Dutchwest XL 2462 Rebuild

[Zkx14]

Thanks for an informative thread on the rebuild. I inherited the same 2462 stove with the house. This is my first year and I'm still getting used to it. I'll make sure to check the inner top plate for warping next time I have it opened up.

My stove is also in the basement like yours. Are you able to heat the upper floors of your house with this stove? It looks like your basement is unfinished. My basement is only 640 square feet, finished, and I find that running to stove got enough to keep the cat active overheats the basement and very little heat makes it up the staircase. Can you tell me about the fan you have installed? Does it just circulate heat throughout the basement?

I have a rancher, 1200sq with full basement. Total 2400 for heating. Yes it will heat the whole thing, but it is MUCH warmer around the stove. The basement is unfinished, but we use it as living space ( workshop- where the stove is, office, laundry, bathroom. Most of it is fairly open so I can blow a pedestal fan out of the shop area to heat the basement more evenly. I'm sure a fair amount comes up the open stairway or transfers through the floors. I also use the air handler for my heat pump to circulate stove air. Kitchen is right above the stove so that floor is always toasty. Bedrooms are farthest away, which is good they dont get the direct blast or it would be too hot to sleep.
I believe the redesigned top started in '97. Mine is a '94.
The fan pictured is what is designed to be on it. Mine was on when I got it. I think you can still buy the kit ( I have seen them on eBay. Comes with two plates to block the convection inlets on the bottom, but they would be easy enough to make if you just found the fan. It pulls air in the back and blows it out the from top through the opening with the brass rod across it. Definitely puts out a lot more usable heat with the fan on. This stove is only rated at 55,000 btu but 2400sq ft. I notice there are much higher btu rated stoves at significantly less area. I don't know if that is just diff rating, or is it that much more effective? Also dont know how the blower plays into the rating. I need to browse around the site here and see if anyone has addressed this...

 

[twd000]

I have a rancher, 1200sq with full basement. Total 2400 for heating. Yes it will heat the whole thing, but it is MUCH warmer around the stove. The basement is unfinished, but we use it as living space ( workshop- where the stove is, office, laundry, bathroom. Most of it is fairly open so I can blow a pedestal fan out of the shop area to heat the basement more evenly. I'm sure a fair amount comes up the open stairway or transfers through the floors. I also use the air handler for my heat pump to circulate stove air. Kitchen is right above the stove so that floor is always toasty. Bedrooms are farthest away, which is good they dont get the direct blast or it would be too hot to sleep.
I believe the redesigned top started in '97. Mine is a '94.
The fan pictured is what is designed to be on it. Mine was on when I got it. I think you can still buy the kit ( I have seen them on eBay. Comes with two plates to block the convection inlets on the bottom, but they would be easy enough to make if you just found the fan. It pulls air in the back and blows it out the from top through the opening with the brass rod across it. Definitely puts out a lot more usable heat with the fan on. This stove is only rated at 55,000 btu but 2400sq ft. I notice there are much higher btu rated stoves at significantly less area. I don't know if that is just diff rating, or is it that much more effective? Also dont know how the blower plays into the rating. I need to browse around the site here and see if anyone has addressed this...

The Manufacturing Date Code on mine is 1528, I take it that translates to June 1, 1998? So maybe I have the new top

What kind of burn cycle do you run? 24/7 with full loads, or small fires? I have been getting 8 hours between reloads with a full firebox of red oak. Happy with the burn time, but the temperature definitely peaks early; I've gotten 700F on the hottest part of the stovetop, which is just too much. Once a few of the chunks coal down, the temperatures moderate quite a bit, but the fan or a water jacket might help pull heat off of it and smooth out those peaks and valleys.

 

[Zkx14]

Never did a full 24/7. I have kept it Going for a few days straight though. not sure how many hours burn without adding.. Usually enough coals for an easy restart in the morning if I loaded it up at night . Won't usually do that unless its really cold out and someone is going to be home most of the day. More often I just get a good coal bed going and keep adding a couple pieces as need to keep it going while I am here. Typical is start it when I get home from work and let it die out by morning. I have a heat pump/central air that will work down to 25 and then my oil burner/ hot water radiators kick in. Especially with current oil prices Im not too worried about it. (Or this would have been put together sooner)
I have a good temp gun now, so will check what my hottest surface is. 700 would not surprise me on top. Normal cat temps in past were around 1000, but I know Ive seen it hold over 1200 for a while. Manual says 600 to 1400 is 'normal'. The cat is under the refractory, but its still got to be pretty hot on the center. What are your firebox (side door) and cat temps?

