# Quadra-Fire Voyageur Insert - Too much air intake? How to run? UPDATE VIDEO



## Rick8325 (Dec 9, 2013)

Hello everyone!  I recently installed my Voyageur and it gives some decent heat and looks great however I'm having an issue with the burn rate.  It seems to be over-firing, meaning the flames are rolling up over the baffle and wool blanket.  I cannot seem to control the burn rate.  The burn rate lever doesn't seem to open or close anything and there's no real resistance when moving the lever up or down.  It's almost like it's not connected to anything. This may be how it is as I do not know anyone else that has this stove. There's no OAK installed.  The plate by the blower fan was removed during installation.  I can feel with my hand, a ton of cooler air being sucked into the bottom of the stove by the blower.  I'm getting burn rates of 1 hour with an extremely hot fire and big flames.  The wood is dry and is hardwood (I also used kiln dried wood for one load).  I called Quadra-Fire and the rep said the stove was getting too much air causing the fire to rip at all times.  The glass is getting really black.  I have used this stove 4 times since I installed it the other day.  Today was the first time out of the 4 loads that the insert was blowing smoke in the room with the insert door closed.  I guess it's called negative pressure...?  I just cracked open my exterior door and it stopped smoking within a second. Does anyone have any pointers or comments, I like the insert and it's throwing good heat but it seems dangerous and is eating wood like crazy. 

Thanks!
-Rick


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## begreen (Dec 9, 2013)

The first thing to do is determine if the air control is actually connected. Also, the ACC needs to be checked to be sure it's not stuck open.  Have you measured the stove temps? What are they reading? Usually black glass does not happen with a very hot stove so another thing to check is to make sure the door is sealing correctly. You can do this by closing the cold door on a dollar bill and trying to pull it out. It should have some tension on it so that tug is required to move it. If there is no tension then the gasket is leaking.

Did a dealer install this insert? Have they come out and checked the insert? Seems like it may be warranted.

Is there a stainless liner connected to the stove? If so, how tall is the liner?


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## Rick8325 (Dec 9, 2013)

begreen said:


> The first thing to do is determine if the air control is actually connected. Also, the ACC needs to be checked to be sure it's not stuck open.  Have you measured the stove temps? What are they reading? Usually black glass does not happen with a very hot stove so another thing to check is to make sure the door is sealing correctly. You can do this by closing the cold door on a dollar bill and trying to pull it out. It should have some tension on it so that tug is required to move it. If there is no tension then the gasket is leaking.
> 
> Did a dealer install this insert? Have they come out and checked the insert? Seems like it may be warranted.
> 
> Is there a stainless liner connected to the stove? If so, how tall is the liner?


Thanks for the reply!  I don't have the equipment to get temps.  The door is closing very tightly but I cannot do the dollar bill test until it cools.  A chimney company installed it. The chimney is 25' with a 6" liner.  The liner was wrapped in insulation before it was dropped.  This is an exterior wall fireplace.  There's also roxul around where the old fireplace damper was.  I didn't have the dealer's recommended installer because he was booked forever.  It is warrantied.


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## begreen (Dec 9, 2013)

Liner sounds good. It would really help to get a temp reading on the stove. Are you using the ACC and the Burn (air) control?


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## Rick8325 (Dec 9, 2013)

The ACC directions are kind of confusing to me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what I'm doing.  Now the fire is only staying lit with the door cracked. I've been trying all different lever settings.  I don't see any mention how the burn rate lever works in the manual.  What is it opening and why can't I feel something sliding when I adjust the lever.  I did just finally get it to flame with the door closed. This really stinks because with the price of install and the stove this is starting to seem like a bad investment without much return.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

I did the dollar bill test on the door this morning.  It's tight and I could not pull the bill out in the 10 or so spots that I tried.


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2013)

My guess is that we are dealing with the very common "learning curve" of a new owner.  It is basically the time it takes for the new owner to learn the stove and its operation.
Without some way to measure temp it is the equivalent of driving your car without a speedometer.  You can only guess where you are at.  This makes it more difficult to make calculated adjustments to your stove.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

Sorry for my ignorance but please help me understand why the temp means anything if I can see that it is over-firing and burning logs really fast?  The flames are rolling up over the baffle boards and ceramic blanket towards the top collar to the liner for the majority of the burn.  Is there some cheapo temp gauge I can get somewhere and does it go inside the stove on the glass?


