New updated "stove of death"

[CheapBassTurd]

I'm the not so proud owner of the dreaded #2421 boxstove. It's non-EPA and
I picked it up Black Friday 6 weeks before it was illegal to sell in the States.

I took the thing apart and leveled all the sealing surfaces and used both gaskets and cement to
tighten it up. The burners and center plate all fit loose and that was addressed.
The lower ash drawer plate thingie was a wind tunnel and it was completely blocked off.

5 labor hours later it was declared safe. LOL (And it has been very controllable and safe thus far.)
Works great and is predictable now.

Our friends at US Stove Company have "caught up" with an EPA approved stove of death.
The new headline maker for making peeps homeless is the #2469 E.

This thing is mainly identical to my unit! The trap door has been removed but two non adjustable
holes are in the door now. They really don't like these things to go out apparently.
Mine didn't have a lower door gasket at all, and likely this one either. Couldn't see from
the pics on the website with the door open.

I'm glad mine has the screw type air intake adjuster coupled with the blocked off bottom.
I think they took a step backwards or sideways. It still can't be shut down and has the same
cheesy decoration cast into the side. lol US Stove----made in china

Burn 'em if ya got 'em,
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap

Edit: Also the two stoppers in the damper walls were ground out on mine for use as
a full shutdown/ "chimney fire oxygen stopper".
It's a good bet those are still there in the updated unit. I just can't see this thing making EPA regs.
The Ace Hardware website shows it at $100 higher than the pre- EPA unit for the 27" box (1600ft2)
The previous $299 will still getcha the 23" firebox and is rated at 900 ft.

 

[Lake Girl]

Doesn't seem to be on the EPA list but the #1269 is at 4.2 g emissions. Won't make the next planned cut-off on emissions...

Make sure you have working smoke and CO detectors...

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Oh, yes. Luckily wonderful updraft too.

After reading here, "You bought WHAT?" I figured on the rebuild and C/O detectors.
It was still tight and needed little during summer rebuild.

The ACE ad listed this one (the 27 inch) as EPA compliant. At least I believe so.

 

[Simonkenton]

Post pics please.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=107173136

New laptop with 4 photos loaded currently. I need to get a buncha pics of mine
here on the site, and the wood stacks, hearth n' piping, etc. That's what the stove
looks like tho, both of them other than the drawer and door. Just old fashioned style
cooktop potbelly look n' ambience.

We began to really like the thing and have now chosen not to replace it. Not one CO alarm,
and the smoke detector only tripped once since we got it. Fits the rustic decor as a fine centerpiece.

To be fair and safe, I do not recommend this stove to anyone without some metalworking experience
as they need upgraded for in-home use.
I found a shot of mine during the live-in remodeling last year. There's a brick front extension of the
pad now.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

At Northerntool.com they have the identical unit brand named Ashley. Same price.
There's another store pushing another brand name of the same unit. Both are called the 2469E.

Somebody's obviously buying these things. It even got barely updated to stay legal and keep selling.
I'm guessing new owners lurk a few woodstove sites such as here,
then decide not to admit owning one, or just make a nice yard ornament out of it, or use it as decorative
in-home. I'm guessing there's plenty of these things in small pole barns and home shops too. It's amazing after
all of the info I sucked up here at Hearth that these things not only sell, but obviously very well. Were they like me n' mama?
"Looks way cool and old fashioned, Cheap, nice way to get a handle on the winter heating bill?" Kinda buy the thing on a
whim even tho wanting one a good few years. Then we find out after the fact the inherent issues, two potentially deadly
with this piece-of-sloppy-pieces-barely-bolted-together-junk-called-a-stove!

If not being an ironworker/ foundryman turned metallurgy guy by trade there's no way this thing would be in our home.
With playing with metal being a hobby I saw the thing as kit-type. Something ya buy the ingredients cheap and put together
at home. With all the mold fissures (crappy mold) and nitrogen or hydrogen pinholing (crappy base metal) the surfaces
are gritty and uneven at the tiny but still leaky level. Anyone that bought one of these needs to address the leakage issues!

