Quadrafire 7100 -- Question of low-air flow?

[Zevi_B]

Dear fellow owners and knowldgeable ones,

Last year we had a QF 7100 installed in the living room. For various delay reasons, we had it working during the first few months (almost to the end of the burning season) without the faceplate and finish. What we remember, is the fact that at high-output of the fireplace, the living room was almost too hot to sit in. You could almost sweat there. We had no problem keeping the house at 70 deg without the furnace kicking in.
This season is our first year of operating with the face and finish in place.

Problem: It feels like the fireplace generates much less heat. The furnace still works at about 50% to keep the house at 70.

I have to hold my hand at no more than 5-6" from the outlet grill to feel the flow of the hot air. In the attached picture, the curved sheet metal visible through the faceplate opening is the top of the actual output air duct that is part of the fireplace body. The bottom of that duct is about where the lower twisted decorative bar on the faceplate. So, it appears that the actual air-output duct from the fireplace is half blocked by the faceplate! There is barely an inch between the lower edge of the faceplate opening and the curved metal that is the top of the duct.

Does tha make sense? Do you have a similar issue? Does the layout as shown in the image and as I described it -- similar to what you have? Am I missing something?

PS: I visually verified that both fans work by checking through the inspection plate in the floor of the fireplace.

Thank you,
Zevi.

 

[BrotherBart]

That is exactly why when it came time to replace my fireplace insert I replaced it with a freestanding stove sitting half in and half out of the fireplace. With five inches of clearance top/bottom/sides. Now all of that heat that couldn't get out into the room has been set free and heats the house a good ten degrees higher with the stove burning at 450/500 than the old insert did at 700.

With the insert you could barely feel the air moving out of the outlets. With the freestander with a blower you can feel the warm air moving clear across the room.

 

[TMonter]

Are you running the fan on the 7100? MSG may have better insight into the 7100 but from what I remember the fan on the unit is needed to get a acceptable amount of heat out of the stove.

 

[Zevi_B]

Are you running the fan on the 7100? MSG may have better insight into the 7100 but from what I remember the fan on the unit is needed to get a acceptable amount of heat out of the stove.

Yes. In my original post when I say that I have to hold my hand 5-6" from the grill to feel the flow of hot air I forgot to mention that it was with the fan at full speed. Last year we hardly set the fan at a level higher than 75% speed!

(BTW: who do you mean MSG? )

(PS - TMonter -- nice job on the fence...)

That is exactly why when it came time to replace my fireplace insert I replaced it with a freestanding stove sitting half in and half out of the fireplace. ... .... With the freestander with a blower you can feel the warm air moving clear across the room.

BB - an insert will be less effective than a full-size fireplace that is designed to go into a lerger space. A properly designed fireplace can get tons of air moving. it doesn't have the size resctrictions that an insert has.

Thanks,
Zevi

 

[GVA]

Are you running the fan on the 7100? MSG may have better insight into the 7100 but from what I remember the fan on the unit is needed to get a acceptable amount of heat out of the stove.

Yes. In my original post when I say that I have to hold my hand 5-6" from the grill to feel the flow of hot air I forgot to mention that it was with the fan at full speed. Last year we hardly set the fan at a level higher than 75% speed!

(BTW: who do you mean MSG? )

(PS - TMonter -- nice job on the fence...)

That is exactly why when it came time to replace my fireplace insert I replaced it with a freestanding stove sitting half in and half out of the fireplace. ... .... With the freestander with a blower you can feel the warm air moving clear across the room.

BB - an insert will be less effective than a full-size fireplace that is designed to go into a lerger space. A properly designed fireplace can get tons of air moving. it doesn't have the size resctrictions that an insert has.

Thanks,
Zevi

MSG is MountainStoveGuy- a moderator here and a Quad guru/dealer/technician etc..
I'm a pellet guy so You can disregard anything that I say here. ;-P
Have you clened that blower?
Are you burning a different wood this season vs last?
Do you have a Blockoff plate installed?
That should help get the discusion movin'

 

[jtp10181]

The fronts on that unit only go on one way. The bolts have to go into the hole on the unit. Looks like the bolts are in, so the front is on correctly.

