![]() ![]() I'll take your advice and get a replacement cat for the WW to keep on hand. I will eventurally replace it, as the WW doesn't heat this area well and we're forced to fire up the propane, but it's not in this years budget. I'm amazed he didn't burn the place to the ground. He didn't even have a thermometer on the flue. So, on those frosty -20c nights, I'm sure he let 'er rip. Aside from some electric baseboards and a rumford fireplace ( where we installed the VCWW ) it was his only source of heat. The CDW is in the kitching / dining room area, which is like a flat roofed annex to the rest of the 3000 sq ft. The original owner / builder of the house didn't really plan the heating part to well. Before pulling the top off I thought I could get away with just a new cat and grate back. it would be approaching the cost of a new PE or Englander. cat, refractory package, inner top, damper, baffle, air distributor, grate back, and grates. as in there is a chunk missing and massive deformation. The lower part of the grate back looks like it 'melted'. Unfortunately there are several other signs of consistant over firing. I had been on the black swan site when I was looking for the refractory package for the CDW, but I didn't see the inner top even listed as a part. I put a straight edge on the lip and measured about a 1/4 inch deflection on each side. Initially I thought that there was ash build-up, but, after releasing the damper pivots, removing the rope, and a closer inspection I saw that the burn chamber top had deflected and cracked. I then noticed that the damper wasn't closing entirely. To my suprise, when I popped the top both the cat and the refractory package were missing. ![]() The orignal owner boasted about the cat technology of the stove when I bought the place ( and didn't known anything about burning ). This year I thought I'd examine the cat and see if I could get it back into service. ![]() I burned with it for one season when I first moved in, and then switched over to the VCWW and didn't use it again. This was the stove that the orignal house owners installed. It's a couple of model years later, the FA264-2183 ~ 1992. I also have a CDW large Federal Airtight in my kitchen. Fortunatly during this instpection the Refractory package seems to be undamaged.Īs the WinterWarm is primarily a supplemental heat source for us, I was thinking about the Cordar SteelCat as a replacement as I could keep a lower fire going most of the time. by the time I noticed the stove door temp was around 500deg, and I could smell what I presume was the refractor beginning to break down. #Dutchwest federal airtight manual meat crack#The only thing that I think could explain the deformed steel is that one time a few Christmas's ago my FIL kept the door open a crack to get more radiant heat. I seriously doubt we've hit that, as we've burned less than 2 cords per year, and a couple of recent winters were mild where we burned less than a cord. Should it be replaced, or does it look like it has a season or two of service left? I belive the service life on the cat is supposed to be about 12,000 hours. I'm enclosing a couple of pics to get your opinion. I've only lightly blown off all the surface fly ash ( which was pretty much covering the top ). The steel jacket is somewhat deformed, but it still fits in the refractory chamber without issue. There are some small hairline crackas, but, no major breaks or pieces missing. I pulled out the 5 year old cat, and aside from being covered in fly ash, the honeycomb didn't appear to be too bad. ![]() Anyway, I hope it isn't too much of a pain to re-assemble! The throat plates don't seem to be deformed, so I can't see how the proceedure in the manual, where you leave the retaining clip in place, can work. Even loosening the bolt I couldn't get the throat plates out, so, I had to remove it entirely. I managed to get a pair of needle nose vice grips onto the retaining nut behind the throat plate apeture, and loosen the bolt. ![]()
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