Pacific Energy cracked welds

[Todd]

I'm surprised we don't see more damages the way they insulate these fire boxes creating such high temps to get good secondary combustion and high efficiency. Hope PE comes though for you. Keep pushin!

 

[Nic36]

Here is a picture of the crack on the left side of my stove. I've reduced the picture some, so it might not be as easy to see. The crack is along the bottom of the weld. It looks like the weld is separating. Any thoughts?

 

[madison]

? For any lawyer in the forum:

- What are the legal ramifications of a warranty from a manufacturer outside the USA and products purchased within the US? And complicating this issue, is that from what I have learned from our local dealer, that the stove dealers are responsible for responding to warranty issues--and then reimbursed (hopefully) from the mfg after the repair/replacement.

IMHO - most product warranties are advertising gimmicks and for the most part difficult to use and get satisfactory results.

 

[oldspark]

[quote author="madison" date="1305388999"]? For any lawyer in the forum:

- What are the legal ramifications of a warranty from a manufacturer outside the USA and products purchased within the US? And complicating this issue, is that from what I have learned from our local dealer, that the stove dealers are responsible for responding to warranty issues--and then reimbursed (hopefully) from the mfg after the repair/replacement.

IMHO - most product warranties are advertising gimmicks and for the most part difficult to use and get satisfactory results.[/quote You sell a stove (an expensive one at that) you stand behind it or you lose business and people will buy a much cheaper stove. They dont want to sell stoves in the USA than stay north of the border.

I screwed this post up.
You sell an expensive stove and you stand behind it or people will buy elsewhere and they can keep their stove north of the border.

 

[certified106]

Hemlock the original poster posted this 2 days ago on the other thread so lets see how this turns out as it's only been 6 days since the original post saying a crack was found.....

Edit - Update. Sent a bit more directly worded e-mail to PE, and they replied that it will be repaired by the dealer. They are contacting the dealer themselves. We’ll see what transpires now.

It sounds like they have been hard to get a hold of and that somewhat concerns me however I know on some things I have bought such as a dishwasher it took two months and 6 trips for the company to finally get it fixed.

I have been trying to figure out where this weld is exactly since when I look at my T6 I can't find anything that looks like the photos. Also all the welds I have in that area being mentioned look like awesome welds. They are completely flat with the nice nickel rolls and you can tell there is full penetration of the weld bead and that it's not a surface bead.

 

[oldspark]

I dont think we are ripping on PE, 106 you have a newer PE stove right, I think most of the bad welds were from stoves made a few years ago.

 

[certified106]

I dont think we are ripping on PE, 106 you have a newer PE stove right, I think most of the bad welds were from stoves made a few years ago.

Edited: the original post ripping might have been a bit harsh

Took a real careful look at my stove and figured out why the pictures don't match up. I dont have a square piece of tubing running flat above the front door. The side posts on both sides of the door are cut at 45° angles and the square tubing is cut to give it an angled slope from the door to the top of the firebox. I attached two photos to see if I'm looking in the right area.

 

[hemlock]

Let's give PE a chance. It has only been one week. They were difficult to get a hold of (took a bit), but progress is being made. I'm quite convince they are bad welds. If you were able to see them up close, you would see no penentration (some parts have that chewed gum look), and are rougher looking. To me, it looks like lack of heat.

 

[begreen]

Agreed, the weld shown earlier looks like a bad tack job. I am wondering if a batch of these stoves went through the assembly process with missing welds that were manually fixed afterward.

Our stove is of 2007 vintage and has burned about 10 cords of wood so far. I examined the welds an they look fine. No cracks showing at all. Though I did find a nib from the wire welder in the middle of one. Hrmph.

 

[Hogwildz]

My face cracked again on both sides. I will monitor them. Seems like a poor design with so much reinforcements and not allowing expansion & contraction to occur equally among all the parts involved.
As far as poor welds....each and every PE stove comes shipped with a QC card checked off on several parts, welds etc, and signed. These folks obviously are not doing their job in the QC department.
Still love my stove, but prolly the last PE I buy.

 

[certified106]

My face cracked again on both sides. I will monitor them. Seems like a poor design with so much reinforcements and not allowing expansion & contraction to occur equally among all the parts involved.
As far as poor welds....each and every PE stove comes shipped with a QC card checked off on several parts, welds etc, and signed. These folks obviously are not doing their job in the QC department.
Still love my stove, but prolly the last PE I buy.

