Production Woodstock IS

Yes I talk to Mike at Woodstock yesterday, he basically told me in the spring when I’m done using it. Bring it on down and to upgrade it.. I for one am thinking this has more to do with cheap Chinese steel. That anything Woodstock did wrong. But their customer service is beyond reproach. I have friends with $60,000 vehicles that won’t pass a safety inspection because of rusted brake lines.. that are newer than my stove..

 

I actually ground the welds smooth, they werent bad but just a tiny bit of extra width. Still wouldn't fit. I put the combustors face to face and the new one was about 1/8" wider all across. It wouldn't go in at all, I even pressed down pretty hard and got it stuck good (didn't try hammering of course). After emailing WS, they wanted some pictures, so yesterday when the stove was down to just a few coals I pulled the old combustor out and got ready with the camera - but the new one fit right in with the stove warm, so i think I'm good! It's probably putting a little pressure on it but I'm thinking that's ok.

Glad to report no crack by the corner in mine yet, hope it stays that way but I'll be following along with possible fixes. I guess in the mean time I ought to get my propane furnace working just in case. It's been dead for a couple years.

 

Happy and sad...

Happy that I have my IS back - sad that it’s still on the back of my pickup - local Calvary not available till Thursday eve to help get the beast in the house. Did I mention... It’s freezing out!

As stated earlier my IS had that crack and a few other issues. Woodstock said to send it back for fixin. I dropped off at the local freight place on 10/17, it arrived back on Monday the 11th.

Well - a few more days on the boiler then it’s WOOD HEAT BABY! I’ll take some pics and report just what they did to the stove later in the week.

Stay toasty

 

Congrats for the fast turn around. Planning on just waiting for spring with mine. I so do love the stove.

 

Are you going to let it sit, or are you going to use the stove still until spring?

 

Been running it. Still need to drill a hole to stop the crack and seal it, but haven't notice it spread yet. Am trying to take it a little easy. Only got down to 24f last night and mid twenties the next couple nights.

 

I feel bad about the issues that all of you are having with your IS, but at the same time it’s great to see how well it’s being handled. I wish you all the best as you work your way through it. I’m sure you’ll end up with an even better stove in the end.

 

I’m burning it.. thermostats say it’s fine.. plus wind chill are negative..

 

I got the crack. Glad I stopped by. It's been a while since I've been on. This sucks

I'm another one who hasn't run this stove very hard. It also appears to have a small crack at the bottom too. Almost like it's just starting. It's in a dark area, I'll check it out tomorrow.

 

Well that sucks.

 

Mine fractured on the bottom last year, after the top fractured. I’m not sure if it is a similar issue on the bottom, or if the top fracture caused some flex or another issue down below.

I had a 21’ class A chimney, & had to run my pipe damper fully closed (except on start-ups & reloads) to keep the stove controllable. Are the other fractured stoves on high draft applications, or is it a mixed bag?

At any rate, I burned mine for a few months to finish the season before I sent it back. At first, I checked on it regularly and obsessively. Eventually, I was able to stop fretting about it and relax a bit (though I obviously kept an eye on it, & it did slowly grow). I hope you all do not let this rob your joy like I initially did! Woodstock took good care of me, & the stove was better than new after the repair.

My stove was sold with our house, but Lord willing, we will be purchasing another Woodstock Stove soon. We discussed another brand, but the warranty service WS provided us, along with all the warm happy memories our Ideal Steel gave us...won our loyalty.

 

My stove in back installed and now has a box full of wood burning away - baking in the paint. My stove is in a Florida room off the Diningroom, with a sliding door to the outside, thus I can close the stove room off from the house and vent the paint out-gassing to the outside (thank god)!

Woodstock did a great job, while the crack and other issues were a surprise I never expected them to offer to fix at no cost and cover shipping. They stepped up Big Time. I’m a happy stove camper once again.

To answer a question - my setup is not a high draft one. Flue height above the stove is 16 feet with two 90 degree bends.

Like others here have mentioned, there is new SS shielding in the stove. I also noticed the cat slide is reinforced.

Regards

 

My stove isn't a high draw set up. I'm at the minimum height that's recommended. 15 feet.

 

Ok, It sounds like draft has nothing to do with it then. That was one of the variables discussed with Woodstock when mine fractured last year. Since the stove runs on the hot end in my setup, we wondered if a weakness was exposed or if it got out of hand one night while we were sleeping.

