Isle Royale firebricks.........Really???

[Chrism]

its amazing how even the dealers don't know what they are talking about I talked to a Quadrafire dealer and he said to goto the local hardware store and get firebricks for $3.50 a piece so i did. The difference in the weight of the fire brick wow! the ones that came with the stove (they were used) were very light, the ones that i brought were quite a bit heavier and seemed denser, both the exact same size. When the guy at the hardware store picked up the old brick he laughed and said the used brick was shot cause of how light it was. I had a feeling he was wrong???? what kind of brick is in the isle royale?

 

[skinanbones]

sounds like the old bricks were the light grey pumic style and the ones you bought were kiln dried yellow. If they were exactly the same in look and are the light grey pumic the new ones are full of moisture and you will want to start with samll fires to dry them out and not crack them.

 

[Chrism]

I posted pics of the new and old firebrick . pardon my penmanship lol trying to write with the mouse as a pencil is alot harder than it looks Could I use the new one???

 

[Jimbob]

And if you weighed them, you'd find the "new" bricks to be ~4lbs, and the "old" ones to be about 2 lbs.
Those new ones will work fine. They'll be harder to cut, if needed.

 

[Chrism]

i have a wet saw and a frind of mine has the mason bits to drill the holes in the 2 back bricks. Thanks for the info. im glad i can use the a kit from quadrafire for all the bricks is $160 i paid $40.00 saved myself alot of money!!

 

[Jags]

As hit on above, they are a different kind of brick. The original equipment was a pumice style. About half the weight of the style you are looking at. Those old ones sure don't look too bad to me.

 

[KarlP]

Jags makes a good point I didn't even consider. Why are you replacing them all? I replace them one at a time when they crack.

 

[Chrism]

thats pretty much the only one that was not broken. Jags could i use the new ones i brought or no????

 

[Jags]

Yeah, you can use them, but they do have a different insulating value than the pumice bricks. The brick set from Quad is kind of pricey from what I hear. Dunno, never replaced one.

 

[Chrism]

which is a better stone pumice ? what exactly do fire brick do in a stove??

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Lighter bricks are much more insulating. Heavier bricks transmit more heat but can take a lot more wear and tear. I have a collection of both!

(broken image removed)

 

[Chrism]

so which ones should i get ? where are you located do you sell them?

 

[Jags]

so which ones should i get ? where are you located do you sell them?

My personal opinion is that because you are looking at about a 8-10 yr life expectancy, the more expensive pumice bricks (which are original equipment on this stove) is what it would get. The pumice bricks will reflect more heat from the side wall, back into the fire which helps keep a clean burn going.

 

[Chrism]

ok one more question so this stove doesnt drive me out of the house in the winter do i always have to have a monster fire going in it? can i just sometimes have a nice little fire goin?? and one more thing Jags do you sleep ,eat and crap wood stoves lmao is there anything you dont know about them?

 

[Jags]

ok one more question so this stove doesnt drive me out of the house in the winter do i always have to have a monster fire going in it? can i just sometimes have a nice little fire goin?? and one more thing Jags do you sleep ,eat and crap wood stoves lmao is there anything you dont know about them?

There is TONS that I don't know, but I am quite familiar with the IR. I have owned/operated one for many years. I have also been a member of this site for so long, that I have absorbed quite a bit from others.

For your first question: no, you don't always have to have a raging fire. A small, hot fire that is allowed to burn out is the way to do it in the shoulder season. Hint: use smaller split wood. It will start fast and burn hot and go out quick.

 

[Delta-T]

there's like 2 things Jags doesn't know, and we need to keep it that way, or else he becomes ALL POWERFUL and there'd be no way to stop him...

 

[North of 60]

and one more thing Jags do you sleep ,eat and crap wood stoves lmao is there anything you dont know about them?

Jags eats,sleeps and filters beer. Wood stoves is his popcorn and peanuts to his beer. For every post he makes, he washes it down with a beer. %-P Now if I could cash in his returns/refunds, I could retire. Even if it was American currency right now. :lol:
Cheers!

 

[Chrism]

gotcha jags so what would be a good all around split of wood size for the IR? so i know what size to cut to lenght and split width

 

[Chrism]

and one more thing Jags do you sleep ,eat and crap wood stoves lmao is there anything you dont know about them?

Jags eats,sleeps and filters beer. Wood stoves is his popcorn and peanuts to his beer. For every post he makes, he washes it down with a beer. %-P Now if I could cash in his returns/refunds, I could retire. Even if it was American currency right now. :lol:
Cheers!

thats funny!

 

[Jags]

MMmmmmm.....beer!

And Delta - what are these "two things" you speak of?

As far as split size - you want them all different sizes. Length I shoot for 18-20".

 

[Chrism]

disregard this!! i messed up

 

[Jags]

i will be refering to a the bottom part of a triangle (split wood) what should that be roughly?

Small enough that you can grab the split by the end (palm it).

 

[Chrism]

when your going to bed do pack the crap out of it ? what your over night burn time on yours?

 

[firefighterjake]

ok one more question so this stove doesnt drive me out of the house in the winter do i always have to have a monster fire going in it? can i just sometimes have a nice little fire goin?? and one more thing Jags do you sleep ,eat and crap wood stoves lmao is there anything you dont know about them?

Hmmm . . . not sure I would be anywhere around Jags when he pushes out a Blaze King . . . could be a mite painful. Heck . . . I would guess even a little ol' Morso or Jotual 118 might cause a wee bit o' pain.

 

[Jags]

I try to time it, so that the reload is about 45 min before bedtime. This allows the new fuel time to flame up and get a char, bringing the stove back up to full temp and then setting the primary air for the overnight burn. Yes - I typically stuff it full.

I always have coals in the morning - plenty to restart the fire, and a stove top temp around 300 +/-. But my house needs heat, and 300F stove top isn't enough to supply the whole heat load.