broken fireback in a Scandia - is it time for recommendations?

[fisher cat]

Greetings and thank you for having this well informed forum available.

My first post here (and I only on occasion post to a jazz forum) so I can only imagine the chagrin at coming in and asking you all for recommending a replacement for my 25 year plus Scandia 310C catalytic front loader. But maybe you can point me in a better direction within Hearth.com as I've lurked and perused myself to confusion.

My stove heats my entire post and beam and I'm sitting on a few cords and supplement night stoking bio-bricks.
The little rip-off has performed quite well but the little hairline fissure in the bolted-in and somewhat warped firewall has now turned to a major crack with a fist sized piece missing from the bottom. It's still all sealed up well and my venting is good but a bit of flame is licking up between the insert wall and the back panel. I've tried to no avail to find parts and realize that's a crazy search so I'm about to go out and look at stoves that I can't afford.
Maybe. (but I know when I plead my case to a retailer there will only be two words - "credit card".)

So, can I fit a flat of cast iron in there and wait till spring or do I need to bite the bullet and pony up now.

As for new stoves I'm not in the market for a shiny and pretty thing nor something with a cook top feature. I do prefer a cat for combustion's sake. Simple design, clean lines would be the ideal. I can handle a larger than usual unit as the stove sits in the middle of the room against a walk-around hearth with a bricked base.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

There's a thread on the front page here on less expensive stoves. Get rid of the Scandia. A cat is no longer needed for efficient burning- they have pluses and minuses. You will be very pleased with the new generation of stoves- you can get great performance and reliability for not a lot of money.

Check here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/30228/

 

[webbie]

Being a fairly ancient stove with warped and cracked parts, I do doubt the a firebox liner or fireback such as that is going to be the straw that broke the camels back. That is an interior part of the stove - and could probably be temporarily patched in a number of ways....or left alone.

In terms of patching, even some castable refractory cement over some wire might so the job - ditto with a piece of thin stainless steel sheet attached with some thread cutting screws or a small tapped hole.

But without stating the obvious, it is time for a new stove. If you are going to use the credit card now OR in spring, then I would say the sooner the better, but if you need to wait for your tax return or saving some $$, then you probably could get away with some patching.

There are not too many "value" catalytic stoves I am aware of....most are upper end. Most are steel also, with the possible exception of Vermont Casting and Dutchwest. Cats are rare these days, even in steel stoves.

If you can come up with a budget, folks can probably make some suggestions.

 

[fisher cat]

It looks pretty bad in there and will probably be better time spent replacing and getting more efficiency - I like the idea of a non-cat so i won't have to spend the hour or so with the pipe cleaner any more. Right now I've got no idea of a budget ... going out tomorrow to get the ball rolling ... the forum has already educated me so I'll have some fodder for the sales guys.

thanks for the replies thus far.

 

[Jags]

Check out the link that AP posted. There is a down and dirty short list of stoves that BroB posted in the 3rd post. All of which are a good bang for your buck stove.