I'm throwing this out here, in case it helps any other Woodstock FireView owners... Don't take this as a complaint, as it's not meant to be one. I was pretty rough on the stove the first couple of years as I learned the hard way that wood needs more than a couple of months to dry out. I learned over time, got a moisture meter, and am a lot less rough on the stove, now that I've learned those lessons. The first 12 years of burning required no maintenance of the stove, aside from catalytic combustors every 2-3 years and a gasket change on the door. Now I'm at the point where I'm having to replace some parts. Woodstock has always been good about explaining over the phone, but the pictures in the paperwork they send could maybe be a bit improved. Best guess is that I've got about 45 cords of wood through my FireView. After that many cords and years, the soapstone in back of the stove was looking pretty rough. Some of it may have have been self inflicted by raking the coals with a poker over the years, and scraping a soft soapstone surface, but I'm pretty sure not all of it. The deepest pitting at the bottom was maybe 1/4". Woodstock recommended a furnace cement that they sell for this. The rep tole me it's superior to what I can find locally, b/c Woodstock mixes it with soapstone dust. It was not that expensive, so I didn't dig into that statement. It looked like they mix in some type of fiber as well. It comes in a tube, similar to caulk. I did not think to take a pic, but it was very thick. At first I cut the tip like I would for caulk, but after struggling with that a while, I cut as much of the tip off as I could, and was finally able to squeeze the stuff out and spread it with a putty knife. I used about half a tube to smooth it all out, and was wishing that I had a stiffer putty knife. This pic is a couple of hours after spreading it. After a week of burning, it seems to be holding up OK, with maybe a few bulges/bubbles in the top left corner, which I maybe didn't get spread quite as well, due to the reach. Next was a replacement of the bypass frame. This is what the bypass cover sits on, and was described to me as a wear part by Woodstock. It's exposed to flame, and is designed to protect the combustor pan from direct flame. As you can see, mine was starting to appear a bit warped last winter, and I was concerned that it was allowing some exhaust to bypass the catalytic combustor. Once out, the warping was not as bad as it looked like in the stove, but still visible. Upon taking everything apart, I think that any exhaust bypass would have been minimal, but I'm glad I replaced it, as it was starting to fail. I'm not sure if I got a cast part of a bad batch, but I was concerned to see it disintegrating. Getting this out was pretty challenging. I took off the Bypass Cover, which gave me access to the 2 bolts holes from the top, and filled the holes with penetrating oil for a couple of days. Even after that, I could not get one of the bolts to budge. I suspect that it would not be much of a struggle on the bench, but you have to reach 3/4 of the way into the stove, and can only get at it with one hand, so it was a struggle until I broke down and bought an impact wrench. Even then it took a while. If you're going to run an impact wrench in a wood stove with your head partially in the stove, remember to put the earplugs in before pulling the trigger. Incidentally, my 13 year maintenance was adjusting the Air Chute and replacing the Combustor Scoop Kit with Woodstock's new Stainless one. The Air Chute had moved over time, and I was getting more flame on one side of the stove than the other. That involved loosening the bolts, and adjusting it straight by placing pencils between the viewing glass and the Air Chute (Woodstock's recommended way to get the spacing correct and even) and then re-tightening them. Awkward, but not too big of a deal. Everything is harder when you are working on your back reaching into the stove with both hands... The Combustor Scoop had sagged over time as well. Not a large amount, but enough to see that it was slightly rounded when surrounded by the straight edges of the firebox. I don't have a pic, but even if it was not sagging, I'm still glad I replaced it, as the stainless steel Combustor Scoop seems like a better design. Again, I'm not sure if I got a bad cast batch, or this expected when exposing cast iron to corrosive wood ash for a decade plus, but I observed sagging and some disintegration in the Glass Retainer and Andirons. I'm worried that this will be a bigger project than I'm comfortable with, but will be asking Woodstock about it. Sagging: Disintegration of cast iron part: A final note... I think that my stove is sagging in the middle a bit. It's nothing that I can see or even measure, but I did have to dremel the holes a bit wider on both the Combustor Scoop and the Bypass Cover to get them to fit the posts and holes. Not much, just shaved off maybe 1/32" - 1/64" to get them to fit. Anyways, hope this helps any of you that are coming up to this age on your FireViews.
