Updating some parts on the Fire View

[MJFlores]

I'm at the 12 year mark with my Woodstock Fire view and couldn't be happier. It was first love since I personally picked her out of a large number of her twins sitting on pallets awaiting the customer's inspections. To date the stove has paid for itself many times over, so I don't mind at all having to replace a few parts here and there. Just last night I installed a new Stainless Cat, and am happy with how it burns. The Stainless Cat seems to fire off quicker, and with a half load of wood I was cruising along with a stove top temp of 475 last night, the Cat was glowing red, and oddly the stove pipe leading to the wall ...perhaps 16 inches away was humming along at only 350 degrees. That new Cat is keeping an awful lot of heat inside the stove, and the house was noticeably warmer this am (although it is warmer out now and was warmer this am by 5 degrees compared to yesterday am). I'm also waitng for a new Bypass frame, and an improved stainless steel scoop kit to arrive from being on back order. My bypass frame is warped a bit, and my scoop has visible hairline cracks due to heat exposure. A quick note about the Stainless Cat...if I were to have gone with a ceramic I would have had to buy the cast iron frame that surrounds it...mine is badly out of shape and had been getting difficult to get in and out for cleaning. I don't even think it was making full contact with the gasket on one side due to being warped. So, after burning season ends I'll be taking her apart and swapping a few parts to make her like new again. Not bad for a heavy 12 years of service.

 

[pinewoodburner]

You should be set up for another 12 years. Have you replaced the gaskets? I was wondering when I should replace the gaskets on my Fireview. They still seal up tight and this is my 6th year heating with this stove.

 

[MJFlores]

You should be set up for another 12 years. Have you replaced the gaskets? I was wondering when I should replace the gaskets on my Fireview. They still seal up tight and this is my 6th year heating with this stove.

I haven't changed a single gasket in mine. I was thinking about changing the gasket the CAT sits on, but after putting in the new CAT and testing with a slip of paper, it still seals tight so I'm good. I may change it late spring when I install the new scoop and bypass frame but we'll see. The rest of the gaskets are still in great shape.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I think too many times people change gaskets before they really need to be changed. The firebox door gasket seems to be the one mostly mentioned and I wonder if they'd simply tighten the door up a bit if it would be okay. But if you notice some spots on a gasket that are really dark in color, then normally that gasket should be replaced. We're on our 7th winter and gaskets all look fine so far. On our last stove, if my memory is correct we finally had to replace a door gasket after 18 years of burning. Needless to say, I don't worry too much about gaskets. However, during the annual summer cleaning, everything gets cleaned and checked.