Lange 6203 (green enamel)

[Seriously4000]

Hi Folks. I'm a new member and this is my first post. I have learned a lot from reading all your posts.

I am a new owner of a green Lange 6203. This stove looks to be in pretty good shape. I don't see any signs of over-firing. All the burn plates and top baffle are straight and true. The enamel is near perfect; no areas of discoloration and no crazing or cracks. There are a couple of chips on the door (from banging into something, not firing) which I plan to fix with Jotul 'Ocean Green' touch up paint available at Rocky Mountain Stove. (Note: I've put the green Lange 6203 right next to my green Jotul 507 and the greens are nearly identical. I have a sneaking suspicion that back in the day, Lange and Jotul used the same enamel vendor. Note Part Deux: Rocky Mtn sells 2 Jotul green touch up paints: 'Ocean Green' and 'Green Majolica'. I believe the Ocean Green is the 'old skool' green you see often on the 602 and 118, and the Green Majolica is that brighter, livelier green being used on the current glass front door Jotuls. I'm going to take my chances with Ocean Green matching up with the Lange 6203.)

I have not yet fired the stove, nor have I done a 'smoke bomb test', but I can tell by looking closely at the seams that a little stove cement/mortar should be applied. I plan on getting some Rutland stove cement in the tube, cutting the tip close to the top so as to produce a very fine bead of cement that I will apply to both the inside and outside of the seams (making sure to wipe off any excess so as not ruin that nice enamel !!) I'm not being lazy here by not taking the whole stove apart; cleaning out the seams; applying the cement; and then re-bolting. It's just that the stove is sitting so fine that I don't want to mess anything up and/or pull some bonehead move like chipping the enamel bc I can't get it back right... Comments?

The only other curious thing to report is that sitting on top of the bottom cast iron plate, I found 3 (well, 3 1/2) standard size (9x4x1.25) fire bricks. See Photos. I know many of these vintage Scandinavian cast iron stoves have a sacrificial bottom burn plate that sits on top of the bottom cast iron plate, but I'm not sure is there is such a part on the 6203 as I can't find an 'exploded' parts diagram on Woodman's or anywhere else. Anyone have any feedback here? Additionally, it was recommended that a bed of sand be put in the bottom of many of these Scandinavian stoves. I thought the fire bricks might serve this same purpose. Is there anything to worry about in keeping these bricks versus putting a bed of sand? I sort of think keeping the fire bricks is a good idea...comments?

 

[BIGChrisNH]

That is a really cool looking stove. If it was me, I would run it with sand in the bottom as it was intended to be, but it might be just fine with brick. Still it would be a shame to warp or crack something by using the bricks.

For the seams, it could be dangerous to not perform a total disassembly. If it were me, I would likely do the same thing as you are planning to do and run it anyway, but I would watch it closely either way.

bgreen is online here somewhere, he may chime in soon, and he's very knowledgeable.

 

[TWilk117]

Awesome stove man! @Seriously4000

I can not comment about the color, but I think you are on the right track.

Can’t say much about weather or not you should rebuild it or not either, but your solution sounds good to me.

I would use the sand. Especially if there is a trough for it, as the wood could be loaded more flat and even.

 

[begreen]

That's a lucky find. It looks great. Are you a collector? Not too many Jotul 505s show up here either. I think the intent of the brick was to better protect the base. It should be fine, fill in the gaps with ash or sand. However if you prefer to put in a sand base that should be ok too. Just don't shovel out the ash too aggressively when cleaning.

At this age it may be due for a resealing. Surface caulking may not be enough. Watch carefully for any signs of leakage or difficulty in control. These box stoves are pretty simple to take apart and if one is careful and properly prepared with a protected surface to lay out the enameled parts on, no chipping should happen. Hearthstone sells a very good stove cement if you want something more durable. This appears to be what Jotul uses on their modern stove too.

 

[Seriously4000]

Thanks, everyone for your replies.
> I will leave the bricks in on the bottom and not remove the ash too aggressively. Will report back if there are any issues.
> I will do a thorough seam re-cement (apply cement both on inside & outside) and monitor the firings closely to see if stove is airtight & firing well. If not, I'll do the proper re-build.
> I already bought the Rutland stove cement, but if you think the Hearthstone product is better, I will buy it next time especially if I take apart the stove to re-build it.
> BeGreen: yes, the Jotul 505 is a rare bird in these parts. I did read the Jotul 505 thread here from the guy in the UK who had one. I think the 505 was really for coal. I have two 507s (one red, one green.) I think these are better suited for coal too, but folks definitely fired wood in them and the manual that I have even has a whole section about firing with wood. I'm going to trying wood initially and I'll start a separate thread with nice photos of the 507s and report back on findings of firing with wood.
> Not really a 'collector', I do use or intend to use all the stoves I have. It's just if I come across a good example of one of the classic Scandinavian stoves, on the cheap, I will consider buying it. I got the Lange 6203 and the two 507s at very decent prices....

