Fireplace Xtrordinair????

[sierra bob]

Chunk,

I got smoke spillage every time I added wood, even if the fire had been burning for hours. During reloads, the chimney and the chase were certainly warm.

When the chimney was cold, at startup, I used to heat the chimney with a propane torch, or by crumpling up and ingniting a piece of newpaper towards the top. It helped a little, perhaps.

My house has radiant heat, the boiler is under the house, no way for it to compete with the FPX. I used to make sure all bathroom and kitchen fans were off, as well as the dryer. Tried it with no windows open, all windows open, front door open....just about every combination imaginable (I really wanted to find a way to make it work!).

Bob

 

[Greg Ray]

You guys have me second guessing this fireplace now!!

 

[Burner73]

Oh don't second guess. this thing rocks. Just like everything there are a few quirks. As far as smoke in the house...my neighbor has a jotul and on a cold light he smokes up this house like th best of them.

If you are heating a big house 2 floors then the posipressure really does work. I am convinced if I hada reg stove that relied on radiant / and non-blower induced convective currents I'd be a shiverin.

 

[sierra bob]

Just posted some before and after photos on this thread:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/50694/

 

[FPX Dude]

Agreed... It's no different than other active threads right now, such as PE T6's heat output or 30 NC's, etc. everyone now and then there may be something different than what people are expecting. Find someone locally, or a dealer who may have sold one and can see if you can visit them to see it in action. Then you can make the decision on whether "the sky is falling" or if you'll like what you're investing in?

 

[sierra bob]

I agree, FPX Dude, it's hard to find the perfect fit...just wanted to share my experiences, for what it's worth.

A couple of other things about the FPX that you may have already considered:

* There was no way to turn the fan on and off manually, it turns off on its own a few hours after a load. This turned out to be an issue for us, because we slept upstairs above the stove, with our headboard adjacent to the chase and it kept us up. We ended up using earplugs. The BIS zero clearance, on the other hand, allows you to turn the fan on or off manually. Perhaps the newer FPX units allow for manual control....

* As was mentioned previously, it consumes a lot of wood....(reminded me of my old '72 LTD with its 400)

* Even when burning with the draft wide open, the glass got all grimed up every time I used it. With my two PE stoves, I clean the glass after anywhere from 15-60 loads, and it really doesn't need it

* When not in use, a ton of cold air poured into the house

There.....I promise not to say any more nasty things about my old FPX....

Bob

 

[Greg Ray]

Bob, How old was your FPX? I talked to the dealer again and he said he had no issues with the smoke coming in the home. But he is selling the FPX also.He also said he had installed about 30 of the FPX's. But I really thank you for sharing your troubles with the fireplace. Thats alot of money to spend for me.

 

[Got Wood]

Personally, I like the look of the FPX and a fireplace in general vs a wood stove.

I have no regrets at all about installing the FPX. Its not perfect, but I would be shocked if any unit would be.

Sierra Bob has some good points. The one that I had not considered was cost to replace, if needed, down the road. I never intended to replace but it would be costly. The "replaceable parts" that I could fathom needing attention are accessable for me: the Cat and the fan unit (I built access on the outside of my chase when I installed unit).

A switch to shut the fan completely off would be nice, although I would likely never do so. Putting it on its lowest setting is even a rare event for me.

Wood consumption is probably my biggest beef with it - from what I hear on this forum I burn ALOT more wood than most wood stove users in a similar climate. (About 3.5 cords this heating season so far, used as close to 100% of the heat source for the house... furnace kicks in on rare occasion during coldest mornings).

It does kick out a great deal of heat and it is effective at circulating that heat through the house. And it looks great!

 

[[email protected]]

The P trap is very important to the performance of the 33 or the 44. Make your p trap configuration as long as possible and you will be all good. Insulate the Chase if exterior and have a block off plate.

 

[sierra bob]

I had Model No. 44A-ZC, which was manufactured in September of 1992. Although it had a Travis Industries nameplate, the original dealer suggested that it may have used a design that was developed before the acquisition of FPE by Travis. Not sure how accurate that info is. The dealer mentioned that it had smoke spillage issues from day 1, and that the dealer and the original owner (who is a custom home builder) spent years trying to resolve the issue with no success. I contacted both the dealer and Travis a few years ago, and they said nothing could be done to improve performance. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my neighbor has two FPE units in his home, of the same vintage, and has never had a problem with them. I also mentioned in an earlier post that a couple of months ago, when I was getting quotes on new rock work, the mason mentioned that he installed an FPE in his daughters house a couple of years ago and she was having the same problems I had with mine. This suggested to me that it might not be an old design vs new design problem.