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2013)

Can you see 600F or 800F?  I can't - and I have been doing this for awhile.  Last night I had a fire going that was just a glow with secondaries gently rolling.  Surprised myself when I walked up to a 750F stove.  Even the _stage_ of the fire will yield different looks compared to different temps.
Yes - there are many outlets for stove thermos at relatively cheap bucks.  Home depot, Lowes, Menards, Hardware stores, online, stove shops...these are very common items (and for a reason).


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## Slow1 (Dec 10, 2013)

Is the stove glowing?  If not then you really can't know if it is overfiring without a temperature reading.  Huge "gates of hell" flames are not necessarily a bad thing as secondary burns are supposed to hot and clean.  Your description may actually be a good healthy burn.

Stove thermometers are available at any stove shop and many hardware stores - $10-50 depending on the mark-up and just how 'cheapo" you want to go.


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2013)

To explain a bit...the most common answer to your question about rolling flames is to obviously "shut the air down".  But the problem is - if you are only at a 300F stove temp while this is happening - it might not be the "right" answer.  We just don't know without some hard info.  Your "rolling" flames could be something completely different than mine.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks for the replies guys.  I know the auto fan won't click on even with the huge fire so maybe it's not getting as hot as I think.  Where do these thermos go?  I don't know if I need something different because it's an insert.  If the temps are cooler than it should be what would be some adjustments that would need to be made if the wood is burning high and really fast.  The glass is about 60% black from 4 fires.


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2013)

Black glass is not usually indicative of a "too hot" fire.  Just the opposite.
An insert can be tricky to measure temps.  Often the best solution is to find a spot and then use the temps recorded in relationship to the burn.  What I mean by that is - if you choose a spot (like the top left of the insert, just for example) and you find that 400F in that spot really makes for a very active, hot fire - use that temp as a reference point.
Others have found that an IR thermo can be aimed at areas (think top of stove box) that a regular thermo can't get to.  And they are just down right fun multi-taskers.


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## begreen (Dec 10, 2013)

I am guessing that the air is not being controlled correctly. And perhaps this is being compounded by poorly seasoned wood. If so, it's not the stove but the user that is on a learning curve here. The ACC control is a bit more complex and damp wood is a big pain to work with. My guess is that the stove is being run with the air wide open via either the ACC or the primary control. I have to head to work here but hopefully someone will walk you through the steps in the manual. Ideally it would be another Voyageur owner.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

Geez I was worried that because of the wild fire I have had the past 3 burns that I had an out of control hot box going in there and it does make sense that the black glass means it's not but I'm getting worried what the flames should look like if it's as hot as it should be.  I'll see if I can borrow an IR thermo from someone.  I can still access my stove pipe because my oversize trim piece for my fireplace opening hasn't arrived yet.  My dealer and installer is absolutely useless when it comes to explaining the workings to a newbie and so is Quadra-Fire's customer support.


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2013)

I agree with BG - it would be nice if another voyager owner with some experience would show up to help.  Each stove has a little bit different attitude.
Stove pipe temps would at least be a starting point.


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## begreen (Dec 10, 2013)

It is a bit intimidating at first, especially if you haven't run a stove before. Take it in small steps.  

What size pieces of wood (splits) are you burning Rick? Tell us your procedure for starting and running the fire.


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## Slow1 (Dec 10, 2013)

Just be patient and work with folks - most of us old timers can give general guidance on any stove, but eventually someone with the same stove will show up and give more specific advice/guidance.

One thing to understand is that you can actually get more fire in the box with a lower air setting (seems counter-intuitive) - i.e. if air is fully open you may get a large primary burn (on the wood), but if you shut the air down a bit in a hot firebox then the secondaries (top, tubes etc) can really get going and give quite a flame show.

The number one issue that folks usually have is their fuel.  Read up a bit here on 'seasoned' wood and you will quickly learn that unless you stack your own wood for a couple years you likely don't have really dry wood.  Around my part of Mass oak is very common - this is great in a way, but most oak takes 2-3 years in our climate to dry naturally once split/stacked.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

begreen said:


> It is a bit intimidating at first, especially if you haven't run a stove before. Take it in small steps.
> 
> What size pieces of wood (splits) are you burning Rick? Tell us your procedure for starting and running the fire.


