Heatform Fireplace Repairs

[CastleGil]

Hi everyone! I am new to Hearth.com but I know I will be back as the castle adventure continues. In other places, I have had typical brick lined fireplaces. The castle has two chimneys with three flues each. The west chimney is fed by an oil burning boiler, a main floor Heatform fireplace and a wood burning stove (twin 55-gallon barrel type). The east chimney is fed by a main floor wood burning stove, a manually fed multi-fuel (wood, coal, etc.) hot air furnace, and a second oil burning boiler.

The Heatform is a very large 1994 or 95 fireplace with 7 heat tubes. The firebox is 5' 11-1/2" wide, 1' 11" deep at the bottom and the opening is 2' 7" high. The whole thing, including front heated air chamber is over 5' high. Around all this metal is tons of stone (9' 3" wide, 4' 11" deep, and perhaps 9' high. I-beams (4 identified so far) cross throughout. I pray for the foundation, one story below, which also supports a fireplace like structure. In general, the installation seems to conform with the Model A installation as seen in the 1959 brochure/catalogue I found on line, though this unit was built 35 years later and is not a size listed in the original brochure.

Here is what I know so far:

1. The product plate is unreadable, though there are embossed numbers that seem to be 64412. I plan to remove it ad try to read it under a microscope.
2. In general, the whole thing is a bit rusty (some places more than others but is generally solid and intact.
3. The damper is off track or hinge (I have been unable to actually see the ends) and it needs to be either re-hung or replaced. It is rusted at the bottom edge to some extent and is misaligned or warped. It is not cast iron, but simply bent sheet metal.
4. The damper cradle (angle iron and sheet metal end caps) needs some work as one of the rails is disconnected from the end piece and is now bent in the middle and separated from the front hot air box.
5. The firebox is intact.
6. The side vents in the firebox (tubes with sliding door covers) which go out the back wall are full of bird/squirrel nest material which I have started cleaning out. There never was any sort of screen on the outside, so I will add something.
7. Both hot air fans work fine.
8. The front heated air box where the 7 tubes terminate appears to be just fine, except for the unsupported center of its roughly 6' wide top has started to warp down a little. In addition to the front grill, there are side tubes out of this box that go to the second floor.
9. All seven tubes appear to be intact.
10. The sheet metal used in the area that the tubes cross, between firebox hot airspace and the front heated air box seems thin for the application but appears to be intact.
11. I am guessing that due to the misaligned or warped damper and the bent damper cradle that the fireplace has been used without the fans running and that it got to hot.
12. I have not reached into the smoke shelf yet but I suspect that it is full of type 1 creosote or the like.
13. The chimney is about 20 feet tall. The draft is great once the broken damper is open.

Questions, next steps, and thoughts:

1. Is it possible to replace the damper, which is above the 7 tubes? The only way I can see doing it is through the chimney.
2. Is this unit reasonably efficient? It sure can heat a room.
3. How does one clean the smoke shelf that is almost impossible to reach from the inside?
4. How does one determine the condition of the outer shell of the firebox hot air chamber?
5. The next step is a chimney sweep of all six chimneys and a camera inspection of each.
6. I was thinking that I would like to save this thing.
7. Are there qualified folks that know how to repair these things? Any thoughts on who? I am 20 minutes from Dulles Airport, in Northern, VA.
8. If anyone has somewhat contemporary drawings and/or instructions for this beast, I would love to have copies.

Sorry about the book, I just need to make decisions quickly, but I don't know where to start.

 

[bholler]

Hi everyone! I am new to Hearth.com but I know I will be back as the castle adventure continues. In other places, I have had typical brick lined fireplaces. The castle has two chimneys with three flues each. The west chimney is fed by an oil burning boiler, a main floor Heatform fireplace and a wood burning stove (twin 55-gallon barrel type). The east chimney is fed by a main floor wood burning stove, a manually fed multi-fuel (wood, coal, etc.) hot air furnace, and a second oil burning boiler.

The Heatform is a very large 1994 or 95 fireplace with 7 heat tubes. The firebox is 5' 11-1/2" wide, 1' 11" deep at the bottom and the opening is 2' 7" high. The whole thing, including front heated air chamber is over 5' high. Around all this metal is tons of stone (9' 3" wide, 4' 11" deep, and perhaps 9' high. I-beams (4 identified so far) cross throughout. I pray for the foundation, one story below, which also supports a fireplace like structure. In general, the installation seems to conform with the Model A installation as seen in the 1959 brochure/catalogue I found on line, though this unit was built 35 years later and is not a size listed in the original brochure.

Here is what I know so far:

1. The product plate is unreadable, though there are embossed numbers that seem to be 64412. I plan to remove it ad try to read it under a microscope.
2. In general, the whole thing is a bit rusty (some places more than others but is generally solid and intact.
3. The damper is off track or hinge (I have been unable to actually see the ends) and it needs to be either re-hung or replaced. It is rusted at the bottom edge to some extent and is misaligned or warped. It is not cast iron, but simply bent sheet metal.
4. The damper cradle (angle iron and sheet metal end caps) needs some work as one of the rails is disconnected from the end piece and is now bent in the middle and separated from the front hot air box.
5. The firebox is intact.
6. The side vents in the firebox (tubes with sliding door covers) which go out the back wall are full of bird/squirrel nest material which I have started cleaning out. There never was any sort of screen on the outside, so I will add something.
7. Both hot air fans work fine.
8. The front heated air box where the 7 tubes terminate appears to be just fine, except for the unsupported center of its roughly 6' wide top has started to warp down a little. In addition to the front grill, there are side tubes out of this box that go to the second floor.
9. All seven tubes appear to be intact.
10. The sheet metal used in the area that the tubes cross, between firebox hot airspace and the front heated air box seems thin for the application but appears to be intact.
11. I am guessing that due to the misaligned or warped damper and the bent damper cradle that the fireplace has been used without the fans running and that it got to hot.
12. I have not reached into the smoke shelf yet but I suspect that it is full of type 1 creosote or the like.
13. The chimney is about 20 feet tall. The draft is great once the broken damper is open.

Questions, next steps, and thoughts:

1. Is it possible to replace the damper, which is above the 7 tubes? The only way I can see doing it is through the chimney.
2. Is this unit reasonably efficient? It sure can heat a room.
3. How does one clean the smoke shelf that is almost impossible to reach from the inside?
4. How does one determine the condition of the outer shell of the firebox hot air chamber?
5. The next step is a chimney sweep of all six chimneys and a camera inspection of each.
6. I was thinking that I would like to save this thing.
7. Are there qualified folks that know how to repair these things? Any thoughts on who? I am 20 minutes from Dulles Airport, in Northern, VA.
8. If anyone has somewhat contemporary drawings and/or instructions for this beast, I would love to have copies.

Sorry about the book, I just need to make decisions quickly, but I don't know where to start.

If the damper is rusted I can pretty much guarantee the smoke shelf is as well. The only way to fix it is to cut out the heat form and build a new masonry firebox. It is also very unsafe to use if combustible material was drought into the heat passages by animals.