They were not sure what caused it, but I was pleased with their answer, “Regardless of how it happened, We’ll definitely take care of it”.

 

For those wondering if this firebox cracking is caused by running hard or running too hot, nope, that is not the problem. The problem is that there is stress placed on the steel due to thermal expansion and contraction, and those two spots on the right (hinge) side of the firebox are subjected to a lot of stress in a very small area. After a large number of hot / cold cycles, the steel simply yields (fails, what appears to us as a crack).

The correction for this is either to remove the high stress area by doing something to spread the stress out over a wider area or make the areas that are cracking stronger. The second method seems easier but the caveat there is to make sure the stress is not just moved and remains concentrated to another area; this is commonly seen when mechanical things fail right at the end of a reinforcing pad or area.

Look at the bright side, this is a very common failure mode and often involves things far more expensive and important than wood stoves. For those who are curious about this repeated cyclic failure mode, check out the history of the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, a fantastic plane with a fatal but very subtle design flaw, or the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, another innovative design that also had a fundamental design flaw in a new piece of technology (F-111 was the first 'swing wing' jet aircraft and the wing pivot box was over-stressed, occasionally failing and resulting in total hull- loss accidents). It is interesting to note that in both of these cases, the companies to introduce competing aircraft, made by other manufacturers (Boeing in the case of de Havilland and Grumman in the case of the F-111) learned from the initial aircraft manufacture's design flaws and actually corrected them before final production of their own aircraft. I believe the Ideal Steel is Woodstock Soapstone's first steel stove, the earlier ones being cast iron types, and almost have to go through this teething phase to fine the flaws and there is really no way to do that without actually putting the stress cycles on the stove to find them. In other words, Woodstock would have to run several stove for years, every single day, to find these stress related cracks and that is just not feasible for a manufacturer to do.

 

I'm not so sure it has anything to do with the hinge based on the picture above on the right. Take a look real close...that crack...at least on the top right of the door...there's a weld just above the crack line and inside the stove. Based on looking at another picture...and seeing no crack but a mysterious looking line...I'd say that weld goes all the way across to the hinge inside the stove.

If that's the case, even with a round corner in the door opening...if there's a weld near that ever so slightly rounded corner...it would seem it's allowing the corner to bind and not expand...except for where it's cracking...that's the expansion. Defeats the purpose of having a rounded corner if you bind it with a weld. Perhaps remove or move that weld and alleviate the problem. I would think if the hinge were the real problem that's where the crack would originate from. I know there doesn't appear to be much near the door opening, but there is what appears to be a weld there and based on that other mysterious photo I'd be willing to guess that weld goes all the way across towards the hinge. That's just a guess...would help to see inside that stove or better yet see a schematic of the inside of the stove. Of course, I'm just guessing, so I'll let WS do their job and fix their own issue. I'm sure they will.

 

I may not have the dreaded crack, but upon a deep clean I unfortunately found some damage. Might explain why I was noticing my stove just wasn't quite like it used to be (I blamed it on the cat, of my wood since we had such a wet year, but I am sure this contributed). So sent WS an email asking for any advice and hadn't heard back in over a week so I assume they got nothing for me. It's a warp in the opening the cat sled lays on, so not allowing a good seal and letting a small amount of exhaust bypass the cat so loosing a bit of efficiency but hopefully not hazardous to run. Its blackening a little on the side where the gasses are directed at when they go through that spot, you can see in the pic. I'm pretty sure I was running it this way for most or all of last year, so I am going to continue to run it for now. Would it be possible to heat this and hammer back in shape? I don't have a torch or blackmithing skills so likely would have to find someone.

Any thoughts? I can't really even pack extra gasket in there temporarily since the moving cat sled will just dislodge it every time it is engaged or disengaged.

 

Page 159, post 12, had the same problem with their stove.....

 

I would suggest calling, not e-mailing Woodstock, and talk to Loren (sp?). They know about this and do seem to be taking care of this problem for customers. I of course cannot and am not speaking for Woodstock, just stating what I have read about others' have experienced as well as my own experience with an Ideal Steel with the firebox crack.

I <believe> Woodstock changed both the firebox opening and surrounding area to address the cracking as well as altering the top of the firebox and sled to address both problems. If you get a new firebox and sled, it will address your upper firebox problem and also probably help fend off the crack that you do not have.... yet.

Brian

 

Sometimes people get busy, and this is their busy season. I would write or better yet call them about the slide. After my experience, I have little doubt that they won't take good care of you and the stove.