Newbie with a pioneer iii

[jph7231984]

Hello. I had a pioneer iii installed in my addition . My home is currently 2500 sq Ft colonial. The stove is in a 22.5’ x 19’ room with a 14’ opening into other Rooms. They kinda talked me into the larger one but I can with ease get the room to 85 degrees and keep the rest of my house at 68-70. With out reloading the stove some bedrooms get down to 64 ish and the coldest about 60. I do love this thing although I could probably burn more efficiently with a pioneer ii. The house stays warm well after the fire is out. My question is that I’ve burned about 3/4 of a rikk in about 8 days . I’ve been packing it at night choking it down and I know that’s not good to do in regards to creasote deposits and I’m getting deposits on the glass . Last night I didn’t choke it and woke up to nicely burning coals and clean glass. I also haven’t been able to fully use it to its capacity because first fire the circuit breaker was fried. The tech called quadrafire and supposedly this was the first of this ever happening to this model. 2 weeks later they installed a new circuit board and instantly popped the breaker and fried that one… 3rd is in order. My SBT button works, manually adjusts the flu in stages , fan works , but the light on the button is non existent and there is no communication with the thermostat. I’m frustrated to say the least. Oh I also have 1 heat zone kit installed in our master that’s above the room the fire place is in so it really doesn’t need to be turned on. Just looking for tips . Running humidifiers all over my house to to try to keep it around 38-40% . I really love burning wood . But this is much different than my ol manual pot belly stove in my msn cage. If any has and words of wisdom I would greatly appreciate it . John from Ohio

 

[Mwr2256]

I am also just installed a pioneer 3 in our new house, I run the furnace fan on all the time and it seems to help distribute the heat. I draw air out of the basement for the fan. Mine does seem to go through plenty of wood but it is also split very small. Burning oak. It does seem odd how yours keeps blowing the circuit board. Have you turned the breaker on without it hooked up and made sure something isn’t funny with the wiring? I ran mine manually one night because I didn’t feel like it was burning long enough and like you I woke up with smoked glass. The thermostat doesn’t seem to do much because I always have it set low so it chokes it down to make the wood last as long as I can but still doesn’t last more than 6 hours, we’ll see tonight I loaded it up good. Not sure where they get their 18 hour burn time!I was wondering about burning hedge (Osage orange) in it but I know that stuff can burn really hot and don’t want ruin something. It sure does make a pretty fire and has a nice viewing glass.

 

[jph7231984]

Hey thanks for the reply . I’m pretty sure the wiring is good because we just put this addition on and it’s jumped to an electrical outlet right next to the fire place . The button still works and just dampens the flu on a timer basically . No lights come on when you activate the switch . It’s almost two weeks since they came to service it and had to order a second circuit board. So when you set the temp down on the thermostat it just chokes the damper way down ? Basically now burning dirty creating more creasote? I’ve noticed it also depends on how you stack the wood as well. What they manual calls for certain size logs stacked 3 high . If I have any coals it’s difficult to get three splits in there two deep.

 

[Mwr2256]

So the thermostat doesn’t really seem to change the operation much, it doesn’t seem to dampen it down near enough soon enough, but I think it is not doing that to get a clean burn. I don’t know if it goes off of the temp sensors in the fire box or how it exactly controls it, I’d like to call Quadra fire and find out. Basically it never seems to close the air all the way down until it’s coals, it just slowly shuts it a little at a time even when it’s not calling for heat. I really think my wood size is affecting my burn time I hope, had to buy some from a neighbor because mine wasn’t dry, most the pieces are 4x4x16. How long of burn time are you getting and what kind of wood?

 

[Fredjmillard]

So the thermostat doesn’t really seem to change the operation much, it doesn’t seem to dampen it down near enough soon enough, but I think it is not doing that to get a clean burn. I don’t know if it goes off of the temp sensors in the fire box or how it exactly controls it, I’d like to call Quadra fire and find out. Basically it never seems to close the air all the way down until it’s coals, it just slowly shuts it a little at a time even when it’s not calling for heat. I really think my wood size is affecting my burn time I hope, had to buy some from a neighbor because mine wasn’t dry, most the pieces are 4x4x16. How long of burn time are you getting and what kind of wood?

@Mwr2256 have you got the circuit board issue resolved? Any additional updates on how you and the pioneer iii are getting along? I am strongly considering this fireplace but have concerns with how smart it is. I would like to run a heat dump down into my basement and not entirely sure how to configure with the thermostat and sbt tech.

 

[Mwr2256]

@Mwr2256 have you got the circuit board issue resolved? Any additional updates on how you and the pioneer iii are getting along? I am strongly considering this fireplace but have concerns with how smart it is. I would like to run a heat dump down into my basement and not entirely sure how to configure with the thermostat and sbt tech.

I really like the SBT, it does a really good job of keeping the glass clean and has been much easier to operate than first anticipated. It heats our 2000 square foot home very nice but I do wish I had put on the extra duct to blow hot air in the basement. I do have it sucking the air from the basement for the fan which definitely helps. I wouldn’t be concerned with how smart it is but this is also my first unit.