I bought a Quadra Castile two years ago. Since that time I am into my fourth control panel. The service at my dealer has been slow and the information from the company is poor. When the stove is working it is noisy and requires frequent cleaning. I find access to key components for service and cleaning is not very friendly. I bought this stove because I was led to believe that it was a solid stove and much superior to it's competition. Is this stove a Monday morning stove or do other owners share the same concerns?
problems with quadra-fire castile
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I am wondering if you have power issues on the circuit feeding the stove low/hi voltage or surges? I would recommend a full sine wave ups to protect your expensive investment...Burning a bag a day of Eastern Embers I have I do a pretty complete cleaning 3 times a week and it takes about 15 minutes. I don't think the ash pan would go a week without overflowing!!
We have a few out in service. Only control boards that have gone out are from lightning surges that took out all the electronics in the house. Seems to be a pretty reliable stove. Basic cleaning is pretty easy but getting the combustion blower off (if needed) for the annual cleaning is not so much fun.
I checked on another forum [might have been" Home and Garden"]. Out of 20 postings 5 had problems with control panels. I bought a very expensive surge protector after the Ist panel still the problem persists. It may be an electrical problem as the fuse and the snap disc went with the last panel. What type of surge protector should I be using?
I have a satelite receiver and big flat panel tv connected to the same circuit . Nothing has gone haywire with them.
A surge protector is just that..protects you from surges i.e lightening primiarly, but doesn't do anything for low or high voltage issues which could cause problems....check with any electrician friends or your utility to see if they can check the voltage (over a period of time) at that outlet. A UPS is designed to regulate the power coming out of it providing clean power to your stove.
As far as cleaning, the interior panels remove easily ...take the top baffle out first then the 2 back plates lift up and out. Pull the cleaning bars for the heat exchanger (I brush them off too) sweep the ash into the traps and then brush and vacuum all surfaces. Then I clean the glass dispose of the ash...15 min max.
JTP..do you have a procedure for removing the exhaust fan??
As far as cleaning, the interior panels remove easily ...take the top baffle out first then the 2 back plates lift up and out. Pull the cleaning bars for the heat exchanger (I brush them off too) sweep the ash into the traps and then brush and vacuum all surfaces. Then I clean the glass dispose of the ash...15 min max.
JTP..do you have a procedure for removing the exhaust fan??
I follow the same cleaning process. Every 50 bags. I have not removed the exhaust blower. None of the blowers look easy to remove. I will check into a UPS devise and talk to an electrician. The blower at the rear bottom looks like a real prize to remove and clean.
This site sells filters/surge protectors. (broken link removed to http://www.elect-spec.com/acprot2.htm#Commercial) Grade
Like the poster above said, spike protection alone is not enough. These filters eliminate any RFI (radio frequency interference). You don't happen to have a CB radio with linear amp or Ham Radio, do you?
If you have frequent drops in electric service like I do, for some reason, when it comes back on, it's usually at a high or low voltage until the line gets loaded back up. That can kill you. For my computer, I have a surge supressor system with a relay built in that opens the circuit and won't let it come back without a manual reset. That may not be a best choice, now that I think of it, if you are away from home and the stove goes off.
Like the poster above said, spike protection alone is not enough. These filters eliminate any RFI (radio frequency interference). You don't happen to have a CB radio with linear amp or Ham Radio, do you?
If you have frequent drops in electric service like I do, for some reason, when it comes back on, it's usually at a high or low voltage until the line gets loaded back up. That can kill you. For my computer, I have a surge supressor system with a relay built in that opens the circuit and won't let it come back without a manual reset. That may not be a best choice, now that I think of it, if you are away from home and the stove goes off.
http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
This little jewel will not only tell you how much electricity you are using but it will also tell you how much the voltage and frequency varied over time. I'm getting one.
I put a ampprobe on my pool pump today and found out that sucker is costing me $37 a month to run 12 hours a day.
