Quadra Fire Trekker - Soot buildup on glass

[Mr.Krans]

I recently bought a Quadra Fire Trekker pellet insert and have been sorely disappointed by the overwhelming amount of soot buildup on the glass. I have previously owned a Harman Accentra insert and a Quadra Fire Mt Vernon insert, and I am accustomed to moderate soot on the glass, but the soot blacks out 1/2 the glass in a single day, the picture below is the soot and ash buildup in 1 week, which seems ridiculous for a top-of-the-line stove.

I am using premium New England wood pellets, which is the same brand I have used in my other stoves. This Trekker has constant airflow coming from the bottom of the burn pot, which shoots embers throughout the firebox and onto the glass. The stove goes through a purging mode as it shuts down, which sends a flurry of embers out of the burn pot. The firebox is quickly filled filled with ash, but the ash pan is basically empty (I have cleaned out the firebox about 10 times and the ash pan 0 times).

Most forums blame poor airflow for soot buildup on the glass, but this stove is brand new so all of the fans should be clean, and it seems to me like the excessive airflow is the cause of the soot buildup.

Is there a way to reduce soot on the glass on the Trekker or did Quadra Fire take a giant step backwards in designing this stove?

 

[FultonHearth]

I have a brand new Trekker on my showroom floor that has the same issue. Mine might even be even worse than your picture. We have burned Energex and O’Malley pellets in it, not the best grade pellet but not the worst. I point out to every customer that the ash will build up on the shelf around the burn pot and not fall into the ash pan, which is one reason many choose a Harman. The ash pan basically is just there to catch what falls out of the burn pot while scraping. Also, if the ash pan is not shut just right the stove will howl like a jet engine.

 

[Mr.Krans]

Also, if the ash pan is not shut just right the stove will howl like a jet engine.

I've heard a howl a couple of times. I was never able to tie it to the ash pan, though. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[bgk]

Drives me nuts. I find myself cleaning it every day or two. I’ve found mean green degreaser works best for me- better than simple green and dawn dish soap and water.

 

[FultonHearth]

Drives me nuts. I find myself cleaning it every day or two. I’ve found mean green degreaser works best for me- better than simple green and dawn dish soap and water.

careful using any cleaners that contain ammonia, it will etch the glass and turn in white and you won’t be able to see anything. I would grab some wood stove glass cleaner from your local hearth shop. Or you can take some of the light, gray fly ashrun it over the glass with a damp paper towel, it works like a compound to remove build up on the glass. Finish off with a clean paper towel.

 

[WarrenZ.]

Interesting thread. I am a new TREKKER owner but haven't even gotten it running yet. ERROR 3 on the thermostat/device isn't letting it start up. Any idea where I should look to solve this? Dealer isn't able to send anyone over until next week.
Isn't there a small groove, inside, along the bottom of the glass, that's supposed to keep the glass clean? Maybe that area gets blocked and doesn't do its job.

 

[Former Farmer]

When I clean the glasss on my Castile insert, I take a wet paper towel and wipe it off, followed by using a dry paper towel. It works very well for me.

 

[bgk]

careful using any cleaners that contain ammonia, it will etch the glass and turn in white and you won’t be able to see anything. I would grab some wood stove glass cleaner from your local hearth shop. Or you can take some of the light, gray fly ashrun it over the glass with a damp paper towel, it works like a compound to remove build up on the glass. Finish off with a clean paper towel.

No ammonia in the cleaners I use.

 

[WarrenZ.]

I found my glass was much cleaner when I lowered my heat level to three and left the tuning at five. Try to get your maximum flame height to be between 6 and 9 inches. It also should not look like a blow torch. Quad has said in some of their videos that if the flame is too high it will result in black soot on the glass. I vent directly out the back.

 

[Grader07]

I have a Trekker that was just installed inJanuary of last year. I have a thread posted on here about possibly trying soft pellets( Easy Blaze Pellets). The glass in my trekker gets filthy really fast too. I have burnt every hard wood pellet available in my area now as i have finally been able to get some Hamers hot ones and that still didnt solve the issue. I have an OAK installed and have tried with and without it. Still get the gray/white look to glass on top half of glass and black sooty look on sides. Heat setting on 5 and feed rate on 2. Works the best on these settings as ive tried a lower heat seating and rate on one. As mentioned in my other post my Mt Vernon burns great so im thinking its the stove issues...

 

[WarrenZ.]

I have a Trekker that was just installed inJanuary of last year. I have a thread posted on here about possibly trying soft pellets( Easy Blaze Pellets). The glass in my trekker gets filthy really fast too. I have burnt every hard wood pellet available in my area now as i have finally been able to get some Hamers hot ones and that still didnt solve the issue. I have an OAK installed and have tried with and without it. Still get the gray/white look to glass on top half of glass and black sooty look on sides. Heat setting on 5 and feed rate on 2. Works the best on these settings as ive tried a lower heat seating and rate on one. As mentioned in my other post my Mt Vernon burns great so im thinking its the stove issues...

I have been experimenting with different heat and tuning settings and found that heat 4 or 5 (front of inside door temp 425F and 450F respectfully) and tuning 2 work really with my set up, venting directly out the back.