It certainly is intimidating.  I grew up in a big city too and never had a fireplace or knew anyone with one.  The wood is about 12-14".  The wood is the same size as those bags you can buy at a gas station.  I even tried one of those bags and was getting the same result with the burn rate.  The wood I get is stacked high in mounds and it's been there for about 2-3 years.  When they cut up new wood it goes in the back of the pile.  I pick my stuff from the front of the pile off the ground.  The wood is dry and cracked all over.  It's dark grayish-brown and hardwood (no pine).  There are a boat load of piles that I have access to.  The wood is free.

To start a fire I get about 6-8 hardwood kindling sticks and put them in a square.  The stove already has a decent ash pit because it has burnt everything to a nice ash.  I crumble up a few pieces of newspaper and place it in the middle of the kindling sticks.  I light a match and make sure the smoke goes up.  The kindling takes off pretty quick and within about 5 minutes I throw a log in then another after a few minutes.  I only lit 4 fires so far but only 1 time I had to crack the insert door to get it going for a few mins.  The last fire I started last night blew smoke in the room.  The smoke was coming out from the top right burn rate lever.  I opened my house door a crack and it drafted better instantly (neg pressure?).  I'm still wondering why smoke would come out with the insert door closed (gasket is good I did the dollar bill test this morning).


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## Paul L (Dec 10, 2013)

Rick8325 said:


> Thanks for the replies guys.  I know the auto fan won't click on even with the huge fire so maybe it's not getting as hot as I think.  Where do these thermos go?  I don't know if I need something different because it's an insert.  If the temps are cooler than it should be what would be some adjustments that would need to be made if the wood is burning high and really fast.  The glass is about 60% black from 4 fires.



I have been using a Grand Voyageur now for less than a month.   Still learning but I'll try to help ... the one thing you've said here that stands out is that the fan will not kick on in auto mode.  The glass on my stove was like tar paper early on.   When the weather turned colder and we started burning hotter, it made a huge difference with the glass.   Black glass and no auto fan engagement suggests a low temp burn.

Where we need to start here is by trying to understand why your auto fan is not kicking on.   Make sure the fan speed is not set to "off" .... if you turn the switch from auto to manual the fan will come on, verifying that the fan speed is set correctly.   My fan kicks on well after the fire gets going well .... about 25 minutes or so.   My stove loves the "top down" start ... that was the first adjustment we made to get a better burn.   Search this forum or you tube and you will get good info on top down starts.   My stove much prefers it and I'm sure yours is the same.   We leave the door cracked on start up until the fire is fully engaged.    I have not used an IR thermometer yet as it is wrapped in Christmas paper   , so I can' t talk temps right now, but they are on sale for less than $30 at Harbor Freight.

I also wondered at first if the air intake control was hooked up because there is no resistance at all when moving the control arm.  If the fire is raging It Is hard to see any immediate difference when I turn the air down.   It is at lower burn rates that I can tell a difference but still the result Is not immediate.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

Paul L said:


> I have been using a Grand Voyageur now for less than a month.   Still learning but I'll try to help ... the one thing you've said here that stands out is that the fan will not kick on in auto mode.  The glass on my stove was like tar paper early on.   When the weather turned colder and we started burning hotter, it made a huge difference with the glass.   Black glass and no auto fan engagement suggests a low temp burn.
> 
> Where we need to start here is by trying to understand why your auto fan is not kicking on.   Make sure the fan speed is not set to "off" .... if you turn the switch from auto to manual the fan will come on, verifying that the fan speed is set correctly.   My fan kicks on well after the fire gets going well .... about 25 minutes or so.   My stove loves the "top down" start ... that was the first adjustment we made to get a better burn.   Search this forum or you tube and you will get good info on top down starts.   My stove much prefers it and I'm sure yours is the same.   We leave the door cracked on start up until the fire is fully engaged.    I have not used an IR thermometer yet as it is wrapped in Christmas paper   , so I can' t talk temps right now, but they are on sale for less than $30 at Harbor Freight.
> 
> I also wondered at first if the air intake control was hooked up because there is no resistance at all when moving the control arm.  If the fire is raging It Is hard to see any immediate difference when I turn the air down.   It is at lower burn rates that I can tell a difference but still the result Is not immediate.



Paul, thanks for the reply!  I did check the knob of the fan to make sure it wasn't clicked to off. I waited about 35-40 minutes then thought "wow this is getting hot enough" and flipped the switch to manual.  I'm really nervous now that if my fires aren't hot enough now with the flames rolling over the baffles and ceramic blanket up towards the collar/liner to get this thing going even hotter I feel like it would be dangerous.  I don't even know what the burn rate lever is moving on the inside....


