FireplaceX Large Flush Wood Hybrid-Fyre

[webby3650]

The smaller medium flush is a non-cat. It’s designed without a catalyst. What an idiot!! Travis is hard to get to cover warranties to begin with, you’d be on your own if you damaged the stove while running without a cat. I guarantee it! Unless Dean is willing to pay for a replacement stove out of pocket? We have had to do that with a few stoves that had failures that Travis wouldn’t cover under warranty.

 

[prezes13]

Funny story about deans, they used to be a blaze king dealer. Not anymore. They sell Travis ind product almost exclusively. Once in the while the owner of Travis ind comes to that store. Do yourself a favor run the stove the way it’s designed to be run. Listen to the experiences people here not a shady sales person who will tell you what you want to hear just so he could sell you something.

 

[mjrotor]

The smaller medium flush is a non-cat. It’s designed without a catalyst. What an idiot!! Travis is hard to get to cover warranties to begin with, you’d be on your own if you damaged the stove while running without a cat. I guarantee it! Unless Dean is willing to pay for a replacement stove out of pocket? We have had to do that with a few stoves that had failures that Travis wouldn’t cover under warranty.

I called the sales guy out on what he told me. He said Dean's would cover the warranty. I am highly suspect of their coverage. He said to come down and talk to himself or Dean about it.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[mjrotor]

I would like to thank everyone here on the forum that has helped me. I chose to switch to the Liberty Freedom insert. I am ok with not getting 12 hr burns. I have a Liberty Avalon, and I can get 3 to 4 hr burns without a fan. I really wanted a bigger firebox, and the Freedom provides this. I think burn times are probably never to be expected, and I am content with my decision. I struggled all week with my original purchase of the FPX large hybrid. I am not knocking the FPX, I just don't feel comfortable with the catalyst piece. Also, I was just not comfortable with the maintenance of the catalyst element. I know the maintenance may have been small, but I just did not want the hassle.

 

[Dmitry]

I would like to thank everyone here on the forum that has helped me. I chose to switch to the Liberty Freedom insert. I am ok with not getting 12 hr burns. I have a Liberty Avalon, and I can get 3 to 4 hr burns without a fan. I really wanted a bigger firebox, and the Freedom provides this. I think burn times are probably never to be expected, and I am content with my decision. I struggled all week with my original purchase of the FPX large hybrid. I am not knocking the FPX, I just don't feel comfortable with the catalyst piece. Also, I was just not comfortable with the maintenance of the catalyst element. I know the maintenance may have been small, but I just did not want the hassle.

Hey, You have catalyst-phobia. LOL. Did you consider Kuma Sequoia ? It has 3.5 cu square box. But requires 8" liner and has cat. converter.

 

[mjrotor]

Hey, You have catalyst-phobia. LOL. Did you consider Kuma Sequoia ? It has 3.5 cu square box. But requires 8' liner and has cat. converter.

I will admit it, I am not a fan of the catalyst. I am sure I could handle it, but I don't want to mess with them. I had a Regency Excalibur at my old house and loved it. This was a non-cat and it worked great. They only thing that I have ever changed on it was the door gasket. This was after 5-6 years of use.

 

[begreen]

I will admit it, I am not a fan of the catalyst. I am sure I could handle it, but I don't want to mess with them.

Did you change your order to the Freedom insert?

 

[mjrotor]

Did you change your order to the Freedom insert?

yes, I drove down there today and changed the order.

 

[begreen]

That should work fine for you.

 

[Russ M]

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, and hoping to find some help. Over the weekend, we purchased the FireplaceX Large Flush Wood Hybrid-Fyre. What intrigued me about this stove was that it's a hybrid. I am not a fan of the catalytic stoves, but the sales guy, at Deans Stoves in CT, told me that you can run the stove without the catalytic element. They had it running without the element at their store. ( safety hazard ?? ) My previous house I had a Regency Ex90, and I loved it. So, since we just purchased it, the efficiency of the stove goes from .58 to 1.6 or so when not using the cat element. There is no documentation on this. The next day after making the purchase, I decided to read the owner's manual. In the owner's manual it states "it is illegal to run the stove without the catalyst element" I spoke to two other fireplace distributors in CT with the same stove, and they said that it would create problems. One person even called Travis Industries and spoke to their sales rep. They said that if the stove is run without the catylst it could over fire and you would not be able to regulate the temp. When I say over fire, I mean a chimney fire. This does not make sense to me, since the non-cat stoves could have the same result. I know this is a little long winded but here our my questions. I am questioning the decision, and wondering if I should go with the Lopi Freedom ( non-cat )insert instead. Also, if you are wondering why we did not go with a non-cat stove, it's because we liked the look of the X being flush. Most of the non-cat inserts are not flush and stick out.

