Isle Royale Smoking... a lot

[js156]

I wanted to let those interested know whats been happening. On February 4 Quad hired a service person from a local dealer to look over my stove. It is his opinion that I need all new gaskets and all new fire mortar.
Since then I haven't heard anything. I did call the new dealer last week but nobody has got back to me. I am not very comfortable in thinking a service person can take apart, clean, and re-assemble all of the stoves parts is a brand new fashion. Simply smearing it on isn't going to be accepted. I also don't like the other wear and tear that over-firing places on a stove. I think it should be replaced. Of course, none of this would have happened in the first place if my dealer did their job.

 

[begreen]

Something doesn't add up here. It sounds like the stove missed some assembly steps and QC. Hard to say why. Maybe it was the last made before a holiday weekend. This can happen with any and all stoves out there, even the best. We've heard tales of welds missed, cast iron joints not sealed, gaskets not glued, etc.. for practically every stove made. It's not typical, though this can happen with almost any mass produced item, not just stoves. What's important is how the problem is dealt with.

I'd push for a replacement stove, not a rebuild. You paid for a new, properly working stove. Let the dealer sell the rebuild at their own risk.

 

[brad wilton]

hey quadrafire stop jerking him around and give him new stove .trust me you are losing potential buyers en masse. i know with crappy service like that i'll never buy one

 

[Kobeman]

Wow, another damn month and no action, Makes me wonder if I should get rid of mine before I need any service. don't care if it is your peak season, you get off your ass and go fix the problem, I'm in the power generation business, and although extremely rare I've had to pull a couple generators back out and replace them with different ones over the years, then I know the customer was taken care of, and happy, and I could work things out with the factory as their timeline seemed fit while the unit sat in my shop waiting its fate. All the customer needs to know is they now have a functioning unit. Might be time for the OP to get an Attorney....

 

[Hoozie]

Sheesh, this is getting (has been) ridiculous...

if i was closer i would come do it my self but bucks co is at least 3 hours from me and i am not driving that far

I got $5 for your trip, anyone else?

 

[northwinds]

Sheesh, this is getting (has been) ridiculous...



I got $5 for your trip, anyone else?

Kickstarter for bholler inspection? I'd be in for $5. That's half the cost of a movie, and this would be more entertaining.

I'm starting to feel guilty about my Isle Royale being problem-free for years.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Just remember we know a whole lot about one side of this story.

There's at least two other stories here, the dealer and corporate and both of those should really bite their lip if they have anything negative to say.

Yes, it appears to us that it should be taken care of but it's been over a year and hasn't, I'm guessing that there may be other factors at play here. If not, I would certainly be getting an attorney involved.

 

[northwinds]

Just remember we know a whole lot about one side of this story.

There's at least two other stories here, the dealer and corporate and both of those should really bite their lip if they have anything negative to say.
(snip).

I totally agree. That's why it would be interesting to have a neutral third party look at the stove/setup. I guess it's possible this is too far gone for
that to happen if litigation is even a consideration.

 

[Jags]

I'm starting to feel guilty about my Isle Royale being problem-free for years.

I have had to tap the right hand door hinge pin down twice now. In only 12 years. Piece of junk

 

[Kobeman]

I was just hoping for a solid diagnosis so we can learn what caused it to run like this, it sucks when a symptom gets posted and no fix when searching the forums

 

[brad wilton]

he must be able to burn 50 quads at once thats why there a platinum dealer

 

[js156]

Warm in NH,
Why should Quad "really bite their lip if they have anything negative to say"? Maybe if its useful I, and other readers, would benefit by it- as Kobeman is suggesting. I've been trying to get help now for a year. The problem IS that noone gets back to you. Now included.
Also, one side of the story well documented with photos and videos I might add. I have even more that I haven't posted.
At this point all it looks like is they don't want to stand behind their warranty. (Since they are not)

 

[Warm_in_NH]

As a corporation, it's never a good thing to speak negatively in any way about your customers, it's just a basic rule of business. So, if there were an issue with the end user, I wouldn't expect them to air it on an Internet forum.

Third party tech basically said your stove either missed half of its assembly steps or has been over fired to the point of falling apart. Which was it? Delivered in poor shape or ruined by use? I wouldn't let the guy leave my house without having something in writing. Can you post a copy of his report?

It is a shame that you laid out a lot of money, a year has gone by and you're no better off than you were when this started.

As for Quad, now that corporate seems to be involved, regardless of outcome, I would've expected a resolution to this by now. The, "sorry were a month out" response can apply to new callers, but it's insulting to you at this point, a year into this mess. Your call should take priority at this point and someone should be personally assigned to your issue until it is fully resolved, and it's overdue by now.

 

[js156]

Something worked, I received a call today from the new dealer, who was here to look at the stove on the 4th, and they said that they had received authorization to order me a replacement Isle Royale.
Fabulous!
A very special thank you to all the folks here that helped me through this, it is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank Chris from Quadrafire for stepping in and getting involved. It is greatly appreciated. I look forward to simply enjoying a fire without having to video tape it!
Thanks again!

 

[begreen]

Great news. Hope you can put all of this behind you soon.

 

[Jags]

Fantastic. You will finally get to see what this stove can do for you.

 

[northwinds]

This thread was a long and winding road, but at least it had a happy ending.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Great!

