Used Fireview 205 help

[Ezra Smith]

Hello, first post here. I have spent a lot of time snooping on these forums in the past several weeks learning as much as I can about different models of woodstoves.

First the backstory, skip if you like: I bought a house in July and have been getting it ready to rent out starting in November (first time home buyer, but I do not need a whole house right now in my life.) I would be moving in about a year or more, though that may change based on how my relationship goes. We won't live together until married, and the proposal is yet to be made. Regardless of how things go with that, I can imagine that some time in the next several years I will be living in this house. It is a two story cape cod style built in 1790. The guts have been ripped out and replaced, and I believe that this was last done about 20 years ago. It is not particularly drafty, and I would say is about average for insulation. I live in southern Maine. It is about 1200 sqft, but the layout means that about 400 of that would be hard to heat without punching some holes in walls. It had a huge old Russo High Heat model in there that would burn wicked hot and then burn out. I disconnected it, and started looking around for a stove before November 1st and settled on a used Intrepid II from Vermont Castings. It is the 1303 model, and does have a cat. I spent $375 for it (plus $100 on a new cat), and it came with a rear shield and some steel sheeting for wall shields. I got it hooked up and the more I have tested it the more I realize that this would definitely not be enough to heat the house as a primary during the winter months. I was limited on time because the renter definitely wants a woodstove as an option. Check, I now have put in a functioning and inspected woodstove, but I have come to the conclusion that it is not the stove that I would want in there eventually. Since I am in the woodstove mode I just keep looking around for deals on used ones. I have been looking around on Craigslist and Facebook for the past several weeks, and I am looking for a good deal on a stove that is a bit bigger, and seems to come from a reputable company. Catalytic is something that makes a lot of sense to me, and I really like what I am finding out about the various hybrid models like what Woodstock and Hearthstone are offering. Soapstone in fine, and I like the coasting ability that it seems to lend to a stove.

End of backstory
At this point I am keeping an eye out for a Woodstock Fireview or Absolute Steel or an equivalent made by Hearthstone. Fireviews seem to come up a fair amount, but it is hard to assess what is "worth it." Most recently I have found a Fireview that is 3hrs from me for $750. It is a model 205, and the guy got it in exchange for some furnace work for a friend. It looks fine as far as I can tell other than a new cat and the plate that is attached to the inside of the firebox by one screw. What do you think, worth it for $750 or pass it up and keep on the lookout for something cheaper or in better shape?

And thank you for all of the great education that you have provided me with already.

 

[begreen]

Needs a repaint, but that can be done with some masking and a brush. It doesn't look to be in bad condition via the pictures but check more closely for bypass operation and the combustor basket condition.

 

[Todd]

Looks to be a pretty decent deal to me. The combustor pan is missing a cotter pin, might be laying in the ash. Probably be a good idea to replace all the gaskets when you clean it up and paint. Woodstock sells a replacement gasket kit with full instruction.

 

[Ezra Smith]

Thank you for the tips, I may go check it out this weekend. Am I correct in thinking that this model qualifies for the 2020 EPA standards? Is it possible to apply a used stove purchase to my tax refund?

 

[Ezra Smith]

Latest from seller:

"It is functional as it sits, but the catalytic converter (which makes it extremely efficient burning) bleeds by a little due to a warped bracket. This bracket is part of a rebuild/maintenance kit from Woodstock Soapstone company in Lebanon,NH." I am trying to figure out which kit he is referring to. This would do it, but it sounds like it would be a smaller part. I will give Woodstock a call today when I have the time.

 

[Ezra Smith]

I believe that the seller was referring to the stainless scoop, which is what is drooping inside the firebox. I can get that from Woodstock it looks like. I will probably want to get a rear heat shield and new cat, as well as a gasket kit. All of that will total $427.34, which brings the cost of the stove to $1,177. Not bad I guess. Other than a 3 hr drive each way

 

[begreen]

Thank you for the tips, I may go check it out this weekend. Am I correct in thinking that this model qualifies for the 2020 EPA standards? Is it possible to apply a used stove purchase to my tax refund?

No

 

[Ezra Smith]

Ok, that's what I thought.

 

[Ezra Smith]

Thank you for your help! I drove over and picked it up yesterday and drove right over to the factory. It needed a new bypass door and gaskets but that was about it! It looked like there was no firebrick in the bottom, but then I noticed that the previous owner had mortared them in the floor! Next comes the designing of the hearth, which probably won't happen until the spring. I think that cement board with tile and piece of raised concrete to elevate the stove make the most sense.

