Main Window Gasket on QuadraFire i4100 Failed

[FlipThatLog]

The main door window gasket on my QuadraFire i4100 failed after just 4 months of fairly low-volume use.
Thankfully my dealer is great -they replaced the gasket under warranty. No complaints there.

The concern I have is the gasket, seems to be exposed on four spots along the main window inside my stove insert - near all four corners. I.E. no metal bracket between the stove inside and gasket/glass. There are brackets but they do not extend across the entire gasket on the main window. On the side windows the bracket covers the entire gasket/ window edges. Given how thin this gasket is, and that it's already drooping on the bottom corners, I'm concerned it may fail again. Has Quadrafire changed the brackets on the i4100 door since 2005 (when my stove was built; it was installed in Sept 2008)?

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks very much in advance for any hints, suggestions or observations.

Best,

---Mike

 

[bambam]

I have just purchased a Quad 4100I about 4 weeks ago and no they did not change the design. The brackets still do not cover the entire gasket on the main window. The gasket is still fully exposed on the corners.

 

[FlipThatLog]

I have just purchased a Quad 4100I about 4 weeks ago and no they did not change the design. The brackets still do not cover the entire gasket on the main window. The gasket is still fully exposed on the corners.

Thanks very much for your post. That kinda confirms what I thought. Perhaps they should cover the corners, otherwise, after the warranty expires, this becomes a profit center for the local QuadraFire dealer. ;-)

Enjoy your new stove - it's a great design otherwise. I am sure you will have much better luck than I've had with the main window gasket. Admittedly, I'm very particular about cleaning the door glass everyday. I like to be able to see our fire. Call me crazy - one of the best features is the bay window on the i4100. We enjoy the view and the heat it throws off.



Best,
---Mike

PS See other postings on the i4100 door latch - a small change and some monthly light lubrication makes it much more reliable and easy to use over time.

 

[bambam]

Since you are here I wondered if you have any trouble getting heat from your insert when the blower is not on, like if the power goes out. I had several people suggest that I get an inverter and a battery, or a generator. Do you have a block off plate at the bottom of your chimney and at the top. Mine is only at the top and I don't want to shut down the stove and block off the bottom until it gets a little warmer out. Calling for single digets here.

 

[FlipThatLog]

Since you are here I wondered if you have any trouble getting heat from your insert when the blower is not on, like if the power goes out. I had several people suggest that I get an inverter and a battery, or a generator. Do you have a block off plate at the bottom of your chimney and at the top. Mine is only at the top and I don't want to shut down the stove and block off the bottom until it gets a little warmer out. Calling for single digets here.

The short answer is yes. I need to have the blower on. I think getting an invertor and battery is an excellent suggestion if your power is off for less than 12-18 hours. This fan only eats about 1amp 120VAC, so either a good off-the-grid inverter/battery charger and marine battery or marine battery invertor/charger might do the trick. There's also a brand that has developed a product for wood pellet stove's that would be applicable as well.

If you lost power for more than 18 hours, like 4 days as we did during the last big NH Ice Storm in Dec 2008 (or more days, as friends of ours did - 12+ days), then a generator and transfer switch is better route. This is the way I went. It doesn't take the shine off the invertor solution. Believe me, the engineer in me relishes having a good quality invertor around that can be moved from powering our lp gas hot water heater's blower/electronics, to the wood stove blower, to my computer, etc. They are useful to have around - I could avoid using my generator, and during quiet hours (10PM to 6AM) I could run low-wattage appliances without waking our neighbors with our noisy generator.

I'm in the same straits as you with regard to the blocking plate. My dealer, bless their hearts meant well when they had very little clearance space to work with in our low-clearance fireplace during installation for a bottom blocking plate, so they did the same thing - only installed a plate at around the liner at the chimney cap. Frankly, they were too much in a hurry to go to the next installation, so I think they hadn't considered alternatives to allow sufficient liner flexibility above the stove insert to ensure a good connection/access. It's possible do this with a removable cutout in the blocking plate around the liner opening. This is a custom metal job, so they were probably reluctant do this work. I wish I had really pressed them at the time, as it would have saved me abit of trouble, and saved heating up our chimney first before yielding any meaningful heat from our i4100.

In any event, like you I plan to install a blocking plate after this heating season ends. Prefab kits are available, and even making one from galvanized sheet metal really doesn't look like rocket science.

Best,

---Mike

 

[BrotherBart]

For what it is worth I have never seen a wood stove that had window gasket retainers that covered the whole gasket inside the firebox. And I have had exposed window gaskets last ten years.

 

[humpin iron]

make sure the glass cleaner your using does not have ammonia in it, Quad sent out a memo saying that it breaks down the material in their gaskets and causes unraveling.

 

[granpajohn]

^^ Hmmm....I'm glad I read that.

 

[FlipThatLog]

For what it is worth I have never seen a wood stove that had window gasket retainers that covered the whole gasket inside the firebox. And I have had exposed window gaskets last ten years.

Thanks for your posting and point. That helps. I have to assume that the original cleaner was partially responsible for the gasket failure. And now that I have a new gasket, it seems the new gasket material may have installed too loosely. It is also very thin in comparison to the other gaskets.

 

[FlipThatLog]

make sure the glass cleaner your using does not have ammonia in it, Quad sent out a memo saying that it breaks down the material in their gaskets and causes unraveling.

Thanks for your reply. Glad I read that too! ;-) Hmmm, me thinks that Quadrafire should make this info more public - perhaps even in their manuals or website. Was this memo to their dealers or registered customers? Last I looked (which was probably 2+ months ago) it wasn't on their Website's FAQ.

I think my first gasket may have failed due to two causes: probable ammonia in the original glass cleaner (I don't use any such cleaners now on the new gasket), and rigorous cleaning at window edge where the gasket was exposed. I'm handling the new window gasket in a more gingerly fashion, but even so, the bottom edges of the gasket are starting to droop, but thankfully not fraying as before with the old, failed gasket.
Mike