Flame XTD 1.5

[mellow]

I know the season has not fully ended but I wanted to share my experiences with the XTD so far.

This past weekend was in the 50's and sunny so it was perfect timing to go ahead and clean the liner and do a through check over on the XTD. Overall I am very pleased with how this stove operates, it does what it was built to do, heat. The glass wash does a good job of keeping the glass clean, I only get creosote build up on it when a log touches it during the burning process, and even then that is burned off with a good fire. It likes to cruise at around 500-525 when fully loaded, and has a very nice secondary "show" at its peak burn cycle. The blowers do a good job at keeping the air moving, I tend to run them on high to keep the air moving good in my house, the sound level of the fans is a little on the high side but we get accustomed to it after a while. The looks on the stove could be better, but at its price point you are buying a box to heat your home with, not a show piece.

Overall I am pleased with the stoves performance so far, I have been burning 24/7 with it for the last 3 months.

Just some specs, my house is a 2 story 1200 sq ft home and this is running in an exterior chimney.


1.Shot of the liner from up top(Black creosote only at the top where insulation stops, typical)

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2.Shot of amount after cleaning, most is fly ash and the black creosote on top is just from the little at the top.

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3.Shot of back corner above the baffle, slight creosote accumulation (anyone else notice this on other secondary tube stoves?)

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4.My main gripe with the XTD, the lip allows ash and coals to fall out to easy, wish they made the burn chamber deeper to hold more of the ash buildup, it also builds up on the door.

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If anyone has additional questions about this stove feel free to PM me.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

flame is pretty new, thanks for the review!
made by sbi in canada, they've made good plate steel for a while now under osburn and other brands

 

[mellow]

I have yet to come across anyone with an XTD so I wanted to let everyone know my experience with their product so far.

Being since they are owned by SBI, that is the main reason I was willing to try the stove, SBI is a well respected company with many different brands.

(broken link removed to http://www.sbi-international.com/en/nos-marques.php)

Interesting tid-bit about Flame:

The family business history dates back to 1929...

Between 1972 and 1983, the Tetreault Family imported hundreds of thousands of box stoves, parlor stoves, and franklin fireplaces from the Far East...

In 1991, Marc Tetreault and his sister Diane started manufacturing wood stoves under the Flame brand name. The product line grew rapidly and became, at the end of the 1990's, one of the most respected brands of wood stoves in Canada. Gas stoves and oil-fire stoves were added to the line between 1997 and 2003.

In March of 2005, the business was sold to SBI - Stove Builder International Inc. With the support of SBI's network, Flame has now established itself as one of North America's most successful brands of heating equipment.

 

[BrotherBart]

The flakes above the baffle are normal.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Looks like you've been burning it right!

 

[mellow]

I do have a Con to post about this stove.

If you look in Picture #4 the tray that sits above the blower just rests on top, there is a gap in between the stove and the plate, when you get ash that falls on the tray some falls in that gap and is in turn blown out the top of the stove by the blower, this is usually not a problem unless it is a small piece of hot coal, which could be a fire hazard if not seen, they do travel quite a distance if the fan is on high.

Possible work around would be to fill in that gap with something like Mil-pac or turning off the blower while loading the stove.

 

[BrotherBart]

I have always turned off blowers when loading because I hate the hot air blowing in my face.

 

[begreen]

I'll second that. Running the blower while reloading invites getting a snoot full of smoke as the air blown over the surface of the stove top creates a negative pressure zone at front of the stove.

 

[weatherguy]

I had the flame pellet stove, looks almost exactly like the wood burner, fairly inexpensive but did throw some heat, not pretty but like you said your buying a box to heat. I almost traded my pellet stove to the dealer for the 1.9 wood buner but got lucky on a blaze king, so I sold it through craiglist.
Glad its working good for you.

 

[mellow]

Update:

The insert ran flawless for the 2 seasons I used it. Never had any issues with it, the tubes and baffle did not break nor did I have any firebricks break or do anything weird. The fan does the job and the variable speed was nice for being able to shut the fan off at reloads and turn it up when needing more heat. A great 1.8 cu ft no thrills insert that does its job, burns wood and puts out heat.