My 85 year old relative who had a Garrison with holes as wide as in an old pair of underwear in it and fed it 8 cords of wood that he split and handled himself wanted a new stove (I demanded it). We looked at inserts (BK) and stoves but lo and behold on his front porch was a Sierra 7000/8000 model all rusted on the outside as a plant stand. I dismissed it, but inquired and Brotherbart was knowledgeable and said that it might have a cat in it. It did. The relative cleaned it up (the stove) and sprayed it. We installed and fired it up. At first, he kept looking at it and comparing it to the 8 cord Garrison. "I'm not liking this, the fire isn't burning" I kept saying just watch the temp gauge (which he never used on his old stove). He always had a roaring fire in his Garrison feeding it constantly.
So, after a few hours of burning, endless questions, engaging the cat and observing the smoke from the stack, it finally was determined that indeed the cat was working (you can see it glowing from the window BUT a further discussion on this later) and the amount of wood during the day not consumed began to amaze the "old timer". I kid you not, once it was burning for way much longer than he ever imagined on a load of wood HE began to tell ME how a Cat works.
Anyway, I leave as he is burning (this was basically a test and a good time to burn off the paint) and when I get back. "There was an explosion" Well, what he did, since there was no "fire" (but the temp was high) he opened the door, stirred it, shut the door, smoke filled the firebox then opened the air. Let's just say, that Jesus moment drilled it into him, if you don't see a flaming fire, that's not necessarily bad - leave it alone. Look at the thermometer. Thought I'd share this. I will include a pic later in this thread.
So, after a few hours of burning, endless questions, engaging the cat and observing the smoke from the stack, it finally was determined that indeed the cat was working (you can see it glowing from the window BUT a further discussion on this later) and the amount of wood during the day not consumed began to amaze the "old timer". I kid you not, once it was burning for way much longer than he ever imagined on a load of wood HE began to tell ME how a Cat works.
Anyway, I leave as he is burning (this was basically a test and a good time to burn off the paint) and when I get back. "There was an explosion" Well, what he did, since there was no "fire" (but the temp was high) he opened the door, stirred it, shut the door, smoke filled the firebox then opened the air. Let's just say, that Jesus moment drilled it into him, if you don't see a flaming fire, that's not necessarily bad - leave it alone. Look at the thermometer. Thought I'd share this. I will include a pic later in this thread.
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