Just installed a Quadra Fire 5700

[MnDave]

Fellow wood burners,

This is my first post here at Hearth.com. Seems like a great place to learn and share ideas.

This Quadra Fire 5700 is my 5th stove in 30 some years. It replaces a wonderful Kent Tile Fire. I loved that Kent and used it for 10 plus years, unfortunately it would not hold enough wood for an strong overnight burn here in Minnesota. I mean there were enough coals in the morning to get a fire going without using kindling but the house was down to 65 on a really cold one (again Minnesoooota). My wife will complain if she wakes up to a cold house and I like to keep her happy if ya know what I mean . So when that furnace would start cycling at 4 AM it would bug me enough to get up and reload but I always wanted to fix that problem.

So, the main reason I bought the Quad 5700 was for the 3 vs 2 cubic foot firebox. I also liked the ACC starting system (so far so good).

Well after a few small burns to get the paint cured I decided to build a medium fire using 5 splits of red elm. Even with the burn rate control on the lowest setting the stovepipe temp went to 525 F. That is too high to my liking. I did have the feeling that the stove would probably not overfire with more wood at the low setting (kudos Quadrafire), but the fire was raging like I have never before seen. Definitely not my idea of efficient as this burned to the coal stage in less than 2 1/2 hours. I had trouble imagining how a full box would burn overnight. That kept me up that night as this stove needs to "walk on water" given it's pricetag.

Actually, I was not too surprised that the burn went almost nuclear. Before I installed it, I had the heat shield off to examine the air controls and make sure that I understood how they worked. I found that with the burn rate control set at the lowest setting it still had a decent opening so it cannot fully shut off the air to the top front of the box. Also, the secondary manifold has a fixed 3/4 inch round opening. I wondered how that was going to allow me to control the stove and I found out... not too good.

After reading a lot of great information on this forum, I now understand why this "EPA stove", made in Washington state, has this kind of air control. Specifically, the Florida Bungalow Syndrome article by John Gullard. It makes perfect sense. The EPA has to make these stoves to be fool-proof. Otherwise, the air pollution of a smoldering wood burning stove could be outlawed in the country someday like it is in the city today. But I am not a fool . I know that smoke means wasted energy and creosote. I don't burn like that.

My chimney is around 25 feet of effective height with an outside air kit so my draft is pretty good.

Anyway, I could see right away that I needed to get better control over the air flow rate to get the efficiency/burn time that I want. So I took the side shield off and made two simple modifications. One, I placed a piece of angle iron over half of the 3/4 inch hole in the secondary manifold. Two, I placed a piece of sheet metal on the main burn rate control which allows me to fully close the shutter assembly (although I do not intend to run that way).

I fired it up and for all intents and purposes it appears like I nailed it. If I close off that main burn control I can bring that blaze to it's knee's in less than a minute. With the burn rate control in the middle of the range I can control the stovepipe temp in the range of 350 to 400 F while the gasses are being burned. When the stove pipe is in this range the lower stove top is 400 to 450 F respectively.

The pipe temp does drop below 300 F in the coal stage but IMO since the gasses are mostly burned off I will not be creating a creosote problem. I use the chemicals and run the brush through mid-season just in case.

I sincerely appreciate the information here on this forum. If it was not for this information I would have been calling the dealer and I doubt that they would have done any modification and would have instead told me about how super clean the stove runs. Super clean is good but it seems that clean has not caught up to Minnesota yet. My one neighbor burns leaves for days and the smoke is so dense it drives me indoors if the wind is right.

I don't think that the burn times that these companies list in their brochures are "typical" except maybe for a bungalow in Florida on a 60 degree day.

After this winter I will post here on how much wood I burned and how I feel about this stove. So far I am liking what I am seeing. Thanks Quadra Fire.

Respectfully,
MnDave

 

[Mitch Newton]

Fellow wood burners,

This is my first post here at Hearth.com. Seems like a great place to learn and share ideas.

This Quadra Fire 5700 is my 5th stove in 30 some years. It replaces a wonderful Kent Tile Fire. I loved that Kent and used it for 10 plus years, unfortunately it would not hold enough wood for an strong overnight burn here in Minnesota. I mean there were enough coals in the morning to get a fire going without using kindling but the house was down to 65 on a really cold one (again Minnesoooota). My wife will complain if she wakes up to a cold house and I like to keep her happy if ya know what I mean . So when that furnace would start cycling at 4 AM it would bug me enough to get up and reload but I always wanted to fix that problem.

So, the main reason I bought the Quad 5700 was for the 3 vs 2 cubic foot firebox. I also liked the ACC starting system (so far so good).

Well after a few small burns to get the paint cured I decided to build a medium fire using 5 splits of red elm. Even with the burn rate control on the lowest setting the stovepipe temp went to 525 F. That is too high to my liking. I did have the feeling that the stove would probably not overfire with more wood at the low setting (kudos Quadrafire), but the fire was raging like I have never before seen. Definitely not my idea of efficient as this burned to the coal stage in less than 2 1/2 hours. I had trouble imagining how a full box would burn overnight. That kept me up that night as this stove needs to "walk on water" given it's pricetag.

