I am glad I found this site. Just moved into a new house in August with an Oslo stove. I've never burned wood before so I've got a lot to learn. First, a little about my stove. It's an Oslo. Looks older. About a month ago, I gave it a good cleaning and found a few things. Both side plates were cracked. The one on the side door was worse, cracked almost 2/3 of the way across and warped pretty badly. I replaced that one and the insulation. The other is only a slight fracture. I will replace that one at some point. (Parts ain't cheap). The glass is ruined. I tried to clean it but it is frosted. It will be replaced at some point as well, I'd like to eventually see the flames! The last thing I found was the handle to ash door is slightly damaged. The wood handle is a little "bent". (Actually the screw is bent). It works for now, and like the others, will be replaced, eventually. When I probed some local shops as to why the plates are cracked, I was told "overheating", most likely bad door seals. All the seals look good.
I explained all of that as a preclude. I've been burning for about a week now, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Still experimenting with getting the perfect load for overnight burns, had a few hot coals in there this morning, after about 6-7hrs do there is some progress. My biggest issue is getting the reload fired up. I thought I found a solution this morning when I happened to open the ash door after a reload. You would have thought I just discovered fire for the first time! I did it a few more times throughout the day and even showed my wife, "hey check this out!" Then, I found this site. After reading the cautions of doing this it all started to add up. The cracked and warped side plate, the bent ash door handle. I've learned quickly over the past couple months that the previous owner viewed himself somewhat of a handyman savant, who wasn't afraid to take shortcuts! I'm sure he used this "feature" regularly, which probably caused the over fire conditions I've yet to see for myself. Needless to say, thanks to this forum, I won't be doing the ole ash door trick anymore. I will also be visiting daily looking for more tips and advice. Thanks in advance!
I explained all of that as a preclude. I've been burning for about a week now, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Still experimenting with getting the perfect load for overnight burns, had a few hot coals in there this morning, after about 6-7hrs do there is some progress. My biggest issue is getting the reload fired up. I thought I found a solution this morning when I happened to open the ash door after a reload. You would have thought I just discovered fire for the first time! I did it a few more times throughout the day and even showed my wife, "hey check this out!" Then, I found this site. After reading the cautions of doing this it all started to add up. The cracked and warped side plate, the bent ash door handle. I've learned quickly over the past couple months that the previous owner viewed himself somewhat of a handyman savant, who wasn't afraid to take shortcuts! I'm sure he used this "feature" regularly, which probably caused the over fire conditions I've yet to see for myself. Needless to say, thanks to this forum, I won't be doing the ole ash door trick anymore. I will also be visiting daily looking for more tips and advice. Thanks in advance!
