Quad MVAE Autoclean Rant

[Madcodger]

OK, so I like my Quadrafire Mt Vernon AE, and find the autoclean feature handy most of the time. It keeps my stove cleaning down to once/week unless I'm burning a very ashy pellet, and that's a good thing. But on battery backup, even though it goes a bit longer without auto cleaning, it still happens far too often. We lost power during the ice storm, so for the past two mornings I've woken up to a cold house simply because that autoclean runs every few hours. I went to bsttery (shut off generator) at 9:30 last night and got up at about 6:00 to a 58 degree living room. Blasted autoclean!! With a decent quality pellet, the stove could easily go 8-10 hours without cleaning itself, but there's no way to adjust this. Bad design, just like that stupid proprietary thermostat!

There - I feel better. Nothing like a good rant to start the day.

 

[gorooster]

I'm w/ you on this, Mad C. I'm still looking for some info. re. the best setting to minimize autocleaning. Given a good pellet that isn't too ashy and not making much soot, am I better off running it on hard wood/soft wood/or utility (it's done well on 'utility' and I've only used the same Heat'r brand from Home Depot). Likewise, does it run the autocycle fewer times if it's set on auto versus manual (I believe that's correct, but am not sure). If I fudge the fuel setting (set it to hardwood instead of utility), what is compromised...??? Will that cause more ash or soot? I'd rather put in a few more minutes cleaning than have it cycle so many times, which puts more stress on the ignitor, more risk to the board, and more stress on the auto clean mechanics.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

the best setting to minimize autocleaning.

The setting that gives the longest time between autoclean cycles is softwood.

does it run the autocycle fewer times if it's set on auto versus manual

I have not heard this before. That doesn't mean that I don't believe it's true, it means I have some research to do. I thought that on battery power it goes into manual mode and quiet blower mode. Again, I am unsure and have to do some research.
During our power outage last year, I got most of a day on battery without an autoclean. I run in hardwood mode and manual except in milder weather when I switch to automatic mode.
I think that the stove also plays with the air fuel ratio with respect to the hardwood/softwood setting. Probably not a big deal, sub-optimized is not going to make a huge difference in performance.
Yeah, I wish that manual mode was really manual mode instead of being a constant output mode. It's nice to have all of the great features built into this stove, I just wish that I could turn them off when I want to.

 

[Madcodger]

While a check of the manual is a good idea, I think the autoclean is the same whether on auto or manual. Battery power essentially makes it almost twice as long between cleanings, but still not long enough.

 

[gorooster]

thanks, guys.