Production Woodstock IS

Awesome , Thank You!
I've got all day...and it's cold out...

 

i've probably read some of this thread, maybe even posted in it...but not sure.
so many of these threads drop off the radar.

subscribed with email notifications.

 

Just to pass along the info.: Woodstock Soapstone is still back- ordered in Ideal Steel combustors. They now expect (or hope?) they will see some in 10 days or so from now (Wed., 13 Dec 2017). I believe W.S. welds the flange on the cats. for the I.S. so that may take a little longer too before they actually ship out to us.

I also ordered another radiator because believe it or not, I cannot find my old one. I want to modify one but will not shut the stove down to do it so I will just grab a new one while I already have a cat. on order with them anyway.

Brian

 

What gauge/thickness steel are you guys using BDF and Hollywood? Looks like an interesting mod I may want to try. Thinking some angle could be used with a couple holes and a few stainless bolts. Or maybe just bend the flat steel to make an angle similar to Hollywoods. Shouldn't take long to fab something up with a cutoff wheel, hammer, and a drill.

I will also add that I've been running with the burner removed to let a little more heat put the top. Not sure if its making much of a difference or not. Seems like there is definitely a little more radiating heat. I also have a fan blowing across the top of the stove to extract a little more heat, and get it moving and swirling toward the stairs, being I have the stove in the basement. (Also have a fan blowing towards it on the floor)

 

Cheap stuff, nothing fancy. Clearance above the radiator is tight so I stayed away from anything sitting on top.

 

I would recommend NOT using Stainless Steel bolts

 

Somewhere in this thread I posted two burn graphs one with and one without the mod. There is a noticeable difference with the mod installed.

 

I am using a piece of an old rafter square, about 1/8 thick or so. Yep, you could use angle stock and bolt it to each part, the radiator and the new baffle. Truth be told, it only needs one bracket near the center; you only literally have to keep it from falling over, otherwise there is no force on this thing at all.

It would be interesting to see some logged data running the stove w/out the radiator. That said though, several of us have found the stainless steel plate bolted to the bottom of the stove top plate to have warped pretty significantly and removing the radiator altogether might cause that to happen faster and / or more-so. The radiator is more or less consumable but the stove top and the plate that goes with it is going to be considerably more expensive to replace, plus if it warps it will not seal the top of the stove while the radiator warping does not matter (as long as it does not warp or sag too far).

Brian

 

Thanks Brian and Hollywood! If I get free time during a warm spell I think I will try adding a baffle. That should be a quick easy mod and I may have a piece of scrap long enough which makes it nearly free.

The other mod I am probably going to do is adding an air hole into the ash tray door (or on the side). Does anyone have recommendations on the size of the hole needed? The goal is to get a little more airflow coming up from the grate to help a pile of coals burn, and maybe help the startup process with a bottom up lighting.

 

I modified my ash pan door by cutting a triangle through it (it is double walled by the way, so you have to cut it twice) and then using a spring loaded plate disc to make it adjustable. I actually do not adjust it very often and the opening is about the size of a normal woodcase pencil which is about 5/16" I would guess.



An easier way to do this and still make it 'adjustable' would be to drill 1/4" holes through the door, say 6 of them, and just put nuts and bolts through some of them to control the airflow. Want more air- take out a bolt or two. Less air, close up another hole or two. No fabrication whatsoever reguired and only about $3 worth of hardware. You could also buy a drill and tap set from Home Depot / Lowes and tap the holes so the screws just thread in and you would not need nuts on the inside. Either way, a very easy way to add a little under- grate air to the stove.

Note though that you will have to keep and area of the grate clean all the time for this to be effective. I use a small stove scraping tool to push the ashes and coals back from the front / center of the grate area when loading the stove so there are always uncovered slots in the grate.

And whatever you do, err on the 'too small' side rather than the too big side because bottom drafting the stove can get away from you in a hurry, and it will cause it to back- puff like you would not believe. This really is one of those cases where less is better.

Brian

 

Production Woodstock IS

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking the side wall might be easier to drill than the door and with the info that it is double walled, I think I will go that route. I already have a tap set so I will think about that, but I was thinking of a rotating cover much like yours.

Do you think 6 quarter inch holes are necessary? I was thinking something like a single 1/4” or 3/8” hole would give enough air to get the coals to burn. If you think I need more I can do a 5/8 which should allow similar airflow to 6x 1/4” holds if my mental estimation is accurate.

