What caused this

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Not bashing original op ( Arrow ) on your operation of stove . As I Stated , My Parents have almost identical stove in their living room . Hottest he has ever had it was 700 , with usual hi temp only being in the low 600 range , with operating range from mid 400's to upper 500 range , depending on what they are doing , ( early morning start-up to mid day shut down ) . In your picture , there is obvious dis-coloration on that side meaning it has gotten very hot , thus my questioning of the ash pile . As I also stated , there is a reason that the fire brick is there and " Yes " your stove cracked above the fire brick , but with ash pile so deep basically your main heart of fire was burning above the brick line also .

Been around and used wood stoves all my life , Does not matter what brand , style or material it is made from , they all have limitations . Virtually all makers of Every product on the market have limitations to warranties , thus protecting themselves in some sort of fashion . I Don't Sell or have anything to do with Quadra fire , I do own this fire place : 7100 Wood Fireplace and my Parent's is similar to yours . We have had Ours for 5 year's ( maybe 4 ?? , old age , cannot remember ) , while my parents is like at least 10 year old , neither with issue's .

I really doubt you can find any stove maker that would back up a warranty once they looked at the stove .

Fred H.

I agree Fred with your warranty assertions. I should have gotten a wood burning furnace. Perhaps they're tougher. At any rate, just where is the temp gage on your parents stove? I have mine right on the lower step dead center or where I think the hottest point of the stove is. At this point I just want a viable fix and do not care about the company.

 

[FredH]

Thinner metals to transfer same heat that older stoves would provide , yet burn at a more efficient rate thus appease EPA and any local regulations for clean burn thus now you get the term " Over Fire " . I remember the old stove we use to have in my parents house when I was little . Remember when my Dad , 3 Brother's in or just out of High School and a Uncle , were barely successful in moving that beast out the front door to make room for a " New Fangled " barrel stove lined with brick . I still have that barrel type stove . Not actually a barrel , just shape like one .

Were as in older stoves , one could use a smaller stove to produce " X " BTU's due to it's thicker metals , Now one has to purchase a much larger stove to provide same amount of heat . Although I dang sure am not going to tear out the tile and wall to see what thickness of metal our fireplace is made of , Having moved both the fireplace and the old Barrel type stove , I am thinking they are withing 100 lbs. of each other yet size wise , The Fireplace is easily double the size of the old stove , Yet both produce same amount of heat .

I kept that old stove so some day when I rebuild my shop , I will have a heat source for it .

Don't blame the Company , Blame the Government .

Fred H.

Arrow : They have their temp gauge , ( it is like a round magnet mechanical thing ) on top pretty much dead center or slightly towards the front . Again , Hoping I Did not offend You , Not my intention and If I did , I am Sorry . My paragraph above pretty much sums up were stove makers are at these days . Personally , If You have a Welder , Melt the sucker back together , Put new brick inside , Maybe even try to add other brick on top of that side layer , ( side bricks are stacked on end , slip additional brick on top of those but stack on their sides , thus extending your fire box vertically ) , and fire it up .

 

[arrow]

The type unit from HF you speak of is only really about 70 or 80 amps though they list more. You can't weld anything with a 70 amp stick welder very well either.

Mark: all I have is an old Century 100 that runs 115 volt. I doubt it produces anywhere near 100 amps or else I would not be having the trouble welding that I do. What welder of yours do you suggest to use on a fix like this? I have a 220 hook up (30 amp) for the dryer not 20 ft away.

 

[arrow]

Thinner metals to transfer same heat that older stoves would provide , yet burn at a more efficient rate thus appease EPA and any local regulations for clean burn thus now you get the term " Over Fire " . I remember the old stove we use to have in my parents house when I was little . Remember when my Dad , 3 Brother's in or just out of High School and a Uncle , were barely successful in moving that beast out the front door to make room for a " New Fangled " barrel stove lined with brick . I still have that barrel type stove . Not actually a barrel , just shape like one .

