Condition is good - some scratches in the stone that I'll need to sand out, a couple spots of rust, but nothing major. The interior is pretty gunky, but I'm hoping that will burn out with a nice hot fire. The biggest problem I've seen so far is that there's a gap between the bypass plate and the bypass frame. It seems like a consistent gap, so I don't think there's warping - I'm hoping it just needs adjustment to close snugly.
You can copy and save all the manuals from the website. They say 0000 steel wool for any scratches, but I don't worry about 'em much. You can scrape most of the creo out of the box with a putty knife, if it's dry, crusty stuff like I usually see. Really, I don't mess with that either. I guess I'm kinda lazy, and this is a great stove for me.
I don't have to load it very often, and ash-handling is the easiest ever devised.
As far as the bypass door, you can get to it through the top flue outlet. The cat heat shield is fastened with one bolt at the back...the front seats in a groove or something. The cat can then be turned, and removed. From your description, I'm wondering if the bypass gasket is missing. When properly adjusted, at the end of the lever throw you should encounter a little resistance and you'll have to press a little harder to cam it down.
I gave $800...Even if it needs a new cat a a few other parts I think I'll come out OK. We shall see.
Yeah, I'd say that's a deal.
I'm assuming it has a ceramic cat, and the cast iron combustor scoop. If the cat is intact, not crumbled apart or cupped badly, dust the face and gently blow through it (no compressed air!) If it seems sluggish, or drops out too soon, you can try to simmer it out. (broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/combustorcleaningmanual.pdf) If you have the cast combustor frame, you'll need some interam gasket to wrap the cat, which prevents smoke from going around the sides of the cat. There is also a rope gasket that the cat frame sits on, to seal it there.
Did I mention that we like pics?
If you need a new cat, one option is to go with the Woodstock DuraFoil steel cat, and you could also put in the stainless combustor scoop...the screen will catch some of the ash, instead of it getting on the cat face. Even if you end up buying a few parts, Woodstock prices are probably the cheapest you'll find.
When you begin running the stove, don't hesitate to ask questions...we can get you up to speed pretty quickly.
Now, the most important question....how long has your wood been split and stacked in the wind, with a top-cover?
