What it means to rebuild a wood stove?

[buildingmaint]

This might be a dumb question ,but I'm going to ask it any ways. I 'm a pellet stove guy so I have no working knowledge of how wood stoves are constructed. I thought that the only things on a wood stove was a metal box with fire brick inside and a fan to blow the heat into the room.Reading all of your posts to my last question about life expectancy of wood stoves it seems like there is more then I thought. So what other parts are there to a wood stove?What do you have to replace when you rebuild and why do you have to replace them ? What does over firing a stove mean? when it is glowing red?How do you know if you are over firing?What are baffles used for in a wood stove? Yes I expect some good nature ribbing about my lack of knowledge.

 

[Corie]

Depends BIG time.

On a cast iron stove, a rebuild might mean a complete disassembly, followed by completely removing all old cement and then replacing all of the cement with fresh, as well as all of the gaskets. Obviously any warped or crack parts should be replaced at this time.

For a steel stove, a rebuild usually means cutting out and welding in new pieces to replace those that are warped. It can also mean replacing gaskets.

Baffles in a wood stove serve to route the gases in such a fashion that they are exposed to the interior of the stove longer. They also slow down the flow of gases so that many of modern stoves can have secondary combustion.

 

[Roospike]

This might be a dumb question ,but I'm going to ask it any ways. I 'm a pellet stove guy so I have no working knowledge of how wood stoves are constructed. I thought that the only things on a wood stove was a metal box with fire brick inside and a fan to blow the heat into the room.Reading all of your posts to my last question about life expectancy of wood stoves it seems like there is more then I thought. So what other parts are there to a wood stove?What do you have to replace when you rebuild and why do you have to replace them ? What does over firing a stove mean? when it is glowing red?How do you know if you are over firing?What are baffles used for in a wood stove? Yes I expect some good nature ribbing about my lack of knowledge.

Steel stove and cast stove rebuild are normally different. If a steel stove needs rebuilt then more than likely the stove was over fired / burned too hot. Cast stove are rebuilt every 5-10 years as the gaskets crack and get old and the cast plates to to be bonded back togother to make a tight fit with no air leaks.

Here is a link of a steel stove rebuild with pictures.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6129/

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EDIT: Fast fingers Corie . we were posting at the same time , our answers are about the same so we must be correct. ;-)

 

[elkimmeg]

Roo shorted the cast iron stove cycle Most cast iron stove can go longer than 15 years before rebuilding. Today these stoves are being replaced by bolted gasket connection replacing refactory cement. Refactory cememt is like a sheer pin in a snow blower it is better for the fefractory cement to fail than overheating and cracking the cast iron parts.

If a real conciencous owner owned the stove keep it clean burned it in safe heating range and replaced gaskets stoves would last 20 years or more. Overfiring stoves over 800 degree surface or stove top temps over a long period of time will j have an adverse effect to plate steel od cast something will warp crack or give. Most of the time it is advoidable that leakind door gasket does not get replaced the ash door left open its usually used abuse and ingorance

 

[Corie]

This might be a dumb question ,but I'm going to ask it any ways. I 'm a pellet stove guy so I have no working knowledge of how wood stoves are constructed. I thought that the only things on a wood stove was a metal box with fire brick inside and a fan to blow the heat into the room.Reading all of your posts to my last question about life expectancy of wood stoves it seems like there is more then I thought. So what other parts are there to a wood stove?What do you have to replace when you rebuild and why do you have to replace them ? What does over firing a stove mean? when it is glowing red?How do you know if you are over firing?What are baffles used for in a wood stove? Yes I expect some good nature ribbing about my lack of knowledge.

Steel stove and cast stove rebuild are normally different. If a steel stove needs rebuilt then more than likely the stove was over fired / burned too hot. Cast stove are rebuilt every 5-10 years as the gaskets crack and get old and the cast plates to to be bonded back togother to make a tight fit with no air leaks.

Here is a link of a steel stove rebuild with pictures.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6129/

*****************************************************************************
EDIT: Fast fingers Corie . we were posting at the same time , our answers are about the same so we must be correct. ;-)

Toooooooooooooo slow for me old man ;-p

 

[Roospike]

This might be a dumb question ,but I'm going to ask it any ways. I 'm a pellet stove guy so I have no working knowledge of how wood stoves are constructed. I thought that the only things on a wood stove was a metal box with fire brick inside and a fan to blow the heat into the room.Reading all of your posts to my last question about life expectancy of wood stoves it seems like there is more then I thought. So what other parts are there to a wood stove?What do you have to replace when you rebuild and why do you have to replace them ? What does over firing a stove mean? when it is glowing red?How do you know if you are over firing?What are baffles used for in a wood stove? Yes I expect some good nature ribbing about my lack of knowledge.