Were as in older stoves , one could use a smaller stove to produce " X " BTU's due to it's thicker metals , Now one has to purchase a much larger stove to provide same amount of heat . Although I dang sure am not going to tear out the tile and wall to see what thickness of metal our fireplace is made of , Having moved both the fireplace and the old Barrel type stove , I am thinking they are withing 100 lbs. of each other yet size wise , The Fireplace is easily double the size of the old stove , Yet both produce same amount of heat .

I kept that old stove so some day when I rebuild my shop , I will have a heat source for it .

Don't blame the Company , Blame the Government .

Fred H.

Arrow : They have their temp gauge , ( it is like a round magnet mechanical thing ) on top pretty much dead center or slightly towards the front . Again , Hoping I Did not offend You , Not my intention and If I did , I am Sorry . My paragraph above pretty much sums up were stove makers are at these days . Personally , If You have a Welder , Melt the sucker back together , Put new brick inside , Maybe even try to add other brick on top of that side layer , ( side bricks are stacked on end , slip additional brick on top of those but stack on their sides , thus extending your fire box vertically ) , and fire it up .

Nothing you said offended me Fred. What you state makes all the sense in the world to me. I am pissed that more exacting information was not presented by the company as If it had been, I would not have purchased this stove and think it was ok to use from the basement. The salesman was of no help 8 years ago as what do they know. When you ask: "can i place this in the cellar?" "Sure" they say, "It'll work great". This stove was meant for a living space. It routinely burns past 700* so according to the information Bullit received; its been "over fired". I basically need to patch this stove up and rebuild the interior with all new stuff. (probably a $400 bill not including getting a proper welder for the fix) I should contact Quadrafire to see if the might have a "patch kit" for it as well. Thanks for your input, it is much appreciated and no apology needed.

 

[FredH]

Arrow : If You get new Brick , When You take out old brick , try to save those , thus use them as I describe above . By extending basically your firebox upwards , not only are you protecting the side's ( and your repair ) but you also are making your firebox larger with out spending money on a new stove . Once it is welded back up , I would have no issue with using stove . I have seen a lot worse crack's in stoves and have seen them still being used , as in you could actually see the fire through the crack , ( The cast iron parlor stove I mentioned in first post ) . They eventually just took some JB Weld or similar type stuff , ( May have been some sort of stove repair hi temp stuff ) , sealed the crack and kept using stove for several more years that I use to hang out with those people .

Fred H.

 

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Arrow : If You get new Brick , When You take out old brick , try to save those , thus use them as I describe above . By extending basically your firebox upwards , not only are you protecting the side's ( and your repair ) but you also are making your firebox larger with out spending money on a new stove . Once it is welded back up , I would have no issue with using stove . I have seen a lot worse crack's in stoves and have seen them still being used , as in you could actually see the fire through the crack , ( The cast iron parlor stove I mentioned in first post ) . They eventually just took some JB Weld or similar type stuff , ( May have been some sort of stove repair hi temp stuff ) , sealed the crack and kept using stove for several more years that I use to hang out with those people .

Fred H.

From what I'm reading, the newer 5700's have a smaller firebox. I cannot extend the brick any higher without fabbing something as the burn tube manifolds are in the way. This makes the firebox smaller as they would need to be extended out to cover the tube manifolds. I am willing to bet Quadrafire did something like this. From what people are saying , the new stove does not have the same heat out put as it would not if the firebox is smaller.

 

[rankrank1]

...all I have is an old Century 100 that runs 115 volt. I doubt it produces anywhere near 100 amps or else I would not be having the trouble welding that I do. What welder of yours do you suggest to use on a fix like this? I have a 220 hook up (30 amp) for the dryer not 20 ft away.

I would not necessarily buy a welder for this one repair unless you are looking to expand your welding capability for other reasons that make the investment worthwhile. Is that Century 100 a stick welder or a wire feeder?

 

[arrow]

I would not necessarily buy a welder for this one repair unless you are looking to expand your welding capability for other reasons that make the investment worthwhile. Is that Century 100 a stick welder or a wire feeder?