Actually, I was not too surprised that the burn went almost nuclear. Before I installed it, I had the heat shield off to examine the air controls and make sure that I understood how they worked. I found that with the burn rate control set at the lowest setting it still had a decent opening so it cannot fully shut off the air to the top front of the box. Also, the secondary manifold has a fixed 3/4 inch round opening. I wondered how that was going to allow me to control the stove and I found out... not too good.

After reading a lot of great information on this forum, I now understand why this "EPA stove", made in Washington state, has this kind of air control. Specifically, the Florida Bungalow Syndrome article by John Gullard. It makes perfect sense. The EPA has to make these stoves to be fool-proof. Otherwise, the air pollution of a smoldering wood burning stove could be outlawed in the country someday like it is in the city today. But I am not a fool . I know that smoke means wasted energy and creosote. I don't burn like that.

My chimney is around 25 feet of effective height with an outside air kit so my draft is pretty good.

Anyway, I could see right away that I needed to get better control over the air flow rate to get the efficiency/burn time that I want. So I took the side shield off and made two simple modifications. One, I placed a piece of angle iron over half of the 3/4 inch hole in the secondary manifold. Two, I placed a piece of sheet metal on the main burn rate control which allows me to fully close the shutter assembly (although I do not intend to run that way).

I fired it up and for all intents and purposes it appears like I nailed it. If I close off that main burn control I can bring that blaze to it's knee's in less than a minute. With the burn rate control in the middle of the range I can control the stovepipe temp in the range of 350 to 400 F while the gasses are being burned. When the stove pipe is in this range the lower stove top is 400 to 450 F respectively.

The pipe temp does drop below 300 F in the coal stage but IMO since the gasses are mostly burned off I will not be creating a creosote problem. I use the chemicals and run the brush through mid-season just in case.

I sincerely appreciate the information here on this forum. If it was not for this information I would have been calling the dealer and I doubt that they would have done any modification and would have instead told me about how super clean the stove runs. Super clean is good but it seems that clean has not caught up to Minnesota yet. My one neighbor burns leaves for days and the smoke is so dense it drives me indoors if the wind is right.

I don't think that the burn times that these companies list in their brochures are "typical" except maybe for a bungalow in Florida on a 60 degree day.

After this winter I will post here on how much wood I burned and how I feel about this stove. So far I am liking what I am seeing. Thanks Quadra Fire.

Respectfully,
MnDave

MnDave, I also just installed a 5700 Steptop, but I'm having a different problem. I am burning hardwood and mostly cherry wood well seasoned and dry. However, I cannot get the stovepipe temp above 300 degrees. If I place the thermometer on the surface in front of where the hot air from the blower comes out, the temp goes to 400 degrees. Any ideas on why the stovepipe temp is not higher? The flame is great, heat is great, always has coals left over to start in the morning.

 

[MnDave]

MnDave, I also just installed a 5700 Steptop, but I'm having a different problem. I am burning hardwood and mostly cherry wood well seasoned and dry. However, I cannot get the stovepipe temp above 300 degrees. If I place the thermometer on the surface in front of where the hot air from the blower comes out, the temp goes to 400 degrees. Any ideas on why the stovepipe temp is not higher? The flame is great, heat is great, always has coals left over to start in the morning.

A stovetop temp of 400 F with the burn control rate opened all the way is too low. If it drops down much more, your secondary burn tubes would barely be getting hot enough to get the efficiency you want. I now think that a stovetop temp of 450 F when the gasses are burning is ideal.

You say the flame and the heat are great. Could you maybe be reading degrees C and thinking they are degrees F? If you are, a 300 C stovepipe temp is the start of the overfire range.

Before I speculate further please verify that we are talking degrees F.

MnDave

 

[charly]

I had my Quad 5700 for two years and just replaced it with a Woodstock Fireview. Smaller box, cat stove and it's out heating the Quad big time, no out of control fires. Using half the wood. Close the bypass, set the draft to one and walk away from the stove. I found the Quad had a big firebox, but did nothing but eat the wood up without giving you the heat back into the house that you should have gotten with that big load. Only time it pumped the heat was when the draft was way open and the noisy fan was on high,,, who wants to listen to that. I believe half the heat goes up the chimney with that stove as well. I found my ACC draft control pad on the front wasn't even lined up to cover the whole completely from the factory. I did no mods, why should you have to when you just spent over 2 grand for a stove. I spent less for Fireview then I paid for the Quad. Not knocking your stove, just giving you a heads up. Mine just seemed to eat wood and not pump the heat out into the house,, mostly up the pipe. It seemed I was always adjusting the top air control, you could never just get a long complete burn without finding out the draft was not closed enough or too much too soon. Just was an odd duck of a stove to me.. I had a Country S210 before the Quad, and that stove put out more heat, yet had a smaller fire box. I got sucked into that big fire box sales pitch figuring the thing would have forever burn times and produce gobs of heat. Not so on either. I even bought a moisture meter, split open my seasoned wood to check inside and it turned out my wood was good, the stove was the issue. It's sits in my garage at this point. If I had the same warrantee that Woodstock gives you,,,, 6 months you don't like the stove, 100% refund of your money,,,,I would have been shipping the Quad back after the first heating season. Maybe your mods will get you the heat that I didn't see and control of the stove. The ACC system was a hazard to me, If I left that to start the stove and walked away, I'd had 1200 degree chimney temps. I never trusted it. My stove got out of control before that would shut down. I started my manually. Good luck with your stove!

