Tundra 1 warranty

[centennial60]

Anyone file warranty claim on their Drolet Tundra recently? I'm on my 7th year burning in my tundra and it finally developed cracks midway through winter this year. I contacted Drolet and went through all their warranty procedures, sent pictures etc. They came back with 3 options
1. Have the cracks welded by a local welder
2. Ship me a replacement firebox at a cost of $400
3. send me a new complete tundra 2 for a cost of $800

I told them I felt welding the cracks was unacceptable due to it just being a band-aid fix that doesn't fix the root cause of the cracks. From what I've seen from other members here is it is only temporary and ends up cracking again. Same with the replacement firebox unless they have fixed the cause of cracking..

Buying a $400 firebox for a furnace that came with a lifetime warranty seems out of line to me. Especially when other members here have received a tundra 2 or have been refunded their original purchase price. Not looking to get something for nothing necessarily but fair treatment.

Experiences and opinions appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Adam

 

[brenndatomu]

How does your warranty read..."lifetime warranty", or "lifetime warranty of the welds"? The early T1's had the full warranty, the later T1's changed to "weld warranty" which is not generally where the cracks start.
As far as welding, I had my old T1 welded before I sold it and the current owner says its still OK...but I do agree that still doesn't address the root cause of the issue and it will probably come back sooner or later.
I'd think a replacement firebox would surely be the updated design...but I guess no way to know for sure without verifying that with SBI.
I'm surprised that they offered you a complete T2 since those aren't EPA 2020 approved...but maybe the warranty aspect of this is a loophole for all that.
Just out of curiosity, did you ask how much it would be to upgrade to the new Heat Commander?

 

[centennial60]

How does your warranty read..."lifetime warranty", or "lifetime warranty of the welds"? The early T1's had the full warranty, the later T1's changed to "weld warranty" which is not generally where the cracks start.
As far as welding, I had my old T1 welded before I sold it and the current owner says its still OK...but I do agree that still doesn't address the root cause of the issue and it will probably come back sooner or later.
I'd think a replacement firebox would surely be the updated design...but I guess no way to know for sure without verifying that with SBI.
I'm surprised that they offered you a complete T2 since those aren't EPA 2020 approved...but maybe the warranty aspect of this is a loophole for all that.
Just out of curiosity, did you ask how much it would be to upgrade to the new Heat Commander?

I think mine is an early enough one that it reads "full lifetime warranty of the firebox", would have to look to confirm. They did not offer the upgrade to a heat commander, and I haven't asked. Although I like the new design of the HC with the ability to bring air in under the fire and improved ash grate, I was pretty happy with the way my T1 ran with the temp controller.

 

[simpy6734]

Anyone file warranty claim on their Drolet Tundra recently? I'm on my 7th year burning in my tundra and it finally developed cracks midway through winter this year. I contacted Drolet and went through all their warranty procedures, sent pictures etc. They came back with 3 options
1. Have the cracks welded by a local welder
2. Ship me a replacement firebox at a cost of $400
3. send me a new complete tundra 2 for a cost of $800

I told them I felt welding the cracks was unacceptable due to it just being a band-aid fix that doesn't fix the root cause of the cracks. From what I've seen from other members here is it is only temporary and ends up cracking again. Same with the replacement firebox unless they have fixed the cause of cracking..

Buying a $400 firebox for a furnace that came with a lifetime warranty seems out of line to me. Especially when other members here have received a tundra 2 or have been refunded their original purchase price. Not looking to get something for nothing necessarily but fair treatment.

Experiences and opinions appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Adam

I have had the same experience(and given the same options)with a recent warranty request on cracks at the loading door corners.

I have had my unit for about 6 years.

Currently asking about the heat commander. Can't really figure out if I think the $800 for a T2 is worth it. Current unit does fine with heating our space(2300 sq ft very well insulated and very tight), plus brings the basement up to a nice temp.