Thanks for an informative thread on the rebuild. I inherited the same 2462 stove with the house. This is my first year and I'm still getting used to it. I'll make sure to check the inner top plate for warping next time I have it opened up.

My stove is also in the basement like yours. Are you able to heat the upper floors of your house with this stove

The Manufacturing Date Code on mine is 1528, I take it that translates to June 1, 1998? So maybe I have the new top

What kind of burn cycle do you run? 24/7 with full loads, or small fires? I have been getting 8 hours between reloads with a full firebox of red oak. Happy with the burn time, but the temperature definitely peaks early; I've gotten 700F on the hottest part of the stovetop, which is just too much. Once a few of the chunks coal down, the temperatures moderate quite a bit, but the fan or a water jacket might help pull heat off of it and smooth out those peaks and valleys.

 

[twd000]

I'll check the side door temp with my IR gun next time I run. I don't yet have a way to measure catalyst temp since I am hesitant to punch a hole through the new refractory cover with a Condar probe. I'm researching an Auber K-type thermocouple reader and hoping I can pinch the wire lead between the rope gasket and the top plate. Since I am often not in the basement when the stove is running, I would like to know how low I can cut back the airflow and still keep the catalyst active.

 

[Zkx14]

I'll check the side door temp with my IR gun next time I run. I don't yet have a way to measure catalyst temp since I am hesitant to punch a hole through the new refractory cover with a Condar probe. I'm researching an Auber K-type thermocouple reader and hoping I can pinch the wire lead between the rope gasket and the top plate. Since I am often not in the basement when the stove is running, I would like to know how low I can cut back the airflow and still keep the catalyst active.

I have a magnetic dial on side door. Actually 2 at the moment and they don't match, but if you check diff spots on the door it varies with the gun too.
I have not looked into other options for cat temp. I think you'll need to get under the refractory though. The probe drops right at the combustor. I will probably get a new refractory next season. And temp probe ( if this one lasts that long). Both look rough, but still functional. I already put too much $ in the stove this year.

 

[twd000]

I have a magnetic dial on side door. Actually 2 at the moment and they don't match, but if you check diff spots on the door it varies with the gun too.
I have not looked into other options for cat temp. I think you'll need to get under the refractory though. The probe drops right at the combustor. I will probably get a new refractory next season. And temp probe ( if this one lasts that long). Both look rough, but still functional. I already put too much $ in the stove this year.

yes, I was planning on snaking the thermocouple probe under the refractory and laying on top of the catalyst grid

 

[Woody Stover]

Great post, thanks! You've got me fired up to go for a total rebuild on my 2460 this spring. It's heating the house right now, until I can fix a seam leak in the Keystone.

Got one of these.

I'm running one of those brillo pad cats in my SIL's 2460. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts. That company screwed me though; Ordered two ($40 each at the time) but they only shipped me one. Never came through with the other one even after contacting them. I still plan to run over their mailbox next time I get out to NM. The cat in mine came from Woodstock Soapstone. They have a steel "DuraFoil" that is made for their older Palladian model...6 x 2". It's working great. I run the stove top up around 250-300 (surface meter on top behind the cat probe) and when the cat probe is reading about zero, I can close the bypass and glow the cat in less than a minute. I have a Condar 2" probe in there, tip is within a half inch of the cat surface. You can see if the cat's glowing by looking up through the glass and baffle. If it really gets to glowing I can see it in the haze on the window. The stove seems to peak out at 700 stove top/1600 cat, at least where I run the air at cruise setting, which is open just a hair. I have to open the air a couple times as the burn progresses if I need it to crank out a lot of heat. Seems like the cat stays in the active temp range longer if I do that, but it may just be registering heat out of the firebox rather than a cat burn. I guess I need to do some experimenting while keeping an eye on weather there is any smoke out the stack.

of that glass I ain't touching it till I must.

