Cast Iron stove failures?

[Pauly]

Can I get some opinions about what this seller of stoves says about cast iron stoves? Is this true? If not why would he print it?

(broken link removed to http://firesideonline.com/cast_iron_stoves.asp)

 

[realstihl]

That's interesting. Glad I don't have to worry as my stove is STEEL. Going to be fun to watch this thread.

 

[semipro]

Wow! I'm not sure whether the premise is true or not (cast iron stinks) but there's definitely some "disinformation" there.

 

[Corey]

Ya, this should be fun. Some people love cast stoves to death - so we're treading close to religion here. But search the forums - more often than not the words "cast iron" will be associated with 'cracked', 'broken', 'rebuild', etc. Cast iron certainly has it's place, but IMHO a bunch of loosely fitting cast parts, held together with brittle furnace cement, with fire inside, in the middle of your living room - isn't one of those places.

Not that improperly designed steel stoves can't crack either, [guess I should add: (and well designed cast stoves stay relatively put together)] but when my dragon is cranking 950F in the dead of winter, I rest much more soundly knowing there is solid steel welding holding the chunks together as opposed to some overblown caulking.

 

[n3pro]

D'oh! If this is true I'm in trouble! Is there high temp duct tape?

 

[semipro]

Ya, this should be fun. Some people love cast stoves to death - so we're treading close to religion here. But search the forums - more often than not the words "cast iron" will be associated with 'cracked', 'broken', 'rebuild', etc. Cast iron certainly has it's place, but IMHO a bunch of loosely fitting cast parts, held together with brittle furnace cement, with fire inside, in the middle of your living room - isn't one of those places.

Not that improperly designed steel stoves can't crack either, but when my dragon is cranking 950F in the dead of winter, I rest much more soundly knowing there is solid steel welding holding the chunks together as opposed to some overblown caulking.

I freely admit to preferring cast iron for looks. I also admit that I really would like to have a C.I. stove shell with a steel firebox for the very reason you mention (I realize some are available).

On behalf of C.I. I'd like to point out that because of its molecular structure (lots of martensite) its more dimensionally stable than steel. Which, I believe is why most steel stoves have much bigger diameter gaskets than do cast iron stoves. Of course, that same molecular structure is why cast iron is brittle and is more likely to crack under thermal stress.

Cheers

 

[Slow1]

Ok.. I spent a little time reading their material. Clearly they are not hiding their bias much and trying to steer folks toward what they want to sell. I'm curious though what they are calling their "unique flash combustion" - is this just a reference to secondary combustion via air tubes?

Also interesting that the link OP provided says "not selling VC stoves" then lists three of them.. perhaps they are referring to other models not listed that they are not selling? I'm just confused I suppose.

In any case they will hate my stove - it is a total dinosaur being stone held together with furnace cement and having a cat in it which according to them apparently is totally a thing of the past.

 

[tradergordo]

I think on a pure reliability basis, steel has the edge over cast iron. That said, there is a common misconception that all cast iron stoves have joints sealed with stove cement. That is not true. Vermont casting cast iron stoves (all newer ones) have been using standard rope gasket material between pieces that are bolted together. Its possible that a seamless (welded) joint could fail from the expansion and contraction of a steel stove while the cast iron stove is actually more accommodating to this slight movement. And cast iron stoves are generally much better looking than steel stoves, so the wives tend to like them more

 

[tradergordo]

Also interesting that the link OP provided says "not selling VC stoves" then lists three of them.. perhaps they are referring to other models not listed that they are not selling? I'm just confused I suppose.

I was totally confused by that too, but if you go to this guy's OTHER website (stoveguide.net) he says basically he is just clearing out old inventory to the online, out of town, suckers who haven't seen a live in person demonstration of his Country stoves! Haha.

If the little 30 second video is the demonstration he is talking about, well there is some massive secondary combusion going on there, pretty good little clip. Although I seriously wonder why the two biggest country stoves require an 8" flue? Aren't they efficient enough that 6" would be better?