 

[rdust]

It's a bummer you had to mod a new stove to get it to work to your liking. With that said it sounds like you have it figured out and should perform well for you.

 

[MnDave]

charly,
Thanks for sharing your experience with the Quad 5700. This is helpful and I don't see it as knocking the stove. It is too warm here to really test this stove for an overnight burn which is my primary goal with this stove.

On the really cold nights I used to load my Kent Tile File to the gills and set the only air control to a position that I found was optimum. It never overfired and by the creosote stains on my vinyl chimney I now realize that it was not burning the gasses well. The stopepipe temp hugged the bottom of the range and I thought that was ok because I did not have a creosote problem. Unfortunately the wood ran out to soon.

So I thought that by just increasing the box size I would get a good overnight burn. Little did I know that stoves had changed significantly due to EPA regs.

The ACC is working fine for me and yes I too found that front air control flap to be misaligned. I also found that 2 of four self tapping screws had chewed out the threads so I backed these up with nuts. That was disapointing given the price tag.

I am glad to hear that you are liking your Woodstock Fireview.

MnDave

 

[charly]

charly,
Thanks for sharing your experience with the Quad 5700. This is helpful and I don't see it as knocking the stove. It is too warm here to really test this stove for an overnight burn which is my primary goal with this stove.

On the really cold nights I used to load my Kent Tile File to the gills and set the only air control to a position that I found was optimum. It never overfired and by the creosote stains on my vinyl chimney I now realize that it was not burning the gasses well. The stopepipe temp hugged the bottom of the range and I thought that was ok because I did not have a creosote problem. Unfortunately the wood ran out to soon.

So I thought that by just increasing the box size I would get a good overnight burn. Little did I know that stoves had changed significantly due to EPA regs.

The ACC is working fine for me and yes I too found that front air control flap to be misaligned. I also found that 2 of four self tapping screws had chewed out the threads so I backed these up with nuts. That was disapointing given the price tag.

I am glad to hear that you are liking your Woodstock Fireview.

MnDave

Keep us posted on how your stove works out. Mine will be heating my garage once insulated. I read the earlier models produced a lot more heat output. I just thought for some reason a lot of the heat never made it out of the stove to the house. You'll always have coals for a restart for sure. I think my stove needed kindling twice over the whole winter. Other then that always coals, even after 12 hours. The heat really seem to just exit the top front of the stove and out the glass. I much happier now the a radiant stove over the convection. See if you think all the heat is going up the pipe. That's what I felt. It's like they made sure the heat stayed "In" the stove for a clean burn. Good Luck with your stove, hope it all works out fine for you.
Charlie

 

[MnDave]

It's a bummer you had to mod a new stove to get it to work to your liking. With that said it sounds like you have it figured out and should perform well for you.

rdust,
Agreed. The spec sheet says 15-21 hour burn time on low. That seems impossible to me given all the free air this stove is designed to get. They must be counting the last burning ember.

If I had put full trust in Quadra Fire's "Heating Capacity" specs (square foot house per zone) I should have bought the Quad 4300. But because the 4300 had almost the same size box as my old stove I bumped up to the 5700. I am very glad that I did it. I distinctly recall wrestling back and forth with this, going to the store more than once and crawling around next to both units with tape measure in hand. The salesman was almost no help. Nice guy but I did sense his lack of wood burning experience. I have not talked to him since. He can educate himself.

Yes, sofar my mods are keeping me happy with this stove. The fire is mesmerizing. I have yet to load it all the way as it would get too hot in the house.

I wish that the burn rate control was more precise. The one they use has too much parallax i.e. it depends on the angle you look at it.

When it gets colder out I want to experiment with larger splits and bigger rounds. I have some unsplit red elm that was standing dead until a month ago. No checks yet so I am not sure it is dry enough to burn well. I plan to get a moisture meter and test a few pieces. I love how red elm burns. It seems to burn hotter than oak and seems to last longer too.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'all.

MnDave

 

[MnDave]

The heat really seem to just exit the top front of the stove and out the glass. I much happier now the a radiant stove over the convection. See if you think all the heat is going up the pipe. That's what I felt. It's like they made sure the heat stayed "In" the stove for a clean burn. Charlie

Exactly. I saw the flames off those secondary burn tubes coming at the glass at 60 mph and thought nooooooo waaaaay! My mods have taken care of that problem. I may still put a stovepipe damper in. Cheap and a piece of cake to install.