You don't need to worry about the glass too much, it's pretty tough. Just tighten the clips evenly, and not too tight. If the glass is moving or the window gets creo deposits, it may be leaking air. Hard to tell if it's from the glass gasket or the door gasket, though. The glass has an IR coating so you need to keep the same side out.
From your post dates, looks like you let the cement dry for a week or so. I did a touch-up of the interior seams on my SIL's 2460 but didn't let the cement dry long enough, resulting in porocity in the cement.
Are you able to snuff the cat now that you have control of the air? I noticed my air flaps don't completely seal so it's hard to say how much air is coming in through them, vs. through seam leaks. I can still run mine pretty low, but can't snuff the cat unless draft is weak. I occasionally get a slight smoke smell near the stove, which I think is coming from the cat air valve. I've got mine open maybe about a half turn. It seems to make a slight difference in how brightly the cat glows when adjusted, but not a lot.
Is there any way you saw for air to leak into the ash pan area under the grate (beside the door gasket,) or is that all one cast piece? I guess there's a seam between the casting and the bottom, the back and the front.

dont know how the blower plays into the rating.

Not sure if they use the blower for the ratings, but it can sure raise room temp faster, and probably pulls off heat that would otherwise go up the flue or be "lost" to radiation into the room.

hesitant to punch a hole through the new refractory cover with a Condar probe.

I would just position the new refractory, put the top on, then stick a drill through the probe hole and drill through the refractory. With the 2" Condar probe, it will be within 1/2" of the cat. The only bad thing, the dial on the Condar is 2" across and doesn't fit as well as the 1.5" stock probe. The needle can hit the side of the probe well. But it is cheaper than stock, and the probe is longer.

 

[Zkx14]

Woody,
Thanks for dropping by. We have had a few more warm days, so have only lit it a couple nights since the rebuild. Not enough to really see what its going to do with the new cat. Cold today, so plan to fire it up when I get home.
What do you mean by ' snuff the cat'?
I never paid much attention to stove top temp. Mostly watch the side door for fire box temp and the probe for cat temp. I am currently using an old VC probe that looks terrible but seems to read good. They are expensive, but I will prob buy another. Had a Condor in it, but don't think it was acurate anymore. Seemed to hang up and then make like 50 degree jumps. I will have to check out the glow and work on tuning the cat air. 1600 sounds too high. The highest I ever recall seeing was 1400. Not sure what temp it took to warp the inner top, but not interested in repeating that.
As for the glass, Its sealed good. No fear of handling glass, but no nead to risk it. I recently changed front and back glass in my Plymouth Duster...
The delay on cementing till firing was just the way it worked out with getting the rest done. I forget what it said on the tube for min. I think it said to fire it within a month though.
About the air flaps... Mine were same. They start to curl around the shaft. I hammered them flat while it was apart. They close pretty tight now.

 

[Zkx14]

Was rushing a bit when I read and replied to that on break earlier... Re-read and I see where you are going with cat snuffing. If I shut the primary flaps it knocks the flames out like a light switch. Not sure about the cat yet. But, the cat gets its air from the side, so I wouldnt expect it to shut off immediately. No doubt it tightened up but I don't think it was leaking much before the rebuild. That was mostly to change the damaged inner top.
The lower section for the ash pan seals between four pieces. The inner bottom section that holds the grate wraps the back and sides and is set into cement in the bottom. The front is cemented on and obviously the door /gasket finishes the job.

 

[Woody Stover]

What do you mean by ' snuff the cat'?

Not sure I really know what I mean. But I've had it happen. Cutting the air so far that the cat temp falls out of the active range even though there is plenty of wood. Usually happens earlier in the burn, with low-draft conditions like warm outside temps. It would light off OK, but not sustain itself. I have 16' of stainless liner in a masonry chimney. You may not have low-draft issues with your taller stack. What is your chimney system? Is there a clay liner in a block chimney, or have you got a stainless liner to the top, or what? I think the cat might also stall if you don't get the load burning well enough to feed sufficient smoke to the cat, so that would be a separate issue. But usually by the the time I have enough temp in the box, there is quite a bit of the load catching, and there's no chance of a cat crash. Especially not in cold weather.

