Need Help concerning Quadrafire Step Top 5700

[Docwheelhorse]

Hello All,
new to the forum... I was refered by another member. I may or may not have screwed up my stove and am looking for advice. Stove is a 5 year old Quadrafire 5700 step top pedestal with no ash pan and the auxilary blowers. It has burned approximately 10 cords of mixed hardwoods..... well the firebrick started showing its age and was cracked/deteriorating and basically falling apart. I called Quadrafire and they wanted over $300 for a new set of firebrick.... being nieve I said forget that and came up with a better plan.

I left the original firebrick in the stove and bent up some 3/8ths plate steel into "L's"--I put one to the left and one to the right and then bent one for front to back and set it on top of the other two--I didn't weld or make an other modifications. I am now being told that this is going to hold too much heat and wreck the stove on one hand, then I have other people saying it will work great and don't look back.

Basically I want somebody that has the facts to tell me if i am an idiot or not and whether I should pull the pieces out and cut my own firebrick or leave it the way it is. Quadrafire has been having trouble with these fireboxes cracking and they aren't doing much to help the customers--I almost wish I didn't spend the $2300 for it. I THOUGHT I would be helping it with the heavy plate being OVER the original firebrick--but what they are saying is that the infared radiation will just bounce off the steel and will make the stove go super-nova.

Any and all info will be most appreciated... I like the idea of burning wood and it has saved me oil but I don't want to make a bad mistake and burn my house down.

Thanks a ton!

Tony Ruggiero
Andover CT

 

[begreen]

Welcome Tony. Sounds like you have been getting a lot of conflicting advice. There have been issues with this stove's manifold welds. You can check your stove by pulling the side panels. If the stove body exterior looks fine, you're probably in good shape. I wouldn't modify the original design of the stove in case there is an issue. As for the firebrick, it's pumice. You don't need to order it from Quadrafire. Here's another source.

(broken link removed to http://stores.homestead.com/firebrickusa/-strse-Pumice-Firebrick/Categories.bok)

 

[stovelark]

Hi Tony welcome to the forum. Quad 5700 has been around many years now built like tanks big stove tons of heat the firebrick tempers the flame heat going to the steel shell and focuses the fireball of heat forward too through the glass one of the main heat sources. Don't really think the steel shelves you've made will hurt anything.. however consumers should not modify their stove it has been approved by design, thats the right answer. The bricks are as begreen said pumice, if possible the hardened firebrick are the better choice. Yes sets from quad are pricey they rarely come in undamaged as well. Most stove dealers sell firebrick or can direct you where to get them. Be happy- thats a great stove prob in an unfin basement sending lots of heat upstairs?? Good luck.

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS pellet
Enviro Kodiak 1700 FS wood
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet

 

[FyreBug]

Also, you may want to spend a few extra bucks for 'refractory' bricks. They are much denser than pumice and will last much longer (10+ years easy).

 

[Jags]

Be aware - not all bricks are created equal. Not only is there different styles of brick (pumice, refractory, etc). There are different reflective properties. Quad specifically uses the pumice for its properties. Something to think about before going with a different style of brick.

 

[Docwheelhorse]

Hi--thanks for the replies.... guess I am looking for a different answer and will just lay it out.
1) Is the steel I added SAFE---I.E.won't cause damage to the stove?
2) Will there be any noticeable performance changes?

Yes I realise stove should be run "stock" but people are improving from "stock" on everything, I spent a few bucks and worked for a few hours to get the steel right and it is not the easiest to get the heavy pieces in or out.

Yes I also have a little bit of a lazy streak going and just siggghhhhed when the thought of having to pull the pieces out ran through my head.

I REALLY appreciate the info and if its the only way to go I will buy the refractory and start over.

Stove is installed in a finished basement in the side that I created a "mechanical room" with the boiler, water pump, washer/dryer and a bare cement floor. I also built a resteraunt type style hood and opened a heat register up through my wood floor into the main level and the heat rises up and heats the floor beautifully.

Thanks Tony Ruggiero
Andover CT

 

[Huntindog1]

Doc,

Those Pumice fire bricks are meant to have more of an insulating properties. The stove having them as stock is designed to handle having your firebox insulated. But those type bricks are not as durable like someone said.

Think about this for a moment most time I would say most of the time you are not gonna run the stove wide open full blast. Most of the time stoves are working at lower setting like say medium or less settings that are putting out less heat. The stove for safety reason has been designed to take higher levels of heat . People post on here alot saying my stove top got to 750 degrees I thought it was going to melt down on me. When actually the stove can take much more than that.

Plus ask your self what in the stove is taking the brunt of the heat and thats the firebricks and the ceramic baffle plate.

Welds cracking issue is a stove quality issue. If you think your stove is defective I would have it checked out.

If all that is the issue are some cracks in the bricks and you are just using some steel to better hold the bricks in place , I wouldnt think that would cause an issue.

 

[Jags]

Hi--thanks for the replies.... guess I am looking for a different answer and will just lay it out.
1) Is the steel I added SAFE---I.E.won't cause damage to the stove?
2) Will there be any noticeable performance changes?

Tony - We will not be able to tell you if the added steel is safe or not. It has never been tested in that config, so a definitive answer is outside of our expertise. Only gut feeling or opinion is left. My opinion is - if you keep a close eye on stove temps, you will probably not have an issue.

On performance - the steel is going to reflect more heat back to the core of the firebox. The pumice brick are insulating and you are adding a reflective plate to this. Again, just a gut feeling, but you may be increasing the core temp of this stove over the original design. Will it affect performance? Dunno. Possibly you could burn out the refractory or burn tubes faster than normal, but again - just a hunch.

 

[Huntindog1]

Jag, I was thinking along the lines that at most the steel could heat up and conduct heat to another part of the stove. Would that hurt the stove, just dont know.

 

[Jags]

Jag, I was thinking along the lines that at most the steel could heat up and conduct heat to another part of the stove. Would that hurt the stove, just dont know.

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, but I am not sure that it would conduct and transfer enough to be dangerous. Really its uncharted territory.