smokedragon
Minister of Fire
I have to agree with Kool_hand. Even if those cracks are repaired, how many other parts have the same skill applied to them when welded. I would really fear additional failures in the future.
Cracks in Quad
- Thread starter RonB
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Kool_hand_Looke
Feeling the Heat
I am still waiting to hear from the dealer after sending my last email. Will keep you posted when the wheels begin to turn.
Well, I have been dealing with this stove issue most of the spring and summer trying to get Quadrafire to come up with an acceptable solution. The short answer is I finally just paid for a local welder to repair the cracked welds myself.
Quadrafire would not replace the stove under warranty as the stove box is not cracked. Their solution was to supply a repair kit that would include furnace caulk/cement for the cracked welds and then SS metal covers for the secondary air supply tubes on the sides and one for the channel steel across the back. Labor warranty had expired so the labor would be paid by me. I rejected this type of a fix/solution.
Two separate stove techs from two separate companies came out and evaluated the cracks. Each independently said that Quads solution was not the correct one for the problem. Each agreed with me, either a new stove or weld the cracks (Hats off to Fireplace and Grill Shoppe-Kalamazoo and Williams Distributing-Grand Rapids for their effort and help!!).
Here is an email from HHT (Hearth and Home Technology) Quadrafire:
(This email was forwarded to me from Pat my customer service contact at HHT and provided to him by their Hearth Expert Supevisor at HHT)
"Pat,
In this unit, the rear channel is neither an air channel or structural support. Its only function is to hold the brick in place. The cracks seen in the photos are neither a safety or efficiency concern, and do not require welding. This issue only requires the re-liner kit to be installed to prevent further damage from occurring. The only way this type of damage occurs is if the unit is being over-fired for an extended period of time, or operating with a baffle that is not positioned correctly.
The “tech” in the claim that suggested that the unit would need welded was from a dealership, not from the Quad Tech Department. This unit will not be approved for removal and is repairable with the UL listed and approved re-liner kit.
R.L. Krieger
Hearth ExpertSupervisor
www.fireplaces.com"
The cost for the welding was $90. I thought this was fair. It took the welder longer to get his cables out than it did to weld. He said the steel had plenty of carbon left in it as it grabbed the welding rod. This indicated to him the stove was not over fired.
It took a while but I was able to obtain the contact info for the President of HHT. For what it is worth, I will submit the welding bill to him and provide a link to this forum so he can read first hand how I have fairly reported this issue and responses of others.
Also, I am posting the pics of the cracks after the welding repair.
![[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/144/144770-33476187f3d118ed743295f825164d0e.jpg?hash=S_rHp88jDs "[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad")
![[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/144/144771-dc87d139202f0e27ee07ddf00b7cc398.jpg?hash=mQAy_3JCVS "[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad")
![[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/144/144772-5a1321f6c0c2d3528aedf0a6c202f4d6.jpg?hash=GTUg-ZSd8j "[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad")
![[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/144/144773-70f156b8f76ef4224ec24c189e6e5be5.jpg?hash=7IsBOSzYXq "[Hearth.com] Cracks in Quad")
Quadrafire would not replace the stove under warranty as the stove box is not cracked. Their solution was to supply a repair kit that would include furnace caulk/cement for the cracked welds and then SS metal covers for the secondary air supply tubes on the sides and one for the channel steel across the back. Labor warranty had expired so the labor would be paid by me. I rejected this type of a fix/solution.
Two separate stove techs from two separate companies came out and evaluated the cracks. Each independently said that Quads solution was not the correct one for the problem. Each agreed with me, either a new stove or weld the cracks (Hats off to Fireplace and Grill Shoppe-Kalamazoo and Williams Distributing-Grand Rapids for their effort and help!!).
Here is an email from HHT (Hearth and Home Technology) Quadrafire:
(This email was forwarded to me from Pat my customer service contact at HHT and provided to him by their Hearth Expert Supevisor at HHT)
"Pat,
In this unit, the rear channel is neither an air channel or structural support. Its only function is to hold the brick in place. The cracks seen in the photos are neither a safety or efficiency concern, and do not require welding. This issue only requires the re-liner kit to be installed to prevent further damage from occurring. The only way this type of damage occurs is if the unit is being over-fired for an extended period of time, or operating with a baffle that is not positioned correctly.
The “tech” in the claim that suggested that the unit would need welded was from a dealership, not from the Quad Tech Department. This unit will not be approved for removal and is repairable with the UL listed and approved re-liner kit.
R.L. Krieger
Hearth ExpertSupervisor
www.fireplaces.com"
The cost for the welding was $90. I thought this was fair. It took the welder longer to get his cables out than it did to weld. He said the steel had plenty of carbon left in it as it grabbed the welding rod. This indicated to him the stove was not over fired.
It took a while but I was able to obtain the contact info for the President of HHT. For what it is worth, I will submit the welding bill to him and provide a link to this forum so he can read first hand how I have fairly reported this issue and responses of others.
Also, I am posting the pics of the cracks after the welding repair.
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