Stick and 100' away from main with 10/2 wire to garage. Also I just got off the phone with a company that sells these stoves. It seems Quadrafire does not recommend fixing the stove stating it would just crack again. They simply replace the stove with a new one with a different design if they feel the warranty claim is valid. I can understand perhaps filling in the crack might create another but If a "patch" of 1/4" steel plate was used say 5"x5" ,I am thinking this type of fix may be more resolute?

 

[FredH]

Interesting Read Here : How to Fix a Crack in a Wood Stove With Furnace Cement | Home Guides | SF Gate

Of Course they don't want you to Repair . More $$$$ by buying new stove .

Rutland® 1QT Furnace Cement (FSC32) - 6 Pack - Furnance Cement - Ace Hardware

Grind it out a little bit , drill hole in both ends to stop crack from continuing and apply . No idea if it would work , but as I mentioned , I did see it work on a cast iron parlor stove that the crack was wide enough to see the fire inside .

Fred H.

 

[rankrank1]

Stick and 100' away from main with 10/2 wire to garage. Also I just got off the phone with a company that sells these stoves. It seems Quadrafire does not recommend fixing the stove stating it would just crack again. They simply replace the stove with a new one with a different design if they feel the warranty claim is valid. I can understand perhaps filling in the crack might create another but If a "patch" of 1/4" steel plate was used say 5"x5" ,I am thinking this type of fix may be more resolute?

Well, I would certainly explore the warranty claim first and if they are willing to replace your stove under warranty then I would let them.

Frankly, I would only attempt to repair it if they will not replace it. Even if it cracks again no different than it is now so nothing to lose in that regard. You do not have to worry about voiding a warranty as you already found out the warranty was worthless if they did not replace it prior to your repair attempt.

I would vee it out real good with a grinder. Even your welder should run 3/32 (Hobart 6011 335A) easily and it might even do 1/8" 6011 if its a true 100 amp unit. Hobart 335A 6011 is by far the easiest of all the 6011 rod brands that I have ever used. Frankly I hated all 6011 until I tried the Hobart 335A version - still not real easy and I much prefer 1/8" diameters over 3/32 in 6011 but when short on amps you do what you gotta do).

If your a good welder then do the keyhole open root thing like ShieldArc mentioned in his first post (but forget the 6010 part with a crappy little welder you will need to use 6011 which is a close cousin and definitely a good idea to drill those holes at crack ends too). If your not real good then do not worry about the keyhole aspect and simply do the best you can (I doubt I could do the keyhole thing either as I am far from skilled). Clean slag off then do cap passes with 3/32 7018AC. If your welder struggles running those 3/32" 7018AC you could try cutting the rods in half to help a bit. If that does not work then I would cap with 3/32 7014 or you could just continue to use the Hobart 6011 for all the cap passes as well. 6011 might even be the better choice as it is more ductile than 7014 anyhow although 7014 would be prettier, but you can always grind the top bead to make it look good whatever you use.

I have never used your particular little 100 amp welder but your arsenal is pretty much limited to the following
a) 3/32" 6011 (and maybe 1/8" 6011 but iffy)
b) 5/64" and 3/32" 6013. (I do not like 6013 for strength applications but for stuff I need to reshape with hand power tools or very thin metal when no wire feeder is available then I do like 6013. Simply Love 5/64" 6013 for low output crappy stick machines. 5/64" is big enough to not flex and rods are shorter which helps too).
c) 3/32 7014 (I love 7014 but 7014 does like amps so could be close with your machine. 7014 almost welds by itself - idiot rod so to speak)
d) 3/32 7018AC (could be iffy all 7018 variety's can be tempermental even with top shelf welding power supplies)
e) Most any 1/16" diameter rods. Frankly I hate all 1/16" diameter rods as they flex like a noodle. 1/16" 7014 is at least somewhat tolerable though do to 7014 easiness to run.