It is never fun to do these things on a small stove! We've had very few problems with ours. We did change the scoop though a few years ago. Nothing else other than the regular cleaning and new gaskets. The sad part is that since I've had such bad neck problems and it has affected my arms and hands I've had to ask for some help and thankfully I have some great friends to help.
Holy mackeral! You are putting a lot of work into that Fireview. We have had ours for 9 years now and I can be honest with you in that I do not see anthing even close to what yours looks like on the inside. We have had zero problems except for one small 2" spot of cement (calk) came loose on a inside corner. Woodstock sent a free tube of the stuff no questions asked. Perhhaps we do not run ours as hard or as long, but the difference between the two is amazing. I thank you for your opening comments about your first few years with the stove. Your photos show it all. That stove has had a hard life for sure. I hope all the work you are putting into the Fireview proves to be worth it. They cost a small fortune compared to what it cost 14 years ago.
Wow! I have a B^%tch of a time just cleaning the glass in my Fv! I can't ever see myself doing that job! Thank you for the great walk through and great pics! I can see myself rounding up my posse' of muscle friends to help me get it in a truck and hauling it back to Lebanon NH for a refurb. (but maybe that's overkill too) Mine is getting close to 10 years old. I think I've been pretty careful with it. Last night I was doing the overnight fill and one of the splits hit the opposite slab a tad hard. (not real hard) but I still chastised myself a bit. Still almost 10 years old and I am "smitten" with it (that's a New England word I think) It's part of the family. Thanks again for the great write up! Steve
I've been told that is the number one thing they run in to. People just throw wood in and it hits the opposite side then the stone cracks.
This is so true. Ron at Woodstock once told me he did exactly this to his FV many years ago and cracked the stone. The echos of that warning have been with me every time I load my stoves .
I have to take the comment about poor pics back. The documentation that I get always has black and white photos that are hard for me to see, but Woodstock updated a lot of their online documentation with better photos since I perused it last. After reading it over, it looks like the andirons and glass retainer won't be as big a project as I was worried about. Also, I forgot to post that parts diagram, so I'll put it below. I called Woodstock, and the lady who answered was pretty sure I was overtemping my stove, which I don't think I am. In fact, I've had conversations with a couple of you about my stove burning a hundred or so degrees cooler than what you guys are getting. And the warped bypass frame allowing exhaust to escape without going through the combustor was one of my theories about why I wasn't getting as high of temps as I thought that I should be. Anyways... They're supposed to call me back on the andirons and glass retainer, as well as slightly warped bypass cover. It's only a year old, but I'm fairly certain that is due to a season of being just above the flames while resting against a warped bypass frame. I've been tempted to upgrade to a progress hybrid since they came out, but didn't want to buy in until it had been around for a couple of years. I'm relatively happy with the FireView, but it's a bit undersized for my house. I think that it was Woodstock's biggest when I bought it, but per their website, the FireView is good for heating up to 1,600 sq ft house, and the Progress Hybrid is good for up to 2,200 sq ft. Maybe I can figure out a way to put the FireView in the basement for occasional use, even though the basement is not the ideal location for it.
Joe, we have had our Fireview quite a bit over the recommended high of 700 and had no problems except getting a bit nervous for a short time. We also learned sometimes it helps to actually give it more air to help it cool down a bit. It sounds wrong but works...as long as you don't give it too much air. Along this line, you will find when getting maximum heat it pays to keep a little flame going. The stove top will not get as hot but overall you will get more heat from the stove because the sides and front of the stove will get hotter rather than most of the heat being right above the cat.
