New member with questions about Quad Santa Fe

[NBlife]

Hi there, new member here. I have used wood stoves for around 10 years, this is my first pellet stove, and it's taking a bit of getting used to! I have been reading here after searching the forums, but there's a few questions I have that I can't seem to find the answers to. I am a member of other forums, so I am familiar with the search function, but if I am asking common questions that have already been answered many times, I apologize!

First, the stove is new and was installed this fall. It is a Quad fire Santa Fe. The build date is December/14. I am using a "premium" hardwood pellet (Canawick) which seems to be very popular around here. I use the stove most of the day, then use a mini split at night (quieter).

I have been religious at cleaning out the fire pot every night, as well as vacuuming the ash from inside the fire box. I am very particular about maintenance (even though we've only had it just over a month). I'm very happy so far with the performance. I have a couple of questions/concerns that hopefully some of you that are more experienced can help me with.

Is there an easier way to clean the fire pot? I'm on my hands and knees every night, scraping out the (small amount) of build up on the sides of the pot, using a flat head screwdriver. It's very awkward reaching in there basically blind, and I'm worried with all the scraping and eventual banging on the bottom door with the screwdriver, that I'm going to damage something. I'm sure that a lot of people don't do it every day, but I feel a bit better knowing that it's cleaned out for the next morning every time. Are there any tricks to make this task easier?

I've heard mention of using a Dremel tool to do this, and I thought I'd ask what the consensus is on this, and what type of head to use for this specifically.

The owners manual has schedules for regular maintenance/cleaning, but has 2 different intervals for pulling the baffle and vacuuming behind there and the exhaust port. One says 2 weeks, the other says monthly. Any thoughts?

I'll leave it at that for now, as I don't want to be annoying and ask too many questions at once.

Thanks in advance for any insights/advice.

Cheers

 

[kappel15]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I have a 2006 model of your stove. I am a clean freak, but there is no need to clean the firebox out that often, and you don't need to scrape the firepot that often either. If the trap door starts getting hard to open, it is time to scrape the pot floor. Easiest way to do it is to loosen the bolt in the swing arm enough that the floor catch at the back of the pot,clears it and the pot floor will pop right out to the front of the stove for easy cleaning. Also, you can clean the pot floor by burning some corn, or a mix of corn/pellets. I burn a mix as corn is cheaper then pellets. and keeps the pot floor clean. I would do two weeks first. Then you will know how dirty it gets in that amount of time. If not too dirty, then go monthly. kap

 

[NBlife]

Kappel, thank you so much for your reply. Much appreciated! In reading a LOT of the threads here, I can see you are an amazing source of information.

I will attempt to let it go a little bit longer between cleanings/scraping (although my OCD will be killing me lol). I might try to find a better tool to clean the fire pot (as I mentioned possibly a Dremel - not sure what head to use on it) that'll probably help as well.

Any suggestions on the interval for removing the baffle and vacuuming behind the exhaust vent and tubes?

Thank you again for your reply! Cheers!

 

[kappel15]

As I mentioned above, I would go two weeks and then remove baffle and see how dirty it is. This should tell you how often you need to clean it. I don't clean my pipes for at least a couple months, depending on how much fuel I am burning. Stay warm. kap

 

[NBlife]

Kap, thanks again. Missed the 2 week part, getting old I guess!

Cheers!

 

[kappel15]

Your welcome. kap

 

[Jonkman]

Welcome to the forums.

I have a Quadrafire Castile which is basically the same thing except it has a fancier outside...anyways. Like Kap said, you basically need to figure out how dirty it gets. I'll tell you my schedule...on Wednesday nights I open her up do a quick scrape with the scraping tool or small chisel and pull the handle and let the ash fall into the ash pan. Then I just use an ash vacuum and do a quick vacuum of the ash in the box and then I clean the glass. Take about 5 minutes.

On Saturdays, I do the same procedure as Wednesday PLUS I do pull the back firebricks and top cover and vacuum that out and vacuum the exchanger tubes. This whole procedure on Saturdays takes maybe 10-15 minutes max.

I do this every Wednesday and Saturday religiously and have no issues. I only clean the venting system after the season is done in the spring and I have been fine. Going on 3 years now. I burn Pro Pellets (in Michigan area) and they are pretty good pellets.

 

[Wooden Head]

Hi there, new member here. I have used wood stoves for around 10 years, this is my first pellet stove, and it's taking a bit of getting used to! I have been reading here after searching the forums, but there's a few questions I have that I can't seem to find the answers to. I am a member of other forums, so I am familiar with the search function, but if I am asking common questions that have already been answered many times, I apologize!

First, the stove is new and was installed this fall. It is a Quad fire Santa Fe. The build date is December/14. I am using a "premium" hardwood pellet (Canawick) which seems to be very popular around here. I use the stove most of the day, then use a mini split at night (quieter).

I have been religious at cleaning out the fire pot every night, as well as vacuuming the ash from inside the fire box. I am very particular about maintenance (even though we've only had it just over a month). I'm very happy so far with the performance. I have a couple of questions/concerns that hopefully some of you that are more experienced can help me with.

Is there an easier way to clean the fire pot? I'm on my hands and knees every night, scraping out the (small amount) of build up on the sides of the pot, using a flat head screwdriver. It's very awkward reaching in there basically blind, and I'm worried with all the scraping and eventual banging on the bottom door with the screwdriver, that I'm going to damage something. I'm sure that a lot of people don't do it every day, but I feel a bit better knowing that it's cleaned out for the next morning every time. Are there any tricks to make this task easier?

I've heard mention of using a Dremel tool to do this, and I thought I'd ask what the consensus is on this, and what type of head to use for this specifically.

The owners manual has schedules for regular maintenance/cleaning, but has 2 different intervals for pulling the baffle and vacuuming behind there and the exhaust port. One says 2 weeks, the other says monthly. Any thoughts?

I'll leave it at that for now, as I don't want to be annoying and ask too many questions at once.

Thanks in advance for any insights/advice.

Cheers

I only use mine between morning and bed time. With this type of use, every morning I scrape the pot with a angled tool I have and vacuum the ashes. I have no need to open the door on the bottom of the pot to drop ashes into the ash bin. This means I can seal the ash bin to keep the cold air that comes in from the fresh air intake and the exhaust pipe from spilling into the house. I also use a piece of stove gasket with magnets attached to seal the air wash on the door face. this seals the door from cold outside air coming into the house.

Another item you should get is a tool to clean the air intake holes in the burn pot. I use a cleaning brush from a gen cleaning kit that I have bent to get the correct angle. I clean these holes about once a month.