 

I just crack the ash pan door a bit. Not much, just move the handle to the right about 1/2 inch, and you get a slight gap around the gasket, probably equivalent to a small round hole or two. When reloading, just reach down and close it up tight again.

 

No, I do not think you will need six 1/4" holes but suggested it so that you only have to drill the stove one time and have literally too many holes. Merely to give a wider than needed range of adjustment. Probably three 1/4" holes would work but I am sure six is enough (the classic 'shotgun' fix, too much of anything is always enough as long as you can throttle it).

I would not drill any hole(s) larger than 5/16 because they are going to become difficult to plug.

As to putting the holes in the side of the ash pan box, if you use nuts then there will be a catch- point that may cause you aggravation when inserting the ash pan. The door faces forward so it is the easiest place to get to bolts / screws, it the easiest place to see to verify how many holes are open, and because it is slanted, there is plenty of room for nuts without any possibility of them catching on anything. Also, if you ever want to restore the stove to stock form, you can do so by simply removing the door pivot pin (very easy) and installing a new door; the ash pan housing is welded on and any mods' done there would be forever. I am certainly not saying your method would not work, merely pointing out my line of thinking and why I did the mod the way I did it.

A movable door over a slot is ideal if you can and want to do a little fabricating. You will have to make a cover plate and use a longer screw with a spring to hold the flap against the door. But it does work well and of course is the easiest device to adjust without tools or external parts (the extra screws to close off a hole(s)).

Brian

 

I think the ash pan is getting a hole in it tomorrow. Starting with a 1/4 drill bit. My plan will be to leave this hole open all the time. No flap or bolt to close it off.

 

To everyone thinking of doing this: I have found it does work well and does a nice job of burning the coals down. But bottom drafting any stove can get away in a hurry so PLEASE be careful folks and really pay attention to the stove if you make any mods. like this. Do not leave the house or go to bed with the stove cruising until you are 100% sure how your stove, on your chimney, with your firewood behaves with some bottom draft. I am not a doom- crier and do not really believe that this is a dangerous mod. but on the other hand, a little goes a long way and too much WILL result in over- heating the grate and causing nasty back- puffing at best, and over- firing and badly over- heating the cat. as well as the entire stove at worst. So please, start small and note the changes, get used to the way it works before getting carried away with mods. like this. I have done this to my own stove but I also have four thermocouples and a data recorder so I can see what happened during all the un- attended burns the stove does after this and other modifications. A little too much under- grate air, coupled with some really dry splits and a windy day (pulling on the chimney) could result in a nasty surprise.

I really do not want to hear about anyone having a chimney fire, a runaway stove or any other misadventure, especially during this holiday season! So please, pay attention and proceed with due caution- not fear but respect. Let's all keep a nice fire in our stoves, serving us and not the other way around. I like this forum, which really means I like the participants on this forum, and I do not want to see any harm come to anyone from something that can be so vicious and soul-less as fire.

Brian

 

Agree 100% Brian. I will only add an opening along with a way to close it off so I can maintain control. I also only plan to open it when there is nothing but coals that need burning down before a reload. I am not looking to run 24/7 with bottom drafting.

I also have thermocouples and a logger plus a couple IR guns to keep an eye on it until I know how it behaves when the hole is open.

 

I drilled 2 - 1/4" holes I believe, would have to check. And usually have one all the way open and the other half open controlled with magnets. Usually don't open them until I see the cat starting to decline in temp after the first intial burst for the overnight burn. Or I get home in the evening and trying to burn down coals and get a little heat before the evening reload.

 

One more question...

Earlier in this thread circa 2014 there were a few people trying Condar cat probes, some with bending and triming. Is there any consensus on what the best option(s) is(are)? 4"? 6.5"?

I don't need perfect accuracy, just looking for a simple (wife friendly) no wires (wife friendly) way to see when it is ready to close the sled and to verify the cat is heating up, and then a quick way to make sure it is not too hot. I have been using the WS stove top therm which is a surface read and not a direct measuremnt, or thermocouple and a logger which are not wife friendly beyond the occasional experimentation.

 

Condar 3-12-1 is what you are looking for. Saved me from stalling a load a couple times at least. Probably not exactly temp acurate but I know if the cat is headed in the right direction!