Quadra-Fire gas stove exploded!!!

[Michkg2000]

So I am new to this and looking to heat my back garage. Bought a used Columbia Bay Quadra-fire Aladdin stove. Hooked it up it work for a week on my LP. Then it would light from the pilot and run for a minute the shut off. After that I lit the pilot again and the pilot would not say lit. Let it sit for and hour start over and the same results it would run for a minute the nothing.......

So then I called the repair guy from a dealer of these. He came out replaced the pilot light. Then it turns out it never had an LP conversion kit installed. He installed it. Reset logs started it up worked fine. That’s were everything went south. He put the glass back on and reconnect the direct vent. The pilot was lit and turned on the switch. The stoves didn’t light. He turned the switch off then on again. Then nothing. Then BOOM!! It shattered all the glass blew the door off about 10 feet. The metal rails in the door that glass seals to are bent. We were luck we were not hurt standing there. I don’t know what went wrong. So then I get a bill for 198 bucks. I just bought all the pipe from him about 400 bucks a month ago....... what do I do? I know I didn’t have a 4000 stove but he is a professional and blew up my
Stove like a grenade???? I feel like I should get something. Am I wrong? Please help.

 

[Uncle Threge]

So I am new to this and looking to heat my back garage. Bought a used Columbia Bay Quadra-fire Aladdin stove. Hooked it up it work for a week on my LP. Then it would light from the pilot and run for a minute the shut off. After that I lit the pilot again and the pilot would not say lit. Let it sit for and hour start over and the same results it would run for a minute the nothing.......

So then I called the repair guy from a dealer of these. He came out replaced the pilot light. Then it turns out it never had an LP conversion kit installed. He installed it. Reset logs started it up worked fine. That’s were everything went south. He put the glass back on and reconnect the direct vent. The pilot was lit and turned on the switch. The stoves didn’t light. He turned the switch off then on again. Then nothing. Then BOOM!! It shattered all the glass blew the door off about 10 feet. The metal rails in the door that glass seals to are bent. We were luck we were not hurt standing there. I don’t know what went wrong. So then I get a bill for 198 bucks. I just bought all the pipe from him about 400 bucks a month ago....... what do I do? I know I didn’t have a 4000 stove but he is a professional and blew up my
Stove like a grenade???? I feel like I should get something. Am I wrong? Please help.

Sorry to hear about your exploding stove. Here is what I would Do. DO Not let your repairman disassemble the stove to see what went wrong. Hire another fireplace company to do a inspection on the stove to see whether the conversion was done properly. Check to see that the correct parts were used i.e. proper l.p. pilot orifice, regulator, burner orifice and burner if required by manufacturer to change. Check for proper venting. My guess is if this was all done properly the tech did not get the burner tube mounted back on the burner oriface properly. Propane being heavier the nat gas then filled the lower part of the stove every time he turned on the switch. when the gas finally reached the pilot it exploded due to an over load of fuel. I would speak with the owner of the company you hired and calmly try to work something out. Document everything while its fresh in your mind. They should have liability insurance for something like this.

 

[Michkg2000]

Thanks for the response. The tech left after it happened. He took the door with him to see if it was available anymore. I called to talk to the owner today, he was not there this afternoon. I explained what happened last night to the woman on the phone. She said she had not heard anything about a stove exploding. She said will be forwarding this message to the owner right away. I was calm I’m not to the point where I’m angry. The stove is in a detached garage. The parts for the LP conversation were in a bag with the stove when I got it. He did install them but I double checked the size of the orifice that he installed was about .0606 ID and the one he removed measured .1030 ID. These measures were taken with a caliper. I hope to hear from them by the end of the day. Now the idea that the burner wasn’t all the way in does make sense to me. I will call another place and see what they say about inspecting the LP conversion.

 

[Michkg2000]

So I talk to the owner and he said they are looking for parts. I got the feeling that they are going to want me to pay for parts. Again I don’t think I am responsible for any of this. The stove exploded when the technician was working on it.

 

[Uncle Threge]

So I talk to the owner and he said they are looking for parts. I got the feeling that they are going to want me to pay for parts. Again I don’t think I am responsible for any of this. The stove exploded when the technician was working on it.

Well like i said before, document every thing that happened and every conversation that you have (had). Sometimes parts get broken while being worked on from being old, rusty, fatigued etc. in that case a customer would be expected to pay for the part. In your case i recommended another company inspect the work that was done. I would expect the business owner to replace the part at his cost if they were negligent. I certainly would not offer to to pay the service bill or for the parts until something is worked out. When the service tech agreed to work on the fireplace i believe they assume some liability. If it was not installed to your local codes he should have refused. Maybe you agree to pay for the parts at his cost and he writes off the service charges ?

 

[Michkg2000]

Looks like they are going to replace the stove with an older model they have at the store. We discussed payment and it is was asked that I would pay the amount for the new pilot that was installed on my stove. I am happy with this outcome as long as this all works out. Will update later.

 

[k0wtz]

not the best solution but if you get heat a good deal then!!