Production Woodstock IS

The cat will run even with the radiator when they are both installed

 

Thank you kind sir.

 

Weld goes on the top- this is only because that provides a flat surface for the gasket to seal against (on the bottom). And the thin end of the combustor goes toward the front of the stove.

Brian

 

Pictured above is a photo of a "fracture" on an IS stove that was returned to the shop. Lorin gave me a quick peek at this to show me what some of the IS stoves are doing with extreme heat.

One of the many "fixes" or new standard fixed in place parts are a triangular gusset just inside the door on both sides, they also are used as part of the air wash, incoming air travels through them.
WS is also rounding the corners on the door openings now, also to help with heat fractures. The left side of the door already had this air channel in place, the right side was recently added.

Off topic for a second, the stove pictured above, if you notice anything out of place other than the damage. The owner beat the crap out of this stove, the stove came back to the shop with all the stove
paint burned off. That is raw steel with some rusting.

 

Finally got a chance to post a couple of photos of my warped radiator:

The new and old radiator, back- to- back. This shows the amount of warping or 'sag' that the old radiator has. Note that the old radiator is also a replacement in the stove, new in 2014; this is now my third radiator needed due to warping.



I put an angle steel support on the front of the radiator to help alleviate this problem. Unfortunately, it was more complicated than I had originally envisioned and the support ended up pretty narrow, about one inch wide. As it is only 1/8" thick steel, it will probably warp and sag faster than the radiator and probably will not be effective.





If that turns out to be the case, I will then try a couple of cap screws mounted on either side of the thermometer (thermocouple in my case) that will stick into the inside of the stove and catch the radiator as it moves forward and down into the closed position. Even if those bolts warp due to heat, they can be changed out from the outside of the stove in a couple of minutes so it will be much faster, easier and less expensive than changing out the radiator.

BTW- the cost of a new radiator from Woodstock is $45 which is pretty reasonable I think. So even replacing one every 2- 3 years is not a big deal IMO.

Brian

 

Actually looks like there are two cracks there: the obvious one about an inch below the opening top and another, much smaller one, right in the corner of the stove opening.

Just my opinion but that looks like some serious stove abuse, not even close to normal use. My IS is five years old and is not missing ANY paint anywhere. Not only was that stove allowed to get far too hot, too often, it looks like it might have been missing some firebrick / soapstone block liner on the inside. At any rate, if a stove has to be used that hard, I believe the user needs a bigger stove, or perhaps more of them.

Brian

 

Some more of my WS visit. Top left is the new IS firebox loaded onto the back of my pickup and the right is the dolly rolled into place at home on the hearth.

My visit with Lorin, we talked about how the IS has done for WS over the last 5 years and what IS stoves are going out the doors today. The main areas WS has
made changes are all in the cat and areas around it. The baffle has reinforcements with new SS shielding on both sides underneath the baffle. (just above where the stone stops)
The sled has reinforcing and improvements with how the sled rests when it's not in use. They are paying more attention to making sure the baffle gasket does not
wear from any sliding action and have made it "seat" itself when the arm is fully lowered. It slides over the gasket and then sits down on it versus sliding on the gasket and stopping.
The sled has additional SS shielding as well, some SS shielding is attached to the cat's housing area to help avoid warping and the SS wings I mentioned earlier above the
stone will help with the heat near the baffle opening where the sled sits.

 

This is the new sled, the underside facing up. You can see the SS tray for the cat and this new shield that helps

Second pic is looking just inside the door to the left. This is the new SS shields that are mounted just above the stone on both sides. They run just beyond the secondary
burn plate all the way to the door.

 

It's hard to see in these pictures but this is the improved sled in place. There are additional pieces of steel added on the outer edges and just inside where the cat would sit.

 

This is the updated baffle. You can just see the new SS shields on either side underneath.

 

The underside of the sled from another angle. You can kind of see where the new baffle gasket seats itself when it's in place.

 

And now the story that got the stove back to the shop. As I explained to Lorin the baffle on my production year stove had some serious damage on the right side where
the heat warped the area near the baffle opening bad enough to render the stove useless. When I wrote my original e-mail to her I assumed it was a gasket leak and this was
what created the failure.