My first stove was a Sears sheet metal freestanding unit. I put it in a mobil home. It had a built-in thermostatically controlled fan. At first, the fan would never come on and the heat output was terrible. I am not sure how I figured it out (maybe I read the manual ) but all I needed to do was close down the built-in damper a little. Worked like a charm. The lttle fan came on and my wife smiled at me for being so smart.

It was also the first stove that I put a piece of red elm in. I was afraid to open the doors to put the fire out with an extinguisher. That heat permanently distorted the sheet metal firebox. I probably opened up the damper to let the heat out not realizing that I was letting more air in and causing it to go nuclear. That was my first scare while burning wood.

One story I recall was a coworker who had just put in a new fireplace. He had a big party to celebrate the first firing. He put in a ton of wood and fired it up (Mistake 1). It was a very cold day and when the stove paint and oil started curing and his guests started complaining about the smoke and smell he opened the window (Mistake 2). The cold air rushed in and it shattered the cheap glass in the fireplace doors. He opened the doors to try to put the fire out but it just went totally out of control. Smoke alarms going insane... people panicking. Fun party .

MnDave

 

[Mitch Newton]

A stovetop temp of 400 F with the burn control rate opened all the way is too low. If it drops down much more, your secondary burn tubes would barely be getting hot enough to get the efficiency you want. I now think that a stovetop temp of 450 F when the gasses are burning is ideal.

You say the flame and the heat are great. Could you maybe be reading degrees C and thinking they are degrees F? If you are, a 300 C stovepipe temp is the start of the overfire range.

Before I speculate further please verify that we are talking degrees F.

MnDave

MnDave, yes I am reading degrees F. The surface temp can go between 300 & 500+ degrees. It just seems that the stovepipe doesn't get up into a range of 300 to 500 degrees. The highest I have ever got the stovepipe temp was 290 degrees.The thermometer is placed about 2 to 6 inches high on the stove pipe. I actually thought the thermometer was broke and not registering correctly. So I bought a second thermometer with the same result. Stove seems plenty hot with lots of expanding noises and lots of heat. I just can't figure out why the stove pipe doesn't get that hot. The stove is in an unfinished basement with about a 23' liner. It will heat the basement to over 90 degrees and the upstairs to 69 to 70 degrees. I really don't think I've pushed the stove yet. I am just cautious since I really can't believe the stove pipe is not that hot. When you say that a stovetop temp of 450 is ideal, where are you taking that measurement? In front of the blower air on top surface?

 

[MnDave]

I would like to say a little more about stove modifications. I have an engineering background so I feel comfortable making modifications. I also have a good chimney and smoke/CO detection system.

The stove is only part of the system. The "non-stove" part of the system is the chimney, the house, the outside barametric pressure (variable wind), the wood, the users knowledge and expectations and more.

When the EPA tests these stoves and the manufacturer rates their stove, the non-stove part of the system is fairly standardized. For all practical purposes these standards mainly control the draft in a defined range. The draft is critically important to the performance of a stove.

The manufacturer does provide controls which allow the stove to perform ok in some non-standard systems however these can only compensate for a draft within a certain range and wood with a minimum dryness.

The stove manufacturers do not include controls to handle the complete range of drafts that their stove is likely to see in the field. The consequence of this is that some users will need to modify their stoves (or chimneys) if they want to get the best performance.

My advise to anyone who is not comfortable with making modifications to their stoves but wanting better performance, is that they contact a good chimney sweep who has lots of personal wood burning experience. They may not be willing to do the work (for liability reasons) but they may be willing to show you what modifications can be done to get more performance out of a particular stove. They may find a leak or two while they are at it.

MnDave

 

[MnDave]

MnDave, yes I am reading degrees F. The surface temp can go between 300 & 500+ degrees. It just seems that the stovepipe doesn't get up into a range of 300 to 500 degrees. The highest I have ever got the stovepipe temp was 290 degrees.The thermometer is placed about 2 to 6 inches high on the stove pipe. I actually thought the thermometer was broke and not registering correctly. So I bought a second thermometer with the same result. Stove seems plenty hot with lots of expanding noises and lots of heat. I just can't figure out why the stove pipe doesn't get that hot. The stove is in an unfinished basement with about a 23' liner. It will heat the basement to over 90 degrees and the upstairs to 69 to 70 degrees. I really don't think I've pushed the stove yet. I am just cautious since I really can't believe the stove pipe is not that hot. When you say that a stovetop temp of 450 is ideal, where are you taking that measurement? In front of the blower air on top surface?

Hey Mitch. Ok degrees F. What options do you have to "push your stove further"? Are you running the fan? If so how high? That fan has a significant cooling effect on that top level of the stovetop and the stovepipe, at least 50-100 degrees.

I use a handheld IR temp gauge and move it around on the lower level of the stovetop to find the hottest point (varies a little with wood load, placement, and stage of burn).

I should qualify my 450 F ideal temp statement. That is for a long and efficient burn. That is not the most awe-inspiring fire. I would say 500-550 on the lower level stovetop would be a very beautiful fire. And keep in mind that this is for the wood gas burning phase only. I don't chase those high temps into the coal phase, would have to reload to get that.

