Quadrafire Grand Voyager Cracked + Warped Steel

[slodo]

I purchased a Quadrafire Grand Voyager in 2018 and have been heating with it ever since. I was always happy with the insert and it had always put off a very good amount of heat. To my absolute horror, I just discovered this insane crack and warping of the steel-welded air channel at the front of the insert from the dog-house to almost the base of the firebox where the weld horizontal weld is located.

I have a temperature gauge on the front face of the insert, which is not going to give me accurate temperatures, but it can give me some guidance on where I'm at. I have never gotten it past the beginning of the 'GOOD BURN' zone, and normally spend the majority of time in the middle to top of the 'CREOSOTE' zone. I've never had a runaway burn, I've often had issues with fires leaving too much charcoal and unburned/brown ash at the end of a burn. This newly discovered crack seems to be the culprit.

I currently have a case open with Quadrafire manufacturer and they confirmed that the cracked piece is welded steel of the firebox and is obviously not a replaceable part. They now want pictures of the following:

• Baffle
• Manifold tubes
• Inside of main door (showing all corners)
• Firebox face (showing all corners and gasket)
• Wide shot of the front air channel area

I can only assume that their only goal is to prove that this was from constant over-firing, so that they can absolve themselves and void the warranty. I've got a 10-yr "limited lifetime" warranty on the firebox, which is what this should be covered under. I have attached pictures of the areas that they requested, as well as some others.

I'd love to hear feedback/perspective from anyone in the forum about any signs that this insert has been over-firing to the point that it was able to crack the steel on the air channel and dog-house and warp it this badly.

 

[begreen]

It doesn't look overfired. Has the fire been hard to control? How tall is the liner on this insert?