Assistance with an El Fuego Industries, LTD stove

[mpe1NY]

Hello all.

I'm new to this forum but not to burning wood.
The house I'm in came with an El Fuego Industries, LTD stove.
My search for info on the net returns only that the company has been closed for a while.
I'd appreciate any info on the construction and operation of the unit (a manual would be great).
I've attached a photo of the name plate as well as the stove.
Any help would be most welcome.

Thanks -

Mike

 

[Sodbuster]

Wow, haven't seen one of those i a while! My Grandfather had one, and liked it so much, my Dad decided to get one. It threw a lot of heat and was nice to burn as I recall. Any questions, ask away, it's been a long time, but I burned it a lot as a kid.

 

[Hogwildz]

Looks like a Fuego Flame, I tore one out when I moved here, cause it was junk. Not a 24/7 heater, more ambiance.

 

[Sodbuster]

Looks like a Fuego Flame, I tore one out when I moved here, cause it was junk. Not a 24/7 heater, more ambiance.

Certainly not junk, but not airtight, no secondary burn and not designed for the 24/7 burner. For the Sunday afternoon, cold gross night burner, they were a good alternative, with a great view of the fire. I would rather have a Fuego that a builders special ZC. My Dad connected a squirrel cage blower to the clean out door of the unused ash dump in the basement. Put that on a rheostat, then by propping the ash dump door ajar could pressurize the cavity to force air out of the top of the unit.

 

[Hogwildz]

Yes, junk. Period Great view, that's about it. Glowing red by the time it puts out any heat. Not a heater, a looker.

 

[Sodbuster]

Yes, junk. Period Great view, that's about it. Glowing red by the time it puts out any heat. Not a heater, a looker.

Well, you certainly added nothing of value but your own biased opinion to the OP's original post. mpe1NY's first post to Hearth.com and rather than give any guidance all you can do is tell him he has a piece of junk. Why even bother replying?

 

[Hogwildz]

Well, you certainly added nothing of value but your own biased opinion to the OP's original post. mpe1NY's first post to Hearth.com and rather than give any guidance all you can do is tell him he has a piece of junk. Why even bother replying?

Because if he plans on burning that thing other than for an occasional ambiance scenario, he is going to A. be disappointed, and B. possibly putting himself in a dangerous situation. You can call it bias, I call it hands on experience. Truth may hurt, but I'm not one to mix words when it comes to wood burning safety.

If you want to falsely give them the feeling it's ok to prop an ash dump open while the daddie's jimmie rigged squirrel cage blower forces heat out of something that was never made to perform that way, then you are the one who maybe should think about what you are replying.

There is a place for them, right along side a builder's grade ambiance fireplace.
This forum is to share knowledge of fun yet safe burning practices, none of which are displayed in your nonensical reply.
If you don't like what I have to say, there is a button you can click so you don't see my posts anymore. Feel free to use it.

To the original poster, sorry to say, you have nothing more than an ambiance wood burning appliance. If you want real heat from it, without the heat from your home going up the stack freely, you may want to consider replacing it with an appliance made for that purpose. If you want it purely for ambiance, then keep it as is, and remember to close the damper when it is out, so the heat from your home doesn't get sucked up and out to the wile blue yonder. And it is not okay for that thing to be cherry red while trying to get real heat from it, not saying you're doing that, but that is what will happen if trying to get any real house warming heat from it.

 

[Hogwildz]

Chances are, it is also a slammer install. I would check that before burning anything in it.

 

[Sodbuster]

Because if he plans on burning that thing other than for an occasional ambiance scenario, he is going to A. be disappointed, and B. possibly putting himself in a dangerous situation. You can call it bias, I call it hands on experience. Truth may hurt, but I'm not one to mix words when it comes to wood burning safety.

If you want to falsely give them the feeling it's ok to prop an ash dump open while the daddie's jimmie rigged squirrel cage blower forces heat out of something that was never made to perform that way, then you are the one who maybe should think about what you are replying.

There is a place for them, right along side a builder's grade ambiance fireplace.
This forum is to share knowledge of fun yet safe burning practices, none of which are displayed in your nonensical reply.
If you don't like what I have to say, there is a button you can click so you don't see my posts anymore. Feel free to use it.

To the original poster, sorry to say, you have nothing more than an ambiance wood burning appliance. If you want real heat from it, without the heat from your home going up the stack freely, you may want to consider replacing it with an appliance made for that purpose. If you want it purely for ambiance, then keep it as is, and remember to close the damper when it is out, so the heat from your home doesn't get sucked up and out to the wile blue yonder. And it is not okay for that thing to be cherry red while trying to get real heat from it, not saying you're doing that, but that is what will happen if trying to get any real house warming heat from it.

Hogz, certainly not worth getting into an argument over, at least not on my end, and if I came off salty, that's on me. OP, manuals are probably hard to come by, as this unit was more than likely made around mid to late 70's if I had to guess. Burn is controlled both by shutting the damper, and the air control slides you see on the lower front face. You'll know if you shut the damper too far as the fire will die out. Get it as low as you can with the damper, and then fine tune it with the air controls. It's designed to be burned with the doors closed, but we found that if we kept the one side open by tucking the closure latch between it and the stove, it would light much faster, and then the doors could be latched. As was stated it would be highly advisable to get both the unit and the installation method inspected by a sweep.

 

[Hogwildz]

May be a different model or manufacturer all together. Fuego Flame is still in business. Mine had a damper lever, but no air controls.
Fuego Flame is still in operation
Looks similar, but not exact. maybe an older model.
The screen surround is the giveaway, as they are the only ones I ever seen stock from factory like that.
Here is a link to their website. You can call and see if they can ID or help.
(broken link removed to http://fuegoflame.com/default.asp)

 

[Sodbuster]

Yes,the newer Fuego inserts only had damper control, no air slide controls.