Fired up the Isle Royale for the 1st time.....

[Nonprophet]

In this thread (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/79208/) I told everyone about the used Isle Royale I scored off of Craigslist, and also explained the hard time I was having getting parts from Quadrafire without having to buy stuff I didn't need.......

Well, I got the 1/2" baffle board from ebay (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/79790/), the welder did a great job on the broken ash lip, and I found the steel I needed to make a replacement burn tube--so the black beast was all ready to fire up!

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much--it's only 51 outside right now and raining--so lousy conditions for a good draft and the inside of the stove was totally cleaned of all ashes from moving it, so other than dry wood pretty bad conditions for a test fire.

But I'll be damned if she didn't burn just great

Built a top-down fire, shut the doors, opened up the primary and start-up air, and she took off like a rocket! I'm very, very impressed and happy---THIS is how a wood stove is supposed to work as opposed to our Oslo that always felt starved for air and was very sluggish from a cold start--even with either the side or front door cracked open for a good 10-15 mins.

So, $50 for enough baffle material to make 4 baffles, $8 for 306 SS tube, and $32 to repair the ash lip, and we're good to go!

If she burns this good under these very marginal conditions, she ought to burn just great once Winter hits. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the repairs---'cause we all know no pics=it didn't happen! lol


NP


P.S. where's the best place on the stove top to get an accurate temp reading?

 

[Nonprophet]

Ok, here's some photos, 2 pics of the repaired ash lip and one pic of the baffle replacement and my homemade burn tube. If I had bought the parts new from Quadrafire it would have been $435 shipped, by doing it myself it cost $53 and a few hours of time.


NP

 

[Jags]

Told ya! :lol:

I place my thermo on the top left corner of the cook top plate. Watching the needle climb like a tach on a race car can get your heart pumping. The first 900F reading you get will be the most exciting. Just say'in.

And those repairs look top notch. Nice job.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Good to hear you found cheap, yet good, solutions to fixes.

 

[Nonprophet]

Told ya! :lol:

I place my thermo on the top left corner of the cook top plate. Watching the needle climb like a tach on a race car can get your heart pumping. The first 900F reading you get will be the most exciting. Just say'in.

And those repairs look top notch. Nice job.

Thanks Jags! I'm curious to see how long the replacement baffle board lasts--I'd say that between the small size of the board and the spacing of the burn tubes that it's pretty well protected, so we'll see.

I was impressed with how easily the IR lit and how fast it came up to temp--I was just doing a "break in fire" on the new paint, but it came up to 500 degrees pretty quickly with just a small fire. When I shut down the primary air all the way the fire began to go out, so it looks like I'll have good control of the stove without needing a pipe damper.

The only thing I still have to fix is one of the andirons. The screw that holds it to the bracket was snapped off, and while I was able to get it out, it seems that the threads are stripped. I have a tap and die set, but I've never used it on cast iron--anything special to know about re-threading the hole on the andiron?


NP

 

[BrowningBAR]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

 

[Jags]

Told ya! :lol:

I place my thermo on the top left corner of the cook top plate. Watching the needle climb like a tach on a race car can get your heart pumping. The first 900F reading you get will be the most exciting. Just say'in.

And those repairs look top notch. Nice job.

Thanks Jags! I'm curious to see how long the replacement baffle board lasts--I'd say that between the small size of the board and the spacing of the burn tubes that it's pretty well protected, so we'll see.

I was impressed with how easily the IR lit and how fast it came up to temp--I was just doing a "break in fire" on the new paint, but it came up to 500 degrees pretty quickly with just a small fire. When I shut down the primary air all the way the fire began to go out, so it looks like I'll have good control of the stove without needing a pipe damper.

The only thing I still have to fix is one of the andirons. The screw that holds it to the bracket was snapped of, and while I was able to get it out, it seems that the threads are stripped. I have a tap and die set, but I've never used it on cast iron--anything special to know about re-threading the hole on the andiron?


NP

In cast, you will want to use PLENTY of cutting oil, while taking it in small steps and backing the tap out frequently. Go slow. If it feel waaay too tight you may want to go up to the next sized number drill bit. Lets face it, your not holding the stove together with that screw - it just needs to stay there.

 

[Jags]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

Can't speak for NonP, but I don't use the top load feature. I can get a better load through the front double doors.

 

[Jags]

I was impressed with how easily the IR lit and how fast it came up to temp--I was just doing a "break in fire" on the new paint, but it came up to 500 degrees pretty quickly with just a small fire. When I shut down the primary air all the way the fire began to go out, so it looks like I'll have good control of the stove without needing a pipe damper.