Why would you monitor the crack? If it's a lifetime guarantee make them fix it or replace it!

It figures that I think I'm making an upgrade moving from the Dutchwest to a PE stove after reading how much everyone loves their PE and then three months after I buy one people start posting they wouldn't own them due to cracking. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to make such wonderful decisions I sure hope I don't regret buying this stove.

 

[oldspark]

I bought mine a year ago and I'm with you 106, I sure hope I do not have any problems with mine, for the cost of these stoves they ought to heal them selves.

 

[raybonz]

My face cracked again on both sides. I will monitor them. Seems like a poor design with so much reinforcements and not allowing expansion & contraction to occur equally among all the parts involved.
As far as poor welds....each and every PE stove comes shipped with a QC card checked off on several parts, welds etc, and signed. These folks obviously are not doing their job in the QC department.
Still love my stove, but prolly the last PE I buy.

Why would you monitor the crack? If it's a lifetime guarantee make them fix it or replace it!

It figures that I think I'm making an upgrade moving from the Dutchwest to a PE stove after reading how much everyone loves their PE and then three months after I buy one people start posting they wouldn't own them due to cracking. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to make such wonderful decisions I sure hope I don't regret buying this stove.

Hi Cert,
This crack thing may be in some older units so you may be OK.. It's ironic that what I considered the Alderlea's strangth turns out to be it's weakness.. What I don't like is how slow PE is handling the problem and also the $150.00 ceiling to get a welder to repair it.. Not what I expect as a warranty repair.. In my mind a new firebox or a factory repair would be the solution and at PE's expense.. I am watching this play out and as the minutes go by my regard for this company is dropping like a rock.. Man I hate hearing things like this when we shell our hard earned cash for a wood stove..

Ray

 

[madison]

My face cracked again on both sides. I will monitor them. Seems like a poor design with so much reinforcements and not allowing expansion & contraction to occur equally among all the parts involved.
As far as poor welds....each and every PE stove comes shipped with a QC card checked off on several parts, welds etc, and signed. These folks obviously are not doing their job in the QC department.
Still love my stove, but prolly the last PE I buy.

Why would you monitor the crack? If it's a lifetime guarantee make them fix it or replace it!

The hard part is defining who is "them", and who will respond to the warranty claim. ""Them" could be either the dealer or mfg, neither of which wants to absorb the cost of the repair -- forget about replacement. And both the dealer and the mfg will point to each other as the root cause for the lack of response.

 

[raybonz]

My face cracked again on both sides. I will monitor them. Seems like a poor design with so much reinforcements and not allowing expansion & contraction to occur equally among all the parts involved.
As far as poor welds....each and every PE stove comes shipped with a QC card checked off on several parts, welds etc, and signed. These folks obviously are not doing their job in the QC department.
Still love my stove, but prolly the last PE I buy.

Why would you monitor the crack? If it's a lifetime guarantee make them fix it or replace it!

The hard part is defining who is "them", and who will respond to the warranty claim. ""Them" could be either the dealer or mfg, neither of which wants to absorb the cost of the repair -- forget about replacement. And both the dealer and the mfg will point to each other as the root cause for the lack of response.

I would define THEM as PE paying for the repair and the dealer as the one who handles and is compensated by PE for the defect.. You can't fault the dealer for a design flaw or QC issue..

Ray

 

[hemlock]

Think I'll just wind up fixing it myself. It's been a cold, wet and windy May out here, and I've been running my oil for the last week. PE should fix it, I agree - but I don't feel like playing games with distibutor vs PE and haggling over repair cost caps, etc...... which is what this seems to be turning into. This should be simple - there is a 5 year warranty, so fix it.

 

[certified106]

Think I'll just wind up fixing it myself. It's been a cold, wet and windy May out here, and I've been running my oil for the last week. PE should fix it, I agree - but I don't feel like playing games with distibutor vs PE and haggling over repair cost caps, etc...... which is what this seems to be turning into. This should be simple - there is a 5 year warranty, so fix it.
Yeah - I do like the stove. No, I wouldn't buy another one.

Do not back down they need to fix it or replace it and they have stated they will take car of it! If you back down it's just setting a precedence for them to not honor their warranty. Warranty items can take a little while to process especially when you start talking about a large corporation and the fact this isn't something easy like just sending you a door latch. Do you have an email address for PE? How are you contacting PE?

