Supreme Volcano plus insert

[Volcano]

Yes, the plug is in place at the top of the stove.
Supreme also told me to check that as it seems a likely cause.
Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Volcano]

okay, and update on my Volcano Plus for anyone who cares to hear it.
Last week, I removed the stove and returned it to the thieves who sold it to me.
After removing the stove, and seeing the crap installation (2 cut-off pieces of liner
shabbily connected to make one "continuous" piece, gaps in all the connections between the
collar at the top of the stove and the eventual flex liner, hardly any insulation from top to bottom),
I am left feeling that the stove was just fine, and the problems are all the fault of a very, very
lame, albeit very expensive, installation.
The retailer and installer of the stove, Northeatern Chimney in Selkirk, NY, finally gave me most of the cost for the stove back, but only that, and that was after some frequent calling and complaining and all that. I am still out a huge chunk of money for a completely inadequate installation, which I believe
was the sole cause of the poor performance of the stove.
So, Supreme stove are probably just fine. Installed poorly, however, they will suffer, and so am I.
I got RIPPED-OFF!!
I am going to restore my fireplace to it's original state, which will take some substantial masonry work, as the
installer did a hack-job to make room for the liner.
If this all sounds bitter, what can I say, I am bitter.
the moral is: be very careful where you buy a stove, and more importantly, who and how it's installed. It can make all the difference.

 

[Old Hoss]

I also have the Volcano Supreme and although they claim it heats up to 2000 square feet, I'm lucky if it heats 500 square feet. I've bought seasoned wood and the flue seems to be clogging after 10 or 12 fires. I cleaned it out on Sunday and it took me over an hour on Monday to get a good fire going with fire starters.

I have been in touch with the manufacturer in Montreal and one of the distributors in Vermont has been down to look at the unit. They told me what I already knew; the flue was plugged. I spent three grand on this thing and if I had it to do over, I'd certainly choose something else. The original installers in Derry, NH have gone out of business so I have no recourse with them.

 

[Volcano]

I feel your pain re the Volcano insert.
The whole experience was a disaster for me.
My SS liner had a huge amount of creosote in it when I removed the whole installation.
The unit was very difficult and time-consuming to get a good, smokeless fire going.
The unit heated less then 500 square feet.
I think one of the design flaws in the uit its the single box aspect. Most other inserts are a box within a box, and it's in that space where the most heat is captured. The fans then take that very contained heat and blow it into your room. The Volcano, on the other hand, requires that the origiinal firfeplace firebox becomes this outer "chamber" (which is why my installation stunk), and the fans then have a much larger area to pull from with many more physical factors acting on the generated heat, making it more difficult for the fans to do much of anything.
In the end- not a great stove, especially if not installed EXACTLY as recommended.
Sorry you're having a bad time.

 

[jadm]

Volcano - I hope you don't give up on wood burning because of your experience. I know my first install was botched and I didn't know it until I had someone come out to do some work on my insert. I ended up getting a new insert and had my sweeps do the install correctly - or as correctly as I now know from reading here for awhile. I am delighted with my new insert and glad I went with a name brand that has been around for 100 years...It makes a difference.

Sorry about all of your hassles. I know what a grind that is and how awful it leaves you feeling. Not all dealers are rip offs. My first were. My second ones are a lot more responsive and have been in business a lot longer plus I knew more by the time I found them. All part of the learning curve. Phew.....

 

[Volcano]

Being optimistic, I guess one could chalk-up experiences like this to gaining wisdom.
Unfortunately, in my case, it comes with a dear price (I lost over $2500 to Northeastern Chimney for the lame installation!)
Yes, I will go to a different retailer with much more experience and a better reputation.
Next time, however, I will be installing a free-standing wood stove.

 

[jadm]

Glad to hear you aren't giving up on wood.