Steel stove and cast stove rebuild are normally different. If a steel stove needs rebuilt then more than likely the stove was over fired / burned too hot. Cast stove are rebuilt every 5-10 years as the gaskets crack and get old and the cast plates to to be bonded back togother to make a tight fit with no air leaks.

Here is a link of a steel stove rebuild with pictures.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6129/

*****************************************************************************
EDIT: Fast fingers Corie . we were posting at the same time , our answers are about the same so we must be correct. ;-)

Toooooooooooooo slow for me old man ;-p

Speedy Gonzales................... AKA: Corie ;-)

 

[begreen]

After 15 years of great service, our Jotul 602 (cast iron), needed rebuilding. I was prepared for a multi-day affair complete with cursing at frozen bolts, ill fits etc.. I started the project well equipped with a blow-up diagram of the stove, fresh drill bits,WD -40, metric taps, gaskets, cement, new interior plates, the works. But once I got into it, much to my surprise, it was a piece of cake. I had the stove apart in an easy hour. If I broke a bolt, no worries, just keep going. Another hour to clean all out, drill and tap the busted bolts and get ready for reassembly. Had lunch and went back at it. An hour later the stove was all back together again. It took just about 3 relaxed hours to do the complete rebuild. And the stove worked fantastic afterwards, like new. Most stoves had to be built in production by someone. They aren't all that complicated and there is immense satisfaction in giving a great product another 15 year lease on life. It's well worth the effort.

 

[Gooserider]

This might be a dumb question ,but I'm going to ask it any ways. I 'm a pellet stove guy so I have no working knowledge of how wood stoves are constructed. .

Thats OK, all I know about pellets is what I pick up off the threads here...

I thought that the only things on a wood stove was a metal box with fire brick inside and a fan to blow the heat into the room..

The firebrick is optional, but that's not a bad description of an old Pre-EPA "airtight" stove, and even some of the older franklins and so forth.

Reading all of your posts to my last question about life expectancy of wood stoves it seems like there is more then I thought. .

In a modern EPA stove there are quite a bit more parts and technology involved in order to get the cleaner burns and high efficency numbers. Just what you'll find depends on the brand/model of stove, what it's made from, the particular technology the stove designer used, and so forth.

So what other parts are there to a wood stove?.

Depending on the stove, you will find ashpans, baffles of different materials and / or secondary burn tubes, special secondary burn chambers, different sizes and shapes of refractories, catalytic elements, dampers and air controls, and lots of other bits - none will have all these parts, all will have some.

What do you have to replace when you rebuild and why do you have to replace them ?.

Depends on the stove design and material. Plate steel stoves tend to be welded up boxes, and a rebuild will consist of removing the internal bits and replacing the things that need it. Cast Iron or Soapstone stoves are made up of a bunch of flat plates that are fastened together. the rebuild will involve taking all he plates apart, along with the internal bits, cleaning out the old refractory cement and or gaskets, and putting it back together with new, again replacing any bad parts. About the only 100% guaranteed to need replacing item is the catalytic element (if used) as they do wear out and loose effectiveness over time (how long depends on use habbits). On any stove you need to periodically replace door and other gaskets. How often a rebuild needs to be done, and how many parts need changing will mostly depend on burning habbits and the use/abuse the stove has gotten. However it's probably less overall work and expense than what I see being described as needed to keep your pellet stove going.

What does over firing a stove mean? when it is glowing red?How do you know if you are over firing?.

Overfiring means about what it sounds like - building a fire that is to hot for the stove's design, Generally it's caused by poor burning habbits, (woodstoves are fussier about technique than a pellet stove, but we don't worry that much about what brand of wood we are using - good technique can burn almost anything if it's dry.) failure to maintain gasket seals, or other such issues, occasionally by burning the wrong kind / amount of wood (see burning habbits and technique) When you overfire, you exceed the design specs of the parts and things start to distort, melt, burn up, crack, or otherwise react badly. A cheery red glow says you've REALLY gone over the limit, the exact point of overfiring depends somewhat on the stove, but all are before you hit the red glow point.

What are baffles used for in a wood stove?.

As mentioned earlier, baffles (which can be made from all sorts of stuff) slow the path of the smoke and / or combustion air through the stove and direct it so that it can be most effectively burned, and have it's energy extracted. By keeping the smoke inside the stove longer, you get lowered emissions and more heat.

Yes I expect some good nature ribbing about my lack of knowledge.

No problem - you don't ask, you don't learn...

Gooserider