I spent years felling trees and heating my homes in Alaska and Montana with the good results. Never a problem. Regular chimney cleaning and careful seasoning of birch, spruce and various pines resulted in safe consistent heating and a wonderful ambience. Just moved to Wyoming and the new home came with a Quadra-Fire 1900. Now it has been about 10 years since I have used a wood stove and the woodstoves before were all Blaze Kings. I used this Quadra-Fire off and on all summer and it acted like a woodstove should. No problems. As cooler weather approached I decided to clean the chimney. Big surprise when I took a good look inside the firebox, lots of parts. But, being meticulous I disassembled the parts, cleaned the chimney and re-assembled and lit a fire, no problems. But I discovered two issues during the cleaning: 1. the ceramic blanket was in taters. 2. the door gasket did not seal and there were a few leaks around the door. I ordered parts, and continued using the stove while waiting, no problems. The parts arrived. I called the Quadra-Fire sales store and determined the correct size of the ceramic blanket and went about installing the parts. Well the stove will not draw like it did and it fills up with smoke. The door seal is now quite tight, if I open it slightly to increase draft, not a good idea, the smoke wants to come out the door opening. I think I did something wrong with the ceramic blanket, but what? It was cut 1ft. x 2 ft. and laid on top of the baffles, well laid is incorrect it was scrunched, wiggled, pulled and pushed through a gap created by moving one baffle on top of the other. I have replaced door seals several times over the years so I am thinking this is not a likely culprit, but this is the first time I have replaced a ceramic blanket and I did not do it well. Ideas, suggestions, pointers to get this stove back in correct service?
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savageactor7
ArboristSite Guru
I think what you think...
... the problem is related to the replacement blanket installation. For that I'd recommend visiting
https://www.**********/talk/forums/the-hearth-room-wood-stoves-and-fireplaces.6/
for an expert opinion.
good luck and happy holidays.
... the problem is related to the replacement blanket installation. For that I'd recommend visiting
https://www.**********/talk/forums/the-hearth-room-wood-stoves-and-fireplaces.6/
for an expert opinion.
good luck and happy holidays.
gumneck
Addicted to ArboristSite
Take the new blanket out and put in the old one. See what difference it makes.
If the old blanket is not useable, simply try it without any blanket installed and see how it drafts. The purpose of the blanket is to promote secondary combustion by keeping flue gasses at the top of the firebox super heated. It should still operate without it, at least for a test.
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Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk
I ran into a similar issue that drove me crazy when I replaced the top blanket on my stove a few years back. My stove is a bit simpler but I had to go back to the drawings and actually called the company before I got it positioned right. Was a bit unnerving smoking up the house again. (I run into cold start/ cold day draft issues - totally different issue that I have learned to deal with).
Don't see how a good seal on the door would be an issue unless the blanket is really messing up the flow - just one of those coincidences.
Don't see how a good seal on the door would be an issue unless the blanket is really messing up the flow - just one of those coincidences.
Here is what I did. Contacted the company and they responded in a timely fashion, but really did not address the thickness of the blanket nor its size. The dealer had given me 24"x12"x1" and that is what I originally installed. After removing the baffles, draft pipes and blanket I measured the interior and noticed that the baffles were 12" deep but not 24" wide. I cut a new blanket to the depth and width of the baffles and then compressed the heck out of the blanket so it pretty much was 3/4". Viola! Instant improvement. It has been several days now with the old good fire having returned.
I have a quadra fire insert and I am the orig owner. The parts inside are warranted for life. My dealer said take a picture of them, give it to me and I'll have new parts for you to install. If they install them then I have to pay them for the service call.
