How hard is this to fix? (Kent Sherwood)

[klockman]

First off, this is a great forum...I've lurked around as a guest for months and learned a lot.

I bought a house and this Kent Sherwood is in the basement. From what I've gathered online, this was a nice stove for its time and is still loved by many.

The stove damper doesn't shut all the way and I found out why by looking up into the stove...the top/inside of the stove cracked and warped upward. In the photos you'll see the min and max position that that damper will move.

Is this fixable by someone who knows what they are doing? Is it worth fixing?

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I had a Kent till 2 years a go. I also had a crack in the secondary burner, but at the front. If the stove is in good shape and you can find a local welder who can come to the house, it might be worth it. They are great stoves. I ditched ours and replaced it.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

To add to my earlier reply. Even though they are great heaters, they are 1980's stoves. They stopped importing them in 1989 I think. I saw a mint one on CL, earlier this week for $450. But one with a crack will not sell for more than $100. That's what we got for our old Kent. So, it depends what the overall condition is and what the welder will charge. Here is the listing (broken link removed to https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/app/d/kent-wood-stove/6753209350.html)

 

[Corey]

Does that crack really matter? I don't know much about the design of these stoves, but seems like the picture is taken from the firebox looking up into some type of smoke chamber?

If the crack is just between two portions of the firebox - and no chance it's letting smoke/fire outside the stove, I'd be tempted to see if I could just get hold of the metal with a pipe wrench, vice grips or a pry bar and bend it back into place so the damper closes. You'd never run the stove with the damper full closed anyway, so if there is a crack bypassing some smoke, it shouldn't be a big deal.

On the flip side if you're buying firewood, value your time/effort to get it, or burning the stove for anything more than a weekend or two, putting the weld repair money toward something newer and more efficient would probably be a sound investment.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Does that crack really matter? I don't know much about the design of these stoves, but seems like the picture is taken from the firebox looking up into some type of smoke chamber?

If the crack is just between two portions of the firebox - and no chance it's letting smoke/fire outside the stove, I'd be tempted to see if I could just get hold of the metal with a pipe wrench, vice grips or a pry bar and bend it back into place so the damper closes. You'd never run the stove with the damper full closed anyway, so if there is a crack bypassing some smoke, it shouldn't be a big deal.

On the flip side if you're buying firewood, value your time/effort to get it, or burning the stove for anything more than a weekend or two, putting the weld repair money toward something newer and more efficient would probably be a sound investment.

The Kent was designed to burn with the damper fully closed, which also functions as a door lock. That crack is in the baffle and will get a lot larger very fast. Because it is near the vent, it will ruin the secondary burn. With these stoves the secondary burn comes out the baffle just at the top of the door.

 

[Corey]

Thanks for the additional info! Sounds like the configuration is a bit more unique than I would have guessed.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Thanks for the additional info! Sounds like the configuration is a bit more unique than I would have guessed.

Correct, Kent stoves were their time way ahead. It was the cleanest burning stove pre EPA.

 

[bholler]

Correct, Kent stoves were their time way ahead. It was the cleanest burning stove pre EPA.

I dont know about that the cawley lemay 400 and 600 were really clean burning for the time as well. But yes the kents were very good in their day.

 

[klockman]

All - Thanks for all the quick replies...I knew I'd get some great advice here.

I got busy with other projects around the house but eventually I'll get back to figuring out what to do with this stove.

Thanks again!

 

[Billbob5757]

First off, this is a great forum...I've lurked around as a guest for months and learned a lot.

I bought a house and this Kent Sherwood is in the basement. From what I've gathered online, this was a nice stove for its time and is still loved by many.

The stove damper doesn't shut all the way and I found out why by looking up into the stove...the top/inside of the stove cracked and warped upward. In the photos you'll see the min and max position that that damper will move.

Is this fixable by someone who knows what they are doing? Is it worth fixing?

I had this same problem with my Kent that I have had for almost 40 years. I loved the stove and thought it was worth fixing since I could do it myself. I cut off the rear 2/3 of the top and replaced most of the secondary chamber steel plate with thicker metal. Then welded the top back on and now I have a better than new stove. Had my brother who is a professional welder do the final welding and finishing and you cannot tell anything was ever done to the stove. Not sure it would be worth it if you had to pay someone to do it. With the thicker metal in place I don't anticipate this problem ever happening again. Wish I had taken some pictures.