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## begreen (Dec 10, 2013)

Rick, it sounds like the smoke spillage was a puffback, probably from squelching a fire too much. The wood sound good so I think the main thing to focus on is technique.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

begreen said:


> Rick, it sounds like the smoke spillage was a puffback, probably from squelching a fire too much. The wood sound good so I think the main thing to focus on is technique.


Can it backpuff with the stove door closed and locked?  It wasn't a lot of smoke to set off the smoke detector in the room but it was definitely coming from the burn rate lever. The smoke stopped when I cracked open my house door.


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## Paul L (Dec 10, 2013)

Rick, after you've set the fan to manual and the fire's been going a while ... does the fan stay on if you switch back to "auto?"    If not, this part of your problem sounds like a warranty issue and your dealer will have to get involved whether he wants to or not.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 10, 2013)

Paul L said:


> Rick, after you've set the fan to manual and the fire's been going a while ... does the fan stay on if you switch back to "auto?"    If not, this part of your problem sounds like a warranty issue and your dealer will have to get involved whether he wants to or not.


Paul, I'm pretty sure I have had the stove on for awhile and when I clicked it to auto it remained on and it shut off on its own when the stove cooled.  I'll have to check it again.  I have had it where when switching from manual to auto the fan shut off, meaning it wasn't hot enough in the firebox...?


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## Paul L (Dec 10, 2013)

Yes Rick that's the way the auto is supposed to work.   It's all about the metal box heating up slowly, just like water takes a while to boil even though the flame is high.


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## begreen (Dec 10, 2013)

Rick8325 said:


> Can it backpuff with the stove door closed and locked?  It wasn't a lot of smoke to set off the smoke detector in the room but it was definitely coming from the burn rate lever. The smoke stopped when I cracked open my house door.


Definitely. What happens is the fire gets temporarily snuffed, but the wood is still smoking and outgassing. Then a flame reappears and ignites this smokey gas which creates a small explosion that drives smoke out of every and any orifice, seam, and crack it can find.


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## Rick8325 (Dec 11, 2013)

Here's a video showing the flames rolling over the baffle and ceramic blanket.  The already went from white to black from 6 fires.  I do not know if the flames should be doing this or if the blanket should be looking black.  It seems each fire I get going burns differently.  This fire was a hard start but I got it going.  I had the door closed and it filled with smoke but had a small flame.  Once I opened the stove's door the smoke went up and the fire took off into this:

Please let me know if the flames are supposed to roll up over the baffle like this.  I have gotten it to really roll up over it before.  I'm wondering if I need an outside air kit.


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## begreen (Dec 11, 2013)

Thanks for the video, I don't see anything earth-shaking there though it's vigorous if the air is all the way closed and the ACC is off. Did you turn the ACC off manually?


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## Rick8325 (Dec 11, 2013)

begreen said:


> Thanks for the video, I don't see anything earth-shaking there though it's vigorous if the air is all the way closed and the ACC is off. Did you turn the ACC off manually?


The ACC were pushed in then out as the directions say so it was on it's 25 minutes timer.  It really seems like there's a lot of air inside the firebox.  Do you know what are the benefits of an OAK?

thanks!


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## Paul L (Dec 12, 2013)

begreen said:


> Thanks for the video, I don't see anything earth-shaking there though it's vigorous if the air is all the way closed and the ACC is off. Did you turn the ACC off manually?



There is so much confusion over Quadra-Fire's ACC system and the owners manual is of no help whatsoever.     On QF stoves, there is a way to reach behind the stove and close the ACC manually.  On QF inserts there is no way to do this though searching endlessly through QF's Voyageur/Grand Voyageur documentation this is never directly declared.

Rick, if you are getting more flame than you want, I would suggest not using the ACC at all.  Just crack the door until your fire is engaged at the level you want.   This takes some getting used to as to WHEN to shut the door.  On my Grand Voyageur if I wait until the flames are looking like yours in the video to shut the door, it is too late.   Trial and error.  Also I don't know how other stoves work, but there is no "off" setting on the main air control ... the lowest setting is "low" and does not restrict the air enough to calm down a roaring fire in my experience.

