Big Moe Questions

[Seefral]

Hi folks. I'm brand new to this form.

My neighbor is offering me a Big Moe stove that came with the house he just purchased. It's going to take considerable effort to get it out of his basement. Before I do I wanted to get some expert answers to my questions. The stove is not hooked up and looks like it will need quite a bit of TLC to make it look good in my basement and work properly.

I suspect I'll have to change the firebrick. From what I've read, that's a pain, but doable. Stoves I've had in the past had angle iron to hold the bricks in place. These angle irons also let me know where bricks are needed. I presume this will be similar. If anyone has a picture of the brick layout that would be helpful. As I understand it, I'll have to put down fiberglass mat insulation that is then covered by sheet metal and then the brick on the floor of the stove. As I understand it the firebricks will likely have to be cut on my tile saw. He doesn't have the blower for it but it does have a "port" on the right side. I presume I can get a blower and rig something up. Suggestions here appreciated. The caps on the outlet ports on the front of the stove are missing. I'm assuming they are not necessary. Let me know if they are required for proper function. Finally, on the back, where the stove pipe connects, there are two concentric flanges like in the attached pic. Why two? Is this to accommodate two different size stove pipe sizes, or is this for some other function? Which one do I connect the stove pipe to?

 

[Blazzinghot]

Welcome to the forum. Sometimes free comes with some difficulties. The two dials missing on the front may be what controls the amount of air intake to adjust how hot the stove runs. If so they are very important. As for the two sizes of pipe on the back I would say yes they are for different size pipes but the only one that is cut out is the smaller hole which has never made since to me.

This older stove is not going to be EPA rated and will put allot of smoke into the air. Not neighbor friendly. It will consume allot of wood and will not be as efficient as the newer wood stoves. Have you done any research on the newer wood stoves? I find that most people I sale rebuilt stoves to don’t have a clue how much wood stoves have changed over the years. While free is great it may cost in the end and your home insurance may not cover this older stove.

 

[coaly]

The bottom used an asbestos mat under bricks. Do not disturb it. Normally bottom bricks are ok, and should be covered with 1 inch of ash.

The inner pipe is the stove outlet. The space between the two pipes is for a water coil. Shown in manual here; https://hearth.com/images/uploads/AllNighterman.pdf

Woodman’s Parts Plus has blowers and automotive exhaust pipe can be used to connect. I posted blower pics in post #6 here;

All Nighter Rehab Questions...

Hi everyone. I'm a new member, but longtime reader of the forum. I currently use a All Nighter "Big Moe" wood stove as the primary heat source in the house and what started as a simple fire brick replacement ended up being more than I planned for. I apologize ahead of time for the long post...

www.hearth.com

You don’t need a tile saw for firebrick. They are very soft and cut easier than regular brick. Score with masonry blade and snap.

Blower outlet caps rusted away many times and are not required.

 

[coaly]

If installing on a non-combustible surface only firebrick is needed on bottom.

 

[MongoMongoson]

It is a great stove. I used one for close to a decade. Finally switched to a modern stove a few years ago. I love the modern stove for how clean it burns (less smoke, less creosote) and for the glass door, but it does not throw heat like the All Nighter.

Check the air tubes that run through the firebox. Make sure they are sound. The rest of the stove is much thicker steel. The air tube are more likely than anything else to burn out. I ran a blower through my air tubes almost always to help keep them cool and it really helped get more BTUs out of the stove. Mine was practically new looking when I got it, but the air tube louvers were missing. That is no big deal, they are not needed.

Attach a cleanout tee to the back of the stove. Female end attached to the stove, capped female end pointing down, male end pointing up.

I am glad coaly mentioned the asbestos mat. That is important to remember. Mine had firebrick on top of a piece of sheet metal on the floor. Under the sheet metal was the asbestos mat, then the steel stove body. Asbestos sucks, but even when the stove was really ripping the underside was pretty cool.

Enjoy it. Sometimes I still miss mine, but I really do like the new one.