New Pacific Energy FP30 Installation Progress Thread

[saydinli]

begreen: absolutely agree. I tried that years back and the air flow created an almost Venturi-like effect and blew wood smoke at me. Good way to learn I guess.

mc: My switch to the b-body is the result of a long arduous and tormenting warrantee claim with PE. As rediculous as it sounds I'm now in a 2nd claim for a third unit. Those details may be better suited to a new thread. Moderator?

saydinli: I would agree with you that it is unlikely to occur, but the edge of the grill opening at either side aligns closely to the side edges of the metal bottom and is adjacent to my wood floor. Unlikely to get in, but if it did so, at the furthest right/left corners of the grill opening, it would be 50/50 as to weather it not it made contact with the wood floor. I noticed on your arch model it may not be as big of a concern as with the non-arch. Your grill louvres are pitched away from the opening. My non arch has flat bars with more direct openings.
BTW the bottom air chamber is far from sealed. It's simply cut to fit sheet metal. Certainly additional CFMs would be drawn through the loose fitting assembly. Your 4" duct may work just fine if things were welded up down there. Not complaining though, as the unit does breath like a dragon as the claims go. Just stating the facts. I've been up and down both a and b bodies with minions and fine toothed combs.

I took a closer look at the non arch and I see what you mean about the grille louvres. Mine a pitched out and downward, so nothing can fall into the opening as easy.Also the louvres don't extend all the way to the very end of the grille.
One easy solution I might consider for a bit of insurance is to install a fine mesh black metal screen in behind the louvres to prevent any embers from accidentally falling in.

By the way what issues are your claims with PE regarding?

 

[saydinli]

And we're done.....

Stone is all done. All that remains is to mount TV bracket in a couple of days once the mortar has fully dried.
I gotta say the stone looks way better than I thought. The stones' colours pop a lot more when vertical than when they're sitting on the floor.

Here are the pics... (I'll post up a final one once the TV is mounted) .








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[begreen]

Sweet, that is an impressive sight. Nicely done. Have you worked with stone before?

 

[saydinli]

No I have never worked with stone before and I still haven't [emoji16] . I payed someone to do it. It would have taken me far too long to do it myself and probably way more waste then the stone guy. I just helped wherever I could. I was his apprentice. [emoji4]


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[ADV]

Very nice. Your stone mason does fine work.

 

[begreen]

No I have never worked with stone before and I still haven't [emoji16] . I payed someone to do it. It would have taken me far too long to do it myself and probably way more waste then the stone guy. I just helped wherever I could. I was his apprentice. [emoji4]

Good experience. It's nice that he let you work with him.

 

[saydinli]

Very nice. Your stone mason does fine work.

Thanks
Ya he's really good. He does most of he fireplace finish work for the company I bought my FP30 from.
He's actually a carpenter that does great stone work.

 

[mminor]

It looks amazing - great work! Congrats!

 

[mminor]

Is it sandstone you used for the sitting hearth?

 

[saydinli]

Is it sandstone you used for the sitting hearth?

Thanks .

Yes it is sandstone.



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[huauqui]

Really came out nice. Thanks for all the pictures and info along the way. Very nice job, should give you years and years of enjoyment and heat.

 

[begreen]

One question, where's the heat?! We like to see fire!

 

[saydinli]

One question, where's the heat?! We like to see fire!

LOL. I know what you're saying. I can't fire it up till this weekend as per my stone guy. He said if the mortar dries too fast we may get gaps between the stone and mortar.

The TV is going up tonight so I'll take some more pics and post them tonight. I'll take some close ups as well.




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[saydinli]

Really came out nice. Thanks for all the pictures and info along the way. Very nice job, should give you years and years of enjoyment and heat.

Thanks. Yes we're looking forward to many years of wood heat with it.


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[saydinli]

One question, where's the heat?! We like to see fire!

... and here are the fire pics. FINALLY.

Won't get too many more chances to fire it up this season . [emoji31]

I'll post a coupe more later.


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[begreen]

Fantastic installation. That will provide a lot of pleasure for decades to come. With that beautiful stonework, the only thing out of place is the TV. It's kind of jarring next to all that fine workmanship and the nice mantel. But, sign of the times I guess. Nevertheless, well done and enjoy!

 

[Inspector 53]

Hello, I am new to this site and forum. I just had a Pacific Energy FP30 installed in my home about 3 weeks ago to replace the builders grade fireplace. I did all the tear out work, framing for the new fireplace, ran electric and other entertainment cables and wires behind the wall, as well as all the finish work on the inside. The stove shop that I bought the stove from installed the fireplace and flue as well as the SS chase cover. The unit heats my 1650sq. ft. two story home very well. The past few days here in Southwest Ohio, the temps have been getting into the mid teens at night and I can keep my house at 70 degrees in the upstairs bedrooms and about 74 degrees on the main floor where the fireplace is installed. I run the central air fan and ceiling fan when burning the fireplace to help move the warm air throughout the rest of the house.