Yes, some of our toughest lessons cost us dearly. We laugh a lot about that around here. Puts perspective on what is important at the time. Daughter just had her purse stolen. SHe was mightily upset. My sister and I looked at each other (Her daughter was with my daughter at the time...) and our response was thank-God they weren't mugged. It is just money - things that can be replaced. No big deal in the large scope of things. My sister knows about that as her daughter is fighting a loosing battle with an incurable disease that is wiping out everything that family has including her daughter.

 

[slgaletzki]

We had our Volcano Supreme fireplace insert installed in September and loved it until 2 weeks ago. Just in time for the holidays. Nothing like a black fireplace to dampen the ambiance. I put out lots of candles, but its not the same........... we have been unable to maintain a good fire and now the fire dies and it fills with smoke as soon as I close the door. I found the postings on this website and learned a lot. After a bit of detective work and a call to Supreme, it may be creosote in the chimney, but I am waiting for the installer to come and check it. I would think creosote build up is a function of the wood we are burning and not so much the stove? we had to scramble for wood and everyone was sold out. I got 3 different deliveries from 3 different sources and the they all said their wood was the best.... Does any one know a reputable wood supplier in the western CT area? Also a reputable chimney sweep if needed?

I Also learned the Supreme will send out a 3 panel liner to put against the bricks in the fireplace to help contain the heat so it will flow into the room and not out the bricks.

Someone mentioned "compressed logs" for overnight burns. We have not been able to go more then 3 hours. I am interested in trying them. Who sells them and what are they called?

 

[Old Hoss]

One other thing regarding the Volcano Supreme......the blower on the left hand side blows out cool air and the blower on the right hand side blows out only warm air. That said, the only part of the whole unit that gives off good heat is the door itself. Luckily, it's a big door. Looks like I'll be calling the lovely Antoinette in Montreal again. Thankfully, they have an 800 number.

And for CT Woodstove, if you're talking about Thermalogs, the website is thermawood.com. I tried a sample bag and found that they're not all that great and quite expensive. I use one piece every once in awhile to help get a fire going. They smolder more than anything else and don't last near as long as the company claims. I took their survey and told them how disappointed with the product I was. Then I received an email from Conor Cooper, the General Manager of Outdoor World of New England (Hooksett, NH) and he gave me two bags free as he said the bag I bought may have come from a "bad batch". Maybe so, but the two bags I picked up were no better than the original bag that I bought. My advice......don't waste your time with this stuff.

 

[slgaletzki]

Thank you for the reply on your experience with the compressed logs. I will not bother with them.

Our blowers are both blowing inward. I just checked them by placing paper near them and the paper got sucked to the grill on both sides.

The sreen on our cap was packed completely with "stage 3 "creosote after only 3 months of buring....... It looked like black crystals. They cleaned the liner while they were here. I was told the way to prevent this is to keep buring the sytem very hot. We were turning down the air intake to 12 oclock position (half way) to slow down the fires at night. Maybe this was the cause? I have been told by the cimney guys that our wood looks good and we should not have this problem after 3 months. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Old Hoss]

Thank you for the reply on your experience with the compressed logs. I will not bother with them.

Our blowers are both blowing inward. I just checked them by placing paper near them and the paper got sucked to the grill on both sides.

The sreen on our cap was packed completely with "stage 3 "creosote after only 3 months of buring....... It looked like black crystals. They cleaned the liner while they were here. I was told the way to prevent this is to keep buring the sytem very hot. We were turning down the air intake to 12 oclock position (half way) to slow down the fires at night. Maybe this was the cause? I have been told by the cimney guys that our wood looks good and we should not have this problem after 3 months. Any thoughts on this?

Blowing inward? Could it be possible that the fans are wired wrong? They should definitely be blowing out. They're thermostatically controlled....how long does it take your blowers to kick on?