Another option on reloads is to engage the ACC about 15 minutes before reloading.   This will fire up the coals and cut down the time the ACC is engaged on the reload.   I've been using my Grand Voyageur for a month and am still learning.  Keep workin' it


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## Rick8325 (Dec 12, 2013)

Thanks Paul!  It definitely looks like there's a ton of air in the firebox at most times.  I can never control it with the burn rate lever.  I'm learning more each fire.  I'm getting probably 3-4 hour burn rates with 3 logs.  Heat output has not really been that good but it takes the chill out of the only cold room in my house, the living room.  Now my auto fan switch isn't working right.  I unscrew it and put the sensor (which looks like a large watch battery) on the front of the glass and it will heat up in 2 seconds but when it's under near the blower it never clicks on and I definitely know it's hot enough.  I think it needs to be bent up more so it touches the bottom of the stove better.


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## swingle975 (Dec 18, 2013)

Rick,

i bought a grand voyager 2 months ago and let me tell you i feel your pain about the 'learning curve' with these stoves but im pretty confident ive got a good grasp on this stove now.   so with that said here are some hints and advise i can give, 1st i saw that video that you posted and its absolutely fine.  2nd when it comes to temp gauge the best place to put it i found was right above the door at the high point of the arch (you will have to remove the blower direction plate) just place it there that ll be the best place for an accurate reading. 3rd after you get your guage in place, start a fire with acc in and primary all the way up, when your gauge hits 3-350 pull out your acc knob and set your burn rate on your primary air, whats gonna happen is since that acc is on a timer that fire is still gonna rage for that 25 minutes and youll see that on your temp gauge, the temp guage will keep rising after the 25 minutes is up youll see it start to calm down and your secondary burn will be very visible obviously for the longest burn set your primary air in the down position and walk away then just watch the temp gauge to learn your stove and finally your blower wont kick on untill 400 degrees so if your not reaching this temp your not burning hot enough as for the black window this tells me you either have unseasoned wood or wood that is wet and you just arent getting it hot enough


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## Rick8325 (Dec 18, 2013)

swingle975 said:


> Rick,
> 
> i bought a grand voyager 2 months ago and let me tell you i feel your pain about the 'learning curve' with these stoves but im pretty confident ive got a good grasp on this stove now.   so with that said here are some hints and advise i can give, 1st i saw that video that you posted and its absolutely fine.  2nd when it comes to temp gauge the best place to put it i found was right above the door at the high point of the arch (you will have to remove the blower direction plate) just place it there that ll be the best place for an accurate reading. 3rd after you get your guage in place, start a fire with acc in and primary all the way up, when your gauge hits 3-350 pull out your acc knob and set your burn rate on your primary air, whats gonna happen is since that acc is on a timer that fire is still gonna rage for that 25 minutes and youll see that on your temp gauge, the temp guage will keep rising after the 25 minutes is up youll see it start to calm down and your secondary burn will be very visible obviously for the longest burn set your primary air in the down position and walk away then just watch the temp gauge to learn your stove and finally your blower wont kick on untill 400 degrees so if your not reaching this temp your not burning hot enough as for the black window this tells me you either have unseasoned wood or wood that is wet and you just arent getting it hot enough


Thanks for the tips.  I can't seem to find a temp gauge that fits anywhere so I ordered an IR laser gun.  I guess I could have put the gauge in the middle of the blower slot with it not running of course.  The wood is definitely seasoned.  The black glass is most likely from the fire not being hot enough.  I have my local building inspector coming out today to inspect it (I needed a permit to install in my town) so I stopped burning a few days ago in case he says I shouldn't be burning without inspection first.  It's all cleaned up and I'll await to get the IR thermometer and monitor the readings.  I would have assumed it was getting hot enough because it was eating up a ton of wood relatively fast leaving very little ash.  I'm not sure what you mean by blower direction plate as the air just comes out of a fixed spot.  How hot should this firebox get?  Thanks!


