Can I make my old cook stove (almost) air tight?

[Lrdrlker17]

I have an old Beach Compeer cook stove, about 1914-15. I picked it up about 10 years ago. It has been sitting in my basement since then and last fall I decided to hook it up and burn a bit of scrap wood and split wood that I cut last spring.
My chimney was already set up with a stainless liner so I picked up some double lined pipe and got it going. It worked great but for one problem...it burns WAYYY too quickly! Even with everything closed down and burning hard maple, it is reduced to ashes in under 2 hours! The top is sucking air between the fire box and the oven main cooking surface and of course it sucks air like crazy behind the fire box door cover, through the ash grate holes and around the fire box door and ash box cover!
The "secondary burn?" holes on the side of the fire box is just a conduit for a steady stream of air even with the main damper closed! Does this system really work???
Is there ANYTHING I can seal up which will make this stove more efficient?
Any advice from seasoned pros would be GREATLY appreciated! I have some pics with the top off because I was considering sealing the main top with high heat caulking. Mistake? Let me know. Thanks

 

[bholler]

I have an old Beach Compeer cook stove, about 1914-15. I picked it up about 10 years ago. It has been sitting in my basement since then and last fall I decided to hook it up and burn a bit of scrap wood and split wood that I cut last spring.
My chimney was already set up with a stainless liner so I picked up some double lined pipe and got it going. It worked great but for one problem...it burns WAYYY too quickly! Even with everything closed down and burning hard maple, it is reduced to ashes in under 2 hours! The top is sucking air between the fire box and the oven main cooking surface and of course it sucks air like crazy behind the fire box door cover, through the ash grate holes and around the fire box door and ash box cover!
The "secondary burn?" holes on the side of the fire box is just a conduit for a steady stream of air even with the main damper closed! Does this system really work???
Is there ANYTHING I can seal up which will make this stove more efficient?
Any advice from seasoned pros would be GREATLY appreciated! I have some pics with the top off because I was considering sealing the main top with high heat caulking. Mistake? Let me know. Thanks View attachment 293844 View attachment 293845

It's a coal stove. Burning wood in it is going to lead to extremely short burn times

 

[Lrdrlker17]

Well how do you tell the difference between a coal burning stove and a wood burning stove??? Mine looks exactly like this one minus the water tank and this is a wood burning stove...

 

[stoveliker]

The coal shaker grate and likely air from the bottom are the give-aways. The difference is on the inside, comparing outsides is not really relevant.

 

[bholler]

Well how do you tell the difference between a coal burning stove and a wood burning stove??? Mine looks exactly like this one minus the water tank and this is a wood burning stove...

View attachment 293859

The firebox design tells me it is for coal. The shaker grates and the secondary holes are the giveaway. And just the time of manufacture. There were very few woodstoves made at that time.

 

[Lrdrlker17]

Yup...I googled it! You're right So, there's NOTHING I can do to improve the efficiency of this stove? What a shame...I love the look of this little stove!

 

[bholler]

Yup...I googled it! You're right So, there's NOTHING I can do to improve the efficiency of this stove? What a shame...I love the look of this little stove!

You could burn coal. That's about it. I am sure it could use a tear down and rebuild and that would gain you a little time but it's never going to burn more than a few hours with wood

 

[gthomas785]

The way I learned to run a cookstove, you want it to burn quickly. You use small splits and keep feeding it continuously to maintain a desired temperature. If you want a cooler stove, add less wood. They aren't really designed to burn for a long time without tending, especially the antique ones.
Add on the fact that yours has coal grates and a bottom air feed, and I'm surprised yours even lasts an hour.

 

[Corey]

When I was faced with a loose / drafty "stove-o-fireplace" type contraption in my early years, one of the things which helped the most was closing the damper by a slight amount. Obviously closing too much and smoke starts pouring out the stove. But if you have a way to fill/plug as many holes as possible ...possibly bolts/nuts for each one or welding closed depending on how drastic you want to get, and try to seal any cracks with stove cement, gasket material, filing/scraping for better mating surfaces, etc, that can get you a bit better burn time.

Note: Make any mods above with caution, especially if you decide to start closing the damper a bit - and a good CO detector is recommended.

 

[begreen]

There were very few woodstoves made at that time.

That may be more of a regional thing, based on the prevalent fuels available. Out west cookstoves by Washington Stove Works for example were wood burners. Many had the option to be wood or coal burners. Several brands like Glenwood adveritsed them as wood/coal burners. By the early 1900s you could also order them fit for gas.