500F is a little on the light side to maintain good combustion with the primary cranked all the way down. Hit 650F and do that and the secondary show is amazing. From what I can tell, the IR primary must get very close to full closed. Even at a full burn, if you slam it down hard and let the stove burn to completion, you might find you have a few unburnt coals in it. I run mine at about 1/8 - 1/4" open for the long burns.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I was impressed with how easily the IR lit and how fast it came up to temp--I was just doing a "break in fire" on the new paint, but it came up to 500 degrees pretty quickly with just a small fire. When I shut down the primary air all the way the fire began to go out, so it looks like I'll have good control of the stove without needing a pipe damper.

500F is a little on the light side to maintain good combustion with the primary cranked all the way down. Hit 650F and do that and the secondary show is amazing. From what I can tell, the IR primary must get very close to full closed. Even at a full burn, if you slam it down hard and let the stove burn to completion, you might find you have a few unburnt coals in it. I run mine at about 1/8 - 1/4" open for the long burns.

Dead of winter; what type of day time burn times do you get out of it when you are home all day?

 

[Jags]

Dead of winter; what type of day time burn times do you get out of it when you are home all day?

Trick question. If I want 500-550 stove top, I can hit an 8 hr burn time pretty easy. If I want 650-700F, your looking at 4-6 hrs. If I want to play Blaze king and maintain 400F, I can get about 10 hrs with 200+ at the 12 hr mark. Or if I want to burn pine, I can get a 800F stove top for 15 minutes. :lol:

 

[BrowningBAR]

Dead of winter; what type of day time burn times do you get out of it when you are home all day?

Trick question. If I want 500-550 stove top, I can hit an 8 hr burn time pretty easy. If I want 650-700F, your looking at 4-6 hrs. If I want to play Blaze king and maintain 400F, I can get about 10 hrs with 200+ at the 12 hr mark. Or if I want to burn pine, I can get a 800F stove top for 15 minutes. :lol:

Oddly enough, this was exactly the answer I hoped for. This should also be the standard wording on all stoves when they list burn times. We'll call it the Jags Standard of Measurement.

 

[Jags]

Oddly enough, this was exactly the answer I hoped for. This should also be the standard wording on all stoves when they list burn times. We'll call it the Jags Standard of Measurement.

Hmmm...JSM - I like it. :cheese:

 

[begreen]

In this thread (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/79208/) I told everyone about the used Isle Royale I scored off of Craigslist, and also explained the hard time I was having getting parts from Quadrafire without having to buy stuff I didn't need.......

Well, I got the 1/2 baffle board from ebay, the welder did a great job on the broken ash lip, and I found the steel I needed to make a replacement burn tube--so the black beat was all ready to fire up!

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much--it's only 51 outside right now and raining--so lousy conditions for a good draft and the inside of the stove was totally cleaned of all ashes from moving it, so other than dry wood pretty bad conditions for a test fire.

But I'll be damned if she didn't burn just great

Built a top-down fire, shut the doors, opened up the primary and start-up air, and she took off like a rocket! I'm very, very impressed and happy---THIS is how a wood stove is supposed to work as opposed to our Oslo that always felt starved for air and was very sluggish from a cold start--even with either the side or front door cracked open for a good 10-15 mins.

So, $50 for enough baffle material to make 4 baffles, $8 for 306 SS tube, and $32 to repair the ash lip, and we're good to go!

If she burns this good under these very marginal conditions, she ought to burn just great once Winter hits. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the repairs---'cause we all know no pics=it didn't happen! lol

You're not the first to report that the Isle Royale breathes pretty easily. Besides being a beast of a heater is seems to work well with marginal draft. Good to hear it is coming back to life.

 

[Jags]

You're not the first to report that the Isle Royale breathes pretty easily.

I told him, BG. I told him. ;-) :lol:

 

[maxed_out]

NP,glad its working out. I can't wait until you figure out you can cook a mean A%$ pizza in that thing.

Jags I like the new standard. I rarely have to see the stove work that hard. I try to keep her off the fhpine wine.

 

[Nonprophet]

You're not the first to report that the Isle Royale breathes pretty easily. Besides being a beast of a heater is seems to work well with marginal draft. Good to hear it is coming back to life.

I don't have the instruments to measure my draft, but I don't think I'd consider it "marginal" we've got 6' of single wall pipe inside, and then straight up with 14' of Class A. One thing for sure, our Oslo was either defective somehow, or, they just need a LOT of draft.