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## Big dog (Feb 10, 2016)

Rick8325 said:


> Hello everyone!  I recently installed my Voyageur and it gives some decent heat and looks great however I'm having an issue with the burn rate.  It seems to be over-firing, meaning the flames are rolling up over the baffle and wool blanket.  I cannot seem to control the burn rate.  The burn rate lever doesn't seem to open or close anything and there's no real resistance when moving the lever up or down.  It's almost like it's not connected to anything. This may be how it is as I do not know anyone else that has this stove. There's no OAK installed.  The plate by the blower fan was removed during installation.  I can feel with my hand, a ton of cooler air being sucked into the bottom of the stove by the blower.  I'm getting burn rates of 1 hour with an extremely hot fire and big flames.  The wood is dry and is hardwood (I also used kiln dried wood for one load).  I called Quadra-Fire and the rep said the stove was getting too much air causing the fire to rip at all times.  The glass is getting really black.  I have used this stove 4 times since I installed it the other day.  Today was the first time out of the 4 loads that the insert was blowing smoke in the room with the insert door closed.  I guess it's called negative pressure...?  I just cracked open my exterior door and it stopped smoking within a second. Does anyone have any pointers or comments, I like the insert and it's throwing good heat but it seems dangerous and is eating wood like crazy.
> 
> Thanks!
> -Rick


Hay Ricky. 
I have a quad racier wood stove. It came already installed in a house I just bought. It's been working fine till just a few days ago. I loaded it up for a night burn, and it just started over burning. I couldn't control it at all with the controls. What happened was the ash clean out door , under the grate wasn't closing proper. I thought there was something stuck , keeping it open, but now after keeping the stove clean it's still happening. I loaded for an over night and it did it again. This time I needed to prop the door handle up with a piece of wood. 
It's out of commission now till it gets fixed. 
The magnetic thermometer on the chimney reaches the top of the safe operation temperature. And would keep climbing. Very dangerous.


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## Rick8325 (Feb 11, 2016)

Just to update after a few years.  The dealer came and replaced the door in 2013.  That seemed to be the issue of the out of control fires and not being able to control burns.  Now it runs fine and I can control the fire.  It definitely took some time to learn how this stove runs and operates.  I don't have an outside air kit and have both metal plates are off from the back where the kit would go and the front under the blower motor.  Most of the time this stove needs a good 20-30 minutes of the door open to get the fire going to where I'm able to close the door and run it off the lever controls.  The stove eats through wood fast but it's not that bad.  I bought the stove to heat up the coldest room in my house (living room) and it does that fine and it will heat upstairs and keep both attic and basement furnaces off until the stove dies down.  The glass has to be cleaned every day.  All-in-all I'd wish I had gotten a pellet stove so I can run it all day when I'm not home but I have been fairly happy with the Voyageur.  Nothing beats the look of rolling flames.


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## prezes13 (Feb 11, 2016)

You still not burning hot enough.  When I got my stove first I had to  clean my glass everyday and I couldn't understand how can people not do that everyday.  Now after 4 seasons I know. Even if I get it black because of a rolled log I can get it burnt off with a hot fire.  Even now I sometimes wonder if I got the full potential of my stove.  I take a measurement on the top of my door with ir gun usually I get it up to 420 or so never saw 500 but at 450 470 it thriws tons of hear.


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## Rick8325 (Feb 11, 2016)

prezes13 said:


> You still not burning hot enough.  When I got my stove first I had to  clean my glass everyday and I couldn't understand how can people not do that everyday.  Now after 4 seasons I know. Even if I get it black because of a rolled log I can get it burnt off with a hot fire.  Even now I sometimes wonder if I got the full potential of my stove.  I take a measurement on the top of my door with ir gun usually I get it up to 420 or so never saw 500 but at 450 470 it thriws tons of hear.


I don't know about that....I have one of these flue thermometers on top of the stove where the heat comes out and with the blower off it's always dialed to the burn zone and I don't have it anywhere near the actual flue.


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## begreen (Feb 11, 2016)

Ignore the zone ranges unless using the thermometer on a single-wall stove pipe. Go by the temperature reading.


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## Rick8325 (Feb 11, 2016)

I've used infrared thermometers as well in the firebox.  The stove gets hot enough.


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## begreen (Feb 11, 2016)

That's not the best way to run the stove. Reading temps with an IR thermometer through the glass is not accurate. I would expect that with the blower off for at least a few minutes the normal peak stovetop temps would be around 600-650F.


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## Rick8325 (Feb 11, 2016)

begreen said:


> That's not the best way to run the stove. Reading temps with an IR thermometer through the glass is not accurate. I would expect that with the blower off for at least a few minutes the normal peak stovetop temps would be around 600-650F.


Temp is read in the box, not through the glass.  Usually at a piece of metal.  It easily reads 600 most of the time.


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## begreen (Feb 11, 2016)

Ignore the temp in the box if you have to open up the stove door, letting in cooling air. Normal interior stove temps are over 1000F with a strong fire and good secondary combustion.


