Scandia 315

[Sodapop]

I recently purchased a home that came with a Scandia 315 in the basement. At the time of sale, the builiding inspector made the seller remove the stove to a shed in the back yard because she lacked the proper permit. The basement is concrete slab and (where the stove goes) a cinderblock wall with earht behind it. I also built a 4-inch concrete platform on top of the slab because I plan to install laminate floor around it. I have now brought the stove back into the house and placed it on the platform.

I understand that this is a knock-off of the Vermont Casting's Defiant. I also understand that Scandia does not have the best reputation, but in it's favor: (1) it's the stove I have; (2) neigbors tell me the woman who lived there used the stove without problems for 40 years; (3) the stove appears to be in excellent condition (it looks like one of the doors needs a new gasket, so I ordered a kit for that); (4) I will using the stove as a secondary heating source just to keep the basement warm when we are using it and don't plan to burn prolongued unattended fires in it.

My question is this: The stove was originally set up without an in flue damper, so I have the all the pieces needed to re-install it this way - it has a section of pipe permanently attached to the oval shaped exhaust that gradually rounds itslef out to 8-inch pipe that angles 45 degrees, followed by a second 45 degree angle (rather than a single 90 turn) leading right to the cimney which appears to be a clay lined flu into a brick chimney. I have no clearnace issues. It's over 18 inches from the back to the wall, there are no side walls near by and the pipe is more than two feet from the finished ceiling. The manual for the Defiant states that "because of the draft requirements of our stoves, we do not recomend the use of an in-flu damper." However, in other threads, I have seen members advise people using Scandia stoves to install an in-flue damper as a safety precaution to allow more complete control of the fire.

Any thoughts on this or other issues would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter

 

[begreen]

Some of the Scandias were better than others. And sometimes it all does work. That said, after 40 years of use any stove is going to need some attention. There are a lot of moving components in this design that need to be checked. My guess is that in the least the bypass damper and secondary passages need attention. Also inspect the interior carefully for cracks in the burn plates.

The chimney must be inspected for flaws and cleaned. After 40 years of use it too may be showing age.

 

[Sodapop]

Some of the Scandias were better than others. And sometimes it all does work. That said, after 40 years of use any stove is going to need some attention. There are a lot of moving components in this design that need to be checked. My guess is that in the least the bypass damper and secondary passages need attention. Also inspect the interior carefully for cracks in the burn plates.

The chimney must be inspected for flaws and cleaned. After 40 years of use it too may be showing age.

I appreciate the response. I really want to get this right.

It looks like the previous owner removed the top (the bolts on the top appear to be new), and resealed it because I see a thin bead of cement up under there. I've checked the air feeds and they all appear clean and unobstructed both the openenings and the air ports inside the stove both along the back and the under the side loading door. I've checked for cracks using a flashlight and the inside is pretty clean and I don't see any cracks or warping. Took the heat shield off the back and readjusted the thermostat and checked for cracks or warping in the back. It had sand on the bottom so she appears to have been using it correctly and I dont see or feel anything there. Cleaned and vacuumed the secondary burn area the best I could but it doesnt seem like there was much if anything back there. The chimney was cleaned two years ago and the sweep told me it was fine. I also was able to remove the existing oval to round adapter and installed a new oval to 8" round adapter and piping with the male ends of the piping now directed down into the stove (she previously had it set up in reverse). I still need to cement around the adapter because it doesnt fit perfectly into the stove. I used 24 guage single pipe (the stack is only about three feet total, it goes up and then 90 degrees back into the brick stack and is about 3 feet below the ceiling so I dont think I have any clearance issues there).

I will post some pictures later.

 

[Sodapop]

 

[begreen]

Sounds like it's in decent shape. Did you test the gaskets with the dollar bill test?

Burn dry wood and clean the chimney after every cord burned.

 

[Sodapop]

I am going to replace the gaskets on the front doors. One was missing and the other appeared to be pretty shot. I ordered 1/4 - 5/16 rope. The Defiant, of which this is a copy, takes 5/16. I purchased 1/2 previously and that looks to be to big. The gasket on the side door is in good shape and I can feel it making a snug contact when I shut and latch the side door. I will perform the dollar bill test on all.

