quadra fire 4100 insert flue cleaning

[idahomousejockey]

I used my quadra fire 4100 as my primary source of heat last winter. It was my first winter burning wood, ever. I am a DYI kinda person and so I want to ettempt to clean the chimney myself.

I have never cleaned a chimney
I do not own any specialized chimney cleaning equipment right now.


so, where do I start?
Any tips?
Or is this something I should just let the pro's do?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[smokingolf]

I have the same stove and had it cleaned 2 seasons ago, after 2 seasons of use and I was told there wasn't much build up, which told me I had been burning correctly. The person that cleaned my chimney was an acquaintance and I thought I was going to pay around 125 and was charged well over 200. This was supposedly because it was a stove and had to clean from the inside. He took out the tubes and the baffle and was able to send the brush up through the bottom. So this year I bought a Gaurdus chimney cleaning system, this was under $100, this will pay for itself after my first cleaning. It has flexible rods and a brush that is made out of what looks like weed wacker string that is replicable, you hook this up to a drill and keep adding extensions till you reach the top. I watched to chimney cleaner and he basically followed the instructions in the 4100 manual, it looked so simple. I think the only problem I may have is getting out the bolt that holds the first pipe in, but the instructions say a little WD 40 before hand and it should be no problem. I'm planning on doing my first cleaning this fall when it is cooler.

This will be my 5th season with my 4100 and love it and save a lot of money on heating oil over the last 4 years.

Brian

 

[velvetfoot]

If the baffle is metal and heavy, you could take out the insulation blanket only and get on the roof and do it and vacuum the junk off the top of the baffle.

 

[MofoG23]

another 4100i owner here.

Last year was our first year, so I am having someone come out to clean the chimney for me. I want someone to check the liner to be sure everything is still good to go. After that, I plan to clean it myself, bottom up due to the pitch of our roof.

I've heard that taking the allen screws out to remove the burn tubes is not very difficult - guess I'll find out in a few weeks!

 

[velvetfoot]

It wasn't hard taking out the screws on the 2700i I have now or the 2100i we had at the old place. You might want to take note of which came out where cause I don't think they're all the same. The 2100i had a steel baffle plate and was a little hard to handle compared with the board on the 2700i, which is fragile. Plus, when you put the blanket back, make sure it doesn't block the flow of exhaust gas.

 

[nrabbitt67]

Hey 1st timer in this forum:

I am looking for some info (good or bad) on the Quad Fire 4100i. I have been looking at purchasing one and having it installed in my masonry fireplace.
I think it will be a nice addition to the family room and a great source of heat. Does any body have any problems with these inserts? Any advice will be useful!
Thanks

 

[Pagey]

One thing to keep in mind with an insert is this: if you don't have it connected to a full-length liner, you will have to pull the insert before cleaning your flue (this is assuming you have the insert just shoved into the fireplace opening of a masonry chimney system with a short piece of connector pipe). You don't seem to specify what your chimney setup is, but do keep the above in mind.

Assuming your chimney is fully lined with a stainless steel liner, you'll want a round poly brush the same size as the inner diameter of your liner. You can order these from Ace Hardware, Amazon, Northline Express, etc., or visit a local shop and give those guys and gals some business. You'll need fiberglass rods, too, of course.

Once you are up on the roof, attach the poly brush to a rod securely and then do a test fitting. Carefully push the brush about 6" into the liner then stop. Now, pull up on the brush and see how well it reverses. My first brush would barely come out! We had to trim it down with tin snips, otherwise it would have never reversed and come out!

Once your brush is trimmed to size/confirmed to fit, sweeping is pretty easy. Make sure that you've first removed any necessary baffle material in the stove. I'm not sure what Quad uses for the baffle system in that stove, but the last thing you want to do is cram a brush through an expensive ceramic baffle board or pumice fire brick.

One other tip I have found that helps me. I leave the air control on the stove closed. This seems to help with the little flakes of soot that will easily draft up into your face! If I leave my control open, the draft is easily strong enough to push those tiny little flakes up and out the metal flue. If I leave it closed, this effect is minimized.

 

[smokingolf]

Hey 1st timer in this forum:

I am looking for some info (good or bad) on the Quad Fire 4100i. I have been looking at purchasing one and having it installed in my masonry fireplace.
I think it will be a nice addition to the family room and a great source of heat. Does any body have any problems with these inserts? Any advice will be useful!
Thanks

This will be my fifth season with mine. The only problem I've had is the door latch gets hard to open after a while. I've actually broken mine off and had to take the floor model handle at my dealer. All you need to do is about once a year or as needed is spray a little lube inside the door latch and it's good to go.

Brian

 

[MofoG23]

Hey 1st timer in this forum:

I am looking for some info (good or bad) on the Quad Fire 4100i. I have been looking at purchasing one and having it installed in my masonry fireplace.
I think it will be a nice addition to the family room and a great source of heat. Does any body have any problems with these inserts? Any advice will be useful!
Thanks

This will be my 2nd year with the 4100i. I have a fully insulated liner and could not be happier with it!

Burns great, well built and puts out some heat!

 

[savageactor7]

Lots of folks clean their own systems here. My advice would be to let a pro do it first, listen to what he says, and next time do what he does.

 

[idahomousejockey]

My neighbor turns out has a similar quad. Saw him up on his roof recently and he let me use his gear. However, before I even got going I noticed that ceramic board under the blanket was cracked! Made getting it out easier :-/ I wonder if the installer broke it or if it got it with a piece of wood or something. The tubes were easy to take out and put back in.

Is it alright to keep burning with it cracked? Its still 'whole' but just in half.

just now getting cold enough to need to burn.

Jeff

 

[MofoG23]

I'm sure you would be ok for now, but I would order a new one....

I just cleaned my 4100i for the first time - very easy to service! I used the soot eater and got about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of crap out of my chimney. Burned a good 3 cord last year - most of it was seasoned ok, but some was a tad green for my liking. I was impressed to only see that much come out.

The stuff I'm burning this year is seasoned much better so I feel good about only having to clean this once (maybe twice) a season - if my supply remains constant.

 

[knightrider955]

This will be my 3rd season with my 4100 and we love it. My baffle is also cracked. Not sure how. Noticed it last year. Maybe just from the heat? Also my fan speed controlle burned up which Ive been told is a common problem with these stoves.

 

[NIck Arfaras]

I realize this thread is probably dead but wanted to mention the following. The first year I had my stove (2005) quadrafire3700i, I had it "professionally Cleaned" by a local chimney cleaning business, turned out to be a nightmare. They guy knew nothing about the quadra-fire and instead of removing the first baffle and sliding out hte ceramic tile and blanket, he just gave up and cleaned from the top of the stove leaving all the excess ash on top of hte blanket. After he left I followed the manual and removed all this and found out this had happened. At which point I realized he damaged the ceramic tile and tore the blankey ... i assume because he had tried to remove them unsuccessfully without removing the first baffle. My only point is if you do not do it yourself make sure the person that cleans your stove knows something about your setup or is willing to take 5 minutes and figure it out. The manual is pretty straightforwad and informative. This is so simple to do its ridiculous. The following year I had someone else come and I removed the bafffle and tile myself, when this guy finished he informed me the stove burns so clean that there is no need to clean the chimney annually. Anyway, just my two cents ...