Quadrafire Contour Outside Air Kit Issues

[jfazekas]

Hello all,

I am on my second season using a new to me Quadrafire Contour. Last season I did not have the OAK installed and the windows and doors were very drafty. This year I decided to install the OAK so I screwed the adapter on the back/bottom of the stove. I then installed a short section of flex hose and attached this with a hose clamp.

At this point the OAK is not actually going outside and pulling in outside air because the wife was weary of me drilling another hole in the house. So I just wanted to see if I would get suction before I committed and drilled another hole in the house. My plan was to then install the OAK from outside and attach the 2 sections with tape or a hose clamp or something. The problem is that I feel absolutely no air being sucked through the OAK when the stove is running. I even tried putting a piece of hair in front of the pipe to see if it would get sucked in, but it seems like no air is going through the hose at all.

Is this to be expected? Does the OAK only pull in air once it's actually installed to outside? Some posts online said Quadrafire stoves need to be sealed by caulking the bottom of the stove where the stove meets the grout lines of the hearth pad. I am not sure if this would even help because my stove sits on top of a plate so the air never touches the hearth pad as far as I can tell. Would I need to seal up other joints in the stove? It just seems odd to me that no air is being sucked in through the OAK at all. Any help would be appreciated, thanks a lot.

 

[jzm2cc]

I think the contour fresh air plumbs into the ash pan similar to the Santa Fe, just through a less direct route. Unfortunately in these stoves the ash pan isn't sealed, plus there are many little air leaks (seams, igniter grommet, firepot dump rod, ash pan door, bottom of stove anchor holes, etc.)

OAK's kits on these stoves seems subpar compared to sealed stoves, but maybe they are better than nothing

 

[jfazekas]

Yes, there is a cut out on the bottom of the stove that you can see with the ash pan removed that I believe is supposed to be supplying the air to the burn pot. I did not feel air coming up through there with the stove running either. But as you said almost nothing is sealed on this stove so combustion air must just be coming from all over. I would probably have to do a lot of caulking/taping to seal this unit up and then it would not be easy to open the doors,ash pan, etc.

I wonder if it's worth installing the OAK at all, but the manual says it's recommended so maybe I will do it anyway. Thanks for your input.

 

[jzm2cc]

Worth trying I suppose especially if you rig up fresh air thru the wall exh thimble.

I did a similar caulk job on a old Mt Vernon (non AE) to reduce the air flow to a more reasonable level. At least that stove had a sealed ash pan door. You could do the same but thinking the ash pan would need gasket material added to reduce the huge air leak path.

 

[jfazekas]

Yeah I wonder if I could glue a 1/2 or maybe even a 1/4 rope gasket to the ash pan, that might help a lot. Not sure why they even sell an OAK for this stove when air does not even travel along the correct path.

 

[jfazekas]

I just ordered a 3/16 flat rope gasket and I will update as soon as I receive and install. I wonder if I will need some kind of latch or velcro to hold the ash pan in tight after installing the gasket. One thing at a time though. Thank you for your help.

 

[jfazekas]

So I installed the gasket around the ash pan and that seemed to help a little bit because I was able to feel some airflow through the flex hose. I then went ahead and installed the OAK so everything is as it should be.

How much air should be coming through the OAK, I assumed that it would be pulling a lot of air in but maybe I overestimated just how much. I am just curious because I want to know if I have to seal more of the stove or it is working as expected. Thanks for the help.