The Fv that I have was a refurb on a 1 season old stove that a member here (now deceased) bought for his beautiful farm in Upstate NY. It just wasn't big enough. He went to the Progress and WS stretched the return policy a bit to give him the full purchase value of a trade-up to a Progress. I then bought the refurb from WS, with a full warranty. My house is less than 1600 sq ft and the Fv is the perfect stove for my house. But that size estimates can't possibly take in all the variables of home just on square footage. Stove location, house location/climate, insulation, wood types burned, etc, etc.. they're just "in the ballpark, give or take some pretty significant amount is my guess. But I'll say this, I have had 2 neighbors buy Progress stoves since seeing my Fv and we did the whole gig up to Lebanon for the purchase and the installs and I'm very familiar with both of those stoves, and if anything I think the 2200sq ft for the progress os underestimated. Those heaters are Heat Monsters. One of those stoves heats a 2500sq ft home from a less than ideal placement and it still does a remarkable job the Fv is a middleweight compared to a Progress from what I've seen first hand. I guess what I'm saying is if you're putting major effort into a refurb of your own, and you're still going to have an Fv at the end of the effort and expense, maybe it makes more sense to move up to the Progress. I know the IS is also in that big sq ft category too..but my experience is only with the PH. But plenty of guys here with the IS can probably give you lots of info on their experience. I know of two in Vermont that heat exceptionally large homes with the IS. Having said all that, I am notorious for spending other people's money on numerous motorcycle forums too.
Backwoods Savage and Oldhippie do you ever get small, rolling flames between your catalytic combustor, and the stainless steel screen? No flame rolling at the top of the stove, just a small one inside the combustor scoop. It didn't like the video, so I grabbed a screen shot, which shows what I'm taking about, even if you can't see the flame rolling. I noticed this twice this past weekend. Both times the stove was fairly warm, 500 degrees or so, and the air intake was choked down to close to the minimum setting, as it was getting a bit warm in the house. (but not all the way closed) It could be happening at other times, and I just noticed it this weekend. The stainless steel combustor scoop is installed correctly, and the wire mesh around it has no gaps and appears to be functioning correctly. When the air intake is opened up a little bit, the rolling flames form outside of the screen, at the top of the stove, like normal. Just curious, as I had thought that it was not good for the combustor to have direct contact with the flames, hence the stainless steel screen.
I see it frequently, it's essentially pre-ignition of the gasses as they enter the high heat near the cat. The cat radiates heat up and down, back into the stove, it's what causes the rolling flames, the ghost flames, and that beautiful orange in the cat.
I see the rolling flames, ghost flames, and that beautiful orange every time I burn... I'm just not used to seeing a small rolling flame burning inside the combustor scoop, making direct contact with the cat. I had thought that the stainless steel mesh protected the cat from direct contact with the flame.
"Joe, I think rather than protecting the cat, it is to disturb the flame (turbulence), which can slow it down rather than just whoosing through the cat. Turbulence enables more smoke to come in contact with more of the surface in the cat. So not only does that screen protect the cat from the harsh flame, it also slows it to give time to burn that smoke. The little flame you see is similar to what happens when you see that beautiful rolling flame at the top of the firebox. Hope this helps.
I decided to replace the andirons and glass retainer. It was much easier than I had expected, maybe a 20 minute job, and the easiest maintenance that I've done with this stove thus far. The impact wrench was very helpful. Having the andirons out of the way made the glass so easy to access that I could see taking them off at the end of season to do a good cleaning. The andirons were in OK shape, but the glass retainer had seen better days. The replacement parts The cast iron was very brittle. I was surprised to see the layering, and it almost looked like it had swelled. A fair amount of cast iron had disappeared over time. I also had a conversation with Woodstock about why I had to dremel out the bolt holes 1/64th or so, and they said that it is a sign that the combustor pan will have to be replaced in the next 5 years or so. They said that on stoves that burn continuously for 4-5 months at a time, the combustor pan is a part that they recommend replacing after 20 years or so. Or to look at it a different way, it's a 100-months of burning wear part, and I'm about 75 months of burning on this stove thus far.