Funny thing is when we sold the Oslo the buyer asked me why I was selling it and I told him--we'd just never been that happy with it's performance. He kind of raised his eyebrow a little and said, "you know, they're a VERY popular stove." I told him I knew that a lot of people like them.....then he asked me how hot I'd been able to get the stove top and I told him 650--wide open stuffed with bone-dry hardwood. He just kind of gave me a condescending look and said, "well, it helps if you're an experienced burner....." I just smiled politely and counted the money....He's got a 28' chimney, so I hope it works better for him than it did for us.


NP

 

[Nonprophet]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

Browning I've only just had the one small break-in fire, so I haven't used the top load feature yet. I did like the top loading on our Defiant-Encore, so I'm assuming that I'll use it on the IR as well.


NP

 

[Jags]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

Browning I've only just had the one small break-in fire, so I haven't used the top load feature yet. I did like the top loading on our Defiant-Encore, so I'm assuming that I'll use it on the IR as well.


NP

Does your pipe come out the top, or out the back. Mine comes out the top (straight up) and it is a pain. The handle for the top loader will smack (and lay against) the pipe. I don't like that. I didn't buy it for the top loader anyhow, and I always have some form of water boiling on top of the stove that would need to be moved each time to load wood.

The beautiful kiln fired (wood) steamer that I use came from a forum member (Adios Pantelone), and It is sexy as hell. I don't need to have an accident with it.

 

[Nonprophet]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

Browning I've only just had the one small break-in fire, so I haven't used the top load feature yet. I did like the top loading on our Defiant-Encore, so I'm assuming that I'll use it on the IR as well.


NP

Does your pipe come out the top, or out the back. Mine comes out the top (straight up) and it is a pain. The handle for the top loader will smack (and lay against) the pipe. I don't like that. I didn't buy it for the top loader anyhow, and I always have some form of water boiling on top of the stove that would need to be moved each time to load wood.

The beautiful kiln fired (wood) steamer that I use came from a forum member (Adios Pantelone), and It is sexy as hell. I don't need to have an accident with it.

Jags my pipe comes out the top, but the top load lever is nowhere near the pipe on ours--it's down on the right hand side panel about 2" below the stove top lip.


NP

 

[Jags]

How is the top loading working out on that stove?

Browning I've only just had the one small break-in fire, so I haven't used the top load feature yet. I did like the top loading on our Defiant-Encore, so I'm assuming that I'll use it on the IR as well.


NP

Does your pipe come out the top, or out the back. Mine comes out the top (straight up) and it is a pain. The handle for the top loader will smack (and lay against) the pipe. I don't like that. I didn't buy it for the top loader anyhow, and I always have some form of water boiling on top of the stove that would need to be moved each time to load wood.

The beautiful kiln fired (wood) steamer that I use came from a forum member (Adios Pantelone), and It is sexy as hell. I don't need to have an accident with it.

Jags my pipe comes out the top, but the top load lever is nowhere near the pipe on ours--it's down on the right hand side panel about 2" below the stove top lip.


NP

That is to turn the bypass plate (burn tubes) to get them out of the way. You still need a handle on the top plate to open it, or at least mine does. Maybe it was re-designed???

Edit: look at item 5 and 6 on the first page:
(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/~/media/Files/Quadrafire/Service) Parts Lists/Isle_Royale.ashx
(copy and paste the entire link)

 

[Nonprophet]

That is to turn the bypass plate (burn tubes) to get them out of the way. You still need a handle on the top plate to open it, or at least mine does. Maybe it was re-designed???

Edit: look at item 5 and 6 on the first page:
(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/~/media/Files/Quadrafire/Service) Parts Lists/Isle_Royale.ashx
(copy and paste the entire link)

Ok, I gotcha, your saying the griddle top handle hits the pipe when you raise it. Well, mine is missing the handle, so I've been lifting it with a long allen wrench which I take out and put back in so it doesn't hit the pipe. I agree that the angle of the handle should be re-designed so that it doesn't hit the pipe when opened---though for all I know mine might be re-designed because I don't have a handle to test it! lol!


NP

 

[Jags]

Nope, mine just has the lever on the side that raises the baffle assembly out of the way so that you can top-load. I just open the griddle, raise the baffle, and load. Mine is a 2004 model, what year is yours?


NP

I think we are saying the same thing. You have a handle on the top of the stove to open the griddle, and a handle on the side to rotate the burn tubes out of the way. Do I have that correct??
Or do you just have the handle on the side AND THAT is what opens the griddle top???