need a new wood stove now

[Photog95]

I've smelling some smoke in the house here the last couple weeks. We just passed it off as a bad draw in cold weather. Been a problem for years.Tonight I was tossing a few chunks in the stove when the blower fan turned on. All of a sudden I noticed the flames start blowing around. I reached over and manually turned off the blower fan, and the flames went back to normal. I grabbed a flashlight (Streamlight Stinger LED )and quickily found a crack in one of the welds.

Now I need to find a new one. Has anyone ever used a Daka add on furnace from Menards? They have these in stock and I could be back in business tomorrow. I heat solely with wood so I cant just quit burning until spring so I need to get this replaced fast, but I dont want to throw a bunch of money at a POS

 

[Ronaldo]

I have heard good comments on the Daka add ons.

Ron

 

[mac47]

thats a nice flashlight I have one. can you weld up the crackes until spring? another thought would be let the fire get real cool(not out) and fill the crack wiith furnace cement. THIS WOULD ONLY BE A GET BY TIL SPRING. If this idea is feasable that would give you more time to research for a new stove of better quality for longer lasting investment

 

[flotek]

Furnaces are heavy and expensive and suck to drag in and out of the house so is dragging twice the firewood in too . My opinion is don't rush into buying one based on need and have buyers remorse
I'd Get one with Reburn technology
Next year they will be outlawing the new sales of these old furnaces like the hotblast daka Norseman ect .. I'd recommend a drolet or caddy furnace .youll get simple automated operation with longer cleaner burns a wood savings and a tax credit .i would personally not use furnace cement to patch it . Yes it might work * but if it leaks carbon into your home it is s dangerous risk not worth taking that can be lethal

 

[Big_Al]

I thought the tax credits expired in 2013?

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

shoot, i just noticed the same thing last night and today with my vogelzang. Watching the fire with the door open, fan kicks on and flames kinda flicker a bit which i thought a bit suspicious. havent noticed any wood smell from registers tho. Guess i'll have to take a closer look soon. God i hope i dont have a split weld altho i dont see why it couldnt be weled
Like someone said, i'd go with a higher quality stove with reburn technology, for the extra $600 you'd spend its worth it. Heatmax or tundra. dakas and vogelzangs are just cheap quality dirty wood whores.

 

[Motorsen]

Why not find a guy with a decent stick welding apparatus. Weld the crack with an alkaline type of stick. Maybe run an angle grinder or a hacksaw into the ends of the crack to make the cracking stop and "spot" weld the crack. Then seal the rest with furnace cement. Fire the thing gently up after a while and watch the repaired area for acting up again.
Back in business in next to no time!
And I do greatly agree with some fellow members here to get you a proper quality stove some time in the future.

Motorsen

 

[Steve NW WI]

I semi-successfully welded cracks on my old stove for a couple years, but it'd just keep cracking in new spots. You're seeing metal fatigue, and there's no permanent fix, but even a little 110V wire feed will get you fixed up enough to finish the season. (It's all I had power for down in the basement). Clean the area real well, and if you don't trust your welding skills, get someone that is good with a welder to do it. Depending where the cracks are, you could be working in awkward positions.

I take it your current "stove" is also a furnace? What brand/model?

If @Whitespider wasn't busy b$$$$ing about the EPA, he'd be here to tell you he really, really, likes the Daka. They're made in Pine City, MN, not far from me. I considered one before I bought my stove. They sometimes list scratch and dent models on Mpls C/L, but a quick search just brought up a few used ones, but a couple looked near new, if you're interested in cheap and don't mind a drive.

 

[DCC]

I have a Daka and we love it. Kept house at 78 during cold snap. I really like how simple it is.

 

[Whitespider]

Yeah I like my DAKA a lot (mine has the forced draft blower)... simple, easy to use and a ton of heat if/when needed.
The "secondary heat chamber" is just an area above the main firebox... a sliding by-pass damper (big steel plate) separates the two. Anyway, the operating rod for the by-pass sticks out the front... there's a slight gap between the rod and firebox wall where you can see inside the "secondary heat chamber". When that thing is rockin' you can see the gasses in the "secondary" ignite through the gap... and then it goes from just rockin' to full-out rockin' and rollin'. I'm not trying to claim it's the same "secondary burn" you see in "EPA designs... there ain''t any extra air being fed to it, the ignition is purely from heat and any unused oxygen coming from the main firebox. I don't know if one without the forced combustion air would do that or not... if I had to guess... likely not.