To be fair, the pig has it's good points.
We love the simplicity. The whole family can safely operate it now. Knob controls air in. Fully closable damper controls air out.
Freshly scrubbed chimney still looked great. Luckily there's
constant updraft with or without fire for CO concerns. There's nothing to break. No block off plate
in there, no cat, no pipes, heat exchanger/ afterburner thingies in there. No fans. It's a 1/4" in thick walled
small barrel on it's side with a door and chimney. That's it. Nice to be able to cook and heat with
the thing when the power goes out. Mini generator to run a powerstrip in the stoveroom as a bonus.
Completely warm eating a hot plate of food watching a movie during an outage is apparently roughing
it. LOL Not replacing wilbur anytime soon,

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeap

 

[Destructor]

My girlfriend has one of those in a rental property she recently bought and renovated. It’s in the concrete block garage. One of the tenants hooked it up with the pipe going out the window. He used the garage as his wood working shop and heated it with scraps. It’s actually not as dangerous as it sounds. The walls and roof/ceiling is block and concrete and the window is the old steel frame type. Cars were never parked in the garage. The wood worker, whom she trusted, moved out. She has since had it disconnected. She asked me if I wanted it.

 

[Lake Girl]

There are similar stories with some pellet stoves ... the window install one was a bad idea and eventually got recalled. Folks with the desire for alternative heat but little actual knowledge get pulled in all the time. Post like yours at least guide folks on how to make it safer.

 

[revdocjim]

This stove looks a lot like the one my neighbors use as their main heat source. They are two elderly brothers who have lived together all their lives on this mountain top. Actually they are third generation residents in this secluded location and have quite a family history. Their stove setup is incredibly bad. There is a wood railing around the stove (for safety, of course) that is less than a foot from the stove. They use single, uninsulated 3 inch chimney pipe for the entire chimney. It goes about 4 feet up from the stove and then has an eight or nine foot horizontal run only a few inches from the ceiling, thru a plywood wall with little or no insulation, and then up the side of the house. They split wood in the summer and fall and burn it that winter. During the burning season they have to clean their chimney every two weeks! Oh, one more thing. I was over there the other day chatting and the guy was trying to get some wet wood burning. He put a couple pieces in the stove and then grabbed a squeeze bottle of kerosene and sprayed it into the stove before lighting it up. The stove is thoroughly rusted, with a large crack on the right side, about 4 inches long and half an inch wide. So now they're in the market for a new stove, and will probably get another one just like this one. They are made in China and sell for $300-$500 here in Japan.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Oh, Lord. (post #9)

The chimney fires could keep the creosote buildup low. At least they clean it.

 

[Lake Girl]

Are they open to suggestions to make it safer? Are you Japanese or a gaijin? That may factor into how well info is received...

 

[revdocjim]

Are they open to suggestions to make it safer? Are you Japanese or a gaijin? That may factor into how well info is received...

I'm a white guy but have lived in Japan all my life. Right now I'm probably one of their best friends. The problem is that they have lived this way all their lives and don't have any spare money. To make matters worse, the younger brother (early seventies) had a stroke last year and has not recovered very well, meaning their wood pile is completely empty right now and we are definitely getting into burning season. A couple days ago I took 7 or 8 wheel barrow loads of small branches I had cut up in an effort to give them a little something. I'm pretty well set with 6 or 7 cords split and stacked and another 2 or 3 I'll be splitting and stacking in the next couple of months so I'll probably be taking more wood over to them in the coming weeks. Life up here gets tough for older people. The next house down the road is a woman whose husband died just over a year ago of lung cancer. She's worried about her wood supply as well. She has quite a bit of lumber that was donated by local carpenters but it needs to be cut up and she doesn't handle a chainsaw very well so I'll be spending time at her place as well, cutting and stacking. The two brothers have heated with only wood for decades but last winter (I was in the U.S. for six months) they had to burn kerosene for the first time. No furnace or anything in their house (shack), just an old kerosene stove that stinks up the whole place. But I doubt they notice as they are both chain smokers.

