet a large portion of the users needs on each side of this issue since it seems like agreement is out of the question.

 

[johninwi]

If every post was tagged with manufacturer info

I'm not a programer so this may be imposible but, could the title line of a new posting include a dropdown list of the manufacturer so the post creator or moderators could include it in a stardard format thats readily recognised? Maybe even color coded?

To tj's question of a forum change, an additional benifit would be that on busy forum days new posts can easily get bumped back a page and missed.

 

[muss]

If it works, don't fix it . I've learnt a hell of a lot just going thru different posts. My advice would be for you to stick to your website if your that pressed for time . My 2 bits

 

[LuvMyPellets]

I like it the way it is! I have compiled a very complete list of Stoves that will never be running in my house nor anywhere near it. I think people are smart enough when asking for advice to note what brand of stove the person has that is replying(provided they have it listed) and simply ignore what is written. Plenty of chatty Kathys on here that like answering every thread. What we lack on this forum is a Hide button. I might even use it on myself.