Only thing I would suggest is to take the front off and check under the firebox and on top for ash. Ash can buildup at the bottom and could be effecting airflow.

Also you can take some bricks out and get into the access panel underneath to access the fans, could confirm both are functional and also clean the blades off. There are live wires down there so you might want to have your dealer come inspect the fans.

 

[Zevi_B]

MSG is MountainStoveGuy- a moderator here and a Quad guru/dealer/technician etc..

Definitly the kind of guy I'd love to hear from! MSG?

I'm a pellet guy so You can disregard anything that I say here. ;-P

Nah - pellets, stoves, inserts... - whatever the device used -- I seek all advices. The knowledge in this forum keeps amazing me.

Are you burning a different wood this season vs last?

Of course -- Last year's wood is gone... I cannot re-burn it! (Sorry, I could not resist it...)


But seriously - other than vintage, the wood is not much different. In fact, the wood I burned until recently was even better seasoned than what I used last year. I have a mix of Cherry, Elm, and Ash.

I did not clean the blower, I'm not sure if I need to after less than a year. I don't even know if you're supposed to do it on this model.

Do you have a Blockoff plate installed?

I have no idea what that is...

Thanks,
Zevi

 

[GVA]

Welcome jtp
Looks like you are in the biz.... you should contact craig an become part of the industry members

 

[Zevi_B]

The fronts on that unit only go on one way. The bolts have to go into the hole on the unit. Looks like the bolts are in, so the front is on correctly.

True. I spoke to a tech guy at the factory, and he also said that since the faceplate design and installation involve a jig, you simply cannot put it wrongly. Of course, a manufacturing defect could cause the top vent slot to be cut too high (quite unlikely, I admit). However, this is why I attached the image, hoping to get some feedback from someone with the same model based on a visual comparison

Only thing I would suggest is to take the front off and check under the firebox and on top for ash. Ash can buildup at the bottom and could be effecting airflow.

I have a service call scheduled for this week. I'll let them do that. I will post an update.

Also you can take some bricks out and get into the access panel underneath to access the fans, could confirm both are functional and also clean the blades off. There are live wires down there so you might want to have your dealer come inspect the fans.

Actually, I already did that myself. (That's what I meant in my original post that I visually verified that both fans are working.
BTW: the manual neglected to say that I needed to seal the plate when I close it... I had quite a dust storm... hh:

Thanks,
Zevi

 

[jtp10181]

Zevi_B: Actually you DONT need to seal that plate when you re-close it, this has been verified by quad technical. The one thing you don't want to do is scrape all the red sealant off, the dry sealant works like a gasket and will seal back up quite nice. If you get both screws down tight you wont really get any ash leaking down there. A dust storm could have been produced just from opening the door, ash will fall down there while working on the thing and then get sucked up by the blower the next time you use it.

Master of Fire: I already did

 

[TMonter]

Zevi, have you checked your flue and made sure you're getting good draft? If you have a dirty flue it could be you're not getting a good hot fire.

Also, is the blower spinning the right direction?

 

[begreen]

Interesting that the Mission Hill grille seems to have a second lower vent opening that would seem like it might allow better airflow. Whatever grille is used, it shouldn't block the output of the plenum at all.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

with out the fan, that unit will still make you sweat.
how is everything else doing? is the start up procedure going ok? (no smoke)
where are the two combustion ports hooked up at? is one going outside?
Overall, how is the stove operating? (not including the heat output)

My inital thoughts.
plugged cap
pluged outside air
one outside air is blocked off and the other outside air is pluged with leaves or snow.
The outside air switch in the bottem is in the middle position, wich will restrict flow
tall chimney and leaky gaskets
thats about all i can think of at the moment.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The fronts on that unit only go on one way. The bolts have to go into the hole on the unit. Looks like the bolts are in, so the front is on correctly.

Only thing I would suggest is to take the front off and check under the firebox and on top for ash. Ash can buildup at the bottom and could be effecting airflow.

Also you can take some bricks out and get into the access panel underneath to access the fans, could confirm both are functional and also clean the blades off. There are live wires down there so you might want to have your dealer come inspect the fans.

nice.. some more quad help
welcome to the forum.