Quad 4100 vs. Lopi Republic? Opinions?

[3dogsrule]

It’s decision time (1 hour away), I’m coming down to the Lopi Republic and the Quadrafire 4100. I was griping around ugly plain metal surrounds earlier, the Quad has a prettier surround than the Lopi, but I’m thinking hard about how easy the Lopi is when it comes to sweeping the chimney and not having to remove baffles (using the bypass instead). The Quad states “The baffle material is 2700* fiber board. Removing hardware exposed to combustion processes can be frustrating. If your reason for removing the baffle is simply to clean the chimney, you have alternatives which will save time and effort. Call a qualified chimney sweep or an authorized Quadra-Fire dealer for details.”

Other than removing the insert, what other options could there be? I like the looks of the Quad but will buy the Lopi solely because of the baffle/bypass thing. It won’t be a professional cleaning my chimney, it’ll be a neighbor doing it in exchange for a 30-pack, so ease of cleaning will outweigh looks (although I hope I don’t have to clean the chimney that often, but still…).

Karen

 

[granpajohn]

I read the same stuff in the QF manual. I visited a local dealer and asked him what the cleaning "alternatives" were, and he said he didn't know why they wrote that. Just remove the baffle and sweep.
So, the first time I did this, after reading the "frustrating" part, (and being an experienced mechanic), I treated the little QF bolts with a penetrant and carefully cranked on them with the appropriate allen wrench. ----They came out easy!.

Summary: from my experience anyway; don't be afraid of the QF because of chimney sweeping. It is not hard to do. I don't know why QF writes this into their manual, but it is a good point that the manual is not well written.

Only other advice I can offer is that I seem to recall someone claiming that the Lopi has a direct bypass that gets the smoke past the baffle and everything when reloading, (or anytime you choose). I know nothing about that, but I do know that my 4100 could really use something like that. If it works and is reliable.

Good luck.

 

[madrone]

Only other advice I can offer is that I seem to recall someone claiming that the Lopi has a direct bypass that gets the smoke past the baffle and everything when reloading, (or anytime you choose). I know nothing about that, but I do know that my 4100 could really use something like that. If it works and is reliable.

Good luck.

The bypass is nice. It works great on my Endeavor. Makes starting from cold easier too.