It's ALIVE - sort of (Was WinterWarm Large Installation)

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This is a continuation of the following thread: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/winterwarm-large-installation.116624/.

Below is my original post, and the status:

I have 3 main questions:
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1) Paint. The unit has rusted in storage (apparently my garage was not as waterproof as I expected). Mostly on the gingerbread, a little on the firebox components.

a) Has anyone used a rust converter product? I *really* don't want to have to try to get that rust off.

b) Has anyone painted the gingerbread a different color using regular enamel? I am considering using Hammerite which would give an excellent effect.
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On this one, I simply ran out of time - various delays and dilly-dallying on my part meant that I ran out of heating oil, so it needed to get installed. Trim pieces are rusty, so that looks like a springtime project.

2) Chimney Diameter. I have had a sweep come in to look at the existing chimney, and it has...issues. There is a terra cotta liner, but it extends down through the smoke chamber to about 8" above the damper (which has huge gaps around it).

a) It is 8"x12" rectangular, but it was installed 90 degrees twisted, so it doesn't line up with the opening in the stove, so I can't use the oval flex that came with the stove to get through the damper. Has anyone else seen a chimney liner installed like this?

b) The Winterwarm manual calls for an 8" diameter liner. In order to install that the tile needs to be broken out. We could use an oval liner, but that is more expensive than the breakout and there is still the weird transition. The sweep said that a 6" liner would fit with no issues. If I go with a 6" liner, what would be the effect on stove performance? I can deal with a lower heat output - the house is pretty small - but I wouldn't do it if it would create other issues. The chimney is about 15' from bottom of the firebox to the top of the flue.
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Went with an 8" round liner. the only issue was the transition, which was difficult. The fireplace shape is just so screwed up that the bends I needed to make are sharper than I liked, but it seems to be drawing well.

3) Fireplace size. My fireplace is brick masonry and is exactly 33" wide. The unit itself is exactly 33" wide. The manual calls for a 34" minimum opening. I took the top of the shroud off and the only part of the stove body that is 33" wide are the flanges on the sides of the firebox that are right above the fans. It would only interfere at the very front of the fireplace, as the whole assembly tapers back but the masonry does not.

a) How much clearance is really necessary? I assume some of it is for expansion, but the cast iron should only expand .18" at 1000F. I could accommodate that by cutting a bit of clearance in the brick.

b) The interference is only a problem with the unit fully inserted into the fireplace. What about pulling the unit forward about an inch? That would provide plenty of side clearance without modifications and I could put some filler in behind the gingerbread.

The fit was tight. The opening was *exactly* the width at the shroud flange, which would have been perfect - except I needed to install a surround as well. Again, installation is tight, but it seems to be working.

I did the following during the rebuild/reassembly:

• Resealed/re-gasketed everything except for the flue collar. Including chipping/grinding all surfaces to bare metal. Used a gasket kit from Black Swan; had just enough gasket but I ran out of cement before I could do the door. In fairness I could have used less.
• Used nickel based anti-seize on all bolts into the firebox. I also used is to lubricate any sliding or bearing surfaces.
• Loctite Blue on the wire linkages.
• Plugged the 2 holes below the ash pan with knockout plugs like the one in the back at the temperature probe location.
• Disassembled the thermostat and lubricated everything with anti-seize - no screeching noises when adjusting the stat.
• Installed a temperature probe for the catalyst. I used a type K thermocouple with an Inconel sheath, which should be good to 3000F.
  
• Installed a thermocouple about 6" above the flue collar with a large SS worm drive clamp, typically used for ductwork.
• Both thermocouples plug into a digital thermometer I got off Amazon for $20.
• Built up the door gasket surface using muffler cement. This was pretty much a failure. A lot of the delay getting the insert installed was due to this step, getting it applied in this layers and letting it harden, then sanding level, then another layer etc. It all bubbled and failed after first fire. Which means that my door gasket now has a bunch of leaks. I may try again with regular stove cement.

My biggest issue now is that I'm pretty sure the cat has failed. I can't get the cat probe to read over 800F no matter what I do. There's a possibility I over fired it at the beginning - I let the thermometer get too close to the box and it dies, so I didn't have a good idea of the cat temp. But I'm thinking it was dead from the beginning, as I just couldn't seem to get proper heat output from it. My place isn't that big, and it should be almost driving us from the room, but it just made it warm.

Another possible issue is the fans. They spin, but there simply does not seem to be a lot of airflow. How much should I be getting out of the fans?

Thanks for everyone's assistance. Despite the messing around on my part it looks like this will have been a worthwhile project. It really is a pretty unit, and I think once I get the technical bugs worked out it will heat well.

 

[R2.0]

Update: I got the cat temp up to 1300F yesterday, so looks like it's just mostly dead.