 

[raybonz]

Think I'll just wind up fixing it myself. It's been a cold, wet and windy May out here, and I've been running my oil for the last week. PE should fix it, I agree - but I don't feel like playing games with distibutor vs PE and haggling over repair cost caps, etc...... which is what this seems to be turning into. This should be simple - there is a 5 year warranty, so fix it.
Yeah - I do like the stove. No, I wouldn't buy another one.

You could be playing into their hands making that move and could void your "warranty" for making this repair.. I am really sorry to hear what you're going through.. PE should be ashamed of themselves and in my opinion are shooting themselves in the foot.. To think I really liked this stove not too long ago.. The pennies they are saving now will cost them dollars down the road.. In my case they probably will lose a potential customer.. At least I learned this information beforehand and not after the fact.. Good luck I hope it goes your way which it should..

Ray

 

[raybonz]

Think I'll just wind up fixing it myself. It's been a cold, wet and windy May out here, and I've been running my oil for the last week. PE should fix it, I agree - but I don't feel like playing games with distibutor vs PE and haggling over repair cost caps, etc...... which is what this seems to be turning into. This should be simple - there is a 5 year warranty, so fix it.
Yeah - I do like the stove. No, I wouldn't buy another one.

Do not back down they need to fix it or replace it and they have stated they will take car of it! If you back down it's just setting a precedence for them to not honor their warranty. Warranty items can take a little while to process especially when you start talking about a large corporation and the fact this isn't something easy like just sending you a door latch. Do you have an email address for PE? How are you contacting PE?

+1 Make them honor their warranty! If they made cars they'd be out of business right now..

Ray

 

[Sisu]

Think I'll just wind up fixing it myself. It's been a cold, wet and windy May out here, and I've been running my oil for the last week. PE should fix it, I agree - but I don't feel like playing games with distibutor vs PE and haggling over repair cost caps, etc...... which is what this seems to be turning into. This should be simple - there is a 5 year warranty, so fix it.
Yeah - I do like the stove. No, I wouldn't buy another one.

Like Certified said, don't give up now. It will take some time and luckily the burn season is at or is coming to an end. Check to see what is written in your manual that came with your stove, in regard to the 5 year comprehensive warranty. My manual just speaks to replacement of defective parts, in regard to the 5 year comprehensive warranty. If cracked welds/steel in a firebox is not an example of a defective part, what would be?!

Hogz and I were nice enough to allow PE to repair our fireboxes, despite the word "repair" not being in the 5 year comprehensive warranty. In my case if the repaired welds in my firebox are just as cracked as the originals I will be pursuing the replacement option. Like all PE owners, I paid good money because of the quality and warranty. If PE does not stand behind their quality and warranty, I won't be standing behind PE.

 

[hemlock]

A little update - Sent another e-mail staing that the $150 is unacceptable. PE has stated that the repair will be covered under warranty. I'll wait a bit and see if the distributor gets back to me. PE themselves seem to be being reasonable I have to say. It seems that there may be a disconnect between PE and the dealer. I have half a mind to push for a new firebox.
P.S. - I'm just cranky because its cold out, my stove is sitting there empty, and I'm having to burn oil.

 

[begreen]

By the description, the bad welds did not sound dangerous. Did PE say to not burn in the stove? If they didn't, I'd probably try using the stove, at least for small or medium burns. It shouldn't burn differently than before you cleaned it and noticed the cracked welds.

 

[hemlock]

By the description, the bad welds did not sound dangerous. Did PE say to not burn in the stove? If they didn't, I'd probably try using the stove, at least for small or medium burns. It shouldn't burn differently than before you cleaned it and noticed the cracked welds.

I don't think they are dangerous. They may have been there fore a few years.

 

[oldspark]

By the description, the bad welds did not sound dangerous. Did PE say to not burn in the stove? If they didn't, I'd probably try using the stove, at least for small or medium burns. It shouldn't burn differently than before you cleaned it and noticed the cracked welds.

I don't think they are dangerous. They may have been there fore a few years.

Burn baby burn, I dont think you are going to hurt a thing.

 

[raybonz]

A little update - Sent another e-mail staing that the $150 is unacceptable. PE has stated that the repair will be covered under warranty. I'll wait a bit and see if the distributor gets back to me. PE themselves seem to be being reasonable I have to say. It seems that there may be a disconnect between PE and the dealer. I have half a mind to push for a new firebox.
P.S. - I'm just cranky because its cold out, my stove is sitting there empty, and I'm having to burn oil.

That's good to hear!

Ray