Overall I am very satisfied with the performance of the unit although I do have two issues with it. First being that I get a rattle/vibration coming from the top of the unit when the blower fan is running. I contacted the stove shop that installed the unit and suggested I take out the bottom plate to access the blower fan area and make sure everything it tight. I have not done this yet due to time constraints and it being cold out. I am not sold as this would solve the issue because the noise is coming from the top of the unit. My other complaint is the cold draft that comes from the bottom vent when the fireplace is not in use. There is no way to close this off when the stove is not in use. I have an outside air duct running to the unit but there is no way to shut this vent. The area behind this vent is open to the bottom of the chase. Yes, the chase is insulated but cold air from that area comes into the house from that unheated area.

I am in the process of building an aluminum vent cover for this area. I am going to glue a magnet on each end of the cover and then place adhesive backed felt to the side the meets the fireplace surface to prevent scratches and help seal it off. Not sure how this will work out though. If anyone else has solutions to these two problems, please let me know. If I find solutions to them, I will for sure let everyone know.

Hello,
Any update on the vibration issue? I seem to have the same issue. When the stove gets up to temp I get a rattle/vibration from the top. Did you find the cause of it? Thanks

 

[fordtrucknut]

Hello,
Any update on the vibration issue? I seem to have the same issue. When the stove gets up to temp I get a rattle/vibration from the top. Did you find the cause of it? Thanks

I have not had the vibration issue with mine, like you guys, but before I installed it I went through and tightened all the hardware and some were only finger tight, and this was right out of the crate, it would be possible that yours might have some loose hardware.

 

[bfast250]

I have not had the vibration issue with mine, like you guys, but before I installed it I went through and tightened all the hardware and some were only finger tight, and this was right out of the crate, it would be possible that yours might have some loose hardware.

I dont have any vibration either. The first few times I turned on the fans I had a grinding sound. Almost like a piece of metal was touching the fan blades. It quickly went away and has not returned.

Like fordtrucknut, I checked the fans when the fp was still on the pallet and found some of the nuts were not all that tight.

 

[saydinli]

I had one of my convection fans start to rattle a bit once the unit reached a certain temperature.
The bracket that the left fan motor is attached to was a little warped right from the factory so no matter how much it was tightened, it wouldn't stop rattling. It was replaced under warranty by my dealer.
Now the remote duct fan...that a whole different story. That thing is pretty loud when on full. It has an annoying drone sound when on full.

Going to look into replacing it with hopefully a quieter one.

 

[bfast250]

Now the remote duct fan...that a whole different story. That thing is pretty loud when on full. It has an annoying drone sound when on full.

Going to look into replacing it with hopefully a quieter one.

I couldn't agree more. The remote duct fan is horrible. I am extremely disappointed in the quality compared to the rest of the product from PE. I only use mine at night as it literally makes my floors vibrate.

 

[Inspector 53]

I have not had the vibration issue with mine, like you guys, but before I installed it I went through and tightened all the hardware and some were only finger tight, and this was right out of the crate, it would be possible that yours might have some loose hardware.

Wow this site is awesome Three responses in a couple hours with great info!! Thanks to all. I will be cleaning it out tonight and taking the brick out to get to the motors. I hope it's as easy as turning a few bolts. My dealer said he has heard of some fan blades being warped. He has extra blades and motors on hand if I need them. All covered under warranty. I’ll keep you informed on how it turns out. Thanks again

 

[Schat]

Hi saydinli, The install looks great! There is a wealth of info on this site! How wide is your hearth? I will be installing the FP30 next year and was wondering if this unit would look too small with a large hearth approx. 8ft wide by 15ft tall? What are people's thoughts?

 

[saydinli]

Hi saydinli, The install looks great! There is a wealth of info on this site! How wide is your hearth? I will be installing the FP30 next year and was wondering if this unit would look too small with a large hearth approx. 8ft wide by 15ft tall? What are people's thoughts?

This may sound funny considering the hearth was done this year, but "I think " it is 6ft wide. The reason I say "I think" is because we went back and forth between 5.5 ft and 6ft and I think we settled on the 6ft. But I will confirm for sure tonight with a tape measure .

 

[Inspector 53]

schat.. my hearth is 7' wide with stone 14' up to a vauled ceiling. I think it looks great. It's not huge but doesn't look small either. I think you will be very happy!! To report back on my vibration issue. I installed a new fan and wedged some fire place gasket under the other fan and that seem to have salved the issue. Will wait and see if it comes back. Time will tell.