Quadra Fire Mt. Vernon AE Insert Owners

[LMPS]

Many stove owners are running their thermostats with bigger dead-bands than that. What differential are you running on your thermostat?
I run mine with a tight dead-band of 1 degree. The down side of that is that the number of start cycles increases as differential is made smaller. My igniter is now about two years old so I am comfortable with that trade-off.
Running in manual mode should reduce the number of cycles because of the tendency to overshoot the set-point. That overshoot also helps with the drop at auto-clean because more heat has been stored in the stove's body. I use that mode only in the coldest weather (like now) because I believe auto mode to be a little more efficient
As you say, everybody's situation is different

I run it with the set point temp around 78 so that I never reaches it, thus the room differential does not really matter unless it is very warm out. But I am running it on +2 I believe. I never overshoot the set-point when it is cold out.
I agree when its cold out running it in manual makes sense as it allows you to burn on the higher heat output longer and get closer to the temp you want before cutting it back so you do not reach that temp.

 

[LMPS]

But it comes out the same amount of pellets burned. You are replenishing lost energy from the house. Your stove needs to burn enough pellets to generate that amount of energy. The stove's efficiency doesn't vary that much so upping the burn rate to allow fast recovery doesn't change the cost of running the stove.

True. the only issue is the stoves ability to recover. If it is cold enough out the stove never recovers the loss temp and then I am in a cycle. So for example temp in the house is a 72, stove auto cleans, temp falls back to 70. The stove is running on high, but it never gets back to 72 before the next auto clean and so it drops to 68 after the next auto clean...... Now I have been able to offset some of this by turning up the flame height to +4 or +5 when its cold but this does increase the pellet consumption. Yes, I could turn down the heat output to save pellets but this means a lower temp in the house. This is the balancing act with this stove. Heat vs Pellet consumption caused by in my opinion the auto clean. Maybe other stoves are like this, not sure this is the only one I have had.
And I have found some difference in the type of pellet I burn so yes when I burning the Cubex this is less of an issue vs. when burning MWP.
And yes, I believe this has to a lot to do with my house and the lack of insulation or the need for more I should say.

 

[Madcodger]

The Mt Vernon AE is probably one of the quietest stoves out there; however, every once in a while I do get this resonance noise. It is short in duration and does seem to correspond to when the stove is chugging along at a higher rate.

As Harvey indicated, those experiencing "a lot of noise" are likely experiencing it because of a loose ash pan. Then it sounds like a freight train.

Ditto. And a push on the ash pan generally resolves it. Basically tells me I didn't get it pushed back in correctly after a cleaning. Could Quad redisgn the pan/gasket for a better fit? Probably. But is fine if you push it back correctly. Just no tolerance for error.

 

[Madcodger]

OK, thanks. So, the flame height setting controls how fast the convection fan runs or the feed rate?

One more question: when I first got the stove, it look a long time for the glass to get dirty. Now it gets dirty within the first day after a clean. I've been good about frequently cleaning the stove, including the baffle. Is there anything else I'm missing that I can do to avoid the dirty glass? It's frustrating because I have a Castille in the other room and that runs for a week (on the same pellets) without the glass being dirty at all. I apply the same cleaning regime to both stoves. Any ideas?

One other thing we haven't really discussed was Peter's question about the glass getting dirty. I'm having the same issue with my MVAE and would appreciate ideas / suggestions, please.

The stove has an OAK, was thoroughly cleaned by dealer before season started (motor pulled, new gasket, brushes through vents, etc). I clean the baffle, vacuum and bottle brush the lower exhaust ports each month, and burn Hamer's (very low ash). The flame is generally bright (although on low it's more orange than I'd like) and the stove heats well. But the glass is filthy within a day! Ideas?

 

[Harvey Schneider]

The stove has an OAK, was thoroughly cleaned by dealer before season started (motor pulled, new gasket, brushes through vents, etc). I clean the baffle, vacuum and bottle brush the lower exhaust ports each month, and burn Hamer's (very low ash). The flame is generally bright (although on low it's more orange than I'd like) and the stove heats well. But the glass is filthy within a day! Ideas?

With regard to soot on the glass I find that running in manual with flame height above +3 is slightly better than automatic. It still looks dirty most of the time, but it takes a bit longer to get there. I only clean the window once a week and I can still see detail of the fire at the end of the week. On auto I could barely see the fire at the end of the week. I will still go back to auto when the weather gets mild.

 

[john193]

I use auto with feed rating of plus 2. Did a full cleaning yesterday, which included the baffle, exhaust ports, the combustion blower, and my liner.

Within 24 hours I get a gray haze on the glass with a bias to the right side of the stove (looking at stove). 24 to 48 hours later the gray gets slightly darker and further on. The dark haze tends to form more on the upper portion of the glass and slowly moves down. At the end of the week about a third of the glass is covered. I can still see the fire at day 7, but the upper portion of the glass has turned dark gray to brown with fly ash on it. Has been like this since day one. Never thought anything of it.

As a side note, I have no OAK and the stove is cleaned weekly no matter the number of bags burned. With the current temps I'm averaging about 8 to 11 bags a week.

