Quadrifire help

[HighHeat22]

Recently installed a used quadrifire 3100 act stove that friend had when he bought a new house and wasnt going to use. I inspected stove thoroughly and didnt see any issues. Big disappointment so far. Its just not throwing out heat on a controlled burn or am i getting any good burn times on a load. About 4hrs on a load burn time. I replaced door gasket with 3/4 rope and its tight. Runs between 250 and 300 on any kind of controlled burn. Got it up to 400 once but didnt stay there long. Flames on burn are lazy like they should be. Using seasoned wood and its mainly oak.

Installed damper in pipe at about 1ft and didnt really make a difference. Chimney is straight shot up with 6ft single wall and 12ft triple wall. Have good draft and havent noticed anything other. Have good friend that runs a quadrifire 4300 step top and its an awesome stove. Im a 20yr plus wood burner and we moved to a new house and i installed this stove and had high hopes. Temps have run between 20 and 30 degress the last week and im lucky to get 1400sq ft area up to 70 and im running thru wood. The house is over insulated and has new triple pane windows. Everything says my wood is the problem. But it is seasoned over 2yrs and its mainly oak. Im use to worrying about my stoves overheating and having to crank them down. Im just not sure what to do next other than invest in a new stove. Any help and advise is very much appreciated.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What is the moisture content of your wood? Newer stoves are much more sensitive to wet wood than older stoves.

 

[PaulBunyun]

My parents have an old quadrafire stove that works amazing and has heat their 2k sq ft home for many years. With that being said I bought a new quadrafire insert and it was TERRIBLE. I had all the problems you had and could barely heat a good sized room let a lone my house. Within two years I ended up re-doing my fireplace, opening it up and putting in a Lopi stove that runs amazing and I'm very happy. Yes, I bite the bullet because the quad was that bad.. I would never buy a new quadrafire again and I have read stories on here from people with similar experiances as you and I many times. Good luck.

 

[HighHeat22]

What is the moisture content of your wood? Newer stoves are much more sensitive to wet wood than older stoves.

Im just not sure on the moisture content. Ive lost my tester. But my wood is covered. Ill buy another tester and ck. Could definitely be the issue.

 

[begreen]

The 3100 Millenium is a very good, conventional tube heater. It will normally burn about 8 hrs on a load so something is wrong either with the stove, the wood, the house, or the operator.
As described there is no need for a damper in the flue, which could be a part of the problem if, for some reason, draft is compromised.

Starting with the stove -
Are the baffle boards tight together and all the way to the back of the stove?
Is the insulation blanket on top of the baffle boards laying flat?

For the wood -
Oak dries slowly. It should be tested by resplitting it and tested on the freshly exposed face of the inner wood. Lacking a meter, do the same and press the freshly exposed wood up against your cheek. Does it feel cool and damp?

For the house -
What floor is the stove on? Does the stove always draw air well with no smoke spillage when the door is open? Is this a particularly windy area?

For the operator -
How quickly is the air being turned down? What is used to judge when to do this? Is there a flue thermometer on or in the stove pipe?

 

[HighHeat22]

My parents have an old quadrafire stove that works amazing and has heat their 2k sq ft home for many years. With that being said I bought a new quadrafire insert and it was TERRIBLE. I had all the problems you had and could barely heat a good sized room let a lone my house. Within two years I ended up re-doing my fireplace, opening it up and putting in a Lopi stove that runs amazing and I'm very happy. Yes, I bite the bullet because the quad was that bad.. I would never buy a new quadrafire again and I have read stories on here from people with similar experiances as you and I many times. Good . This stove is at least 12 to 15yrs old. Its so odd for the reviews on quadrifire stoves to be either terrible or very good. At this point unless somebody comes up with a cure im gonna have to bite the bullett and go with something else. Because i know how a good stove performs and this definitely isnt working.

 

[HighHeat22]

The 3100 Millenium is a very good, conventional tube heater. It will normally burn about 8 hrs on a load so something is wrong either with the stove, the wood, the house, or the operator.
As described there is no need for a damper in the flue, which could be a part of the problem if, for some reason, draft is compromised.

Starting with the stove -
Are the baffle boards tight together and all the way to the back of the stove?
Is the insulation blanket on top of the baffle boards laying flat?

For the wood -
Oak dries slowly. It should be tested by resplitting it and tested on the freshly exposed face of the inner wood. Lacking a meter, do the same and press the freshly exposed wood up against your cheek. Does it feel cool and damp?

For the house -
What floor is the stove on? Does the stove always draw air well with no smoke spillage when the door is open? Is this a particularly windy area?

For the operator -
How quickly is the air being turned down? What is used to judge when to do this? Is there a flue thermometer on or in the stove pipe?

All valid points. Baffle board is tight too back and blanket is flat. Yes wood could be the culprit. Ill go buy a meter. House is a ranch style and stove is on 1st floor. Draft is great. It is a very windy area though. We are on a lake on the east side and the wind howls from the west. But i have the same issues when its not windy too. A bad draft would damper the burn wouldnt it. Thats not the case. My burn times are way to short. Thats one reason i tried the baffle even though it shouldnt be needed or recommended. Yes there is a flue thermometer on the stove pipe about a foot above the stove. Ive operated long enough to know to get a good hot fire with coals going before turning down controls. I appreciate all your suggestions and im going to buy a moisture meter today and see what i have and will ck a fresh split. Ive just never experienced issues with a stove before and ive had several. I had a draft issue many years ago and i fixed the problem. Appreciate everyones suggestions and help.

 

[begreen]

These are just possibilities that can affect stove performance. I trust that you are experienced, so a lot of questions are just to eliminate variables and perhaps discover an anomaly. What is being described sounds like partially seasoned wood, but that is just one variable. How thick are the average firewood splits?

What are the flue thermometer readings when the air is first starting to be turned down? How far is the air turned down for the long burn? What are the flue and stove top temperatures at that point?

While waiting for a moisture meter try the cheek test. Also, add some 2x4 cutoffs to the next fire to see how known dry wood affects performance.

EPA stoves run differently from older stoves. Were the previous stoves modern EPA stoves with a secondary combustion system?

 

[HighHeat22]

I installed a 7/8 door gasket. I put on a new 3/4 like the manual called for but didnt like seal on outside corners by the handle. Paper test just wasnt as strong as i would of liked on those 2 corners. Its sealed very tight now. Now i have 5.5hr burn times over 4hr and my stove temp at idle is 350 versus 250 to 300. Little better but still not what i was looking for. Im picking up new moisture meter today. Its got to be the wood.

 

[HighHeat22]

Well have 18% moisture in my wood. In past it has usually run around 14% for me. But 18 should still produce better heat than this and better burn times. Draft is good and stove is tight. So back to scratching my head. Guess im gonna have to start looking for a real stove. Ive read too many reviews on either you have a good quadrifire or a bad one. What a shame. Ive seen the good ones and they run great. Not this one. Thanks for all the help.