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## prezes13 (Feb 11, 2016)

Try to take a reading with ir above the door but on the body of stove.  If you have a black glass and the wood is proven to be dry you starve your stove for air.  Open the air a bit.


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## fire_me_up (Dec 6, 2018)

Hi guys - did you figure out the voyageur grand?  I have one myself and I'm on a learning curve still .  Had it for ~1 year, done around 30 burns. Getting better I think but I didn't get outside air and sometimes I think that's a problem. Another is that I've noticed when the fan kicks off there's a faint odor of smoke in the room. In the back of my mind I wonder if there could be some smoke leaking out of the unit, or something else? Anyone have thoughts on this?

thanks!


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## 2fireplacesinSC (Dec 6, 2018)

fire_me_up said:


> Hi guys - did you figure out the voyageur grand?  I have one myself and I'm on a learning curve still .  Had it for ~1 year, done around 30 burns. Getting better I think but I didn't get outside air and sometimes I think that's a problem. Another is that I've noticed when the fan kicks off there's a faint odor of smoke in the room. In the back of my mind I wonder if there could be some smoke leaking out of the unit, or something else? Anyone have thoughts on this?
> 
> thanks!




Just went through this most of this whole post and then realized it was 2016 stuff. 

You might want to start a new thread with this question. Seems more likely to get the answer you want more quickly. 

Wish you well in learning the burn on the stove.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

I just had the voyageur installed a few days ago. I can't seem to get living room temperature above 73. The manual is confusing to me. I use the acc to start the fire. I open the burn rate lever all the way open, but the room temp never gets above 73. 

How do I get a hot and efficient burn? Also, what is the acc secondary operation. If I read the manual correctly, if I push thr acc all the way back, it will put more oxygen in the firebox causing a higher burn. I tried this with no change in room temp and it burns my wood way too fast. The acc also moves up and down when pulled out. What is the purpose of this function?


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2019)

BB37 said:


> I just had the voyageur installed a few days ago. I can't seem to get living room temperature above 73. The manual is confusing to me. I use the acc to start the fire. I open the burn rate lever all the way open, but the room temp never gets above 73.
> 
> How do I get a hot and efficient burn? Also, what is the acc secondary operation. If I read the manual correctly, if I push thr acc all the way back, it will put more oxygen in the firebox causing a higher burn. I tried this with no change in room temp and it burns my wood way too fast. The acc also moves up and down when pulled out. What is the purpose of this function?


The ACC air control is for start-up air only. Use the burn rate control after the fire has started. Although it will seem at first counterintuitive, once the fire is burning well, less air will make more heat. This is because less primary air causes the vacuum of draft to pull more air from the secondary tubes. This reburn the wood gases more thoroughly and produces a lot more heat. Too much air just sends the heat and unburnt wood gases up the chimney as smoke. Next fire, start with the burn control open and use the ACC to start and let it return to closed normally (it has a timer). Then after say 20-30 minutes or so from starting, start to turn the air (burn control) down 50% or as far as you can without putting out the flame. A slow lazy flame is ok. Let the fire regain strength and then close down the air again to maybe 25% or until the fire once again starts to get lazy. At this point you may start seeing what looks like fountains of fire coming in front of the secondary tubes. That is the secondary burn process.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

begreen said:


> The ACC air control is for start-up air only. Use the burn rate control after the fire has started. Although it will seem at first counterintuitive, once the fire is burning well, less air will make more heat. This is because less primary air causes the vacuum of draft to pull more air from the secondary tubes. This reburn the wood gases more thoroughly and produces a lot more heat. Too much air just sends the heat and unburnt wood gases up the chimney as smoke. Next fire, start with the burn control open and use the ACC to start and let it return to closed normally (it has a timer). Then after say 20-30 minutes or so from starting, start to turn the air (burn control) down 50% or as far as you can without putting out the flame. A slow lazy flame is ok. Let the fire regain strength and then close down the air again to maybe 25% or until the fire once again starts to get lazy. At this point you may start seeing what looks like fountains of fire coming in front of the secondary tubes. That is the secondary burn process.



Thank you for your reply. I will try this. The dealer told me to leave burn control on high and that pushing acc control all the way in would cause it to burn hotter and produce more heat out of the blower.

Do you know the purpose for raising the acc up?