It sounds like you are ok as far as heat output.

I do wonder why you cannot run yours so hot you can overfire your stovepipe. I use 22 gauge stovepipe. Maybe the lighter stuff bleeds heat off a little quicker.

Do you have an outside air kit? If not, what happens when you open a window/door close by and leave it for about 15-20 minutes? Will the stovepipe get hotter? Make sure no dryers or fans in the house are running when you do that test. If you can close the door to your basement, do it, this reduces the stack effect of your upper level(s).

I have to travel for Thangsgiving now. I may not have access for several days.

Good luck and have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

MnDave

 

[Mitch Newton]

MnDave, thanks for your response. You may have something. I have the blower running at full speed all of the time. If that cools the stove pipe temp by 100 degrees, then I would be in 400-500 zone pretty easily. I do not have an outside air supply hooked up. I do have a walk out basement thru the garage with the 5700 just inside the service door to the basement. The garage has some drafts so I thought that would be plenty of air supply and the draft is good.

I'm not sure I understand your "stacked" comment. The stairwell door is left open so the heat can go up the stairs. Additionally, there is a stair landing that had a wall air conditioner in it that vented to the basement. I took out the ac unit and that left a 24 x 24 inch hole near the basement ceiling. I have a small fan sitting there to blow the hot air into the stairwell which is in the center of the ranch home. (2200 square feet up) It really puts the heat upstairs this way. The fan near the unfinished basement ceiling really works well. It probably raised the upstairs temp 5-6 degrees. The open joists in the basement also allows the heat to transfer to the wood floors upstairs quite nicely after burning for several days.

I think it is very easy to tell if the secondary burn is working properly by the amount of smoke coming out of the flue. (Almost none) Most of the ash is burning down to almost nothing. Burning 7 days a week and 24/7 I only have to empty the ash once a week. (25 to 35 degree weather so far) for the last two weeks. I have not turned on the oil boiler yet and would like to go all winter without having to.

I don't know if I will take the side panel off this year to access the air supply, but I will after the burning season when I clean everything.

Any other ideas or suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated. It's nice to talk to someone with the same stove that just recently did the install. I don't know how relevant some of the older posts are on this forum.

Have a great Thanksgiving

 

[MnDave]

I'm not sure I understand your "stacked" comment.

Ok. This is a term that I did not invent. The way I think of "stack effect (like smoke stack)" is that if your house has enough leaks, then as warm air rises into the upper floors and leaves through these leaks then it is creating an upward draft within the house that will compete against the chimney for air. The consequence of a large stack effect within the house is that the chimney draft is lessened and hence lessen the combustion air to the stove. This may be evident by low stovepipe temps.

As an experiment. Try opening that attached garage door and closing the door to the upstairs and block that AC opening. Open up the main burn control all the way. This will show you the real draft of your chimney. I would be surprised if you don't start seeing some 450 plus stovepipe temps within 15-20 minutes. Make sure your wood is dry.

If this is the case they you should seriously consider an outside air kit.

I did not have an ouside air kit with the old stove, and yes I too could feel the warm air rushing up the stairwell. That is good and bad. Good, the warm air goes upstairs, but bad as that air is probably leaving your house through leaky doors and windows (recessesd lights in my case) and starving your 5700. If you have leaky upstairs windows and doors you may want to try some sealing techniques.

Again the main thing I would like to see is that you can get your 5700 to breath more freely which will be indicated by higher stovepipe temps. Be prepared for some paint curing smells and possibly your smoke detectors tripping. If that could freak-out your wife (especially if you have children in the house) then I would remove the detectors(and batteries) for this experiment.

With the outside air kit I feel less air rushing up the stairwell. Instead the whole stairwell is warm and it is convecting (exchanging) into the upper floors.
Outside air is the way to go on a big stove.

That is great that your secondary burn is doing a good job of burning smoke and you may be at a good "balance" without any mods etc. I think that you will want to make sure that there are no surprises if someone leaves that garage door open even a little.

MnDave

 

[esox]

I was checking the 5700 out on saturday at a local stove shop while searching for a chimney cap. Price tag was $2700. Salesman of course said it was the answer for everything and I must admit I was impressed assuming it did everything he was saying.
I'm now heating the house with an old Fisher Grandpa Bear.For me its all about burn time due to schedules and this thing is doing the trick. Able to roll the ashes around after 10 hours and still have a good bed of coals. Throw some poplar on it, let it burn for about 20 minutes wide open , fill it up with good stuff and close the draft. About as easy and simple as it gets providing you babysit for a short period of time.
However, I'm definitely dumpimg a ton of smoke into the air and creating a lot of creosote. Also I'm sure I would be using somewhat less wood if I had a new stove. I have no problem at all with spending the money for a new unit if I could convince myself on which stove to buy. I,ve reasearched this and have looked at many different models and still haven't come to a decision.
I am by no means an engineer or an expert on wood heating but I have been working on and troubleshooting oil burners for the past 38 years and realize the same unit will not work identically due to its environment. I'm sure this is the reason 1 person will tell you this is the best stove I've ever owned and the next guy with the same stove will be having issues. Life aint perfect and thats about it.
I'm in no hurry to buy but I like what I'm seeing with the 5700 . Local shop, real nice guy who I think would be willing to help me if I did have any issues and if I could increase my burntime a couple hours I'd be a happy camper. I'll be watching to see how your making out. Good luck with your new stove.