I never paid much attention to stove top temp. Mostly watch the side door for fire box temp and the probe for cat temp. I am currently using an old VC probe that looks terrible but seems to read good. They are expensive, but I will prob buy another. Had a Condor in it, but don't think it was acurate anymore. Seemed to hang up and then make like 50 degree jumps. I will have to check out the glow and work on tuning the cat air. 1600 sounds too high. The highest I ever recall seeing was 1400. Not sure what temp it took to warp the inner top, but not interested in repeating that.

Yeah, there are a number of different temps you can look at to run a stove. You don't even really need a cat meter, but I like to have all the feedback I can get...just a nerd at heart. I have my stove rear-vented, and have a stove top meter lying on the snout of the stainless tee, about 6" behind the flue exit. That meter is helpful as well.
That door gets mighty hot when you have flame in the box, ramping the stove up to temp. I bet that old probe is only about 1.5" long at this point, probably about an inch away from the cat...could be why you are seeing lower cat temps. I think I could pretty well judge how hot the cat is by just looking at what color it's glowing....within a couple hundred degrees anyway. I don't see 1600 a lot, but have seen 700/1600 several times. Usually closer to 600-650 and about 1400. I've read that de-lamination of the catalyst coating doesn't happen until around 1800, with prolonged exposure. I have seen it in my SIL's Fireview steel cat (the old "diesel-foil" version.) I use markers to tell me where the meters go after I leave.

As for the warped top, I think the previous owner must have had the bypass open, air open, and got distracted for too long.

The delay on cementing till firing was just the way it worked out with getting the rest done. I forget what it said on the tube for min. I think it said to fire it within a month though.

Glad it worked out that way for you. I was dismayed to see the porous cement, but woulda been really ticked if I had torn the entire stove down. The porocity happened to me before, and this last time I thought I took extra precautions. Let it dry a couple days with a light in the stove, hit it a little with a heat gun, but it still wasn't dry enough. Yeah, I've seen that "fire within a month" on the tube as well. What would happen if left to air-dry? Cement pull away from seams? Cracking? But what about the stove makers? There's no way that everything they put together is going to get fired within a month...Maybe that's why the cement fell out of a seam on my Keystone?

 

[Zkx14]

Can't imagine not having enough smoke for the cat.. But firebox temp could cause problems. I have read a few posts saying get past 500 before switching from bypass. This cat I just got says 380F to work. Dont know what the magic number is for other types.
Not measured, but my chimney cant be much more than 15ft. 7x11 clay lined. No cap. About 5 ft of 8in pipe including thimble. I do inspect often. have had very clean runs for months and other times it has build up in a few weeks. Wood quality and weather definitely make a big difference. I would like to SS liner it at some point. Not sure what I can get in it and complicated by an offset.
Probe is full original length - 2" I think...
Any chance your cement tubes were frozen at some point? Or parts moved after it started to set up?

 

[Woody Stover]

Can't imagine not having enough smoke for the cat.. But firebox temp could cause problems. I have read a few posts saying get past 500 before switching from bypass. This cat I just got says 380F to work. Dont know what the magic number is for other types.

Yeah, the only time I've had the cat stall was earlier in the season when I was burning in low-draft conditions...outside temps of 60 day/40night. If I tried to cut the air too much, I was risking a crash or a back-puff. Wood that isn't dry will make a crash more likely; These cats don't like no wet wood. But everything I'm burning now has been split and stacked for at least 3 yrs. so even the Red Oak is real dry.
The manual says you need 500 on the cat probe, but I've had success at much lower temps with the Woodstock DuraFoil steel cat. I load up, then run the temp of the surface meter lying on the tee snout up around 600-700. When my stove top meter gets up around 300 and the cat probe is around zero, I can close the bypass and get a solid light-off with the cat glowing in less than a minute. My SIL goes by the book and doesn't experiment much with her 2460, so I don't really know how low the brillo pad cat would light off. If the stove is out or the coals are almost gone, I go with a top-down start of the load. There's almost no smoke out of the stack, more flames on top to heat up the top of the stove and cat, and less wood burned getting up to temp. At the very least, I'll pull the coals forward and try to get the load burning on the front instead of underneath. Not having the air wide open will let the flames come up the front instead of blowing them underneath. I try to get up to temp with a minimum of smoke out the stack...

Not measured, but my chimney cant be much more than 15ft. 7x11 clay lined. No cap. About 5 ft of 8in pipe including thimble. I do inspect often. have had very clean runs for months and other times it has build up in a few weeks. Wood quality and weather definitely make a big difference. I would like to SS liner it at some point. Not sure what I can get in it and complicated by an offset.