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2019)

Sounds like you had a salesperson that doesn't understand basic EPA stove combustion. Unfortunately neither did the person writing the manual which the storeperson is parroting.  The ACC gets pushed in once to start the burn. That's it.


BB37 said:


> Do you know the purpose for raising the acc up?


I'm not following this question. The burn rate control (which is just an air control) goes up and down, the ACC pushes in to set the timer.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

begreen said:


> Sounds like you had a salesperson that doesn't understand basic EPA stove combustion. Unfortunately neither did the person writing the manual which the storeperson is parroting.  The ACC gets pushed in once to start the burn. That's it.
> 
> I'm not following this question. The burn rate control (which is just an air control) goes up and down, the ACC pushes in to set the timer.




The acc can pull partially out or all the way out then it can move up.


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2019)

Which version of the Voyageur is this? The smaller or larger Grande?

On the smaller Voyageur lifting up on the ACC control and pulling it away interrupts the timer cycle if you want to shut it off. I think the Grande's is a bit more complicated but I would need to look that up.

And I erred on the initial setting of the ACC. To set it the ACC gets pushed in and then pulled out.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

I have the smaller voyageur. Pushing the acc all the way in seems to allow more air into the back of the unit. 

So if I understand correctly your previous response, I need to get the fire flaming, then back the burn rate down. Do I do this every time I reload? I tried this tonight on a reload, but i have lost heat in the house.


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2019)

I thought the rear air feed was on the Grade Voyageur, but could be wrong. Does it say there is rear air feed in the manual on the smaller Voyageur? On a reload it will depend on the size of the coal bed and draft strength. The manual says to open up the ACC and air control, but opening up the ACC may not be necessary if the coal bed is large and still very hot. Just opening the main air control may be sufficient. 

FWIW, I have to confess I am not a fan of the ACC system. The intent is good, but as illustrated it adds an order of complexity that can be quite confusing.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

The smaller Voyageur does according to the manuel it states:

The secondary function of the start up air control is operation of the rear air system.

•push the start up air control 3/8 inch back to allow rear air to enter firebox.

It also states for high burn rate for maximum heat:

•Raise the burn rate air control all the way up until it stops
•Push the start up air control all the way back until it stops and leave there.

I did these steps expecting more heat output, but I only got temp of house to 73 degrees. That's why I posted my question. It wasn't heating the house the way I expected according to the manuel insteuctions.


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2019)

The high burn rate delivers maximum air to the firebox. That definitely will be a high burn rate as you have noticed in wood consumption. But that is not the highest heating rate. Quadrafire has made this whole system a bit over complicated. It really isn't necessary and with so many variables it can get confusing as to what the optimal burn settings should be.


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## BB37 (Jan 12, 2019)

I tried closing off the air to the rear and setting the burn rate control lever to half after adding wood to the fire. I already had a nice coal bed. It didn't do much for the temp in the house. I'll be gone most of the day tomorrow so I will try a fresh fire using the acc and then backing off the burn rate. I just wish it wasn't so difficult to figure out how to burn so my home is warm.


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## begreen (Jan 13, 2019)

BB37, one option to make the stove easier to learn to run is to not use the ACC at all for a few week. Just use the main burn control and leave the ACC off. To make fire starting easier, leave the door open an inch until the fire gets going well. Then close the door and let the fire build for 5-10 minutes until it is burning pretty well. All the wood does not need to be burning at this point, but try closing down the air until the flames get lazier, but not out. Let the fire recover and regain strength.Once the fire is burning robustly again, close down the air some more until once more the flames start getting lazy. Repeat one more time if possible. (this will depend on the amount of wood, species burned, size of splits, etc.)

Do this for a couple weeks of burning until it becomes routine and predictable. Then introduce the ACC for starting instead of leaving the door ajar at the beginning.


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## GregStarr (Mar 2, 2020)

I have a Quarafire Voyager model year 2020. My ACC and Damper don't seem to have any effect on the intensity of the fire. I did pay to have it professionally installed and they are sending someone out to look into the issue. If I have a rolling flame fire going and want to damper it down to make the wood last longer turning the damper down has no effect whatsoever.
I am normally a DIY guy but getting this insert in and out of my fireplace is a PIA.  In the current state there is no way I can feel safe loading it up with wood for the night and going to sleep. Can others with this model tell me if this is something I have to learn to deal with due to the multiple air inlet locations or is there most likely a damper stuck open?


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