Craft Stove 4832 Wood Burning Insert (National Steelcrafters inc.)

[thehouseisonfire]

I went out on a limb and bought this unit off FB marketplace to help assist with heating our built in 1774 home. This is my first real wood burning experience and I am learning a ton! First of all, installing a 8 inch insulated stainless flue pipe with a multiple flue chimney is so much fun, I highly recommend it, I'm still exhailing brick dust from climbing my chimney several feet and knocking out bricks

I could not find ANY information on this stove online so I thought I would post some useful information here, the previous owners I purchased it from were the type I like, they gave me every single piece of paperwork they had since new with the stove including the warranty. I believe this stove was made around 1991-1992.

I'm not going to lie, the stove is ok but I was expecting it to put off more heat. Also I bought one of those little stove gauges from Tractor Supply and I can not get the stove hotter then 300° F which concerns me, either that or the gauge is wrong. There are two internal ports that are mentioned in the manual for a temp gauge so maybe the internal temp is much higher, not sure on that one. It is a good looking stove though, just wish it threw off more heat. I have tried a couple of different types of wood with same luck, I have tried turning the cat on/off, I have tried turning the fan on high and low. So far the best I have found is literally stuffing the thing full of wood, turning the fan on high, closing the damper all the way, and closing the cat.

 

[mellow]

The buck 91 is pretty close to that craft in how it operates, I would check to make sure the cats are still good and are firing off. Like the buck 91 it needs a catalytic thermometer to tell you the catalytic temps so you can make sure the cats are lighting off. Taking a reading off the front like that won't tell you the whole story.

Condar catalytic thermometers

Condar catalytic probe thermometers are made of varing lengths to accomodate most catalytic wood stove models and extend the life of its catalyst.

www.condar.com

See if this video helps you operate it better:

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[thehouseisonfire]

I did get a faceplate temp of 450 the other night, higher then I've ever seen. I think it really like less than 10% dry wood and a TON of it.

thank you for the heads up on the Buck 91, will do some more research.

Learning tons from reading here.

 

[thehouseisonfire]

Just a quick update.

I pulled this stove out and it is now in my shop, if anyone needs a affordable stove or parts for one of these (such as the trim handles, etc) they are available.

I put in a Jotul F500 after watching my dad's unit. To be honest, it does marginally better! You live you learn!

 

[bholler]

Just a quick update.

I pulled this stove out and it is now in my shop, if anyone needs a affordable stove or parts for one of these (such as the trim handles, etc) they are available.

I put in a Jotul F500 after watching my dad's unit. To be honest, it does marginally better! You live you learn!

Is it the new v3 cat stove or the old tube stove? Is it still running on the 8" liner?