Anyway, no problem keeping my old farm house a steady 71-72° during this last cold spell (Monday's high temp was -13°, low was -23°).

 

[John R]

If it's in your basement, try welding it for now.
If you can weld it while it's hot, that's all the better.

 

[leftyz]

Dang, my wood stove has a few cracks in it.. You can see the fire through them when the lights are out.

 

[Photog95]

Never give any thought to welding it up to get by. I am actually a certified structural welder in GMAW, so I am not worried about my welding skills.I think my bro-in-law has a little 110 flux core welder. I will have to ask him tomorrow. The stove is a Royal, well, at least whats left of it. About 10 years ago I rebuilt the front of it because it was cracking around the door. I cut the fron off of it and made everything all over. The only thing original on the front it the 2 doors. Here is a shot of the front.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

wow it looks prehistoric. Whats with the pipe clamps?

 

[Photog95]

I cant keep the sides on in the front anymore. The front was originally made out of something around 12 or 13ga sheet steel. It was really thin. Well long story short I went overboard and made it out of 1/4" plate when I rebuilt it. The sides were designed with a channel type of thing to slide over the thin sheet it was made out of so they would not work over the 1/4" plate so I had to improvise, adapt, and overcome. The clamps were only intended to be temporary, and well, temporary became 10 years. There is no doubt it has seen its better days. I have had it in this house for the 10 years after I fixed it. It spent 10 years in our previous house. Be bought it from my in-laws who bought it used from a guy that had it a few years as well. I bet it has to be pushing 30 years old.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Sounds familiar. The Woodchuck I replaced (I think they and Royall share some history), was put into my basement used over 20 years ago. If my Drolet lasts as long, I'll likely be ready to quit burning wood by then.

If you weld it, don't forget to drill a small hole at the end of the crack to help stop it from spreading after it's fixed.

Let us know how it works out, and where you go when you decide on a replacement.

 

[Whitespider]

I must be missing something... I don't see where the combustion air supply inlet is??
Or, is it the curved pipe between the doors??

Anyway... looks like a basic "smoke dragon" furnace design. If'n it worked for ya' OK, and you were satisfied with performance... you can likely replace it with any $700-1500 "box store" furnace. I see a lot of guys using the Hot Blast on this site, the DAKA is a good choice, and there's others. The only thing I'll say is the blowers that come with most of 'em are somewhat "lacking" and noisy... often a larger is retrofitted (like I did, and appears your's has also). Some come with shaker grates, some it's an optional add-on, others aren't rated for coal. I have noticed some comments about the Hot Blast bimetallic draft door failing... not sure how common that is? The only complaint I have about the DAKA (not really a complaint, more like a wish)... I wish the ash drawer was larger and the combustion air inlet was adjustable in some way so the idling fire rate could be fine-tuned (I'll likely devise and modify sometime after this heating season).

 

[Photog95]

Yes the curved pipe is the inlet air. It was originally just a 2" long pipe with a 3 bolt flange on it with a forced air blower fan on it.. The heat from the stove kept burning up the little blower so when I rebuilt it I added the curved pipe to get the blower a little distance from the heat. I couldnt find the 3 bolt fan anymore so I left it at that state until I could find a different type of replacement. It actually worked pretty good without it so I just left it off and slide a little soup can over it to regulate the air flow through it.

Yes the blower on it has been upgraded. We kept the old one out of our old furnace and retro fitted it in place

 

[Photog95]

I managed to hammer out a patch, and weld it in place for now. This should get me by until warmer temps come. The seam had split wide open and left a huge hole under the rail for the fire brick.

Been doing a little reading and giving some serious consideration to the Drolet. What is the difference between the heatmax, and the tundra? I dont get it.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I managed to hammer out a patch, and weld it in place for now. This should get me by until warmer temps come. The seam had split wide open and left a huge hole under the rail for the fire brick.

Been doing a little reading and giving some serious consideration to the Drolet. What is the difference between the heatmax, and the tundra? I dont get it.

Difference is name only, both are the same, the different name allows different companies to sell "exclusive" product.

Be sure to read the last few pages of the Tundra thread, there are some issues that I'd consider serious, some are happy though, and my Drolet stove has been great. Personally, I think it was poorly designed, and I'd wait till the design is fixed before I'd buy one.