Quadra Fire Grand Voyageur Advice/Help Needed

[cjw8]

I just had the Quadra-Fire Voyager installed 3 days ago. So far, and I am still learning, but it is a far better heat appliance than the fireplace it went into. The ACC on mine does not work. The installer said it was suppose to automatically travel in, in about 25 minutes but it never moves so I have been setting it manually. It has a nice blue flame and produces no visible smoke. My glass needs to be cleaned daily. Is this normal? The first time I used oven cleaner as suggested. What a pain! Then I found some conditioning glass cleaner by Rutland at Tractor Supply, amazing stuff! The hardest burned on deposits just wipe right off. I did not install the outside fresh air kit. What is the general opinion? I am wondering how much of an efficiency killer it is without it. So far I am pleased except for the ACC not working. The dealer is supposed to come and take a look soon. My only other complaint is I wanted the cast iron surround but was told by my dealer that it was no longer available.

 

[Rick8325]

I have the regular Voyageur model not the grand. I had my dealer out 2 times to look at the ACC controls because the manual is incorrect on how to operate it in my opinion and contradicts itself on different pages. If you shine a flashlight on the bottom right where the ACC control is you will see the quarter shaped piece that slowly closes the round hole in the stove to shut off the extra air in after a few minutes. Shine the light while messing with the knob and you'll understand and see how it works. I don't think mine closes 100%. I get really fast burns. My dealer replaced the glass door because it was making a whooshing sound. That seemed to help. My dealer told me these stoves don't get too much air and I would have to disagree judging by the burn times I get (fast). He took off the plate on the back of the stove for the outside air kit and took off the small metal plate on the bottom of the grate where the fan controls are. I've tried putting the front plate back on to see if it makes a difference but it doesn't. Overall the heat is okay. The majority of the heat goes straight up my stairs to my 2nd floor (I believe this is called the chimney effect). It heats my living room only out of the 3 rooms on my 1st floor. I have a weird designed ceiling molding thing that doesn't allow the any of the heat (the heat that doesn't go up the stairs) in the living room to move into the othr rooms but the stove definitely helps keep the coldest room in my house very comfortable. I never burned wood either and was having a hard time getting the auto fan to come on. That was just from not burning hot enough. I got one of those flat magnetic stove thermometers from lows that I put in the middle of the slot where the fan heat comes out. You'll need a light to get an idea of the temp as well. I also have a cheap Harbor Freight infrared thermometer. A ceiling fan in the stove room helps move the air down. I have seen in my living room where the ceiling is 82 degrees and the room temp was 72. As for the glass, I'm going to check out that Rutland stuff. I usually just wipe the glass after the fire gets going with a dry paper towel and it usually stays clean until the end of the burn. Gotta burn hotter to keep the glass clean. Sorry I can't talk about the outside air kit as I do not have one installed. Good luck with the stove (I didn't think there was a need for these in Arizona!). Just imagine asking for that stove to put out some heat when it's below 0 outside!

 

[Hot Tamale]

I just had the Quadra-Fire Voyager installed 3 days ago. So far, and I am still learning, but it is a far better heat appliance than the fireplace it went into. The ACC on mine does not work. The installer said it was suppose to automatically travel in, in about 25 minutes but it never moves so I have been setting it manually. It has a nice blue flame and produces no visible smoke. My glass needs to be cleaned daily. Is this normal? The first time I used oven cleaner as suggested. What a pain! Then I found some conditioning glass cleaner by Rutland at Tractor Supply, amazing stuff! The hardest burned on deposits just wipe right off. I did not install the outside fresh air kit. What is the general opinion? I am wondering how much of an efficiency killer it is without it. So far I am pleased except for the ACC not working. The dealer is supposed to come and take a look soon. My only other complaint is I wanted the cast iron surround but was told by my dealer that it was no longer available.

