Repair or replace?

[KNelson]

Hi all, long time lurker first time posting. As a pellet stove owner I just wanna say that this forum has been my first place to research whenever I have a problem. But now I got a tough one...

Currently running a Mt Vernon AE for the past four seasons, came with the house and is believed to be a 2007 so getting close to the ten year mark.

Last season my control and power board had a melt down and the power wire connection on both boards fried, so to get through the winter I busted out the old soldering iron and patched it up.

I don't trust it for a long term fix so either I replace both boards and the harness for about 1200 Canadian or buy a new stove.

The shop I deal with has a Classic Bay for 3600, so I'm wondering if it's any better than this one. I was also thinking of buying another Mt Vernon and saving the old one for parts, you know how those mid season break downs go eh!

Maybe there's something better than the Quadrafires? Every year I blow through at least two igniters, a thermocouple and usually crack a baffle. That's ontop of the usual auger jams and the two years I fought with a vacuum switch problem until I tweaked one to work properly. We do heat from October to May, so I expect a little bit or repair work.

What would you run for a stove?

 

[Funnydirt14]

If I for one had that many problems with a stove I surely would be looking for a new brand of stove. Have you looked at Harman stoves?

 

[KNelson]

Haven't looked at a Harman before cause the place I deal with doesn't carry them, but I suspect I've put at least one of their children through college with my repair bills... They probably make a fortune on parts.

I'll be checking out their website and hopefully I find a dealer withing a few hours drive.

Do you run a Harman?

 

[railfanron]

I agree with funnydirt on this one. I've burned 12 tons in 4 years without a part to replace.
Ron

 

[Bioburner]

I have had few issues with a used Harman PC45. Problem when the room temp sensor was shorting and giving all sorts of problems but that was solved. Bought and refurbished a couple others and never had any call backs on them either. Easy to clean and large ash bins a plus for those having to burn lot of fuel.

 

[johneh]

If my stove had as many problems as the one you have
I'd be looking for a different make . I have an Enviro it is
an old stove 2002 . Total repairs in the last 16 years
1-convection blower ( brushes totally worn out destroyed
the armature) 2- Combustion fan motor .
I burn beween4.5 and 5 ton a year . The stove is on 24/7
from October to May . Only off Saturday mornings for a clean
The best investment I ever made Also built in Canada . Only
mention that because I see you have a natural lean
Dam wind in the flat country

 

[heat seeker]

Any St. Croix dealers there? My Afton Bay has been great!

 

[bogieb]

I'm with most of the other responders - I would not be even looking at the same company, much less model if I had that many problems. I've had the P61a for 3 heating seasons (starting my 4th) and never replaced the igniter even though I mostly run in Room temp auto. The only thing I've done to it (besides clean) is replace a door gasket. I run that sucker thru 3-5 tons per year.

My used P43 hasn't had a dime put into it besides initial price paid - it is run on a thermostat. True, I've only had it one year, and have only put about 1 or 1.5 tons thru it.

My St. Croix Hastings was a good stove too (bought very used and only replaced door gasket). It just wasn't the right stove for my situation, otherwise I would still have it. So, as Heat Seeker says, that would be something else to look at.

I'm not saying Quads are bad stoves, many people on the forum have great luck with theirs. I'm just saying that when I have lots of problems with something, I don't replace it with the same thing. For example, I will never, ever buy another Nissan or Jeep, even though others have been very happy with theirs.

 

[bogieb]

Haven't looked at a Harman before cause the place I deal with doesn't carry them, but I suspect I've put at least one of their children through college with my repair bills... They probably make a fortune on parts.

I'll be checking out their website and hopefully I find a dealer withing a few hours drive.

Do you run a Harman?

Take a look at Funny's signature below his post - says he has a P68.

 

[rich2500]

First thing first is find what dealers are in your area then report back, does no good recommending stoves you can't get,but I would not hesitate to buy another quad either.

 

[Lake Girl]

Harman dealer locator can be found here: (broken link removed to http://www.harmanstoves.com/Service-Locator.aspx) I tried entering saskatchewan but it wants a postal code or city.
Enviros seem to be a fairly solid unit also.
Depends on your budget... What back-up heat do you have? Commonality/ease of sourcing parts should also factor into your decision if you are fairly rural.

If you are at all handy, you could look at kijiji or similar to see what second hand stoves are out there. From your comment above about bills equalling putting one of dealers kids through school ... maybe not the choice for you.

 

[Lake Girl]

OK, I cheated with the help of moderator tools. Harman dealers are over 200 miles away ... one in Spiritwood and one in Springside.
Enviro dealers located in Prince Albert, Yorkton, and Saskatoon. http://enviro.com/find-a-dealer/dealer-locater/?country=1&prov=3
Quadrafire also in Prince Albert.

 

[rona]

I started out with a Harman PC-45 because I wanted to burn corn and the nearest dealer sold Harman and St Croix. I put the stove in the basement. It ran good but the corn had to be 12.5% moisture to work decent. I ended up blending pellets with 15% corn. The stove simply was to small so following year I heard about the AE and it was supposed to be 60,000 btu so I bought one of them. That winter I replaced the igniter, thermo coupler, computer board and thermostat control and the cast iron heat exchanger numerous times.
Finally the company suggested the AE would work better with pellets. My plan was to burn corn not pellets so with all new parts I sold it to a fellow that was going to use it for pellets.
I then bought a 50,000 btu Bixby which burns corn with no problem and dumps the pot automatically while saving the fire so it doesn't shut off when the pot is being dumped. This means there is constant heat coming out of the stove with no cooling off, while stove is off dumping and restarting.
Based on your experience I would sell the AE and move on with a Harman 68. They are a simple stove with a proven history. In reality you can diagnose and repair it your self. If you do your own stove cleaning, exh system cleaning they are basically trouble free. If you have a problem there is many people on here that can help diagnose what is wrong by asking you a few questions.
I have bought used Harmans and rebuilt and resold them and people are happy with them. Actually I also have a PC45 that was the same age as my first one and ither then a burn pot and a few agitators all is origional.
You can buy parts for them on E-Bay so parts should be no problem.

 

[KNelson]

Wow! Thank you everyone for your replies, its very much appreciated. I had always dealt with the Quad cause its what came with the house, and after some research I'm thinking I'm going to replace this stove. It's been an ok unit, and we do have electric backup but I try to minimize that as much as possible due to high costs.

It's looking like a toss up between the Enviro and a Harman due to their "close" proximity, living in the province that's easy to draw but hard to spell makes you used to having to drive 2 hours to go anywhere hahaha.

OK, I cheated with the help of moderator tools. Harman dealers are over 200 miles away ... one in Spiritwood and one in Springside.
Enviro dealers located in Prince Albert, Yorkton, and Saskatoon. http://enviro.com/find-a-dealer/dealer-locater/?country=1&prov=3
Quadrafire also in Prince Albert.

Funny thing is I grew up in Spiritwood, didn't even know that R&M was selling pellet stoves lol.