Ideal Steel Season #2 Tips, Tricks, and Improvements.

Oh it will sure turn colors (1,500 F is bright yellow) but at least there would be much more stock in the direction of the sagging. Another consideration in adding stock there is that it will drive the heat coming out of the front of the combustor up higher and closer to the stove top plate, which is also warping somewhat on my stove. Not sure I want to restrict that area too much more than it is.

Another thing that would probably work well would be to weld a tube across the front lip of the radiator- something like a 1/2" to 5/8" heavy walled tube, or better yet, stainless steel heavy walled tubing. But it sounds like Woodstock has the problem in its sights and probably has a solution.

In the end, steel and high temperatures (over 900F) just are not a great combination and the steel always loses while the heat does just fine. That is why stoves are usually lined with stone, firebrick, ceramic and similar materials.

Brian

 

I also considered dropping it off at a local fabrication shop and letting them reinvent the wheel

 

I just received a new stove a week ago. I can get a pic tonight of what the new setup looks like. My stove will be cool enough by the time I get home to check if that helps.

 

I hear ya' but hey, sometimes that there wheel, she needs a little reinventin'. I like my I.S. a lot and think they did a great job but would absolutely stop short of saying 1) it is perfect or 2) I cannot think of any improvements.

Henry made that mistake with the Model A and almost wiped out one of the largest companies in the US as well as the entire world. Now a Model A is a sharp ride and an interesting car but I gots ta' tells' ya', the stuff parked in my driveway now is far, far better.... and Henry thought he hit perfection and was done designing cars with that very model.

Besides all that, Woodstone is still improving the I.S.: new, larger slots in the grate (yea!), improved radiator, quieter flapper valve on the cat. air supply and so forth.

Brian

 

If you guys want to see some bad scaling, I'll have to photo my Englander burn pots from my pellet stove. I've now burnt completely through my second one (half way through the second heating season with it). This one is no longer under warranty. A lot of people rave about their cheap woodstoves, but not a whole lot to rave about their cheap pellet stoves.
As a matter of fact, I have all the sudden this urge to ditch the pellet stove for an Absolute Steel. I started really thinking about it earlier today. I really liked not having to 'synchronize' 2 woodstoves though, since I need rather specific burn times and often very narrow windows to get it up and running. But pellets aren't saving me much this year with cheaper propane, and well this stove can be a pita to clean and having to go through 3 burn pots every 2 years cuts into that savings and adds to frustration.

I noticed the IS is on a pretty great sale too! Cheaper than the big spring sale last year wow! But last year I got free shipping so that does just about make up the difference. Not much savings with the AS, but I would rather not have two identical stoves I think. Plus a side loader would be much better for me, the IS door is very inconvenient to work around - hinged on the wrong side for either of my hearths.
Hmmm....

 

Here are shots of the stainless radiator shield (used), cat, and installed radiator so you can see the tabs on the top side. So far no visible warping, but I haven't really gotten it that hot yet. I'd say 500 topside max and front magnetic 675.

 

Thanks freeburn

 

Interesting. I wonder if that will affect the heat distribution to the stovetop...

 

Excellent- thanks for the photos.

It appears that Woodstone has provided a 'shield' for the original 'shield' (which they call a radiator but is really a heat shield for the top of the stove). If that lower, smaller plate warps, at least it will be easier and probably cheaper to replace than the entire radiator (S.S. is six times the cost of low carbon steel, general rule of thumb) because it is so much smaller than the whole radiator. And it will not scale like carbon steel (read: the actual radiator) does so it should last a long time, even if it warps.

It almost has to change the way heat is distributed out of an I.S. but without actual testing, I would not hazard a guess as to how big a change would result- probably not that much (opps, I guessed).

By the way, I think those two stand- offs toward the middle of the radiator are new also- they should help with the hot sagging problem too.

Brian

 

I had the surface temp over 700 last night on the front of the stove without much effort. Back was over 575.

 

My stove has the stand offs but not the stainless shield

 

Interesting about that stainless shield under the radiator. I didn't know about it until it was mentioned on this thread. If it keeps bits of the scale from landing on the cat, seems like a good idea. Most likely, it will keep the radiator from getting so hot that it breaks down - solves 2 problems at once. I like it.

 

OK guys since you know.. somebody came down drive with




that is what new one look like have legs or stand offs my other one didnt.. I will install tomorrow AM.. just loaded stove so I'm hot for another 12 hours anyway..

if it's wanted i will probably burn another cord this winter and will evaluate amount of scaling etc. my first radiator had significant scaling in first month.. I think I asked about it on page 20 of this thread..

once again, Woodstock Customer Service is outstanding.. I noticed this yesterday and called them around noon.. it's here now!

 

Anyone know what this movaeble tab is for? Top right side.

 

Isn't that the tab/lever to drop the flap right above your finger that helps reduce smoke rollout?
Mess with it and see what happens.

 

My flap is on the lef

 

Nope. That's on the left side. It doesn't seem to do anything with the flap up or down.

 

freeburn, I always Assumed, it was in case they made door to hinge left instead of right for smoke flap.. meaning a future option so put tab on both sides and only activated one..

 

Oops. Ok, never mind.

 

This might not apply in areas where it's a lot colder than here in NJ, but I've noticed that softwood aren't as much as a negative when you have a cat stove. I really noticed it today because I got to a spot in my stack where there's a section of pine. Not sure what kind but it's pine. I threw a bunch in the stove as a trial, just to see what happens. Well where a non cat stove would just eat thru that wood and give off the heat in a flash, the cat slows that burn down and really allows you to extract the heat over a longer amount of time.

Today is a warmer yet the furnace would still be kicking on. Warm meaning it's in the 40s at 6 am and supposed to go into the high 50s . Burning cat only means I'm only sipping the btus out and not heating us out. With pine no less. I'm not knocking pine but when your stacks are mostly black locust, cherry, and oak you generally wouldn't even think about messing with pine. But days like today pine rocks in a cat stove!