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2/8/96
1. The Clubhouse- From Craig Issod ([email protected])
2/11/96
1. Pray for Tim Nissen
2. Chimneys List
3. Better address for club
4. HPA is wired
2/11/96
1. Isinglass
2. New members
3. HPA email address
2/16/96
1. HPA Up and running
2. Proper email Address for Fireside in Bend Or.
2/24/96
1. Nasty Story to tell you
2/26/96/
1. RE: Nasty Story
02/28/96
1. Email Address for Hearth Products association
2. RE; MNasty Story to tell you (another one)
1. The Clubhouse- From Craig Issod ([email protected])
We have put up a private area for members only on HearthNet. You get there
by entering the following URL -- http://hearth.com/news When a box comes
up asking for your name and password, simply type: hearth fire The Idea
is to have a place to put articles, and other information that we industry
types would like to see. For beginners, I have placed the archives of this
mailing list and the list charter. Please email me with any suggestions,
and submisisons for this area. ______________________
02/11/96
1. Pray for Tim Nissen
2. Chimneys List
3. Better address for club
4. HPA is wired
In this issue 2/11/96 1. Pray for Tim Nissen 2. Chimneys List 3. Better
address for club 4. HPA is wired --------------------------- Note: all posts
below by Craig Issod ([email protected]) 1. Let's hope that Tim's store
in Oregon is safe and sound. Last email I had from him says the water is
rising and his house is full with all the flatlanders heading for higher
ground ! That's one good thing about Southern New Jerset, no floods, no
tornado's and no earthquakes ! 2. Those of you who are also chimney types
should sign up for the chimney's mailing list by sending mail to [email protected]
. This list has been around for a year, and has quite a few menbers. Turns
out the chimney community is better "wired" than us Hearth types
! 3. The clubhouse (on HearthNet) that I mentioned in a previous digest
has a better address at http://hearth.com/news/club.html The user name is
hearth and the password fire It is my hope to have a lot of information
posted here to help all the members of our Industry. 4. In a completely
unofficial announcement, I visited with the HPA in Washington DC last week
to talk about their web site. I spoke with Carter Keithly (HPA front man),
Greg Iverson (Mendota) and Tim Nissen ( by Phone ) about the HPA's plans.
The good news is that HPA is on the ball -- the offices in Washington are
already wired - on a full time basis - so we'll be able to hassle them with
instant email soon. In addition, they have plans to establish a Web Site
to benefit the HPA members and our Industry. I'm certain you will see good
effort on this front from Tim, Greg and the other communication committee
members. More good news, there were no fancy paintings , and not even an
executive washroom at HPA headquarters. They seem to be very carefull with
the money - Our Money -- and I commend them for this ! Craig
02/11/96
1. Isinglass
2. New members
3. HPA email address
1. Richard Brown ([email protected]) asks where to get Mica or Isenglass
for old stoves: Craig Issod ([email protected]) replies -- Try Woodmans
Assoc. at 1-800-522-8216 and tell them I sent you ! 2. We're getting quite
a few new members on this list, probably from the HPA news (thanks, Tim).
Feel free to send posts with your opinions, etc to the list. One that many
folks may be interested in follows (The Software they mention might be good
for many of us): >From: Roger Sanders >Organization:
Fireside >MIME-Version: 1.0 >To: [email protected] >Subject:
Retailer mailing list membership. >X-URL: http://hearth.com/members.html
> >Roger Sanders >Bev Ann Timm >Jerry Stevens > >We're
all at Fireside Spa & Patio, 424 NE 3rd, Bend, Oregon. >Fireside is a
hearth, spa and patio retail store with primary emphasis >on hearth products.
We're also beginning to market the industry's first >productivity improvement,
database program for both Mac OS and IBM >Windows systems. 3. Don't get
mad at me, Carter (by Craig Issod [email protected]) HPA is now hooked up
to the Net. We welcome Carter Keithley, the President of HPA , on board.
His email address is CARTER KEITHLEY I'm sure
he will share the email addresses of any other office members that folks
may need to get in touch with - that is, once he figures out what they are
himself ! ________________________________
02/16/96
1. HPA Up and running
2. Proper email Address for Fireside in Bend Or.
1. HPA Up and running 2. Proper email Address for Fireside in Bend Or.
1. Any of you that tried to email HPA had the email bouncerd back, cause
their server was not set up correctly. It's now working, so Carter can be
bugged at [email protected] ..... Carter, maybe you could post a
listing of the other HPA email addresses that our members might want to
contact.
2. A recent note (on this digest) from the Folks at Fireside in Bend, Oregon
announced that they had developed cross platform software tailored to a
retail hearth operation. Their email address was given wrong..The proper
email is : [email protected] (Fireside, Bend, Or) THe program they are
offering is based on Filemaker Pro, as as a verteran of many years of the
database trenched, I can assure the folks out there that this is one of
the finest pieces of software I have ever run across. Contact Bev at Fireside
to find out more.
02/24/96
1. Nasty Story to tell you
>Greetings fellow netizens, > >I guess if you hang around long
enough (for me 16 years) you will see it all. >Tuesday morning we had
a customer come into the shop with a 5 gallon bucket >full of glass.
I had 5 or 6 people in the store and the guy had to wait a >while before
I could get to him. I noticed I had better get to him quickly, >however,
by the look on this face. "Not a happy camper" was the impression
I >was getting. I passed my sales presentation off to the next available
staff >person and hustled over to glaring fellow with the bucket. >
>We had sold this customer two Mendota MIG36 NG inserts back in November
of >'92. The amazing thing was we put both of these monster inserts back
to back >in the same see-through fireplace and they fit! He even came
back and bought >a beautiful Collinswood mantel and modified it himself
to fit one side of >this big fireplace. > >What the guy had to
say to me was chilling. He was laying in front of the >insert watching
TV when this natural draft, non-DV insert... EXPLODED! > > > >He
took a 12" shard of glass just under his right eye and another on the
>inside of his right elbow. That one left a piece of glass in his arm
and >severed his ulna nerve. The glass was surgically removed yesterday.
