# Gas Insert Issues



## amailmanyouknow (Jun 5, 2008)

We bought a Lexington Forge AI31DV insert a couple of years ago.  Before it was a year old, the fan died.  The dealer replaced it, and two months later THAT fan died.   Sounds like someone is banging pots and pans in our living room.

So we went back to them, and they offered to put either a new Lexington one (same model), or a Vermont Castings insert in.  We chose the Vt. Castings, even though we were not crazy about the look, because we didn't trust the LF.   Well, the Vt. Castings didn't fit.  (We have a really old house w/a stone FP, so we can't cut walls, etc.  And the insert is propane.)

Now the dealer has taken  BOTH of the units, said he would either give us a new one, or give us our money back.   He also sells Monessen products, but he says they are "too big."   I checked the specs and the IDV380 doesn't look too big to me....

Our specs are W: 27.5" bottom & middle, 27" top// H: 30.5 left, 30" R.  The problem with the Vt. C was the width in the front.

On top of all this, the other fly in the ointment is that he says he will have to remove the stuff from the chimney....This presents a problem, because when the moron who installed the first LF went up on the chimney, he ripped out a lot of the mortar, and just set the thing up on top - and the wind knocked out half our chimney, we ended up with a European hornet's nest up there which we did NOT have before.  We had to pay an exterminator to get it out, and then a mason to put the chimney back together!   And then he mortared the part in (I don't know the name of the part), so it wasn't sitting up there loose - the part could have blown out because of the installer, and landed on someone, or a car (we live next to the road) and killed someone.  So they will have to hack apart our chimney and then pay a mason to put it back together again. 

Is the Monessen a good brand?   I can find no reviews anywhere on that, or Lexington Forge....I know they are both owned by the same company, the address is the same on the manuals online.

Our other option is to get all our money back (and I would make sure we got the labor costs, because of the mason and the exterminator) and maybe get a Regency, but they are a LOT more expensive, and we are retired and not rich.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated


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## webbie (Jun 5, 2008)

Lexington Forge is pretty much an unknown (fairly new) brand....but the company is relatively well known. Monesson has been around for a while, but their specialty was in gas logs and vent-free more than in DV and BV inserts. It certainly sounds like the fan may have been exposed to too much heat (or the wrong fan used). I think VERY LITTLE long term testing is done on this stuff...that is, if it is designed correctly and works in the lab, that may be enough. My guess is that a supplier provided the wrong fans - it takes a certain type to do the job under some heat stress. 

I think you should at least get some info from the company (Desa) before getting another LF or a Monesson, so you can rest assured that the third time is the charm. I know someone in engineering there, and I will email them and point them to this thread - who knows? we might get lucky. Since this guy has designed everything from rockets for Nasa to hearth products, he should be able to get a fan working right!


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## amailmanyouknow (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks - it makes you wonder, because they buy all kinds of parts from China these days.....

I spoke to someone at the company myself - and the dealer kept telling me that he'd called them, and the guy at the company didn't know anything about it......it was very frustrating.  It took us 4 months to get the first replacement.

It's a shame, we did like the LF, it worked great - it was just what we wanted.  Until the fans......


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## amailmanyouknow (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi - Did you ever hear anything from your friend?   The dealer has our insert, is waiting for us to decide....thanks....


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## webbie (Jun 10, 2008)

Yeah, I did hear back but it appears he works for  Desa
http://products.desatech.com/

which does not include either Lexington Forge or Monesson. Those are a different maker - I thought they were the same since they are both located in Ky (I think), but they are not. Sorry, my mistake. I don't have a contact at Monesson.


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