 

[charly]

I was checking the 5700 out on saturday at a local stove shop while searching for a chimney cap. Price tag was $2700. Salesman of course said it was the answer for everything and I must admit I was impressed assuming it did everything he was saying.
I'm now heating the house with an old Fisher Grandpa Bear.For me its all about burn time due to schedules and this thing is doing the trick. Able to roll the ashes around after 10 hours and still have a good bed of coals. Throw some poplar on it, let it burn for about 20 minutes wide open , fill it up with good stuff and close the draft. About as easy and simple as it gets providing you babysit for a short period of time.
However, I'm definitely dumpimg a ton of smoke into the air and creating a lot of creosote. Also I'm sure I would be using somewhat less wood if I had a new stove. I have no problem at all with spending the money for a new unit if I could convince myself on which stove to buy. I,ve reasearched this and have looked at many different models and still haven't come to a decision.
I am by no means an engineer or an expert on wood heating but I have been working on and troubleshooting oil burners for the past 38 years and realize the same unit will not work identically due to its environment. I'm sure this is the reason 1 person will tell you this is the best stove I've ever owned and the next guy with the same stove will be having issues. Life aint perfect and thats about it.
I'm in no hurry to buy but I like what I'm seeing with the 5700 . Local shop, real nice guy who I think would be willing to help me if I did have any issues and if I could increase my burntime a couple hours I'd be a happy camper. I'll be watching to see how your making out. Good luck with your new stove.

For the money your going to spend, I'd take a trip to the Woodstock Stove Co.. You'll be very impressed! 6 months to use the stove, you don't like it , you get a full refund and shipping is paid for the return. Just something to think about.

 

[ohlongarm]

I had my Quad 5700 for two years and just replaced it with a Woodstock Fireview. Smaller box, cat stove and it's out heating the Quad big time, no out of control fires. Using half the wood. Close the bypass, set the draft to one and walk away from the stove. I found the Quad had a big firebox, but did nothing but eat the wood up without giving you the heat back into the house that you should have gotten with that big load. Only time it pumped the heat was when the draft was way open and the noisy fan was on high,,, who wants to listen to that. I believe half the heat goes up the chimney with that stove as well. I found my ACC draft control pad on the front wasn't even lined up to cover the whole completely from the factory. I did no mods, why should you have to when you just spent over 2 grand for a stove. I spent less for Fireview then I paid for the Quad. Not knocking your stove, just giving you a heads up. Mine just seemed to eat wood and not pump the heat out into the house,, mostly up the pipe. It seemed I was always adjusting the top air control, you could never just get a long complete burn without finding out the draft was not closed enough or too much too soon. Just was an odd duck of a stove to me.. I had a Country S210 before the Quad, and that stove put out more heat, yet had a smaller fire box. I got sucked into that big fire box sales pitch figuring the thing would have forever burn times and produce gobs of heat. Not so on either. I even bought a moisture meter, split open my seasoned wood to check inside and it turned out my wood was good, the stove was the issue. It's sits in my garage at this point. If I had the same warrantee that Woodstock gives you,,,, 6 months you don't like the stove, 100% refund of your money,,,,I would have been shipping the Quad back after the first heating season. Maybe your mods will get you the heat that I didn't see and control of the stove. The ACC system was a hazard to me, If I left that to start the stove and walked away, I'd had 1200 degree chimney temps. I never trusted it. My stove got out of control before that would shut down. I started my manually. Good luck with your stove!

I had the same problem as you,my first Quadrafire bought in 2004 was a great stove 3.5 cu. box,unfortunately if burned up and both sides cracked.My burn times and control were great ,10 hrs,max burn,wood consumption high. Quadrafire replaced the unit in full including installation with the new Quad,3.0 cu ft box and some bs controls I couldn't get any heat from the thing worth talking about and the weather was severe I kept it all of 2 weeks,lost my ass on a trade in for a Buck 94,a totally worthless piece of rubbish that ate wood insatiably and threw less heat than the replacement Quad.Kept it 2 weeks and again lost my ass trading it in on a BKULTRA,never looked back and I'm now 100%satisfied,and despite losing $5000.00 in a months time still married.Good luck to those of you that have the Quads I hope yours works.

 

[charly]

I had the same problem as you,my first Quadrafire bought in 2004 was a great stove 3.5 cu. box,unfortunately if burned up and both sides cracked.My burn times and control were great ,10 hrs,max burn,wood consumption high. Quadrafire replaced the unit in full including installation with the new Quad,3.0 cu ft box and some bs controls I couldn't get any heat from the thing worth talking about and the weather was severe I kept it all of 2 weeks,lost my ass on a trade in for a Buck 94,a totally worthless piece of rubbish that ate wood insatiably and threw less heat than the replacement Quad.Kept it 2 weeks and again lost my ass trading it in on a BKULTRA,never looked back and I'm now 100%satisfied,and despite losing $5000.00 in a months time still married.Good luck to those of you that have the Quads I hope yours works.

