Stove fix...worked like a charm!

[zacker]

When I bought my house, the previous owner had installed a Quadra-fire 3100I wood insert. the first winter we used it I couldnt figure out why it didnt seem to heat the house as it should. The most we got was about 70 degrees. Well, over the summer, I was cleaning out the stove, just putzint with it really, putting "stove blac" on it, polishing the brass hinges and stuff, I took the door off the clean the glass and noticed bits of flakey stuff falling from above.i stuck my head in and whoa!!! a huge (at least 8") hole in the steel top of the stove! I guess the fire got so hot, it burned away the 1/4" steel baffle! So I ordered a new one from Quadra fire and got it, installed it, the first night with it (and a new ceramic insulation blanket) installed, we got the front end of the house.. not room, up to 78 degrees F. the thermostat / thermometer is down a hall way. now it gets so hot we have to shut off the fan and let the fire die back. no more piling wood in it every 1/2 hour either!

 

[Landsinn]

Nice going on fixing your stove to get better heat!!!!

 

[zacker]

Heres a pic of the burned out baffle

in case your wondering what this stove looks like.. here it is before the fix.
Sorry for the way over processed cell phone photo!

 

[johnha]

They no longer use steel as a baffle, my 4100i (2007) has a composite board of some sort that sits on top of the air pipes.

I'm curious, do you have a cap on that chimney? I'm wondering if moisture wasn't part of the culprit there. Congratulations on getting that thing heating as it should.

 

[zacker]

Yeah, as a matter of fact, The first baffle they sent me was the fiber board, it was for the 2100 Millinium stove.. I called them and asked if I could use that and they said no, if it had steel, it had to heve it.. lol Of course the steel one is like $219.00 and the fiber board was around $80.00!

I Have a cap up on the chimney but there wasnt one when I bought the house and probably never was. I wonder, maybe thats what happened... lol if enough rain got down there it would puddle up but first it would need to soak through the ceramic wool blanket.. but im sure enough water cound eventually find its way in. After which the same ceramic blanket would slow up evaporation causing the steel to be constantly wet..well, untill it was used again...lol

 

[NMman]

your stone floor and mantel are very impressive! bet all that stone holds lots of heat!

 

[johnha]

your stone floor and mantel are very impressive! bet all that stone holds lots of heat!

ditto that, that is a nice pic and a beautiful hearth. I love the flag stone floor.

 

[zacker]

thanks guys, that was one of the things that helped sell the house to us...lol the house is just a small one, 1225 sq feet. it was built in the 1930's as a summer cottage by the grandfather of the person who lives in the house behind us. At the time, before all the trees grew, it was all farm land and the house had a clear view right down to the Housatonic River.. they said it had a nice widows walk on the top also. that chimney was hand made with stones dug up while making the house, this guy did it all...lol (something probably should have been left to a pro but...) lol.

On another funny note, my Boss who has lived in the Valley all his life, was recently doing a family tree search on Ancester . com and found out he is related (His fathers grand mother) to a woman who owned 100's of Acres of land in the area, come to find out through my land surveyor, she owned all the land in my neighborhood and the guy who built my house, his father worked for her and then when she got older and had to have more and more help, he was there (he lived on her land) so when she died, she gave them a big chunk of land. Later, the grandson got some of the land and he was an arhitect, He built 3 or 4 houses, including a round one that looks pretty cool and the house my neighbor farther down in back of me has. Its really neat, its partly under ground...its built into the side of a hill and has 2 foot thick cement walls and a cement ceiling which support the second floor which is actually the first floor if you enter the house from up hill....lol there is a bed room in the center of the bottom part, no windows and is pitch black..he calls it the Hangover room...lol so, thats the story.

 

[walexa07]

Almost looks to me like someone may have taken that plate out and cut the hole in it. It looks to be fairly thick to me, but it could just be the pic?

With today's efficient stoves, they require better draft to burn - if the previous owner was trying to burn green wood they could have had problems getting it going until they gutted it?

Waylan

 

[zacker]

yeah i thought it was kinda funny how the hole is pretty symetrical too and yes, that steel is about 1/4 - 3/8 inch thick!
I think it just burned through though... that stove gets HOT... and the stone on the floor infront of it gets too hot to stand on even in socks. I think it was over fired something feirce.. for along time at that. The Stove if circa 1984 so its been about 28 years in operation. But, maybe burning green wood cause some moisture to form on it? also the fact that running a hot fire and heating that baffle up then letting it air cool all those years is gonna really take the strength out of it.