 

[DAKSY]

That dude even throws Jotul in the mix of inferior products? WTF?
Jotul has been making reliable Cast Iron wood burners for 156 years.
If their products were as bad as he indicates, they'd have gone the way of VC
long, long ago (not in galaxy far, far away!)
Sounds like a shameless plug for steel products, which, BTW, also have a history
of cracking due to heat stresses...
He DOES fail to mention that, tho...

 

[BrotherBart]

I can't go looking for it right now but he has another site that throws down cat stoves and pees on them. Every thing the fool does says you have to buy one of his Country stoves.

I am a dyed in the wood steel stove guy but even I think he is an idiot throwing rocks at anything that he doesn't sell. VC probably cut his credit off for slow paying after Monessen bought them. Or pulled his dealership agreement.

 

[Pauly]

Have any of you cast iron owners noticed in increase in wood consumption or had problems getting the secondary burn?

 

[tradergordo]

No. But I've gone on record saying I'd rather have a burn tube on top design over an everburn design. But cast vs. steel doesn't matter as much to me. If its a proven reliable high quality steel stove that looks good, I would probably pick it over cast all else being equal.

 

[JotulOwner]

My take is that the seller is pushing his product (steel stoves) and bashing everything else. I could be wrong, but, if I am right, that is some clever advertising. Anyway, I have a Jotul and never had one regret about making that choice.

 

[Ratman]

Can I get some opinions about what this seller of stoves says about cast iron stoves? Is this true? If not why would he print it?

(broken link removed to http://firesideonline.com/cast_iron_stoves.asp)

OMG...PLEASE GUYS

I saw it on the internet it must be true!
Get a grip and keep it.

Forum members wipped up into a frenzy here live on Hearth.com
Burn her, she's a witch!

Guys, we're better than this.
Listen to BrotherBart for some unbiased common sense.

 

[firefighterjake]

Can I get some opinions about what this seller of stoves says about cast iron stoves? Is this true? If not why would he print it?

(broken link removed to http://firesideonline.com/cast_iron_stoves.asp)

Answer: Why would he print it? To sell more steel stoves.

As my sister once said to a salesman selling stainless stents (try saying that five times fast -- well maybe they weren't stainless, but it sounds better doesn't it and since I wrote it on the internet it must be true) . . . if you want to convince me that your product is better tell me why your product is better, but don't tell me that your product is better just because the other products are no good . . . you've got to convince me that there is a very real and tangible reason why your product is better . . . not just that the other stuff is no good since otherwise it just sounds like sourgrapes.

Firefighterjake's Take on Stoves and Things In General: Can cast iron stoves fail? Sure. But so can steel stoves and even the vaunted soapstone stoves. If something is built by a human being, it can and may eventually break . . .

 

[Skier76]

My take is that the seller is pushing his product (steel stoves) and bashing everything else. I could be wrong, but, if I am right, that is some clever advertising. Anyway, I have a Jotul and never had one regret about making that choice.

That's what I'm thinking. I like my Jotul...if someone like their steel/soap stone stove., so be it. Different strokes for different folks. I would never argue as to what's a "better" stove. I think that guy is just pushing an agenda. If there truely was a failure issue, I think we'd have seen some other action (recalls) by now.

Funny that allegedly they were pulled off the site around August 15th. Isn't that when prime stove sellin' season starts up?

 

[Pauly]

Do you have to rebuild cast iron stoves every so often because the joints start leaking air?

How often would a well made cast iron such as Jotul need to rebuilt if used correctly?

 

[Jags]

Do you have to rebuild cast iron stoves every so often because the joints start leaking air?

How often would a well made cast iron such as Jotul need to rebuilt if used correctly?

Yes, some cast stoves will need joint repair. The ones that use gasket rope, not so much. How often??? When it needs it.

Cast v.s. Plate:
A hundred+ years ago plate steel was easily available as was cast parts. How many 100 year old steel stove do you see around?

 

[polaris]

How many quality cast iron stoves use anything other than rope gaskets? This steel stove pusher is a wealth of misinformation and my Jotuls and I take offence to it!

 

[Ratman]

How many quality cast iron stoves use anything other than rope gaskets? This steel stove pusher is a wealth of misinformation and my Jotuls and I take offence to it!

My 1983 Energy Harvester Cast stove uses a rope gasket; door only.
I once saw a Polish wood stove with a wood gasket.