She responded saying if I can get the stove to the shop they will do an inspection and make the repairs. The stove went to WS 15 days ago today. When Lorin and I talked
about the damage on my stove while in the shop she explained to me that it wasn't a bad gasket that caused the damage but a faulty weld. My original stove wasn't there
for me to see but she explained where it was and why it did this on the new stove. There have been a few IS's that have had the same issue over the last 5 years, enough
to prompt the new work that goes into the 2019 models.

Because the baffle is welded into place WS did not remove the old one and install the newer one, they replaced the firebox itself. I gave them a stripped firebox and they gave me the same in return.
When I got the firebox home I repainted my original parts and slowly put the stove together again.

By the time 6pm came rolling around, I ran a break-in fire in the new firebox. The new paint smell reminded me of the day the IS came home 5 years ago and I ran the break-in fires back then.

In another thread I will make a statement about how well Woodstock responds to it's customers. Their customer service is a class act in itself, especially during this time of the year. I brought a
damaged stove to them in their busiest season and they came through!

 

I'm on my 3rd radiator. I was fortunate to have been there at the open house for one of them and the 3rd came home yesterday. I agree with you, they do take a beating but for the price to replace it I think it's a small donation for what we get out of it.

I'll be curious to hear your news on how the angle reacts to the heat.

 

Help me understand what the "Radiator" is? I haven't followed the thread from the beginning. Is it the secondary burn plate with the holes in it? I know this device is not liquid cooled?
I'm wondering if we'll also have this problem on Absolute Steel's?

 

Having this issue with my IS. It developed earlier and a phone call to WS was well received. They told me to drill a hole to stop the crack, and get a welder to weld it up. They also sent me a square conduit to have welded in behind the steel plate. I am still looking for a welder to mig weld it.... But WS said they would reimburse me or have the welder bill them directly.

 

if you look at the post from Brian (BDF) maybe post 166?. It shows several pictures of what an IS radiator looks like out and in place.
The radiator is right above the cat, housed on the sled

 

It looks like Woodstock has done a large addition of stainless steel shielding inside the stove from the earlier stoves.

Curious how many stoves have had issues causing them to make these changes. Makes me worry a little, but I keep an eye on the stove and I'm not a 24/7 burner, just try and supplement heat with the stove.

 

I can’t really report any numbers, Lorin was just happy that the issues that have arisen in the last few years have all been things they could make adjustments to and improve on the outgoing models. Overall I think the IS was a success for WS, no major overhauls and design changes, just a few tweaks.

I am a 24/7 burner and I’ll probably keep a close eye on the updated parts that I just received and report on it. I know Brian is always updating us on how his IS is doing.

 

Thank you very much for sharing your whole story, IS Heats. I can't imagine how hot a guy would have to run the stove to cook it down to bare steel! They just have been shaking their heads in the production line. Sucks that you got the "4:30 Friday afternoon" weld, but it sounds like WS stood behind their product as well as any company could. Five years of use on any product will usually have the manufacturer offer back nothing but a cold shoulder.

The SS improvements to the stove are interesting - did you happen to discuss any changes to burn or heating characteristics that may be found, particularly with the shields above the stove's stone lining? At first blush, this seems like it might direct more heat upwards to the stove top instead of the upper side walls, if I understand correctly.

 

It is as if you photo gave my stove 'ideas' and it too decided to crack. :-(



Just noticed this tonight when starting a fire because the door was difficult to close- the crack has allowed the upper hinge to displace somewhat.

Will call Woodstock tomorrow and see what we might do about this. ??

For whatever it is worth, I have not overheated or even driven my stove very hard. All paint is original, intact and in good shape (no whitish blotches anywhere).

Will update this thread as developments occur.

Brian

Edited to add: This is not a unique problem to Ideal Steel or Woodstock stoves- I have seen these same corner cracks on Blaze King and other stoves. It is a very high stress point as a wood stove is changing temperature, usually heating up as they do not cool nearly as quickly. Just wanted to mention that as this is not a knock against Woodstock or the I.S. stove itself, more like a problem with physics.