Buck insert concerns

[KimR]

I think my fireplace is a Buck Stove insert. We burn wood and coal in it. My concern is that I've noticed a red ember/spark come out the blower, only a few times has this happened. Inside the firebox, there's a strip of metal that holds the firebricks in place. As you can see in the photo, that metal is warped. Could this be the cause of the embers/sparks coming out the blower? Or could it be something else? Thanks!

 

[Grateful11]

We got rid of a 40 some year old Buck Insert a few years ago. When it was pulled out we found I think 5 bad cracks in the firebox. I'm not sure that's a Buck. The only part that looks like a is the brass damper control and usually it says Buck but it appears to have an inside hidden fan which is inherent to older Buck stoves.

 

[bholler]

yeah that fan placement is horrible we just put a liner on one it would definitely concern me especially due to the fact that you are burning coal in it as well. Is it meant for coal it doesnt look like it is at all

 

[KimR]

yeah that fan placement is horrible we just put a liner on one it would definitely concern me especially due to the fact that you are burning coal in it as well. Is it meant for coal it doesnt look like it is at all

It has two fans, one on each side. We were told it was a wood/coal burning stove, really not sure though. Could that warped piece of metal be what's causing the embers from the blower?

 

[KimR]

How can you tell if its a coal stove?

 

[KimR]

bump

 

[KimR]

Inside the firebox, there's a strip of metal that holds the firebricks in place. As you can see in the photo, that metal is warped. Could this be the cause of the embers/sparks coming out the blower? Or could it be something else? Thanks!

 

[bholler]

that strip wouldnt do it but if it is burnt through somewhere it could. A coal stove will have grates in the bottom that the coal sits on and an air intake under that grate so combustion air comes up through the coal

 

[bholler]

At the least i think you need to clean it out completely pull out the fire brick and inspect everything thoroughly but if it was me or a customer of mine i would unhook the liner and pull it out and inspect everything

 

[mellow]

I doubt that thing has a liner connected to it, more than likely a rectangle exhaust, and it isn't a Buck, not sure what make it is exactly.

If it was me I would take the sparks coming out the blower as a sign to get rid of that old beast. For sure is not made for burning coal as it has no ash dump on it. That stove doesn't owe you anything, it needs to be put out to pasture for your safety if nothing else.

The only way you could get sparks out the blower is if your firebox has been compromised.

 

[bholler]

I agree i think it is a buck knock off but cant tell for sure. It could have a liner we have put liners on allot of stoves like that but i would not be surprised if it was a slammer either

 

[mellow]

I had a liner hooked up to my old craft stove insert via a rectangle to round insert adapter boot, but I think that is a rare exception these days.

 

[bholler]

from the ones we see about half are hooked to liners now but that doesn't take into account the ones we don't get called out to

 

[KimR]

When you speak of a liner, are you talking about an exhaust pipe that goes out the chimney or is the liner part of the firebox? This stove has a rectangular opening that goes straight up a flue lined chimney. Not sure if something fits down on top of the rectangular opening or if it's a straight shot up the chimney. If mine isn't intended for coal, is a true coal burning insert made of a different metal? Forgot to mention that, after recently purchasing/installing a stainless chimney cap, we noticed that the flue has substantial cracks in it too. If upon inspecting the firebox, and no cracks are found, could there be another area that the embers could be coming from? Like the rectangular opening at the top of the stove? Thanks again for everyone's input. I'm going to look into finding an inspector in my area.

 

[bholler]

If you get a sweep out to inspect it i can already tell you what they will (or should say). What you described is a slammer install so they will tell you that that type of install at the time it was done was common but now it is not to code and is inefficient and unsafe. It is also next to impossible to properly clean and due to the fact that your clay flue liners are cracked with your current setup regardless of the condition of the stove it is not advisable to burn it. Now they could inspect the stove and say it is in decent shape. If so you could attach a stainless liner to it and it would work ok but it would probably need an 8" liner and you would probably be better off switching to a different stove and a 6"liner. Also most sweeps i know including us will not even work on slammers anymore Generally we will pull it out clean and inspect everything so we can give you a good idea or your options and the cost of those options but we will not clean it again due to the potential liability. There are a few that will clean them but they make the customer sign a disclaimer and they usually charge at least twice a normal cleaning charge.