They call for 16' in the manual but these Dws seem to breathe pretty easy. Low-draft conditions are probably contributing to build-up at times. An external chimney will lose more heat so that could be contributing to deposits as the smoke cools. A liner would give you a quantum leap in performance, and insulation keeps flue temps higher to minimize creo. Liners are also much easier to clean. Here's a link to the Homesaver Dial-A-Flex. It ain't cheap but it's heavy-duty...should last a lifetime. I think it's also more flexible than the lightweight liners. I have the 6" HD RoundFlex. Looks like this Dial-A-Flex comes in a couple sizes that would be close in area to the 8" round they want on the 2462. You may be able to find it a little cheaper, but I bought mine from Hartshearth...like the way they dispense all the good info. Not sure how you would make the transition at the bottom but if you give them a call I bet they might have some ideas. (broken link removed to http://www.hartshearth.com/ProductCart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=135)

Any chance your cement tubes were frozen at some point? Or parts moved after it started to set up?

I didn't have her stove apart, just sealed the firebox seams from inside. I didn't use cement, but a "gasket and stove sealer" which is a similar formulation to cement but thinner. I figured it would get into the seams better. I think what happened was that I didn't get it dry enough, then when I started a fire in the box, even though I only had a couple small kindling sticks lit, it boiled the moisture and created air pockets...porocity.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Gas...tKXKAhWCoxoKHU0hCGcQ_AUICCgC&biw=1920&bih=971

 

[Zkx14]

My Chimney is in the garage. Not heated in there, but a little warmer than outside. Measured it tonight and have about 15 ft from bottom to the roof line and at least another couple ft outside. Its a triple chimney and the stove goes up the center. If its really cold, tthe oil burner will fire, so a lot of times the chimney will have a little pre- heat.
That makes sense with the gasket goop. Probably thinner so it can wick into the gasket for more grab.

 

[Zkx14]

Did a chimney check today after a month of use. Burned several days straight through with the cold and snow last week, but otherwise, maybe 50% of the time. I pulled the pipes off. They were fairly clean. My chimney is 7x 11 clay liner and bottoms right at the thimble. There was a little bit of accumulation there. The thimble is right at my shoulder height. I reach in with a drain snake and whip it around a bit. Can get it to about 8-10ft up the chimney. Same idea as some do with chain from the top. That knocked down a couple handfuls of junk. The chimney is a little oversized and not capped. So, I'm sure it cools more than it should. they did a real nice job on the ouside, but left big gobs of mortar inside between every piece of the liner. That stuff is a magnet for buildup. No funds to do it anytime soon, but would like to get it lined with stainless. Not sure how easy that will be the way the bottom is and also it has an offset.

While I was on it, I checked the seals. Side door gasket was not very tight. I used what I believe was 3/8 on the side and ash doors from a 'kit' I got from Black Swan when I rebuilt it. The stove manual actually calls for 7/16. I changed it out to a piece of graphite rope I had. I think it was also 3/8, but has a lot more body to it. The other doors seam to be sealing good.

 

[Woody Stover]

Side door gasket was not very tight. I used what I believe was 3/8 on the side and ash doors from a 'kit' I got from Black Swan when I rebuilt it. The stove manual actually calls for 7/16. I changed it out to a piece of graphite rope I had. I think it was also 3/8, but has a lot more body to it. The other doors seam to be sealing good.

Yeah, seems like the door gasket is the one that seats in the most, and I have to adjust them a couple times after installing a new one. The graphite is good for any gaskets that see a lot of abrasion from use. I think all of the gaskets were graphite in the OEM kit I got for my SIL's 2460. I used a couple of different sizes on the top, maybe 1/2" along an area where it looked like there was a step...don't remember offhand what I did but I could tell if I took the top off and looked at it. What you're saying about the supplied door gasket is ringing a bell, I may have stepped that up to 7/16"...
(broken link removed)

 

[Zkx14]

Been working on improving starts to reduce smoke till the cat kicks in. Top down lighting has proven to be most of the answer. Now, I am trying different stacking. Tonight was my 3rd go at it. Most important to me is when my fan turns on, because that's when I'm really warming the house. The fan comes on automatically when the thermal switch closes as the stove warms.
All hardwood (mostly oak) except for a few pieces of broken up 2x6. Pics are just after light off and at about 40 minutes. By second pic, the fan was on and the cat was burning.