There is an "air wash" system on the Trekker. The vent can be seen when you open the door to the inside of the stove, just above the pull handle that is used to empty the fire pot and the rope gasket:

It's the long part held on by two screws. I vacuum that area and had sucked the gasket forward, partially blocking that slot. I removed the ash tray and reached up and gently pushed the gasket back toward the rear of the stove with the back of my hand. This reopened that slot slightly more, allowing more air to "wash" the glass. Give that a try and get back to us! Here is a picture of that area from the manual. (I added the AIR WASH and the arrow):

I couldn't identify that specific part in the parts list. It just seems to be part of the "Firepot Riser Assembly".

The air wash is gentle to say the least, and you'll still get light brown ash build-up around the edges of the glass over a few days. I am burning Agway pellets and they have worked well for me for the last two seasons.

Quick, black build-up, according to Quadra-Fire, is due to too high of a flame. Your setting of 2 for tuning should give you a nice, 6-9 flame for almost the entire burn.

 

[Ssyko]

I think your chasing your tail, you wont get a ash free glass ever out of a wood burning appliance. if your getting grey/white ash that's a good burning stove enjoy your heat

 

[mjf8825]

BEST UPGRADE I DID TO MY QUADRAFIRE CASTILE Hello all, so I have had the same problem on my Castile, of black soot and it is now FIXED I took my combustion blower out of the stove and replaced it with SUPCO SM4753 Draft Inducer Furnace Blower Motor for Carrier 318984-753 you use the mounting hardware and mount from your old blower and must locate 4 mounting screws as the motor is bigger and screws need to be longer.this motor turns up 3500RPM and is a little louder as far as hearing the blower run, but I now have NO black soot and flame burns perfectly,I also put in a reo-stat so I can adjust blower speed for different pellet manufactures as this stove doesn't have a damper .i have no clinkers or build up in fire pot, no black soot on glass or firebox walls.the problem with the soot lies in that the stove isn't getting enough air, from what I understand the original motor turned 3150rpm and the replacement blowers turn 2700-3000 rpm NOT GOOD. the hardest part of this whole upgrade is finding the 4 longer screws you need for the motor to screw back together.by the way my stove is clean when I had the black soot, as I take my stove outside and blow it out clean with a compressor every year, it had a replacement blower already installed and the same problem...I wish someone had done this and posted earlier as it would have made my life easier.......make sure you get this motor from SUPCO that turns 3500RPM there are other fakes that turn less rpm out there...this is how I fixed MY stove and it works for me,YOU can do what YOU want as I am Not telling you to do this.as I am just passing this info along........good luck.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not doing that but thanks for the insight

Changing the design parameters of any unit is, in my view, asking for trouble down the road, but then it's yours to do with as you want to. Me, I'm not doing that. The faster you spin the combustion fan wheel, the more heat you loose up the venting.... and I wonder if the Triac's can handle the additional load over the long term.

Just my opinion. Takes me about 30 seconds to use a bristle brush and remove the soot from the glass that has accumulated over a few days.

 

[mjf8825]

you are absolutely correct sidecar flip that is the reason for the reostat you now can now adjust the fan speed to the according pellet you are using.fan dont have to run full speed all the time just set it to burn the pellets accordingly

 

[SidecarFlip]

The term 'airwash' is nothing but an industry touted feature to sell stoves IMO. Wood or pellet, they all soot the glass when not running hard.

Sort of like PFI certified premium pellets...

 

[mjf8825]

Hello again, just a follow up on my motor swap from the above post, I have been running the Castile for 10 days now and have not touched it other than to add pellets and to adjust the fan speed on the combustion blower via added reostat and it has never worked better. I have NOT even cleaned the glass or the burn pot........this has been the best $60.00 I have spent on my stove for the new blower motor and reostat....... SUPCO SM4753 Draft Inducer Furnace Blower Motor for Carrier 318984-753. purchased on Ebay....https://www.ebay.com/itm/151852661372. from Mccomb supply in Lancaster PA.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I've never got my panties in a twist over soot on the view glass. Sometimes I get some, sometimes I don't but all I ever do is take a cheap natural bristle paint brush (HF sells them by the box (15) for 5 bucks) and open the door and use the brush to clean the view glass. Takes about 30 seconds, max. I use the same brush to clean the firebox floor when I clean the stove.

I NEVER use a paper towel or glass cleaner on mine. Just the brush. Been doing that for years. Cheap and 100% effective.

 

[zrock]

Not doing that but thanks for the insight

Changing the design parameters of any unit is, in my view, asking for trouble down the road, but then it's yours to do with as you want to. Me, I'm not doing that. The faster you spin the combustion fan wheel, the more heat you loose up the venting.... and I wonder if the Triac's can handle the additional load over the long term.

Just my opinion. Takes me about 30 seconds to use a bristle brush and remove the soot from the glass that has accumulated over a few days.

One other thing to consider when modding the stove other than long term failure. If the stove ever fails to the point of damaging your home your insurance company will not cover you if this is found out during their investigation. So if you ever had a fire that $60 you spent to save some time cleaning glass may end up costing you $1000's in the end or worse