Your right, cat stoves are sweet. Thanks for confirming that it wasn't in my head that my big Quad 5700 kept all it's heat inside and up the chimney. I had smaller stoves [Country S210] that put out more heat. It amazed me to look at that big stove and firebox, and yet not be roasted out by it. And it did eat wood! I suppose from trying to get heat out of it. A very odd stove indeed!

 

[MnDave]

As you may recall, my primary objective is a long burn time. My house is a small walkout rambler around 1800 sq ft in SE Minnesota. The walls are 2x6 and built in 98. Lot's of windows and patio doors on both floors because we are on a lake.

Last night was a good example of a decent overnight burn in my Quad 5700. I went to bed at 11 or so. It was 70 F in the house. It was 13 F outside and not windy. I put in 7 (4-5 inch) splits. I think it could could have held 3 or 4 more. My wife woke up at around 3 AM and said it was a cozy 73 F in the house. I woke up at 6 AM and it was 68 F. I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of coals still standing and the glass was not darkened. So that was a decent 7-8 hr burn in moderately cold weather with a 60-65% load. I am hoping that 9-10 hours on a full load in cold (0F) weather will be do-able. If I have to get up to reload on nights when it is -10/-20 that will not be too big a deal.

Where Quadra Fire gets their advertised 15-21 hour burn times on the 5700 is anyones guess. Maybe some strategy of using large very dry pieces of tightly fitting, not too hard, not too soft wood.

To be absolutely honest, I expected to be a little more impressed with this stove. It looks great and the fires are absolutely beautiful. My only reservation at this point is how fast it goes through wood. It has got to be those secondary burners. I have checked outside many times during start-up and there is almost no smoke. I guess this is the price we pay for having cleaner air.

I bought a stovepipe damper today. It cost only $3 and it should install easily. I am thinking that this might improve the overall efficiency by holding the heat in the unit longer. I will probably put it in this weekend.

MnDave

 

[charly]

As you may recall, my primary objective is a long burn time. My house is a small walkout rambler around 1800 sq ft in SE Minnesota. The walls are 2x6 and built in 98. Lot's of windows and patio doors on both floors because we are on a lake.

Last night was a good example of a decent overnight burn in my Quad 5700. I went to bed at 11 or so. It was 70 F in the house. It was 13 F outside and not windy. I put in 7 (4-5 inch) splits. I think it could could have held 3 or 4 more. My wife woke up at around 3 AM and said it was a cozy 73 F in the house. I woke up at 6 AM and it was 68 F. I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of coals still standing and the glass was not darkened. So that was a decent 7-8 hr burn in moderately cold weather with a 60-65% load. I am hoping that 9-10 hours on a full load in cold (0F) weather will be do-able. If I have to get up to reload on nights when it is -10/-20 that will not be too big a deal.

Where Quadra Fire gets their advertised 15-21 hour burn times on the 5700 is anyones guess. Maybe some strategy of using large very dry pieces of tightly fitting, not too hard, not too soft wood.

To be absolutely honest, I expected to be a little more impressed with this stove. It looks great and the fires are absolutely beautiful. My only reservation at this point is how fast it goes through wood. It has got to be those secondary burners. I have checked outside many times during start-up and there is almost no smoke. I guess this is the price we pay for having cleaner air.

I bought a stovepipe damper today. It cost only $3 and it should install easily. I am thinking that this might improve the overall efficiency by holding the heat in the unit longer. I will probably put it in this weekend.

MnDave

I'll be interested to see how the pipe damper works out for you. I felt my 5700 was doing the same thing,,,nice fires, eating up wood, and all the heat must be going up the chimney, it certainly wasn't pumping the heat into our house for all the wood that was in the stove. I almost tried a damper too.

 

[MnDave]

I'll be interested to see how the pipe damper works out for you. I felt my 5700 was doing the same thing,,,nice fires, eating up wood, and all the heat must be going up the chimney, it certainly wasn't pumping the heat into our house for all the wood that was in the stove. I almost tried a damper too.

Yep. The damper will go in this weekend.

It will be interesting to see what difference the damper makes if any. The heat from all that wood is going somewhere. If it is not going into the house then it must be going up the chimney.

My mods "before" the firebox do the same thing as a stovepipe damper as far as slowing the air flow rate through the stove. However, the damper provides a "back pressure" which may help keep the wood gasses from evaporating out of the wood so fast. This may affect the look of the fire. Maybe these evaporating wood gasses come out of the wood too fast and hence are nearly impossible to control to the degree required for a long burn.

I may find that removing or tweeking my mod to the secondary burn air combined with using the damper to reduce the flow will allow the right amount of air to blend with the gasses for a higher efficiency and a hotter stove. At that point getting the heat off the stove and into the room is the best possible action.