The old Buffalo cook stove I used back in CT was set up for wood, no shaker grates and a bit larger firebox. It needed to be re-fed every 4-5 hrs.

 

[Max W]

If you can find a way to get the ashes to build up it can help a little bit. Something where the ashes and small coals don’t drop through those grates

Have to chuckle, 26 dollars and free shipping. That Majestic is really something. I was exchanging labor for a double oven cook stove that was in a nearby inactive Grange hall. I was excited by the size of the firebox compared to our little Atlantic. Sadly, as far as getting the stove, we decided to move from our very open living space to a house that couldn’t accommodate it. Never even thought how I would move it. When you’re young you don’t let things like give you pause. Glenwood was pretty popular in NewEngland.

 

[Lrdrlker17]

I thought maybe if I seal up all the leaks in the burner top and shut the damper down after it gets going, I could experiment with those side air holes and use bolts /nuts and plug those off gradually until I have just the right flow to keep it going.
Maybe 2 or 3 left open. Perhaps that would choke it down a bit.

 

[bholler]

I thought maybe if I seal up all the leaks in the burner top and shut the damper down after it gets going, I could experiment with those side air holes and use bolts /nuts and plug those off gradually until I have just the right flow to keep it going.
Maybe 2 or 3 left open. Perhaps that would choke it down a bit.

What is your goal with this stove? Are you planning on using is as a cook stove or do you want it to be a heater?

 

[Lrdrlker17]

Heater in the basement. I'm in northern Ontario where we routinely get -40 in January..
1..we had 18 nights of -30 this year.
If I get it going good and hot for about 2 hours, it gets my upstairs floor nice and warm and that warmth radiates through the main floor and really takes the run times of our propane furnace down.
If I can save just 1 fill up of propane, we average 3/season, I'll save myself $750 this winter!
Plus it's a different kind of warmth in the house...nice...

 

[bholler]

Heater in the basement. I'm in northern Ontario where we routinely get -40 in January..
1..we had 18 nights of -30 this year.
If I get it going good and hot for about 2 hours, it gets my upstairs floor nice and warm and that warmth radiates through the main floor and really takes the run times of our propane furnace down.
If I can save just 1 fill up of propane, we average 3/season, I'll save myself $750 this winter!
Plus it's a different kind of warmth in the house...nice...

It is never going to be an efficient heater at all Thats just not what it was designed for. Yes it can produce some heat but it will take lots of wood and lots of loading

 

[Lrdrlker17]

Would it help if I removed the ash graters and got a pan made with a few holes in it so ash could still go through but far less air would be coming up from the bottom, especially after some ash builds up on the plate?

 

[stoveliker]

Everything will help, but it'll be eating so much wood.

If this is an emotional attachment, then I'd close holes etc. But if not, why not buy a new stove. Drolet has low prices while being a good brand. It's going to save you likely half the wood consumption for the same heat...

 

[stoveliker]

Also, fyi, estimates are that one looses 1/3 of the heat thru the walls and floors if the basement is not insulated... So it would help a lot to do that if it is not insulated yet. (

 

[Lrdrlker17]

I removed the ash grater and rack and fire bricks fit perfectly without cutting. I left a 1/2" gap between each brick for lower air flow and ash dropping. I plugged 9 of the 12 air supply holes(this can be easily opened up for more air) and caulked the top before reinstalling the top cooking surface.
I caulked using high heat caulking and let it sit for 3 hours then lit a fire as instructed to cure the caulking. I also plugged the holes where the ash graters were using caulking and a strip of stainless steel.
After I lit it the first thing I noticed was it didn't "roar" as loudly with the lower damper open. I shut the lower damper down after about 10 minutes and cut the pipe damper back to 1/4 open . I'll let it burn for about 30 minutes then put a chunk of hard maple in and if I get over 2 hours from it I'll consider this to be successful. I'll keep you posted!👍👍

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you are going for the experiment and the adventure. Make sure the stove is installed safely and have fun. One thing to check is the draft on mild days. Basements are often negative pressure zones, especially if a window is opened upstairs or a strong kitchen fan is turned on. You don't want draft stalling with a load of wood in the stove and the bypass closed. That could be a smoky and costly issue. Also, install a CO monitor in addition to the smoke detector in this room.

 

[stoveliker]

If you have over-fire air coming in, you could close off all the gaps between the bricks, and just shovel out the ashes (as a lot of stove owners do) rather than dumping them in an ash tray. You'll have a cold stove often enough (with the short burn times) that taking out ashes should be no issue.