November of 2007 was my first time using the Volcano Supreme. The first cord of wood I burned, everything was fine. It was about halfway through the second cord where the problems started. I had the liner cleaned out in the Spring and this past October everything seemed to be fine. Then the creosote buildup started again. Rather than call the chimney sweep, I bought the 6" brush and extensions and I cleaned it out myself. Once again, everything was fine for about 12 fires. As of today, it's a little tough starting but once I get it going, it burns pretty strong with the air control lever set at 12 o'clock. If I set the air control at 3 o'clock, I get a hotter fire but it burns out pretty quickly.

I would give them a call up in Montreal and tell them about those blowers first thing. I have to say, they do attempt to be as helpful as possible. The number (in case you don't have it) is 1-877-593-4722. Good luck and let me know how they respond.

 

[slgaletzki]

My side blowers blow the air into the fireplace cavity and then the air flows out the top above the fire box. I'm sorry to hear about the creosote problem. I guess I am not the only one. I spoke to Suppreme on Monday to ask questions. They sent me an email that they were sending one of their technicians here next week and they would come with the installer. I must say I was surprised to hear they would send someone, I feel like I should put out the red carpet for their arival. I will let you know what happens and what I learn from their visit.

 

[slgaletzki]

Update. Supreme Technician came to my home. They are a company that truly cares about their customers.

They did some extensive work and it paid off.

Replaced combustion air control
Replaced front air tube for secondary air supply
Installed the Supreme steel fixing plate and support bars. Sealed air tight with epoxy.
Removed bricks blocking the airflow of the side fans.

The fire performance is mush better. They replaced the combustion air control and the front secondary air tube. Prior to the modifications, I could only maintain a fire with the combustion air control turned to 3 o’clock – fully opened. If I tired to lower it for a slower burn, the fire would burn out. Now I am able to maintain a beautiful hot fire with the combustion air control set at 12 o’clock and I have not had to touch it.

The heat output is phenomenal!!. They installed the side and rear support bars and the factory steel fixing plate. They lowered the overall ceiling in the fireplace so the steal fixing plate lined up with the top of the louvers. This keeps the heat closer to the firebox and shoots the heat back into the room. They also removed a few bricks on either side that were blocking the air flow from the side fans. Prior to the modifications our living room, where the wood stove is, would only get up to 71 degrees and the upstairs of my house was below 58. Now it is 78 in the living room and 67 upstairs. It can heat 2,000 square feet!. They decided not to install the back panels because it would have resulted in a tight airspace around the firebox and restricted the air movement.

I am so happy with my insert now that it is installed propperly and a few repairs.

 

[Paul-e-wog]

Update: Last year, I reinstalled my supreme volcano myself after the disastrous job the installers did. I knew how it needed to be done and knew as they were installing that they were doing it wrong, but they insisted they were doing it fine. They weren’t. Let me say these installers did not work for or were connected to the manufacturer. Supreme really stood behind their product. They sent down what pieces I needed to reinstall and offered to have one of their installers stay on the phone with me while I did the work. I didn’t think I needed that. But the installation went well and made a huge difference in the heat output. The company sent a technician and a sales rep down from Canada and Vermont to check out 2 or 3 installations here in New England. They stopped by and checked out my installation and did a couple of adjustments. I burned every evening last year and it made a nice difference in the oil bill. So far this year, we have not had the heat come on in our 3500 sq ft home in Massachusetts. We haven’t had terribly cold weather yet but it has been cold at night, down in the 20’s. When we have a good fire going, the house will be up close to 70 all over and 80 in the room. We do have a central chimney in the house which helps. I had the chimney cleaned this fall after burning all last winter, and it was very clean. I burn a hot fire which helps. I find it hard not to burn a hot fire. I've been very happy with the insert and impressed with the way it heats our home. I doubt it will keep up in the dead of winter, but we have been toasty warm in the entire house. It's 28 outside now and it's 73 in here! NICE!
Anyway, I wanted to update to be sure that I let you all know that I am quite happy with the stove/insert, the heat output and the way that Supreme stands behind their product is excellent. Thanks to Anastasia at Supreme for all her correspondence, help and patience.