New here, and a few questions.

[ozarkjeep]

Hey folks, GREAT forum. I have been doing alot of reading!

Bought a wood burning insert yesterday, to install into a full masonry fireplace, and replace some worthless gas logs.

Model is " The Earth Stove BV4000c"

It is a catalytic stove, Ive read about that, and from what I can tell, this catalytic unit appears to be in good shape, its slightly grayish/whiteish, and not broken up, and clean.

Now, I want a full stainless steel liner, to make me feel better about a potentially dangers chimney ( new house to me)

where to buy? and what do they normally cost?
6" flu, split level house, fireplace is on the lowest level. possibly 25' of liner needed.

Next, stove is rated for 2000sq ft of heat, house is 2000 sq ft, I realize those ratings arent really accurate, but if I build a fire, and run the central heat and air FAN, would it possibly heat the house?

stove is downstairs, room is 13x20 and stairs go up from there, and central air intake is right in the stairway.

also, the blowers on this stove are realitively weak. 2 @ 125cfm each.
would I inhibit the burning, or design of the unit, if I added more airflow?
would cooling that outer box change the way it burns?

anyting to watch out for with the Catalytic unit?
its mounted in the top of the unit.
Will the unit work well WITHOUT the cat unit?
Ive found them to be $235 to replace.
do they make that much real world difference?

thank you in advance, Ill spend some time here for sure, its a nice place full of information!

Matt in Arkansas.

 

[begreen]

Matt, you sent up a red flag when you said greyish whitish? Can you post a picture. This is often the sign of overfiring.

Good idea to put in a liner. Have you searched on the forum for info on this? There are several good threads. Cost will depend on the quality of the product and the dealer markup. Buying from a local woodstove shop might be helpful if you have to return parts or need a lot of advice. If not, eBay has some cheaper liners sometimes or perhaps check here: http://www.ventingpipe.com/category.cfm?categoryID=142

Don't fiddle with the air, fans or anything until you have the stove working for awhile and get to know if. 250 cfm is a nice amount of air and might just be fine. Adding airflow may cool down the stove and reduce efficiency. I'll let the cat folks speak about them, but if the stove was designed to work with a cat, that is usually what will produce the best results.

 

[ozarkjeep]

I read the life of these units is 6-8 years? this stove is I THINK a 1992 model or so.

here is a pic of the catalytic unit.

 

[ozarkjeep]

here is the stove itself, in the process of removing rust, and curing paint in the garage, since its 38 degrees and raining outside.

This is the link I found from lennox on the owners manual also.

http://www.stovesandspas.com/pdf/BV4000C.pdf

 

[begreen]

So the greyish-whiteish reference is about the catalytic combuster and not the stove? The stove looks nice now. Is the picture after the paint job?

 

[ozarkjeep]

yes, the gray white was in reference to the cat unit, you had me scared!
I had read that was normal for them.
Ill do the vinger soak on it, if i can figure out how to replace the fiber packing around it.

Yes, I sanded, wire brushed and painted the stove, it had a few spots of surface rust.

I used rustoleum high heat.
I have used it before with good results ( on my wood bbq cooker)

and it seems OK, for this purpose, im more concerned with being warm, than impressing the wife's asthetic sensability.

the door, appears to be a solid brass casting.
Id prefer black or silver, could I paint it?

or would that be blasphemy?

thanks for you help BeGreen!

 

[begreen]

Sorry about that, it's late and I wasn't reading carefully. The stove looks great as it is, I'd leave it original. Paint will just scratch anyway.

It was designed to run with the cat, so it's worth trying to get it working well. There is a strong possibility that the cat has been replaced once or twice already. The combs look in fair shape so I say try it out. Vacuum out the cat chamber well and give her a try once the liner is in. Keep us posted.