 

[Lake Girl]

No other family? No social safety net for the elderly? No community groups to help out? Must be a pretty isolated area where you are... Sounds like you are a very good neighbour.

 

[Texas123]

At Northerntool.com they have the identical unit brand named Ashley. Same price.
There's another store pushing another brand name of the same unit. Both are called the 2469E.

Somebody's obviously buying these things. It even got barely updated to stay legal and keep selling.
I'm guessing new owners lurk a few woodstove sites such as here,
then decide not to admit owning one, or just make a nice yard ornament out of it, or use it as decorative
in-home. I'm guessing there's plenty of these things in small pole barns and home shops too. It's amazing after
all of the info I sucked up here at Hearth that these things not only sell, but obviously very well. Were they like me n' mama?
"Looks way cool and old fashioned, Cheap, nice way to get a handle on the winter heating bill?" Kinda buy the thing on a
whim even tho wanting one a good few years. Then we find out after the fact the inherent issues, two potentially deadly
with this piece-of-sloppy-pieces-barely-bolted-together-junk-called-a-stove!

If not being an ironworker/ foundryman turned metallurgy guy by trade there's no way this thing would be in our home.
With playing with metal being a hobby I saw the thing as kit-type. Something ya buy the ingredients cheap and put together
at home. With all the mold fissures (crappy mold) and nitrogen or hydrogen pinholing (crappy base metal) the surfaces
are gritty and uneven at the tiny but still leaky level. Anyone that bought one of these needs to address the leakage issues!

To be fair, the pig has it's good points.
We love the simplicity. The whole family can safely operate it now. Knob controls air in. Fully closable damper controls air out.
Freshly scrubbed chimney still looked great. Luckily there's
constant updraft with or without fire for CO concerns. There's nothing to break. No block off plate
in there, no cat, no pipes, heat exchanger/ afterburner thingies in there. No fans. It's a 1/4" in thick walled
small barrel on it's side with a door and chimney. That's it. Nice to be able to cook and heat with
the thing when the power goes out. Mini generator to run a powerstrip in the stoveroom as a bonus.
Completely warm eating a hot plate of food watching a movie during an outage is apparently roughing
it. LOL Not replacing wilbur anytime soon,

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeap

I totally agree with the above comments on good points.I have used the same stove to cook and heat the semi-enclosed porches with no safety problems. Comparing apples and oranges, in comparison to the country comfort insert my new Jotul 500 is a finicky big monster. Limited air adjustments, baffles, re burn secondary tubes to get to the right temperatures, watch the tops, don't overheat, these were not a concern with the older and simpler stoves. At the risk of upsetting many on this board, I would not get rid of a pre EPA unit unless I was forced to do so.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

It's Indiana. No one will ever care what stove ever gets used or home made unit torched together.
Excluding cities anything within reason goes.
All country peeps have guns, burn piles and massive pits. There's no clean air laws
in this county in particular either. The old school redneck types still burn all garbage,
drain the oil right onto the dirt driveway, burn wire to recycle the copper, etc. It's kinda
sad the recklessness of a few. Luckily only a few. With a concentration of at least 7 foundries,
no clean air laws are on the way anytime soon politically speaking.

We burn the smoke dragon hot n' clean.

 

[revdocjim]

No other family? No social safety net for the elderly? No community groups to help out? Must be a pretty isolated area where you are... Sounds like you are a very good neighbour.

Japan has pretty good services for the eldely but these guys live a very remote life by choice. There are about 12 households who live up here year around so we are a pretty tightnit community, looking out for each other all the time.