This little jewel will not only tell you how much electricity you are using but it will also tell you how much the voltage and frequency varied over time. I'm getting one.
I put a ampprobe on my pool pump today and found out that sucker is costing me $37 a month to run 12 hours a day.
Thank you for the suggestion on using a filter. What should be the technical specs for such a filter? I note there is a wide range available.
zinfit said:
Since most stoves don't use over 9 amps for startup using the igniters, the 15 amp Commercial grade should be fine. That's what I plan to get.
Preventing low or high consistent voltages during power surges or outages, the only real answer there is an uninterruptible power supply, which is another option, although I don't think it protects from RFI or lightning strikes. Could be wrong.
tjnamtiw said:
I ordered my Kill a Watt EZ today for $36 from drugstore dot com with free shipping. They shipped it already.
The convection blower is on the bottom and is very easy to remove it has two screws on each side that you loosen and it lifts out. about the control board burning out you might wanna check the heating element wires that could be shorting out I have seen this be for and i would then check the voltage.
The manuel says 115 v , 4.1 amps at start up and 1 amp when running. The fuse is 7 amps. Seems that a computer type filter might be suitable for this stove. A 15 amps filter appears to fast . What do you say?
zinfit said:
Too fast??? Don't know what you mean. 15 amps is just its max load carrying ability. These filters appear to have additional protection over BB computer types.
tjnamtiw said:
Finally, if you truly want voltage conditioning, we used to use Sola Voltage Regulators on our computer controlled molding machines and robots. You can google them and consider them if you REALLY want steady voltage. All you need is money......
) I guess I will find out if this is still a problem as I fire up my new Quads this fall.I was told that comparing electricity to cars: volts is the torque, amps is the speed and watts is the fuel mileage. I am no electrician, this was a simple rule of thumb, don't know if the comparison is valid.
zinfit said:
I'd say Volts is the octane of the gas, amps is the flow of gas to the engine and watts is the torque.
I should clarify the last set of problems. The stove totally shut down [no power]. Replaced the fuse. Stove started up then the pellet feeder quit. I bypassed the snap disk and the feeder started running. Then the rear lower blower would.t run[the one that pushes out the heated air into the room]. I bypassed it's disc. This didn't make any difference. I talked to the dealer and he says it's either a blower or the control panel. I took it back to the dealer for service. If it's the control panel it will it's fourth. The fuse was a 7 amps fuse.
Got the stove back from the shop. Plug it in and all that happens is flashing blue lights. Checked the wiring with an electrician he says it's not the source of the problem. He figures there is something shorting the system. I've given up. I will be returning the product and looking for a reasonable cash settlement. If they don't stand behind the product they will have a day in small claims court., The company in it's sales material makes a very strong committment to quality and performance and an assurance to the customer. I will let you know how this works out.
The flashing blue light is normal when power is first restored to the unit. I assume nothing else will work though? Did you try to call for heat?
Yes. The blue light flashes in a certain sequence then stops. Is there something else that a person must do to bring on the call for heat? I have hit the reset button with no reaction
To get it to call for heat you can install a jumper wire on the thermostat connectors to completely bypass the thermostat. Sounds to me like you may have a short somewhere. Myself, I would have been out there checking for a short after the second box shorted out and had ruled out incorrect installation of the control box, i.e. installed it while the unit is plugged in. I would get the dealer to address this problem and hopefully these control boxes are being warrentied for you as the Quad's carry a 2 year electrical warranty. Even if you are out of warranty this has been an ongoing issue and should be documented with Quadra-Fire if all the correct procedures are being followed by the dealer.
I returned the stove to the dealer. I left him a demand letter which gave him the option of paying me $3000, giving me a wood burning stove of comparable value or going to small claims court. Yesterday I received a cheque in the mail for $3000. Based on my experience with this stove it would take some serious arm twisting to go with another pellet stove. From what I see on this forum Harman seems to be the most dependable and reliable stove. Any recommendations on a wood burning stove?
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