If your dealer is confident that you won't have a problem, perhaps they will offer a money back guarantee, including labor, to remove and replace the unit and surrounding rock work if there are problems. If they push back on guaranteeing the rock work, perhaps you can run test firings before finishing the masonry.

To put this in perspective, whenever you entered the house after burning the FPX you smelled smoke. With the new T6 stove, I've never smelled the least bit of smoke after about 60 fires....that's what you want to shoot for. You're spending a lot of money on this, why compromise.

Bob

 

[sierra bob]

Not sure if you've had a chance to look at the install instructions for an FPX.

I've included a slide that shows a plumbing diagram for the FPX versus that for the T6.

Bob

 

[[email protected]]

back in 1992 I bought a used ford F-150 guy that sold it to me said the heat didn't work.
told me he has tried to fix it for a long time and what do you know the heat did not work.
Can't fix stupid I guess I should have not bought a truck with a heat issue.

 

[sierra bob]

Got Wood, I agree, the FPX with a nice masonry finish looks great......that was the biggest issue in deciding to go with either a zero clearance or free standing replacement. It took my wife and I months to decide. We kept changing our minds back and forth up until days before we placed the order!

 

[sierra bob]

44 elite, I think what you're saying is that I shouldn't have bought a house with a smoky fireplace.

Unfortunately, it wasn't disclosed in Escrow. I could have probably gone after the seller, but we live in a small town and things don't work that way in a small town.

Being an engineer, I tried to fix the problem instead. Which I finally have....

Bob

 

[[email protected]]

Small town or not if he knew about the issue he should have had it addressed.
Either way I am sure there is a difference in the unit made in 1992 and the unit sold today.
My 44 elite heats 4200 sqft I could not be happier plus they actually look good!!
I had issues with the instal and had to fix a few things after it has been rocked in but I planed ahead when I built the house and I had access.
It was my bad I should have paid more attention when doing the instal but I was building the house at the same time so some details were over looked. Live and learn

 

[bbcooper]

44 elite, you mentioned the importance of the P trap. From the install manual it appears that the P trap is only necessary in the colder climates. I'm in west Texas, do you think it is as vital for me to ask my installer to put it in??

 

[[email protected]]

If it were me I would instal with the P trap.

But i only had problems when it was Neg and I don't this you will ever see those temps down there

 

[bbcooper]

44 elite, you mentioned you planned ahead so as to have access to the unit. Do you have a door in your chase that allows you to get in to the unit?

 

[bbcooper]

Also, when running the electrical for the blower, did you hard wire it or install an outlet and put a plug on the blower?

 

[[email protected]]

I built a acces pannel that I have to climb thru

 

[[email protected]]

Hard wire

Pm me your Email and I will send you a copy of the owner and Instal manuals

 

[sierra bob]

wtxfire, did you look at the BIS zero clearance units?

They don't use the air cooled approach, and have a manually adjustable blower. I was leaning towards this one, before I decided on the T6.

http://www.securitychimneys.com/pages/fireplace/high_BisTradition.asp?country=us

Or perhaps this one,

(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/0canwood.htm)

 

[woodhound]

For those with the 44 and 36, you can get what they call a summer switch from your dealer that will bypass the temp disc so you can start your fan sooner. Every fpx that goes out the door at our store has one on it. On the mantel height, that is code no matter where you live. If house burns down and they can prove it was the mantel and that is wasn't to code your s.o.l

 

[Burner73]

I have the summer switch on mine. Works well. My dealer sells it with it by default.

Bascially, if you use it be sure to turn the switch the the off position once you are up to temp. It is wiring in parallel with the temp sensor. If you don;t you are in for a cold morning.

General rule- Catalytic engaged...summer switch off.

I see a lot of FPX hate mail here. IMHO if you want the asthetics of a fireplace with the heat output of a stove it is the way to go.

'I replaced a gas insert with it and haven't looked back.

Yes it uses a lot of wood. Yes when the stack is cold smoke may come in due to neg pressure. AND YES- the heat output is awesome and truly does get to those "hard to reach places" in your house.

 

[bbcooper]

I'd forgotten about the summer switch, just thought it would be used only in the more seasonal months to bring in some of the nicer outside air. Didn't think i would use it much, never thought about it being used in the way ya'll described. Might have to call my dealer and have him order one so they can install it when they put in the unit. So once you turn the summer switch off, the "thermostat" controlled switch kicks back in? I am planning on insulated the chimney chase, do ya think that will help keep the chimney warmer and help alleviate some of the neg. pressure and smoke spillage issues??? Thanks and God bless ya'll for all the great info.