 

[Hot Tamale]

I have the Voyageur Grand wood insert. It took a while for the stove and I to come to an understanding.
Just to be clear, the ACC is a knob on the end of a rod at the bottom right of the stove and it operates by being pushed in and pulled out. The burn rate control is at the top right of the stove and is anofher knob on a rod but this one operates like a lever by moving it up and down.
The way the ACC works is you push the knob in and pull it back out. This starts a timer (I can hear mine ticking) which slowly shuts down the air flow over :20 or so. The knob doesn't move by itself. Pushing the ACC knob in opens this front draft and leaves it open.
The burn rate control is the control for the fire after it gets going. Push the lever up for more heat, down for less. I burn seasoned hardwood and when the fire is burning hot, which it should be, the glass stays clean. If yours is getting dirty it may not be burning hot enough. It will get dirty as the fire burns out overnight and cools down but a new hot fire should clean it up. If you do not have the owner's manual for your stove get one.it explains all this. BTW my stove rarely has a blue flame.

 

[cjw8]

I never did thank Hot Tamale for his post. It was very helpful. I have come to understand the ACC and am just starting my third season with this stove. First fire was Nov 18 this year as it is now freezing at night. Yes! It gets cold in Northern and Eastern Arizona! 22 * F the other morning! I do burn my stove hot because it is too small for my 3200 sq ft home with 14 foot ceilings but my glass still gets dirty and I clean it at least once a week with Rutlands. Amazing stuff!

 

[fire_me_up]

Hi folks - I'm a bit curious did you see a noticeable difference in burn rate when using the ACC, or changing the burn rate control lever? I've experimented and see pretty much no difference whatsoever. The only time I really control the burn rate is when I crack open my door a bit. If the door is closed on some really hard woods the fire sometimes dies off (w/ a single log left) even though there's lots of coals on the bottom and the fire is quite hot.

I also don't have outside-in-air installed so I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference.

thanks!

 

[bholler]

Hi folks - I'm a bit curious did you see a noticeable difference in burn rate when using the ACC, or changing the burn rate control lever? I've experimented and see pretty much no difference whatsoever. The only time I really control the burn rate is when I crack open my door a bit. If the door is closed on some really hard woods the fire sometimes dies off (w/ a single log left) even though there's lots of coals on the bottom and the fire is quite hot.

I also don't have outside-in-air installed so I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference.

thanks!

Your symptoms sound like wet wood. What moisture content is your wood at

 

[fire_me_up]

Your symptoms sound like wet wood. What moisture content is your wood at

I check my moisture it's always <20%. In the case of this wood it was <10% I suspect. The weird thing though is that I don't see any change in the burn rate when I enable ACC or change the burn rate lever. The wood continues burning at exactly the same rate (no change in flame size). Whereas if I crack the door open just a little bit I see a significant change to the point where the door will be "sucked closed".

 

[bholler]

I check my moisture it's always <20%. In the case of this wood it was <10% I suspect. The weird thing though is that I don't see any change in the burn rate when I enable ACC or change the burn rate lever. The wood continues burning at exactly the same rate (no change in flame size). Whereas if I crack the door open just a little bit I see a significant change to the point where the door will be "sucked closed".

How tall is your chimney and what type of chimney is it.

 

[fire_me_up]

How tall is your chimney and what type of chimney is it.

2 stories. brick chimney with insert + metal stove pipe brought up to the top. Why would chimney type change behavior of opening door?

 

[bholler]

2 stories. brick chimney with insert + metal stove pipe brought up to the top. Why would chimney type change behavior of opening door?

Because the chimney is what provides draft to make your stove work

 

[fire_me_up]

Because the chimney is what provides draft to make your stove work

Gotcha, well I have noticed it's important I get it warmed up otherwise there could be a bit of smoke in the house.

Pardon my ignorance though what I'm observing is opening the door helps accelerate the fire. However, the ACC / level doesn't seem to do anything. This is at the beginning when it's starting, or even after the fire is going nice and hot. Is it expected the ACC/level would cause a noticeable affect in the burn rate?

Adding to this if there was a chimney issue I'm confused why opening the door would help increase the burn rate. It's a bit counter intuitive.

I'm also wondering if an outside/in air kit would help with this situation as well.

thanks!