1) Does anyone own this and how do they like it? I have a 3000 SF colonial. I don't expect it to heat the upstairs very well, but our downstairs is pretty open.
2) Has anyone ever run this without the catalyst? Is it safe to run without it?
3) Can I just run it with the damper open, thus bypassing the catalyst? What are problems with keep the damp open? The only issue I see is that the cat element would not be used

Any other advice/information would be great.

Thanks
Mike

My advice is to not overthink it - if the FP comes with the Cat use it - I just installed (myself) a FPX Apex 42 with the cat and greenstart (really digging the greenstart) and have had 2 fires in it - I have not closed in the unit yet as it needs the county to inspect it, but I can place on hand on the unit anyplace and leave it there without it being hot - even the top of the unit. The flue is a little like touching a crockpot in heat but nothing to catch anything on fire. My dealer in southwest ohio sells only FPX and they said they've not had an issue with the catylst.

 

[webby3650]

My advice is to not overthink it - if the FP comes with the Cat use it - I just installed (myself) a FPX Apex 42 with the cat and greenstart (really digging the greenstart) and have had 2 fires in it - I have not closed in the unit yet as it needs the county to inspect it, but I can place on hand on the unit anyplace and leave it there without it being hot - even the top of the unit. The flue is a little like touching a crockpot in heat but nothing to catch anything on fire. My dealer in southwest ohio sells only FPX and they said they've not had an issue with the catylst.

Either the dealer hasn’t been in business long, or he’s just blowing smoke. If they only sell Cat units, they’d have issues here and there. Even the best cat stove manufacturers have issues from time to time.

 

[Russ M]

Either the dealer hasn’t been in business long, or he’s just blowing smoke. If they only sell Cat units, they’d have issues here and there. Even the best cat stove manufacturers have issues from time to time.

He did say I will have to maintain the catalyst and they do provide a special brush for cleaning the catalyst, but i refrained from buying a spare set of catalyst right now because of the dealers experience. I know the catalyst will eventually need to be replaced, but that is normal maintenance to me and I understood that when i purchased the FP. The FP catalyst heats up to 500 degrees within the 1st 30 to 40 mins from a cold start up and you can hardly see smoke coming from the flue - I'll post an update after I've used the FP over the next few weeks and then into next burning season.

 

[davidlafollette57]

Sounds like you already have the answer. It's not permitted by law, not tested or designed to run that way and in general a bad idea. This wouldn't be the first time that a salesperson was blowing smoke.

There's no way to turn the heat down the flame goes to high without

 

[Dmitry]

There's no way to turn the heat down the flame goes to high without

Sorry, what?

 

[Pologuy9906]

I have this unit and I love it. I have a colonial about 2600 sqft. It heats my entire second level and half the first floor. Its great. I pack it and get 8+ hours depending on the wood species. I heat the other portion with a Woodmaster Flexfuel Gassification Boiler. I filled my oil tank on 10/01/19 ive used 1/8 of a tank so far.

Dont regret buying it. Wish I discovered this sooner. My cousin had one and I would always say I would never install one. They were ugly............boy was I wrong.

Got a really good price from a store in Wilton CT. I had an issue with my cat and they came right out to fix it.

 

[Jsid0984]

Got my Large flush Hybrid installed about a month ago...... man is this fun! Curious of the stats you all are getting from yours..... Can't say that I am operating efficiently yet but I do have seasoned wood (a lot of skinnier splits) and mild winter so far in Eastern PA and am not seeing 10-12 hr burn times.... maybe 10-12 hr fan runs times but heat is minimal at end of the run.