 

[Zkx14]

Now that it's cold enough outside to keep a fire going, thought I'd check in here. (This thing will easily overheat the house if it gets much above 40F and it does not get a good draft at higher outside temps anyway.). Really have not done much at all since last season. I was thinking of changing the refractory, but its probably good for some time yet if I'm careful with it. Even the probe which is getting a bit ugly is still reading, but I am starting to lose confidence in its accuracy. Finally got some wood in/stacked in the last couple weeks. I did clean the chimney. Well, we ran a brush through it, but there really wasn't much of anything to clean. Definitely the best it has been -ever. I really wanted to get going with better 'wood management', but that did not happen. If anything I did worse than ever. Most of what I have to burn this year is over 2 years old, but a lot of it I just split and some still needs to be. I'll just try to keep enough stacked inside and cycle it so it dries more before use. Gets pretty toasty in that area.

 

[NMCajun]

Here is what it looks like today. Cement grooves cleaned and most of the gaskets are replaced.

According to the manual it's 634lbs complete. Not very easy to move. So I will build it where it will sit.

This is my second round with this stove. I had to rebuild it when I got it, but I used (repaired) the inner top that already had issues then. It has burnt many cords for us already and should be like new and ready to burn many more soon.
View attachment 170635

Just ran into this site and I have a question for Zkx14 about his Dutchwest 2462. I have a 2462 that needs a lot of replacement parts on the top, but it looks like the Inner Top is not going to be easy. How did you get it out? It appears that there is some sort of adhesive attaching the Inner Top to the sides, front and back of the stove. Everything else appears to be a slam dunk. Did you have to chip it out? And, once the adhesive was removed, how does it come out of the unit? Do the sides have to be removed? Thanks for any help.
Brad

 

[Zkx14]

Just ran into this site and I have a question for Zkx14 about his Dutchwest 2462. I have a 2462 that needs a lot of replacement parts on the top, but it looks like the Inner Top is not going to be easy. How did you get it out? It appears that there is some sort of adhesive attaching the Inner Top to the sides, front and back of the stove. Everything else appears to be a slam dunk. Did you have to chip it out? And, once the adhesive was removed, how does it come out of the unit? Do the sides have to be removed? Thanks for any help.
Brad

Sorry I'm a year late on a reply. Guess I don't get notifications. Been a very long time since I checked in...
Hopefully you figured it out, but yes the whole thing is cemented together. I used Rutland cement. Available around here at Ace, Tractor Supply, etc. As far as taking it apart- the old cement cracks pretty easy once the bolts are out. The real work in doing a good job is cleaning the grooves for new cement. A lot of chipping and wire brushing.

 

[Stelcom66]

Good to see the alert about this thread that I was watching a few years ago. I believe I have the same stove, unless there's Dutchwest variations. It's almost that season again in this neck of the woods...

 

[ratsrepus]

Great article, enjoyed your story. My Dutchwest Story goes like this. Pick up stove with fork truck, dump in trailer, drive to scrap yard. Pocket 5 bucks, drive to Blaze King store put $5 down on the new princess. No seriously, mine was a downdraft stove, wasnt worth rebuilding

 

[Zkx14]

Good to see the alert about this thread that I was watching a few years ago. I believe I have the same stove, unless there's Dutchwest variations. It's almost that season again in this neck of the woods...

I think there are three sizes. Mine is the XL. The big-boy of the bunch..

 

[Stelcom66]

I think there are three sizes. Mine is the XL. The big-boy of the bunch..

I believe you are right - now I recall mine (I think) is the medium size.

 

[Chum Stains]

I have an old 2462XL that came with my house.. Your not too far from me in central Pa.. Any interest in rebuilding mine?

 

[Zkx14]

I have an old 2462XL that came with my house.. Your not too far from me in central Pa.. Any interest in rebuilding mine?

As said in my write up, I did mine in place due to the weight. If you were only a few miles away maybe. Says you are in NJ? I am near York Pa. Don't really have time for that. Nor do I have a way to transport one of these monsters.So, probably not...