My Fireview 201 refurb and install (WAS: Any other fireview 201 owners?)

[mfglickman]

UPDATE I'm going to continue to use this thread to show progress on install etc. of our Fireview 201...

DH and I have been working evenings to clean and replace old parts on our used fireview. Working on replacing the baffle currently and if we get that done tonight we may be able to have a fire Monday. All in all we will have replaced all the gaskets, the cat and assembly, the baffle and plate. But kept the old soapstone and iron shell, glass and firebricks all of which were clean and sturdy.

We have the manual for the stove but Id love to hear from real users how you get the stove going, temps you watch for and how you adjust. One difference with the 201 is that there are no labeled adjusters like 1 or 1.5 or what have you so I feel a little lost when 205 users talk about that.

Any thoughts or feedback greatly appreciated!

Mary

 

[Todd]

Never burned the 201 but would like to see any pictures as you progress. I'm sure once you get her up and running you will figure out the best air setting by trial and error and looking at the fire and stove temps.

 

[mfglickman]

Here are a few pics taken today. The chimney guys were able to get the baffle out like it was a toy (it's nice to have a chimney guy who's also a firefighter) AND set it on the hearth. So here it is, just a bit off center as they're still working. The top, firebricks and door are off for ease of moving.

Also included one called "Look Ma, no baffle!" - pic #2 showing the inside from the top.

 

[ddddddden]

Send Bobbin a PM. She has a FV 201 and a Classic. Welcome to the Temple of the Cat.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure what has happened with Bobbin. I sent an PM but got no answer.

 

[mfglickman]

So yesterday I called Woodstock to question some discrepancies in paperwork. Since we replaced the entire cat assembly, the baffle and the gaskets we had several sets of instructions that appeared contradictory in how long furnace cement needed to cure. One doc said you could use right away but small fires, one said 24 hours and the other said 48. After some discussion with Woodstock we agreed on 24 hours starting with small fires.

So here are pics of our first small fire. We kept it going with 2-3 splits reloaded twice between 4PM and 11PM last night. Stovetop temp came slowly up to around 400 and this morning it was still at 200 at 7AM. Today I loaded it up with 4 splits and a Bio Brick and it went right up to 450 within the hour, cat engaged, and it actually hit almost 600, with nice steam rising out of the flue. It's neat to see the steam - my next door neighbor has a wood furnace that has thick white/gray smoke that really smells of wood smoke (I like that smell) and standing outside this AM at 18 degrees I could see his smoke and my steam...cool.

The rooms in my house are drafty and an ongoing project, but it's actually comfortable in long sleeves and we've yet to do a full load in this stove...so yay.

The first pic shows the first fire....the second pic shows our roof flashing heat shield - recommended by Woodstock - since we have only 12 inches between the stove and mantel.

Last night I had all kinds of woodstove/burning down the house nightmares - lol. I love the warmth but this is going to take a bit of getting used to!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That sounds good Mary. On the draft setting you will need to use some judgement on that but you will learn it really fast. For some comparison, on our Fireview the draft is labeled from 0 to 4. Most find a setting around 1 to be about right. A few run about 1.25 but we've found our sweet spot to be about .75 or if it is really cold outside many times the setting is closer to .5 simply because you get better draft when it is cold outside.

Hopefully you understand how the cat operates and you open the bypass on reloads. Then after 10-15 minutes (a general time frame) you once more engage the cat. On the time frame, that will depend upon your wood as to how dry it is. Marginal wood then the cat should not be engaged quite so soon. We also use a temperature gauge on both the stove top and the flue.

Also, Woodstock will help if needed. On the furnace cement, I also recently talked to them about it. Definitely if it is thick, more time is needed. I also like to somewhat cure it with low fires.

 

[mfglickman]

That sounds good Mary. On the draft setting you will need to use some judgement on that but you will learn it really fast. For some comparison, on our Fireview the draft is labeled from 0 to 4. Most find a setting around 1 to be about right. A few run about 1.25 but we've found our sweet spot to be about .75 or if it is really cold outside many times the setting is closer to .5 simply because you get better draft when it is cold outside.

Hopefully you understand how the cat operates and you open the bypass on reloads. Then after 10-15 minutes (a general time frame) you once more engage the cat. On the time frame, that will depend upon your wood as to how dry it is. Marginal wood then the cat should not be engaged quite so soon. We also use a temperature gauge on both the stove top and the flue.

Also, Woodstock will help if needed. On the furnace cement, I also recently talked to them about it. Definitely if it is thick, more time is needed. I also like to somewhat cure it with low fires.

Dennis, when you say .75 or .5 - does your Fireview have numbers on it? Mine just has a slider on the door, and it adjusts comfortably from fully open to half open to closed. I can fiddle to find just less than half, just barely open, etc...but I don't "understand" the settings of 1.5 etc.

Thanks!
Mary

ETA Woodstock has been great. I think they like that one of their 20+ year old stoves is being revitalized for a new family.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Whoops Mary, I forgot you have the old Fireview. The present models have both the cat lever and the draft lever to the right of the firebox door. There are numbers 1 through 4. It definitely makes setting the draft easier. However, I grew up with a couple of stoves that used draft like yours and it was not difficult to learn how to set that draft and I suspect you have already learned the best setting.

I'm sure Woodstock does enjoy knowing one of the older stoves are being used. I recall being at the factory and one fellow had an old stove and Tom told him he could bring it in and they'd rebuild it for them. He is not afraid to tackle those old stoves because of the way they were built. Solid!

 

[mfglickman]

Adding a pic of the inside - new baffle, combuster, hood and heat deflector...thought I did this earlier but I guess it didn't take...

 

[Todd]

Thanks for the update. I kind a like the 201 baffle better than the 205. The bypass is towards the front instead of the back like the 205 so it won't send as much heat up the stack in the bypass mode. There is also a good amount of room on the left side to use as a small oven if you would like to wrap up some hobo potatoes in some tin foil and throw them in there.