 

[LMPS]

Within 24 hours I get a gray haze on the glass with a bias to the right side of the stove (looking at stove). 24 to 48 hours later the gray gets slightly darker and further on. The dark haze tends to form more on the upper portion of the glass and slowly moves down. At the end of the week about a third of the glass is covered. I can still see the fire at day 7, but the upper portion of the glass has turned dark gray to brown with fly ash on it. Has been like this since day one. Never thought anything of it.

Ditto, the right side of the stove thing has always baffled me, why would it be more on the right side vs the left?
Also, I found that the ash is a lot blacker if I am burning on a lower heat output, meaning if it is set to low, medium low or even medium it will get dirty faster and be more black vs gray then if I am burning on medium high or high.
My thought is this all has to do with how complete the burn is and how much air the stove is getting vs fuel. Just a theory.
I wonder if when we burn on low and cut the flame height back to something less than zero if the glass would get as dirty as fast adn if it would be black in nature?

 

[john193]

I'm not sure why the bias to the right either. My XXV did a similar thing, but it was more to the left. My guess is because the combustion blower is on the right in the MVAE. Perhaps this has something to do with it?

 

[Madcodger]

Well, I'm feeling better about my stove now... I have never lost clear view of the fire, and in fact the middle remains essentially clear. No burning to one side, either. Imagine an arch of soot (black) over top 1/3 of glass and down outer edges of glass and that's it.

 

[LMPS]

I'm not sure why the bias to the right either. My XXV did a similar thing, but it was more to the left. My guess is because the combustion blower is on the right in the MVAE. Perhaps this has something to do with it?

I think you are onto something with the combustion blower being on that side.

 

[65fl]

I have a new Mt Vernon installed last May so this is our first season with it. It too started the rumbling, checked the ash pan and that wasn't the source. Gave it a good cleaning paying particular attention to the exhaust ports VA Bugler pointed out and it solved my problem. Or it could be the baffle was vibrating and by me removing it and replacing it solved the problem. I have a feeling I will be solving the problem a few times during the heating season. But I love this stove, it is so quiet (when not starting) and beautiful to look at. Much nicer than the old Whitfield Advantage Plus in the basement.

 

[Mike111957]

My Mt Vernon quad ra fire runs fantastic. However, when in the auto lean process the plate sticks. I then need to help it along with a screw driver..Does anyone have this experience? Springs seem to be pressing too tight.. Can the be adjusted?

 

[kappel15]

What year stove do you have, and what rev. is the control box. Earlier models had an issue with not enough power on the return stroke of the auto-clean. Otherwise, it may be time to clean the pot floor of any clinker residue that is jamming against the side of the pot. I would also check the auto-clean motor mount bolt, as it can loosen and cause this issue also. It is behind the ashpan, on the back wall. And no, the springs are not adjustable. kap

 

[Mike111957]

What year stove do you have, and what rev. is the control box. Earlier models had an issue with not enough power on the return stroke of the auto-clean. Otherwise, it may be time to clean the pot floor of any clinker residue that is jamming against the side of the pot. I would also check the auto-clean motor mount bolt, as it can loosen and cause this issue also. It is behind the ashpan, on the back wall. And no, the springs are not adjustable. kap

Thank you! I'll check the bolt.. The stove is about 8 years old.. When installed, the plate was somewhat loose and new springs were installed. The issue began shortly thereafter.. The company was difficult to deal with and is no longer in business. I've been cleaning regularly but manually helping the return process all along.. Makes me think the return power issue that you mention may be the root cause. Thank again!!

 

[kappel15]

We need to know the year and rev. #. It is on the control board, on a white sticker. It should be something like SRV7000- something. kap

 

[Mike111957]

We need to know the year and rev. #. It is on the control board, on a white sticker. It should be something like SRV7000- something. kap

Thanks.. I looked at my receipts.. I purchased the stove in February, 2008. I did not yet have a chance to check the mounting bolt . Appreciate if you could give me some guidance on the location of the control board.. I assume it's in the rear of the stove near the blower mechanism.

 

[kappel15]

You need to remove the left side panel. 4 screws. It is right behind it. They added the power stroke code 1-11-07. Would of been the 6.10A code. Page 32,picture 32.2 of your owners manual shows a pic of area of stove. kap

 

[Mike111957]

Thanks! The control board info is as follows:
Berquest Torrington
Hearth stove control board
P/N: 450-15-0031 rev. B4
Mfg date: 061318
S/N: 5154

I also checked the auto lean linkage and bolt.. Seems to be tight. There's a T type bar that hangs from the linkage under the plate.. Seems it ranges from not being in a steady position.. Can be off to the side, rather loose, to in the center and loose or tight..A cotter pin connection...

 

[kappel15]

Did you purchase it new in 2008? This is an old control board. Only way to fix this, is to buy a new control board that has the power stoke revision in it. kap

 

[Mike111957]

Yes.. I purchased this stove new in 2008. The bolt behind the ash pan seemed to be tight.. I will check again as I was looking at the t-bar.. I do not have a quiet setting for the blower option in the thermostat settings.

 

[kappel15]

Whoever you bought it from, didn't do the upgrades as they should of. This is why you have an old control board in it. kap

 

[Mike111957]

Hey KAP.. The advice for using high temp anti seize grease on the rails is working. Thank you I'd buy you a beer if I could!
Mike

 

[kappel15]

Glad it is helping some. Don't know how much it will help. May have to re-apply from time to time. This is only a temp fix, sorry to say. Stay warm. kap