 

[MattFoley772]

Something worked, I received a call today from the new dealer, who was here to look at the stove on the 4th, and they said that they had received authorization to order me a replacement Isle Royale.
Fabulous!
A very special thank you to all the folks here that helped me through this, it is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank Chris from Quadrafire for stepping in and getting involved. It is greatly appreciated. I look forward to simply enjoying a fire without having to video tape it!
Thanks again!

That's great but who's gonna install it? I would not think this was resolved until after it was installed and you verified it worked without any problems. I would get everything in writing. You do not want to be left hanging again if there are any problems.

 

[rdust]

That's great but who's gonna install it?

I'd imagine that js156 will install it or the stove shop will for a fee. I don't think stove warranties cover removal and install. The same stove is being put in it's place, the pipe is the same, location is the same. Move the old one off the hearth and new one on, doesn't get much easier than that!

 

[js156]

Hey Matt, I believe the dealer is going to install it because they said that they could not do so until I had removed my damper. Apparently, the damper is against code for this stove.
Yesterday, I had the damper almost horizontal with the primary closed and it still climbed to 725. I won't miss that!

 

[begreen]

Damper is against code? I'd ask the dealer for the specifics and the code section. There are several modern EPA stoves that specify adding a key or butterfly damper if draft is too strong.

 

[Woody Stover]

I mentioned before that the flames seem concentrated on the rear right side of my stove. Tonight, I saw flames coming out of the inside, side of my stove where the vertical brick butt into a vertical piece of steel that is on each side of the stove behind the cast iron side panels.

I definitely see what you are talking about. There is a steady torch coming from one area of the stove, as opposed to active flames moving around.

Huge air leak there.

Five leaks, previously all at the same time; when my stove was new, and just out of the box.

the installation required a really tall chimney for an easy breathing stove

reading your posts I can't tell what initially caused your hot burns. Perhaps operator error (sorry but you seemed confused about your air controls in the beginning so this seems possible), perhaps a poor gasket job at factory, perhaps you got unlucky and got a defective stove. Any of these could cause overfiring, which could lead to cracking or warping, which could cause an air leak you can't fix

none of this would have happened in the first place if my dealer did their job.

This was definitely a jump in the water and learn to swim experience.

I'm starting to feel guilty about my Isle Royale being problem-free for years.

That's a problem when a new burner gets a stove. There's a learning curve, most don't realize it and are gonna have a hard time getting up to speed. That's where the dealer/installer need to be competent, but I don't think many are....at least not to the level that's needed. I don't know what the answer is. The mfgr. wants to sell stoves but they have no way of insuring that they have good dealers/installers, and they are selling to the same buyers that need to have printed on a dessicant pac, "Do Not Eat," and are never going to read a manual. Sounds like in JS' case it was a perfect storm; Wrong stove for a tall chimney, inexperience with burning a tube stove and knowing what to do in case the stove is burning too hot, no help from the dealer, etc. Luckily for me, I started reading and learning here before I bought expensive stoves, and possibly burned them up. Still, when I got the Keystone, it had a leaking air seam from day one. I kept an eye on in and took the stove offline when it started going to 500 with the air cut all the way. But the fact that the air leak steadily got worse even though I was burning it moderately indicates to me the shortcoming of cemented-seam stoves; They are all going to eventually need to be torn down and re-built. Rinse and repeat every decade or so. Sure, you can just blob some cement over the bad seams but once you are to that point, it's going to be a constant battle of sticking your fingers in the dike like the little Dutch(west) boy.

they said that they had received authorization to order me a replacement Isle Royale.

Yesterday, I had the damper almost horizontal with the primary closed and it still climbed to 725. I won't miss that!

I think it's quite possible that Quad has bent over backwards here. Sure, the dealer should have been on top of the situation, but... The stove was probably over-fired from the tall stack, busting the seam cement and possibly warping parts, which may well have led to a worse situation than you originally had with any factory defects. Not bustin' on ya; I could have easily have done the same before I started reading here. It will be interesting to see how much lower you can run the new stove. Even though it's new, you are still going to have to check all the gaskets and keep an eye on how the stove is burning for signs of air leaks, now that you know more. That's why they say in the manual that over-firing voids the warranty; It's the only way they have to protect themselves from new burners that think running a stove isn't rocket science, when it really is.

 

[js156]

Woody Stover,
You forgot to quote the parts regarding the dealers service tech who wouldn't address the loose glass panels and who also did not believe in the dollar bill test. As far as manuals, not only do they get read they are also all saved in a in a hanging file labeled as such. I personally think the installers should have given the stove a going over for leaks before they left but the interest wasn't there. Wasn't my chimney 3" short too?
I do hope that the tall chimney isn't my problem because it is still just as tall and the new dealer and Quad are letting me do it so...Actually the new dealer doesn't think the chimneys height is an issue at all. He said that he has had them a lot higher than that.

Begreen, I don't have the code section yet but when I do I'll post it.

 

[Woody Stover]

Woody Stover, You forgot to quote the parts regarding the dealers service tech who wouldn't address the loose glass panels and who also did not believe in the dollar bill test. As far as manuals, not only do they get read they are also all saved

Like I said, I'm not trying to put it on you, just speaking generally. You've certainly gone a lot farther than the average buyer would in trying to resolve the issues. I think the dealers are the weak link, as you pointed out. They like the money from the sale, but a lot don't seem willing or able to back the product/install like they should be doing.