 

[Sodapop]

Just an update to bring this to a close and in the event it may prove useful for someone who may have similar questions in the future.

First, a big thanks to the makers and moderators here. Starting with nothing, I found the make and model of my stove, the manual, and much first hand knowledge on the stoves opperation I never would have otherwise.

I replaced the gaskets for all the doors and polished the stove with stoveblack and, cosmetically, the stove looks fantastic. I also purchased a magnetic thermostat. The first time I fired it up, it leaked a little smoke from the pipe joints and collar, so I took it apart and reassembled it making it a little tighter and adding some stove cement around the collar. It also gave off a fair amount of smoke from the polish, but that was expected and went away.

I've used it about a dozen times in the last few weeks and this has been my experience:

1. It tends to smoke a little for the first few minutes until the draft gets established, so it's best to spend some time staging your kindling and paper so that once you light it, you can close the doors most of the way (leaving open just a crack) until the air heats up and the draft takes over. Once that happens you can burn with the doors open without any smoke overflow (I am using 8" pipe as recomended). You just dont want to be adding paper and kindling to a smoldering fire before the draft gets going because it will smoke up the house.

2. Burning updraft, the stove will usually top out at about 300 degrees and burn fast. Once the fire is established and with doors closed you can lower the flue damper to the secondary burn function and the stove will run at about 550 - 600 and that's where it appears to be happiest.

3. I only fed it one or two logs at a time, because I found the automatic thermostat to be a little unreliable and, contrary to the advice of member VTZJ, I found that the thermostat functioned better with the secondary air port shut once it had been running for a few hours, when opened the fire would burn to fast and hot.

4. The stove gives off a temendous anount of heat. I have it in a 1000 sq/ft basement with 7 1/2 foot ceilings level with the grade on two sides with large uninsulated windows and doors and it becomes necessary to wear shorts after the stove has been running for a few hours. The ductwork for my forced air heating system on the main floor is exposed in the basement, and I am considering cutting a hole in it and adding a damper and fan to push some of the heat up through the existing ductwork.

 

[begreen]

Good to hear you've made progress. Note that #4 may be in violation of mechanical code. A return must be 10ft or further from the stove.

 

[Sodapop]

The ductwork hangs from the ceiling in the middle of the room and the stove is obviously on the floor and to the side of the room so is at least 10 feet. I'm not thinking of attaching it to the stove in any way, I'm just thinking of pushing some of the hot air in the basement up through it. Rather than cutting vents in the floor, I can just send it up through the existing ductwork.

One thing I did notice is that the chimney on the outside of my house may not be high enough. It was built onto the existing exterior of the wall as an addition and does not go two feet above the roof line as measured from the peak. Rather it only goes about three feet above the roof line where it pokes up through the overhang and is about level with the peak of the roof.

 

[begreen]

The chimney height depends on the distance from the roof as well. In some cases it does not have to be higher than the peak of the roof.

 

[Sodapop]

Thank you for that. I think it may pass muster, as my roof slopes more genrty than the illustration above and the chimney is about 4 feet above the roof where it pokes through the overhang.

I always thought that a wood stove was just a big metal box and what was there to know about that. Never knew about the direction the stove pipe needed to insert, never knew about the supplemental air intake or secondary combustion, never knew about the need for good gaskets, or safe burning temperatures. In reality it is a fairly complicated system that needs to work right in order to be safe and efficient. I never would have been able to get my stove running if not for this site. The information just isn't out there anyplace else.

 

[Sodapop]

Update: I've been using the Scamdia for two seasons now and it's been working great. It takes a little more tending than a newer stove, but I haven't had any problems. The thermostat and air damper works reasonably well so after replacing all the gaskets I'm able to slow it down enough to keep it burning through most of the night.

I know Scandia has a bad reputation on these pages but perhaps the bigger stoves like mine were cast better. I know the manufacturer went out of business, but best I can tell by researching is that this was the result of failing to make payments on shipments rather than to any faulty product. And I haven't found any instance of the company being sued for negligence or a faulty product design.

Bottom line. Not the most efficient and needs some attention, but otherwise a nice solid stove.