What is the key to a long hot burn with this beast?

 

[Dmitry]

Got my Large flush Hybrid installed about a month ago...... man is this fun! Curious of the stats you all are getting from yours..... Can't say that I am operating efficiently yet but I do have seasoned wood (a lot of skinnier splits) and mild winter so far in Eastern PA and am not seeing 10-12 hr burn times.... maybe 10-12 hr fan runs times but heat is minimal at end of the run.

What is the key to a long hot burn with this beast?
View attachment 256874

10 hours is a stretch. I live in CT and I load it 3 times in 24 hours cycle, so I guess 8 hours is my "burn" time with good wood and fully loaded firebox.

 

[FPX Dude]

Whoa, nice job, that looks great

 

[Jsid0984]

10 hours is a stretch. I live in CT and I load it 3 times in 24 hours cycle, so I guess 8 hours is my "burn" time with good wood and fully loaded firebox.

Always good to hear what is actually happening out there! I was never under the impression it would actually have a 12 hr burn time but I did keep some hope alive haha Still 100% pleased with the performance!

 

[Jsid0984]

Whoa, nice job, that looks great

Thanks FPX, 1958 home was in need of LOTS of TLC! A coat of paint (maybe 2 ha) on the rocks was not my first choice but necessary....

 

[Jsid0984]

10 hours is a stretch. I live in CT and I load it 3 times in 24 hours cycle, so I guess 8 hours is my "burn" time with good wood and fully loaded firebox.

Dmitry do you mind sharing your stats?

10 hours is a stretch. I live in CT and I load it 3 times in 24 hours cycle, so I guess 8 hours is my "burn" time with good wood and fully loaded firebox.

Just curious what size splits you are burning. Wood type? I'm all about learning!
You have any Q's about my setup?

 

[Dmitry]

My wood is primarily 2-3 years old beech, some maple, and oak. Not near-perfect internal 20 percent as it was uncovered and in shade. Splits are 4 to 5 inches thick, cut to 20-inch length specifically for this stove.
Love the look if the stove, hate shallow triangular firebox.
I don't have cat thermometer, so I made dyi probe that goes in a top of fire box, closing air about 3/4 when all the wood on fire and temperature around 500f, trying not to go over 600f.

 

[Jsid0984]

My wood is primarily 2-3 years old beech, some maple, and oak. Not near-perfect internal 20 percent as it was uncovered and in shade. Splits are 4 to 5 inches thick, cut to 20-inch length specifically for this stove.
Love the look if the stove, hate shallow triangular firebox.
I don't have cat thermometer, so I made dyi probe that goes in a top of fire box, closing air about 3/4 when all the wood on fire and temperature around 500f, trying not to go over 600f.

Very interesting and thanks for the share! I am using 1-2 yr old oak @ approx. 14% moisture but 2-4 inch splits. I get very high burn temps (800-1000F) even with 3/4 air closed but my burn times are only 4-5hrs pushing it with coals only for the last 1-2 hrs.... I get frustrated at times but think with larger splits I may see some better stats....... here is to hoping at least! Agree the firebox design is a bit off for trying to cut wood specific for the thing.... I try to pack in angled layers but still lots of wasted space.

 

[Dmitry]

Your temp reading is different from mine. You have cat probe, and 800 to 1000F is in the normal range, I think. 2-inch splits is definitely too small and not going to give you long times. On the other hand, I have 3 yo Oak with splits 6 on 6, it takes forever to dry. Try to mix sizes to get longer burn times. I'm trying to pit as much wood as i can with no space between splits. It's like a game of Tetris every time. When I'm home, I burn uglies and odd-sized splits with air wide open.

 

[Jsid0984]

Your temp reading is different from mine. You have cat probe, and 800 to 1000F is in the normal range, I think. 2-inch splits is definitely too small and not going to give you long times. On the other hand, I have 3 yo Oak with splits 6 on 6, it takes forever to dry. Try to mix sizes to get longer burn times. I'm trying to pit as much wood as i can with no space between splits. It's like a game of Tetris every time. When I'm home, I burn uglies and odd-sized splits with air wide open.

so you are burning with no air gaps between splits in the box? I was under the impression air space was necessary......