 

[Woody Stover]

Thank you for your help! I drove over and picked it up yesterday and drove right over to the factory. It needed a new bypass door and gaskets but that was about it! It looked like there was no firebrick in the bottom, but then I noticed that the previous owner had mortared them in the floor! Next comes the designing of the hearth, which probably won't happen until the spring. I think that cement board with tile and piece of raised concrete to elevate the stove make the most sense.

Just saw this thread. I think you did OK on this deal. Looks like the previous owner was hands-on, and did some work himself like replacing the older cast iron scoop with stainless, put a screw in the lid heat shield, may have patched the seams in the firebox, and probably other stuff. This suggests that the guy may have known how to run the stove properly, and probably didn't abuse it.
Keep us updated on this project, and when you finally fire up the stove. Plenty of Woodstock folks here to get you up to speed on burning these great stoves.

 

[Ezra Smith]

It looks like this one WAS a bit over fired.

I spent yesterday afternoon tearing it down and cleaning/patching/replacing gaskets. The previous user was hands-on, but could have benefited from reading the maintenance literature! In the above photos you can see the gasket for the bypass frame (W-161). This was applied to the joint with the combuster pan (W-160) and not in a place to actually make contact with the bypass cover (W-253). I suspect that this led to it heating up too much when it was supposed to be "catalytic" since there was still a draw through the bypass. The cover was very warped, which I suspect is a result of this over heating, and of course that just meant that even more air was let up the chimney. There was some general sagging of the center of the combuster pan, and there are two cracks that I had to patch with cement, which seemed like a good stopgap to replacing the whole part. They are out of stock of that from the factory, and it would have required drilling out the slotted bolts that hold on the top of the air duct cover (W163). This may have to happen at some point down the line, but I do not really see a particular advantage to doing it now. interestingly the are chute (W-172) was also a bit bent, but that seems like a nonissue.

Once I got the gaskets installed correctly for the new bypass cover and the combuster it seemed like the airflow would still go where it needed to. Luckily all of the bolts for things came out easily, with the exception of the ones holding on the air chute cover. The door latch was loose, and the last person had used some wires to tighten it up. I was not too impressed with the work, and ended up drilling at taping a bolt to be used to hold the parts together instead. I may end up grinding off one side of this bolt so that it fits better. Glass is out and cleaned, and now I only have one more gasket to apply around the top lid and I have to clean up the exterior. I will mask the soapstone and do Matte black for the metal, but do people have any recommendations of how to clean up the stone a bit? Deep scratches will stay of course, but it would be nice to make it a little nicer before install. Also, do people put any oil on it, or will it just get baked off? I was thinking something like flax oil may be best since it will harden as it drys.

I will post some pictures soon.

 

[clancey]

Gosh you know your stoves and have much know how but me on the other hand with all that work but I imagine you like doing it and I would have passed on that stove--lol lol...Do not know anything about stoves and I have used mine only three times ( very new at this-lol)..but to me it seems like a hell of a lot of work involved in getting this stove up to par and how much money could you save on a stove like this? I do not like all the bent places in it and the overuse --gosh a lot of work...old mrs clancey

 

[Ezra Smith]

So far I have paid about $1000 on it, which includes a rear heat shield. It will probably need a $400 combuster pan replacement at some point in the future, but considering the size of the house I doubt that I will need to run it full bore very often so the patching may last forever! I did not really know much about all of this about 4 weeks ago, and I have spent a lot of time on this and other sites! I like the idea of breathing new life into something, and so far it is a moneysaver. Though not always!

 

[clancey]

lol lol I know the feeling---I have been breathing new life into my old house for years...lol Have fun breathing in new life to that old stove...clancey

 

[Ezra Smith]

Here are the photos as promised. I painted the cast iron exterior and installed the rest of the pieces. I sanded the larger pieces of soapstone down to 600, though I should have taken more stops along the way in terms of grit sizes. I may come back and do that more in future years. The cast iron outside came out nicely, with only minimal paint wicking onto the stone, all of which cleaned up with mineral spirits and some scrubbing. The stainless steel pan had to be wrestled on there because the warping of the other parts drooped down. I have a photo with my finger in it of the spot that had some cracking, which was close to the catalyst. In the picture of the finished stove the top is still wet from mineral spirits from wet sanding. Is there anything to do about the haziness in the glass?

 

[Todd]

Looking good, nice work. You could try some 000 steel wool and water for that etched glass. I’m assuming it’s on the inside pane? This stove has double pane glass so you may want to look into replacing the inside pane and gaskets if you end up taking the glass out to work on.

 

[Ezra Smith]

I did take the glass out and replaced the gaskets on them. I did use some 600p sand paper on the very inside. It helped, and if I want to do more I will use it again in the future I guess. I did not really go for it since I knew that I could always do more later.