Stove dealer told me not to buy mt vernon?

[JimWalshin845]

Good grief. Next thing you know when you call customer service the first thing they will be asking will be if you rebooted your stove!

Maybe that barrel stove kit ain't so bad after all. :coolsmirk:

:lol: I just spewed my coffee all over the computer screen reading this comment. :lol:

Thanks for the gut wrenching laugh. I am still grinning over it.

Now off to refill the coffee cup,
Jim

 

[JimWalshin845]

Here is part of the problem and it might not be the stove No dealer has a repair record with this mew model stove It requires software a lap top and a proprietary serial cable just to hook up into the stove to diagnose what is wrong....{snip/}

I can just imagine it now.... Insert CD before installing the stove..... Code Fault at line 3456, please contact Microsoft immediately...... System Failure, you cannot operate your stove until you connect with the internet..... Your stove has been infected with Malware, refer to your PDF file instructions..... And of course there are WORMS in the wood... so WORM infections are very prevelant. ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving,
Jim & Kathy

 

[Jabberwocky]

Does anyone have any advice as to what i should do, or any feelings towards any of these stoves?

My advice: Buy it.

I just completely vacuumed mine out and got it clean as new in 15 minutes. I have not had one problem and the stove has exceeded my expectations so far. I especially like how it hovers into LOW as it approaches the designated preset temperature.

 

[Johnt]

I have the old style mt vernon. I did not want to wait for the new model to be shipped to my dealer in Dec/jan last year. My dealer sells many brands, and recommended the Mt vernon over all of them. I have not had any problems with my mt vernon. I heat 2500 sf in Northern VA, but rarely had the stove on the quad setting. I run on low or medium most of the time, and house is comfortable 68 degrees.

The only "problems" i have had is i decided to clean the entire stove this summer. The exhaust gasket tore apart. I guess this is common. I glued it back together, and moved on. I had to replace the door gasket, because mine like all the old models seemed to have the top corner frey ( i believe because the paint is tackey when they close the door at the factory). The final thing i still am not sure is broken or not is after i cleaned the stove the quad blower setting does not seem to be blowing that much faster than the high setting. I just am not sure from one year to the next if it is or is not a problem. I burned Corn and pellets last year. Pellets are much easier, and little to no clinkers. Corn is hotter, but clinkers daily.

In a nutshell the old stove is awesome! I want to buy another for my basement, (probably get the castille though). From what i have seen on different forums most of the computer problems have been resolved, and Quad has been supporting the new product. Looking back and if i was more patient, i should have held out and got the new model.

Hope my long post is helpful.

 

[SCHUDOGG]

Thanks to all who posted. I am still going to purchase the Mt Vernon, just want to make sure the dealer who i choose will want to service it just in case.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Thanks to all who posted. I am still going to purchase the Mt Vernon, just want to make sure the dealer who i choose will want to service it just in case.

check that out , when you purchase through a dealer, in essence you are buying him as well as the product he carries. quad has a no chit , great rep , as i have stated many times in the forum, the dealer should be as good. most are

 

[karl]

Personally, if a manufacturer were charging and arm and a leg for the tools that allow a dealer to repair their products, I wouldn't buy from them. How much is an arm and leg in terms of dollars for this software and cable Elk? I few hundred dollars would be tops for what they charge. Also, I don't know of any model car that requires special/expensive equipment to read error codes. Most of them will blink out the error codes on the check engine light with only a jumper wire. If the stove manufactuer is 'locking' their stoves up this much, then stay away from them.

 

[paulslush]

The days of installing jumper wires to get that check engine lite to flash are long gone to. Many cars use a high speed CAN network and your looking $2000-3000+ for test equipment and $300.00 plus per year for updates. The manufacturer will glady sell it to the dealers but they are not providing it for free either.Technology never stops. :coolsmile:

 

[karl]

I stand corrected. I built the computer that runs my Eclipse. I did this after two shops including the dealership couldn't figure it out. I used the MSextra dot com forums for the plans. I'm about 200 bux out of pocket for it. Now I just hook it up to my laptop and I can completely program it.

The advantage cars have that stoves don't have is volume. It won't be long before Controller Area Network equipment will be cheaply available by third party manufactuers for cars. We have discussed CANs on the MS forums. There are guys out there already who can read them on their own. I don't think anybody will hack a pellet stove computer.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Before I bought my Mt Vernon I did a lot of reading of blogs and forum posts talking about all the problems the Mt Vernon had. Then I realized that almost all of the posts were from the 2007-2008 era when the design was new.
I bought my Mt Vernon about one year ago. Installed just before Thanksgiving. I have had one problem, a failed igniter. I was told by the service tech that the igniter design had been changed while he installed the replacement (at no charge of course). I have had no problems with it since and I love my Mt Vernon. It's heat output is phenomenal, and maintenance is simple. It will burn just about anything, but it stays cleaner with a good quality pellet.
During the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, I ran it on its battery backup option and was pleased with its performance.
I have absolutely no regrets about buying the Mt Vernon.

 

[rona]

Does anyone have any advice as to what i should do, or any feelings towards any of these stoves?

I bought the AE the first year out- All kinds of problems and could see the dealer didn't have a clue. After replacing the electronic board, the thermostat, the pot, the ignitor, the heavy cast iron board that cracked for the third time with no end in sight I resold it. Now yes the dealers used to get a program to change a few settings via a laptop. Now the dealers have to buy a special laptop from Quadrafire to do this.
Compare this to Bixby which isn't made anymore but they post software for anyones use for their stove. You have to get a cable to hook into the stove and a USB port but once you get it you can use your computer to update the software and adjust the burning cycles for the most efficent burn. It will also adjust for either corn or pellets or you can set it for your own situation. It will also diagnose 46 functions of the stove for you so you will know what is wrong and you won't have to depend on a dealer.
I think Quad was trying to compete with all the fancy features and different fuels but it was let out before the bugs were fixed.
My feeling is it burns pellets reliable but you will be dependent on your dealer and if he says not to buy it I would take his advice and look at a different brand. A lot of dealers got burned with this model.

 

[smoke show]

Yep, theres a few folks still hanging around that bought an early one and didn't have much luck.
2006 was def a bad year.
your welcome, omv.

 

[smwilliamson]

I'll put it to you this way. The Control board has 15 COUNT THEM 15 unputs into the perimeter of the board, each with it's own style molex, so you cannot possibly hook the wrong thing up to the wrong component...however that is 15 molex's to fail. In particular, the two thermocouples coming in to the board are solid core wires in to a very fragile two pin connector. If the those thermocouple wires are moved the wrong way...you will break their molexes off the board. While those connectors are about .14 cents each. you will be lucky if the solder holds to the pins. The board is $700, thermocouples are $120...when the igniter finally blows...and it will, the fuse for the igniter is in the board and you will have to remove all 15 connections and put them back on to change the fuse and during that process, if you are not saavy to this, you will either break the connectors or damage the board. I have done it twice now. Thats a $1000 hit to my wallet over stupid $55 part that never should have gone in 4 months anyway. To top it off, there are at least 12 sensors on the stove that often fail and unless you have the computer to diagnose, you will be at a loss.

Seems like a lot of risk for the same reward you can get from a 21 year old Whitfield.

 

[smoke show]

Some people don't do well with technology.

 

[smwilliamson]

To be fair...i have about 100 customers with this stove that have had no peoblems but then i have 10 or so with nothing but problems...yes...2006 was a bad run.

 

[krooser]

I like my analog St. Croix...

 

[brodg40]

I would purchase the stove again. Two years with no problems. I think it's like the what's better ford or Chevy just take your pick and hope for the best.

Blair