A pictorial of an overfired stove...Hearthstone

[MotorSeven]

As most of you know I have been checking CL for a "deal" on a big Hearthstone. Well, I found one up in KY, I thought it was a Mansfield, but after talking to Hearthstone, it was identified as the forerunner, the Hearthstone I or H-I. They were made between 1978-88 and here are the spec's:

100,000 btu/hr
18 hr heat life
86% efficiency
26" log
700 lbs

I call it the "Beast"

I only paid "$250, but some numbnuts either overfired it or had one hellatious flue fire. My parts list to fix it will be close to $500, so a $750 total for a $3K stove is do-able.

I will post more pic's as I remove and replace the warped/melted parts. The rest of the stove is in remarkable condition.

RD

 

[MotorSeven]

And here's the damage:

This is 1/2 inch plate & is a baffle that curves around from the back of the stove to the top where the damper is. It has a grapefruit sized hole in it, which make me think flue fire, and molten gunk falling down ontop of the baffle, then melting thru. It's either that or Alien slobber/drool......

 

[Rookie1]

Wow! Good for you that your taking the time and effort to repair it. Keep us posted.

 

[bore_pig]

Wow! Got hot for sure! Could you save some $ and build the parts yourself!

 

[Noko]

Good Deal

I fixed my HS2, that was 20 years old at the time of fixing.
Mine was a little bit less damages than yours.
Parts cost $200-$300, including the ones I had to create.
Once you take it apart, you will realize that HS is very simple and easy to fix.
Clean the soap stone panels very well for good furnace cement adhesion.

Enjoy!

Noko

 

[MotorSeven]

Nope, its a non cat stove.

The baffle is $260....I am thinking of making one, I can't cuve it, but could weld it in a couple of angles to make that bend.


RD

 

[Highbeam]

What's the hole in the back left for? Th eone that looks to be drilled into a stone? Do you have the piece to transition from a rectangular flue outlet to a round pipe?

 

[ray benson]

The insides look like years of very hot fires. You get warping, brittle cast iron.

 

[MotorSeven]

HB, that's the secondary air tube which is missing.
The oval flue collar is no longer available. I em'd 19 dealers in the NE looking for one they may have as old stock....so far...nada. Jim @ Hearthstone said that I can switch to a round flue collar which is available, but I have to remove the center stones on the top and take one out, then the collar will fit.

Ray, it's possible that it was a regular diet of hot fires, but I put my money on a runaway. Keep in mind, the melting point of steel is 2,500 degrees....the baffle is melted clean thru.

RD

 

[trouba]

The insides look like years of very hot fires. You get warping, brittle cast iron.

:agree2: The back of our Jotul #8 looked like that just a lot of use no chimney fires here.

 

[MotorSeven]

I got most of the part in, so I started replacing things.

I removed the melted baffle and the bent damper assembly:

Then removed the entire interior primary air feed which runs around three sides:

Cleaned it all out(the air ducts were choked with ash) and re-installed:

Put in the new baffle and secondary air tube:

I am still waiting for the top flue collar. I will have to weld/fab up some of the parts for the primary air intake on the back of the stove becasue those parts are no longer available. I also filled in a few minor cracks in some stones with
a hearthstone cement that actually has ground up soapstone in it.

RD

 

[Rookie1]

Very Nice.

 

[MotorSeven]

I am feeling a little dumb....the secondary air pipe is a 1" sched 40 steel pipe with 6 holes drilled in it. I won't tell y'all how much I paid for it, and I even have a 6' stick of the stuff laying right here in my shop.......

{sigh}


RD

 

[MotorSeven]

It's Alive.....

Well, I got it done and plugged in. I have to do several small fires in it before I can crank it up. This gets the moisture out of the stones & since the folks I got it from had it sitting out in their yard I want to be carefull. I kinda wanted a darker brown color, but this will do until it's gets moved to the yet to be built house.
I had to hand sand all the stone(again) after painting because the tape left a film. I've got about $850 in it so if it performs like it's supposed to it will be well worth it. We have a week of 20's weather here now, so I will be learning the "burn curve" with the Beast.

RD

Oh yeah..I had to set the stove up on steel tubing.....my flue refused to drop down the required inch & a half difference between my other stove & this one.

 

[stihl sawing]

Super nice job, It looks great.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Very nice job!

 

[forestryworks]

very nice

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

****** fantastic job, man. I'm envious of your skill - and commitment to tackle the project.

I can't wait until the kids get out of diapers & learn to feed themselves so I can spend more time doing projects around the house - like wiring up the garage & putting the heater in.

 

[MotorSeven]

Wow....It just dawned on me why the stove initially overfired and burned thru the baffle.

The baffle is hard to get to to clean, you either have to remove the baffle or flue. Neither are hard, but take some effort. If you brush the flue, all the creosote falls on top of the baffle. So, a lazy or naieve wood burner cleaned the flue a few times. A 3-4 inch deep pile of creosote built up & was sitting there above the burn area and finally ignited.........poof.....instant super hot fire, melting the baffle!
This explains why the rest of the stove showed no real damage. I think I am going to go ponder the Trade Towers now............



RD

 

[carvinmark]

That's one fine looking stove you have now.