Pitfalls of buying a multifuel stove

daviddavid2

My wife and I purchased a multifuel Portway 1 Stove last year with an outside flu installation from a firm in Colchester Road.
We thought the stove looked dusty when it was delivered for installation with no manual or tools.However although the stove worked fine to begin with we asked that the double walled flue pressing against our plastic gutter be adjusted plus we were advised the flu was too close to our roof being to short.
Only asking for a Hetas inspector got this put right as several regulations had been missed.
The hearth was too small. The chimney was too short and there was no proper siting of CO gauge. The firm put these matters right free if charge but only when we had problems with the stove contracting and expanding with a banging noise did we find out we had been sold an ex display stove 2
5 yes old! The retailer claimed we had wanted the ex display which was untrue since our deposit of £783 reflected a new factory fresh item.Subsequently the manufacturer sent a sales re p to look at it who said the red powder inside the stove was due to over heating when in fact it was due to smokeless fuel dust.He also said because I had used stove cement in the stove it had overheated which was nonsense. He therefore said they were not liable and would not replace the stove though he did not explain the huge contraction began on cooling.He said it was up to the retailer to sort it out since claimed we had expected a new factory fresh stove.Washing his hands of the matter except for saying he would communicate clause 57 oof the credit card act to the retailer it was no longer the manufacturers responsibility since I shouldn't have put a titchy bit of fire cement in the Portway 1 Stove which expands and contracts like a tin can in use with two logs burning heating up and the going cold with a couple of crack bangs twice in use.
I have yet to hear from the retailer who sold us this dusty display stove so please watch this space!

A._Badger

daviddavid2 wrote: »

My wife and I purchased a multifuel Portway 1 Stove last year with an outside flu installation from a firm in

Sorry to hear about your problems. I'm afraid the stove market has fallen victim to fashion in the past few years. People are seduced into buying them by the images in 'lifestyle' articles and on the (almost always incorrect) promise that they are cheaper to run than gas central heating.

Cashing in on this, there are now umpteen importers (not manufacturers, note), retailers who will say anything to get a sale, installers with an eye to a fast buck and an effective monopoly 'regulator' which is a limited company, more or less allowed to make the rules up as it goes.

It's a minefield and anyone contemplating buying a stove needs to do a lot of research beforehand.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Alycidon

Why did you need fire cement inside a new stove ?. if there was any sort of problem with it then get the company who sold it to you involved as you have. Legally it is their responsibility as the retailer and not the responsibility of the stove manufacturer.

If ever there was a reason to buy a well known brand from a local supplier that is well established ( Use Company Check website to check potential suppliers out) then this is it. The cowboys and there are lots out there just try and steer retail customers back to the supplier if their is a problem. Buying on line is particularly fraught.

You have 2 issues here: the install issue seems to have been put right, the banging has not. This is probably due to the heat expanding the stove but at the end of the day they are supposed to be designed to take this every day for at least 10 years or in the case of Morso's well over 30 years.

I would write to the stove supplier laying out exactly what you want them to do to correct the problem and give them a fixed time scale ( perhaps 28 days as we are still in season) to do as you instruct or you will seek legal redress.

This time use a higher quality brand, Morso, Jotul, Esse, Aarrow, Villager, Clearview, Charnwood, more money than the Portway, probably but far heavier built more robust stoves.

A

alleycat`

I suppose it depends where the fire cement is?

This is taken as an extract from my installation manual(not a portway):-

<quote>
Seal collar with fire cement.
</quote>

<quote>
Seal the connecting joints with fire cement.
</quote>

This is in relation to the fixing of the collar to the stove and the stove pipe to the collar.
In both instances there are other "steps" with bolts and self tappers but in this context fire cement is specifically requested by the manual.

I agree mostly with the other parts about putting in writing what it is you expect to be done.

I know stove prices have "moved on" since i got mine but if i was laying out £800 on a stove i'd expect it to be reasonable quality and not be banging and crashing about.

This isn't "machine mart" prices that have been paid out.

It'd be interesting to know i the original poster was running a stove thermometer and at what temperature the "banging" was happening.

Unless it's running very hot it should be almost silent in metalwork terms, maybe a few "ticking" noises if it's heating up quite rapidly / cooling quite rapidly.