CDW FA264CCL Wood Stove

[msherer]

Hello,

I have a 1983 model FA264CCL Dutch West stove. I bought it used for $50 and used it at our deer camp for several years and it worked great. I had this unit installed in my home last year and I don't think I am geting the burn times I should be. I went through a lot of wood last winter (26 small truck loads). I found a manual and read up about the catalyst (surprise!) that the unit has. I was missing a few pieces as well so I ordered them. I am waiting on a thermometer that goes over the catalyst chamber. I am a bit confused on what this thermometer is supposed to tell me as well as how the catalyst works. I fired the stove up and the temperature on the outside face of the stove was 550 deg. I closed the damper to activate the catalyst but the temperature steadily drops and the fire will eventually go out unless I open the damper. I guess I have several questions that someone may be able to answer.

- What is the Catalyst and what does it do?
- There are two vents on the side of the stove. One goes to the wood cahmber and one looks as if it goes to the catalyst. How do I use these in conjuntion with the catalyst?
- What burn times can I generally expect. I realize the wood plays a factor. I currently have 2 - year cured oak, hickory, ash, hackberry, hedge and black cherry.

Thanks for any advice!

Matt

 

[branchburner]

Hi Matt, welcome to the forums! The cat effectively lowers the burn point of smoke, meaning instead of going up the flue the smoke is burned as fuel. This both reduces emissions and gives better fuel efficiency, so you can get more heat from less wood. The temp probe will let you know if the cat is working. Basically, the stove needs to achieve a certain temp before the cat "lights off" and starts burning smoke.

I believe the two vents are your air supplies, but I will let somebody who knows this stove chime in on how to set them. It is very likely you need a new combustor, as they do wear out with use.

 

[BrotherBart]

Here is the user's manual for the stove.

http://www.fergusonlawn.com/Dutchwest_Pre_90.pdf

 

[katwillny]

msherer, I owned that stove for about 5 seasons and burnt through cords and cords of wood. I was not happy with that stove. I went and purchased a cheap US Stove Company stove this season and I am very happy with it. I get overnight burns with my 350 dollar stove. I went through gaskets and gaskets trying to get that thing to work properly.

 

[msherer]

I also have a US Stove BEC95 that I replaced the FA2264 unit with at deer camp. I am seriously considering a swap. The BEC95 seems to heat up much better and last longer than the CDW. I'll probably wait till I get all the parts in and see how it does before I swap.

thanks again!

Matt

 

[edison38]

I have one of those stoves at my vacation home. I don't care for it very much and once I move to the house permanently I will replace it with an Englander.

The stove has a tough learning curve. The link to the manual will help a lot. Try going through a small load and getting a good coal bed before you close the by pass damper down to kick in the cat. If you are having trouble keeping the temp up, open the air control on the front of the ash drawer a bit and see if it helps. Once the stove is cruising you should be able to close that control.

The air control up high on the side of the loading door provides air to the cat chamber. Once you have the stove cruising and shut the damper, open that air control a bit; it should help get some secondary burn going.

With everything cranking I find that I need to reload after about 4 hours. If I get a good burn going before bed and shut the air down a bit there are usually enough coals left in the morning that I can toss in some kindling with a small split and it will catch.

I don't use the probe thermometer. It is a pain to get at under the trivet and is too dark to see well. I rely on the Rutledge external thermometer I have on the face of the stove.

 

[msherer]

Thanks Edison, I'll give that a whirl tonight and see how it goes.

Matt

 

[msherer]

I had some good results over the weekend. I cleaned the combustion chamber out and the catalyst as well. Plugged with ash. I got a good bed of coals going and the stove temp was about 525. I shut the damper and the stove stayed about 500 deg for 3 hours without adding wood. Huge improvement. I'll keep messing with the vents and see if I can keep it around the same temp longer. Thanks for all the advice.

Matt

 

[msherer]

I also ordered a new gasket kit that will hopefully help.

Matt

 

[edison38]

Glad you are getting better burns. FYI you can get a gasket kit at Lowe's (probably Home Depot too) and at Tractor Supply.