Quadra-Fire 57ST-ACC Owner's Manual - User Guide

 8 

                       7038-207E 

         February 25, 2016

5700 STEP TOP ACC

User Guide

2 

Operating Instructions

B.  Wood Selection & Storage

Burn only dry seasoned wood.  Store wood under cover, out 

of the rain and snow.  Dry and well-seasoned wood will not 

only minimize the chance of creosote formation, but will give 

you the most ef

fi

 cient 

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 re.  Even dry wood contains at least 

15% moisture by weight, and should be burned hot enough 

C.  Burning Process

In recent years there has been an increasing concern about 

air quality.  Much of the blame for poor air quality has been 

placed on the burning of wood for home heating. In order to 

improve the situation, we at Quadra-Fire have developed 

cleaner-burning wood stoves that surpass the requirements 

for emissions established by our governing agencies.  These 

wood stoves, like any other appliances, must be properly 

operated in order to insure that they perform the way they are 

designed to perform.  Improper operation can turn most any 

wood stove into a smoldering environmental hazard.

1.  Kindling or First Stage

It helps to know a little about the actual process of burning in 

order to understand what goes on inside a stove.  The 

fi

 rst 

stage of burning is called the kindling stage.  In this stage, the 

wood is heated to a temperature high enough to evaporate the 

moisture which is present in all wood.  The wood will reach 

the boiling point of water (212°F) and will not get any hotter 

until the water is evaporated.  This process takes heat from 

the coals and tends to cool the appliance.

Fire requires three things to burn - fuel, air and heat.  So, if 

heat is robbed from the appliance during the drying stage, the 

new load of wood has reduced the chances for a good clean 

burn.  For this reason, it is always best to burn dry, seasoned 

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 rewood.  When the wood isn’t dry, you must open the air 

controls and burn at a high burn setting for a longer time to 

start it burning.  The heat generated from the 

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 re should be 

warming your home and establishing the 

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 ue draft, not evap-

orating the moisture out of wet, unseasoned wood, resulting 

in wasted heat.

Fire Risk

Do not over-

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 re.

Over-

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 ring may ignite creosote or will damage the 

stove and chimney.

To prevent over-

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 ring your stove, DO NOT:

• Use 

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 ammable liquids

•  Overload with wood

•  Burn trash or large amounts of scrap lumber

•  Permit too much air to the 

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 re

WARNING

1. Symptoms of Over-Firing 

Symptoms of over-

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 ring may include one or more of the 

following:

  •  Chimney connector or appliance glowing

  •  Roaring, rumbling noises

  •  Loud cracking or banging sounds

 • Metal 

warping

 • Chimney 

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 re

2. What To Do if Your Stove is Over-Firing

  •  Immediately close the door and air controls to reduce 

air supply to the 

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 re.

  •  If you suspect a chimney 

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 re, call the 

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 re department 

and evacuate your house.

  •  Contact your local chimney professional and have your 

stove and stove pipe inspected for any damage.

  •  Do not use your stove until the chimney professional 

informs you it is safe to do so.

Hearth & Home Technologies WILL NOT warranty stoves 

that exhibit evidence of over-

fi

 ring.  Evidence of over-

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 ring 

includes, but is not limited to:

  •  Warped air tube

  •  Deteriorated refractory brick retainers

 • Deteriorated 

baf

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 e and other interior components

A.  Over-Firing Your Appliance

to keep the chimney hot for as long as it takes to dry the 

wood out - about one hour.  It is a waste of energy to burn 

unseasoned wood of any kind.

Dead wood lying on the forest 

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 oor should be considered wet, 

and requires full seasoning time.  Standing dead wood can 

be considered to be about 2/3 seasoned.  To tell if wood is 

dry enough to burn, check the ends of the logs.  If there are 

cracks radiating in all directions from the center, it is dry.  If 

your wood sizzles in the 

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 re, even though the surface is dry, 

it may not be fully cured.  

Splitting wood before it is stored reduces drying time.  Wood 

should be stacked so that both ends of each piece are 

exposed to air, since more drying occurs through the cut ends 

than the sides.  This is true even with wood that has been 

split.  Store wood under cover, such as in a shed, or covered 

with a tarp, plastic, tar paper, sheets of scrap plywood, etc., 

as uncovered wood can absorb water from rain or snow, 

delaying the seasoning process.