Free wood

fig, I never realized that the New Style DS door didn't have functional air vents. I suppose it would be a candidate for doing that. At more cost and bother.

Thanks for posting the DS corner baffles. I remember somebody posting about those many years ago. I think they were having some trouble dealing with puff backs for some reason. You're likely right about them helping with wood burning. If my memory is working, I think DS called them Explosion proof baffles.

Seems they are trying to push the energymax’s over the circulators . When I purchased this summer I wanted an 1800 circulator . They said they weren’t making them at this time . Although the energymax’s have top air wash . I needed up with an energy max 160.$200 for a door seems very reasonable . I couldn’t drill holes for 200 bucks .

I wonder if DS will bring back the Circulator line again or not. I'm thinking not. They dropped it once before, then brought it back for a while. On their website, they no longer list a number of stoves that they made for years. Like the Econo Riteburn copy of a Rightway 37 and the Bucket a day stove, etc. Not to say they don't have some at their shop in Lancaster county.

The OP's DS1600 is a big boy and was the largest Circulator model. I believe it has 12 side and two rear circulator tubes. 70 lb. firebox plus the hopper. DS has always advertised their hoppers as 50 lb. capacity. I would say they're more like 35 lb.

hank2 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 18, 2023 1:43 am

I wonder if DS will bring back the Circulator line again or not. I'm thinking not. They dropped it once before, then brought it back for a while. On their website, they no longer list a number of stoves that they made for years. Like the Econo Riteburn copy of a Rightway 37 and the Bucket a day stove, etc. Not to say they don't have some at their shop in Lancaster county.

The OP's DS1600 is a big boy and was the largest Circulator model. I believe it has 12 side and two rear circulator tubes. 70 lb. firebox plus the hopper. DS has always advertised their hoppers as 50 lb. capacity. I would say they're more like 35 lb.

The local amishman that sells them around my area . He has a circulator used for sale . I’m not sure which model it was . I think it was the 1600 . He burnt it in his home last year . He kinda steered me toward the energymax . I think a fellow could get that circulator at a good price

zachary193 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 18, 2023 10:28 pm

The local amishman that sells them around my area . He has a circulator used for sale . I’m not sure which model it was . I think it was the 1600 . He burnt it in his home last year . He kinda steered me toward the energymax . I think a fellow could get that circulator at a good price

I've seen the DS 1600 in a couple of large old order Mennonite shops or barns around my area. I have a 1400 and it does a great job for me. I could have used a bit more stove at times and a 1500 would be perfect for me. Endless amount of used coal stoves sale these days. Very few used DS stoves for sale. Looks like the few newbies are going to used plug in stoker parlor stoves on bagged rice. The no kilowatts needed handfired has saved my bacon a few times. Including 8 day and 4 day outages.

I called DS stove for parts several years ago and they wanted to know how I got my hands on one. I got the impression they’re only meant for Amish. It was an odd conversation. I reckon they’re more mainstream now.

fig wrote: ↑

Thu. Jan. 19, 2023 8:53 pm

I called DS stove for parts several years ago and they wanted to know how I got my hands on one. I got the impression they’re only meant for Amish. It was an odd conversation. I reckon they’re more mainstream now.

Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t really sell me one last summer ? I mean he had a used one . I had green stuff ! He just took more of my green stuff . Which I am happy with the energy max though

fig wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 16, 2023 7:52 pm

The spinner knobs on it are purely ornamental. There is no air passage through the door.

"Look honey, when I turn these knobs it runs better"

davidmcbeth3 wrote: ↑

Fri. Jan. 20, 2023 8:55 pm

"Look honey, when I turn these knobs it runs better"

The original Circulator had the “ornamental” knobs on the ash door. The Amish guy said that was their attempt at making it look a little more fancy. fail.

Paisan wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 21, 2023 3:08 pm

The original Circulator had the “ornamental” knobs on the ash door. The Amish guy said that was their attempt at making it look a little more fancy. fail.

I managed a R&D group at one company...we ran experimental runs on products. Some machines were upgraded but still had the original dials on control panels but were not hooked up anymore so they did nothing. But operators would show up and relief other operators and move the dials and say "I can run this equipment better than Joe (previous operator), see ?" "Uh-huh" I would say, never telling them.

Paisan wrote: ↑

Sat. Jan. 21, 2023 3:08 pm

The original Circulator had the “ornamental” knobs on the ash door. The Amish guy said that was their attempt at making it look a little more fancy. fail.

My Circulator is old enough to have the fake ash door spinners.

It's been a few years, but I've been to their shop a couple of times and also bought things over the phone. Never had a " go away, you're not Amish or Mennonite" attitude there. They have an open house day or two once a year when they discount everything.

I have a DS Circulator 1600 w the fake knobs myself. Actually i just loaded a 5 gal bucket hand picked coal into it and i have the ash door open for a few minutes, so i logged on here which i haven’t done in a few years. I paid $400 for this ds about 8 years ago. Used it a lot and would never consider getting rid of it nor replacing it. It is an amazing stove. Someone up above mentioned the trick to burning wood in this thove, a paper clip under the air flap. I usually end up using a tiny piece of wood i can wedge in there but the gap is literally the width of a paper clip. I had to redo my password and all that stuff but i had to comment on this to let Hank2 know he nailed it w his guess! You dont have to disconnect the bi-mettalic t-stat (generic term), just turn it all the way closed or off as if will be functionless at that point. Literally the width of a paper clip is the key to burning wood in my ds circ 1600. No need for spinners or a new door. Be Kind—-John Treskolasky Jr

I just think it’s awesome that DS has a solution for people that own these stoves that want the option to burn other fuels besides anthracite. I’d jump on that 200 bucks for the new door. At current coal prices it will probably save you the cost of a new stove before spring (and your UL listing would still be good, not so if you start drilling holes in your stove). I contacted hitzer last week and asked if there were any options for my 50-93 and No was the answer. I’d burn wood or bituminous any day. 2 years now my coal stove is cold, I’ll probably sell it and buy a woodstove. Coal stoves are for sale everywhere in the paper and on marketplace. Sadly no longer worth running unless you live close to the mines.