quadrafire 7100 install nearly finished ready for first burn!

[crashmymax]

I will be ready for my first burn tomorrow sometime and just want to make sure I do it right. I have everything installed minus my heat runs since I want to see how it heats the house without them first. everything is still unfinished so I have access to the unit and the chimney for now. My plan is to get a kindling fire burning and then add 2 or 3 splits. All the manual says is the first fire should be small to cure the paint. I will load east west. I will be burning Pine only. Will this be adequate for its first break in burn? I figure I will let it burn out and cool to the touch then do it again with 4 or 5 splits this time. After that do I really need to do any more cycles? It will be 0* F tomorrow for the high so it would be nice to get a good fire going to see what I can expect from it. Also where would I put a temperature gauge on my 7100 when its all finished I will not have access to the top of the unit or the chimney and after spending time on the forum I am really paranoid about an overfire situation.
Thanks for any tips or advise.

 

[MAD MARK]

Wheres the pictures??

 

[crashmymax]

I should post a couple but its pretty ugly at the moment since nothing is finished. I'll take some tonight and post them.

 

[dBrad]

Hey now, I remember what our 7100 looked like the day it was installed. It was anything but ugly! That red board was actually kinda cool.

 

[dBrad]

Regarding the starter fire though, pine burns hot so your 2-3 split plan should be fine. I think I did 4 fires leading up to the final big daddy fire.

You can remove the face and place a magnetic thermometer on the stovepipe collar before it connects to the double wall chimney.

This is also a great time to make sure the snap disk blower thermostat is working. Turn the rotary dial on but leave the override switch off. If wired correctly, blower will turn itself on when the fire gets hot enough. Your first fire probably won't trigger it.

 

[crashmymax]

Taking me way longer to get things ready today but I'm almost ready.
Thanks for the help with my questions.

 

[crashmymax]

Hopefully I can see it with the face on.

First fire!

 

[dBrad]

Cold or not, you'll probably want to open a window or two to shed the paint fumes for the next couple of fires.

 

[crashmymax]

This morning's fire. Just a small load and the acc controls open I got a very hot fire very fast. It got up to 800 in no time at all. The fan never turned itself on. That seems wired to me. I turned it on manually and it brought the temp down emidiatly. Is there a way to get the fan on sooner automatically? It did however clean alot of the black off my glass.

Most concerning is how hot the double wall chimney pipe is. It will burn my hand instantly. Is this normal? What pulls the air up through the air cooled chimney? Its -11 now so the air cant get much cooler. Does it matter that I ran the air kit below the fireplace? I'm thinking air is not being drawn up the chimney. Thanks for helping.

 

[Village Idiot]

Congratulations on your first burn! Your placement of the thermometer is good. I angled mine just a bit to the side for better visibility. I just shine a flashlight in and can see it fine. One recommendation is to secure the thermometer with some wire around the stovepipe. Over the years the magnet in mine has a weakened from all the heat. This will save you from having to pull the fascia off unnecessarily.

Another adjustment I would recommend to do before you get to far is to tighten up the snap disc holder. During my first burning season, the snap disc was temperamental. From a totally cold start, it would operate as expected. Relights where the snap disc had cut the fans off but the box was still warm would rarely activate the snap disc.

QF sent out a repair tech to replace the disc. Once we had accessed it, we saw that there was a metal bracket/clip that held the disc against the bottom of the stove. We could see that when it was warm there was a small gap. We decided that the heat would expand the metal of the clip and create the gap. So, we gently bent/formed the bracket to make a tighter fit. I have had zero issues with the disc since.

 

[crashmymax]

Congratulations on your first burn! Your placement of the thermometer is good. I angled mine just a bit to the side for better visibility. I just shine a flashlight in and can see it fine. One recommendation is to secure the thermometer with some wire around the stovepipe. Over the years the magnet in mine has a weakened from all the heat. This will save you from having to pull the fascia off unnecessarily.

Another adjustment I would recommend to do before you get to far is to tighten up the snap disc holder. During my first burning season, the snap disc was temperamental. From a totally cold start, it would operate as expected. Relights where the snap disc had cut the fans off but the box was still warm would rarely activate the snap disc.

QF sent out a repair tech to replace the disc. Once we had accessed it, we saw that there was a metal bracket/clip that held the disc against the bottom of the stove. We could see that when it was warm there was a small gap. We decided that the heat would expand the metal of the clip and create the gap. So, we gently bent/formed the bracket to make a tighter fit. I have had zero issues with the disc since.

Thanks I actually just read your thread on that fix. I'm going to let it burn out and take a look. Does your glass stay clean? Or is black glass just part of it?

 

[Village Idiot]

Well seasoned wood is always the rule. Seasoned wood, cleaner glass. Questionable wood, dirty glass.

My glass stays generally clean. It does build up a little coating of ash over a week or two. Then I clean it well with newspaper dipped in water and ash. If I do a really full load and the wood is close to the door, I get black deposits. A nice hot sustained burn will take care of it. then it is just fine ash adhered to the glass.

 

[crashmymax]

Well seasoned wood is always the rule. Seasoned wood, cleaner glass. Questionable wood, dirty glass.

My glass stays generally clean. It does build up a little coating of ash over a week or two. Then I clean it well with newspaper dipped in water and ash. If I do a really full load and the wood is close to the door, I get black deposits. A nice hot sustained burn will take care of it. then it is just fine ash adhered to the glass.

Thanks again for the help. Do you know if the B vent used for heat runs is the same vent used for gas appliances? I am assuming so all the B vent I can find says gas on it.

 

[Village Idiot]

I don't know anything about the specs of B vent other than what I can find online. Sorry.