Anyone know anything about this stove? It came with the house and we'd like to use it when I finish the never ending basement project. I'm pretty sure it's an older unit but I have no idea when it was manufactured. Country Flame was sold in the 2000s and I believe it pre-dates that. Current Model R's are cat stoves but I'm not sure about this one. There's a plate in the top but no cat is there. It looks just like a baffle or something. Any info anyone has is appreciated.
A friend on mine has one that looks identical, pre-EPA. I don't know the model #. I know there is at least two that look like that, one small and one larger. My friend bought a smaller one new in 1987 and it has been flawless. His has a factory baffle plate in the top. He loves it and has no interest in an EPA.
That's good to hear. It's got some minor rust but seems sound. Just needs a little paint. I'm thinking the heat will run us out of the basement when it's hooked up.
You might consider doing some research and look into finding an aftermarket catalyst for that stove, I think it will benefit you more than just running the stove with an open by-pass. Doesn't look too bad in the pics. No warping or cracks? How well do the seams look? In need of some stove cement? Give it a good once over...
I'll give it a good look. There's some rust, especially on the lower legs likely from previous flooding. If I see anything suspicious I'll post it here. Maybe I'll take a few pics regardless. You guys may notice something I don't. I didn't realize they made universal catalysts to retrofit older stoves. I'll definitely look into it. At this point, we have no $ put into the stove so it'd be fine to spend a little extra.
B W, maybe I misread, but was this a factory cat stove? If so, I would definitely replace the cat if needed. As a have read, the universal retrofit cats are very ineffective. No personal experience with the though. If it's a pre-EPA, I would look it and the flue over good and fire it up. With some practice and good dry wood it should burn fine. If you later decide to upgrade, all the better. ETA: I wouldn't hesitate to put it in my house if need be, and I use 100% wood heat. There are better more efficient options, but if I had it and needed the heat, I would fire it up.
That's the thing. I'm not sure if it's a cat stove or not. Current models have a cat but I don't think this one had one. Or at least it's not there right now. It's just that baffle at the top. I'll take a pic. I really don't know what I'm looking at...
We bought a metal brush that fit a drill for our old stove, (broke college kids lol). Got as much rust off as we could, bottle of stove brite, and still looked good the day we sold the house 20 years later.
I learned on and used for many years pre-epa stoves with caps for intake like your stove. I found them much easier to use than the cat stove. I think a Cat stove would have an extra lever for the bypass. Any extra levers on that stove? Check door gaskets and firebrick lining the firebox.
It looks like it's a non-cat stove. No levers. There are no fire bricks so I guess I'll need to get some to line the bottom. Inside the stove looks good. No weird welds or anything that I can see. A little rust. There is a dead, dried bird inside. There are a few toys crammed between the firebox and the sheet of metal under it. I think it just needs to be cleaned up. I'll still get a professional to hook it up and check it out first, though.
When you can, take something and scrape inside along the bottom, there should be firebrick in there, might be black from burning. It likely goes up the sides and back a few bricks high too.
It will be a nice small project cleaning it up, but an inexpensive fix if you find nothing major while you go through it. Will you run it this season?