> > > > >I have to tell you, I have personally installed
hundreds of gas stoves. It is >our specialty. We got into gas early because
we thought wood burning was >doomed back in the mid 80s. > >Here
are the details as I know them: His son and infant son (!) were visiting
>and left a bit before 9:00pm. He switched on the fireplace and because
of a >backache, he laid down on the floor in front of the fireplace and
turned on >the TV and was watching with his wife and mother-in-law. Some
10 minutes >later his wife was getting chilly and noticed the fireplace
was off and was >just getting up to switch it on (yep, already turned
on) when it "experienced >the delayed ignition". It was very
windy that night so my theory was that we >got a large down draft which
extinquished the burner and pilot. (This is a >double burner model and
the front burner was turned off) Because the >thermopyle was hot gas
continued to run for perhaps as much as a minute. >There was a lit pilot
in the second unit. The draft hoods of these two units >are probably
2 inches apart. We got ignition from the second pilot.(?) The >owner
doesn't recall the fan coming on.... > >Mendota was very quick to
call after I called our distributor (we haven't >bought any Mendotas
for maybe 2 or three years.) They were very concerned and >asked what
they could do. The customer is being very understanding in the >whole
matter. It is incredable that all he wants are two units of comparable >value
of a different maker. Mendota offered two new hybred units with burner >systems
more like you would find in dv units, and of course, scatter screens. >No
dice says the owner. Mendota sounds like they will even reimbuse us for
>putting in somebody elses units. They have even offered to fly out.
> >The long and short of this folks, is that these things are not
bullet proof. >We have yet to have the Robert Shaw valve tested. It too
could be the culpret >here. > >Any advice you can throw my way
would be appreciated. This is just starting >to unfold so anything could
transpire, including a change of heart of the >owner who has told me
he likes us, appreciated our past service, and doesn't >want to hurt
us... but he was injured and is concerned for the safety of >other people
who may have purchased this model. I could not convince him >that this
stove is using off the shelf components and is not unlike vertually >every
other brand of gas insert. > >By the way, the bucket was full of ceramic
glass in shards where the average >length is 12" x 1" all shaped
like daggers, covered with towels that were >pretty damn bloody. >
> > > > >-- >Jim Butchart [email protected] http://www.HearthShop.com
>Hearth & Color........(707)526-3322 Retail >Fireside Specialties..(707)526-3325
Wholesale > "Do or do not. There is no try." -Yoda
02/26/96
1. RE: Nasty Story
Subject: Re: Nasty story to tell. You better read this! > >Jim: >
>I can't help with the technical details but can comiserate: > >We
had one of the original VC Goldenwarm Direct Vents explode in a customer's
>house about four years ago. The shards of pyroceramic glass traveled
about >thirty feet and some landed on the second step up, that far away.
If the >furniture had been arranged as I would have arranged it, the
homeowner's >beautiful wife would have been seriously injured and maimed.
The homeowner >was an attorney who was putting the finishing touches
on his $600,000 house. >The lawyer earned his money defending insurance
companies. > >Vermont Castings responded in an exemplary manner. There
were people in >Salem, from Randolph, the next day. They did a total
product recall and went >back to the drawing board. Because of the way
we all handled the situation, >our relationship with the customer and
the community, Vermont Casting's quick >proper response, we avoided getting
sued. It cost me more than a few nights >sleep. > >Two months ago
we had one of our service men seriously burn himself while >doing our
start up program on a propane fueled Heat N Glo. He bled the line, >let
the area ventilate for about 20 minutes and tried to light the fireplace.
> When he was unable to light the unit he bled the line again, made sure
that >he smelled gas, hit the sparker and caused an explosion and fire.
The result >cost our insurance company $6,000, our worker's comp carrier
about $10,000, >Home Fire Stove about $4,000 and we have had to deal
with an OSHA >investigation and fine, and much much heart ache and head
ache. Once again, >the conduct of the homeowners was exemplary, and we
avoided lawsuits by >responding quickly and generously. > >I mention
these to make the point again and again that this is potentially a >very
dangerous business. Safety precautions need to be taken every step of >the
way. We also need to make sure that we are generating the kinds of gross
>margins that allow us to do the job right, all of the time, and that
reward >us for the risks we take. > >Good luck with your situation,
Jim. In your place I would do exactly what >the customer wants done,
whether Mendota will pay for it or not. --------------------------- End
of Digest
02/28/96
1. Email Address for Hearth Products association
2. RE; MNasty Story to tell you (another one)
1. [email protected] (Hearth Products Association) writes: Our new
general mailbox is [email protected]. The general mailbox will be
downloaded each day and distributed for action.
2.From: [email protected] Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 20:02:18 -0500 To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Nasty story to tell. You better read this! Thank you for passing
this along. I wish I could offer some words of advice from experience in
a similar manner. The only thing I can offer is: Stay up-front and honest
with the customer, and be very, very helpful. I would appreciate knowing
the outcome of this situation. One day I had someone tell me a similar story
about his brother in law. A couple of weeks later I meet his brother in
law. What happened? Super Bowl day. Put a bag of trash from the kitchen
in his Sweet Home wood stove. Later he notice an unopened can of something
that appeared to be pulsating. Before he could move out of the way, it blew.
He got hit with glass in his arm and neck. After the glass was removed,
he needed surgery to repair nerve and muscle damage so he could regain the
use of his hand. ______________________________________________ End of Digest
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