I plan to run with the heat shield off the right side so that I can tweek the secondary air while I adjust the stovepipe damper. I can use my IR handheld temp gauge to see how the temp changes at reference point that I will mark on the front stovetop. I have a stovetop gauge on order but for some reason it has not showed up yet.

MnDave

 

[MnDave]

I have the blower running at full speed all of the time.

Mitch,
Thank you, I now realize that running at high speed (3/4 to max) is the best thing to do once the stove is burning the gasses in the secondary burn. It also doesn't hurt (and is more efficient) to run it that way when in the coal stage.

So, I have decided to run that fan at 3/4 to max over night, every night. That steptop is a heat exchanger. It needs a strong driver to get the heat to exchange into the room. The driver is the air movement from the fan.

Thank you for your comments as they helped me see that this IS the best way to run this fan.

MnDave

 

[charly]

Yep. The damper will go in this weekend.

It will be interesting to see what difference the damper makes if any. The heat from all that wood is going somewhere. If it is not going into the house then it must be going up the chimney.

My mods "before" the firebox do the same thing as a stovepipe damper as far as slowing the air flow rate through the stove. However, the damper provides a "back pressure" which may help keep the wood gasses from evaporating out of the wood so fast. This may affect the look of the fire. Maybe these evaporating wood gasses come out of the wood too fast and hence are nearly impossible to control to the degree required for a long burn.

I may find that removing or tweeking my mod to the secondary burn air combined with using the damper to reduce the flow will allow the right amount of air to blend with the gasses for a higher efficiency and a hotter stove. At that point getting the heat off the stove and into the room is the best possible action.

I plan to run with the heat shield off the right side so that I can tweek the secondary air while I adjust the stovepipe damper. I can use my IR handheld temp gauge to see how the temp changes at reference point that I will mark on the front stovetop. I have a stovetop gauge on order but for some reason it has not showed up yet.

MnDave

For the size of the stove, it is amazing that more heat is not generated into the house. It burned good for me always having a coal bed after 12 plus hours, but like was said ,,, no heat output,,,,, to the point you have noticed it as well. Wasn't just me. That seems like a design flaw for someone else to have never burned the 5700 and right away notice that no matter how full the box, the heat just isn't there for the house. What's really amazing is how much wood you can get into that huge box,,, yet after it's all burned up the house hasn't stayed that warm. An odd situation for sure. And to need the fan for heat,,,,,, that shouldn't be,,,, as that's an option. One would think that stove should heat fine without a fan ,,, being it's a convection stove. As far as the heat going up the pipe, I wasn't even straight up on my chimney . A through the wall set up.

 

[Jags]

Fellas - just to clarify...A surface reading thermometer for the pipe needs to be multiplied by 2 (i.e. 250F surface reading is ~500F internal temps. A probe reading is what it is.

 

[ohlongarm]

As you may recall, my primary objective is a long burn time. My house is a small walkout rambler around 1800 sq ft in SE Minnesota. The walls are 2x6 and built in 98. Lot's of windows and patio doors on both floors because we are on a lake.

Last night was a good example of a decent overnight burn in my Quad 5700. I went to bed at 11 or so. It was 70 F in the house. It was 13 F outside and not windy. I put in 7 (4-5 inch) splits. I think it could could have held 3 or 4 more. My wife woke up at around 3 AM and said it was a cozy 73 F in the house. I woke up at 6 AM and it was 68 F. I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of coals still standing and the glass was not darkened. So that was a decent 7-8 hr burn in moderately cold weather with a 60-65% load. I am hoping that 9-10 hours on a full load in cold (0F) weather will be do-able. If I have to get up to reload on nights when it is -10/-20 that will not be too big a deal.

Where Quadra Fire gets their advertised 15-21 hour burn times on the 5700 is anyones guess. Maybe some strategy of using large very dry pieces of tightly fitting, not too hard, not too soft wood.

To be absolutely honest, I expected to be a little more impressed with this stove. It looks great and the fires are absolutely beautiful. My only reservation at this point is how fast it goes through wood. It has got to be those secondary burners. I have checked outside many times during start-up and there is almost no smoke. I guess this is the price we pay for having cleaner air.

I bought a stovepipe damper today. It cost only $3 and it should install easily. I am thinking that this might improve the overall efficiency by holding the heat in the unit longer. I will probably put it in this weekend.

MnDave

Example,last night went down to 22' fire started in BkUltra at 4pm,full load,white oak ,osage orange,and some ash to fill in.stovetop up to 800' cut her back to 2/1/4 house now was 74'stovetop about 550'7am this morning house 73'with window cracked about 4in ,16 feet from stove,50%load left cat still active,3pm today house at 74',some solar gain not much,5pm,stovetop 375',cat 300'reloaded on a bed of coals about 1 in deep,fire took off in 3 minutes like a ***** ape.Now I'm not trying to burn that long no need to,but it happened the beauty of the beast,BK,could be my wood is so primo or the stove is too good.Not busting balls,just pointing out the merits of one stove vs,another,anyway all the best and good luck.