 

[SpaceBus]

Thanks, everyone for your replies.
> I will leave the bricks in on the bottom and not remove the ash too aggressively. Will report back if there are any issues.
> I will do a thorough seam re-cement (apply cement both on inside & outside) and monitor the firings closely to see if stove is airtight & firing well. If not, I'll do the proper re-build.
> I already bought the Rutland stove cement, but if you think the Hearthstone product is better, I will buy it next time especially if I take apart the stove to re-build it.
> BeGreen: yes, the Jotul 505 is a rare bird in these parts. I did read the Jotul 505 thread here from the guy in the UK who had one. I think the 505 was really for coal. I have two 507s (one red, one green.) I think these are better suited for coal too, but folks definitely fired wood in them and the manual that I have even has a whole section about firing with wood. I'm going to trying wood initially and I'll start a separate thread with nice photos of the 507s and report back on findings of firing with wood.
> Not really a 'collector', I do use or intend to use all the stoves I have. It's just if I come across a good example of one of the classic Scandinavian stoves, on the cheap, I will consider buying it. I got the Lange 6203 and the two 507s at very decent prices....

I too love the classic Scandinavian stoves. I want to snag a Jotul 404 and put it in my kitchen. The 507 really does look like a coal stove, but it may still be a willing heater, if a bit difficult to load, while using wood.

 

[begreen]

On the stove door are both knobs functional and adjustable as air inlets? The upper one looks like it might be a simple secondary supply.

 

[SpaceBus]

What's going on with that crazy looking flue adapter? Does it have a draft control as well?

 

[Seriously4000]

Hi folks:
Thanks for the interest & replies. Here are some answers:

> On the stove door, the lower knob is the dial damper and the upper knob is just a knob to open the door, just like on the Morso 1B. Attaching a photo of the Morso 1B here. Like the 1B, the door was ground down at the factory so it sits perfectly airtight against the stove body. To open and close the door you lift the door up a bit to get the door 'tab' into a V notched catch (again, just like on the 1B) . See close up photo of door attached here.

> Yes, it is a curious looking flu adapter. I have only ever seen them on the Lange 6203. If you do a google image search of the Lange 6203, all good photo examples have that flu adapter. There is no air control up there, but there are 2 bolts that hold that little front panel in place. I suspect - with the knob being present there as well - that this panel was removable for clean out. I've attached some photos of a blue Lange 6203 (not mine; images borrowed from the interweb) so you can see the same flu adapter and also so you can see just how cool is the blue version of this stove.

> @SpaceBus. If you are looking for a Jotul 404, you should check out the Lange 911W. I saw a gorgeous red one for sale in PA earlier this year. Near perfect condition. I think the guy was asking $2000 for it. I can't remember the price, but I know it sold. Don't know where you live but there is a nice red Lange 911W for sale in Institute, WI right now.

 

[SpaceBus]

Hi folks:
Thanks for the interest & replies. Here are some answers:

> On the stove door, the lower knob is the dial damper and the upper knob is just a knob to open the door, just like on the Morso 1B. Attaching a photo of the Morso 1B here. Like the 1B, the door was ground down at the factory so it sits perfectly airtight against the stove body. To open and close the door you lift the door up a bit to get the door 'tab' into a V notched catch (again, just like on the 1B) . See close up photo of door attached here.

> Yes, it is a curious looking flu adapter. I have only ever seen them on the Lange 6203. If you do a google image search of the Lange 6203, all good photo examples have that flu adapter. There is no air control up there, but there are 2 bolts that hold that little front panel in place. I suspect - with the knob being present there as well - that this panel was removable for clean out. I've attached some photos of a blue Lange 6203 (not mine; images borrowed from the interweb) so you can see the same flu adapter and also so you can see just how cool is the blue version of this stove.

> @SpaceBus. If you are looking for a Jotul 404, you should check out the Lange 911W. I saw a gorgeous red one for sale in PA earlier this year. Near perfect condition. I think the guy was asking $2000 for it. I can't remember the price, but I know it sold. Don't know where you live but there is a nice red Lange 911W for sale in Institute, WI right now.

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I'll look into the Lange, but I find the Jotul 404 attractive because it's UL listed.

 

[Seriously4000]

@SpaceBus. Good point about the Jotul 404 being UL Listed. I'm not sure the Lange 911W is, but maybe google can answer that. All my stoves are going into my warehouse which is built like a bunker - all masonry and steel with an external brick chimney, so I have very few or no combustible materials near the stoves.

 

[SpaceBus]

@SpaceBus. Good point about the Jotul 404 being UL Listed. I'm not sure the Lange 911W is, but maybe google can answer that. All my stoves are going into my warehouse which is built like a bunker - all masonry and steel with an external brick chimney, so I have very few or no combustible materials near the stoves.

View attachment 237888 View attachment 237889

That's a really cool work shop. We have a 1975 Defiant that needs a rebuild that came with our house I plan on putting in our workshop after we build it. The defiant was too much for the house, not to mention dangerous. That's when we got the Morso. The UL listing is primarily for our insurance, not so much clearances.

 

[Seriously4000]

What Morso do you have? Yes, UL is for insurance and a non UL listed stove will void most policies (if there's a fire.) I didn't want to go down the insurance rabbit hole, as I'm not yet sure what I'm going to tell my insurance company bc i'm willing to take the chance that there will be no issues with fire risk from my stoves!

 

[SpaceBus]

What Morso do you have? Yes, UL is for insurance and a non UL listed stove will void most policies (if there's a fire.) I didn't want to go down the insurance rabbit hole, as I'm not yet sure what I'm going to tell my insurance company bc i'm willing to take the chance that there will be no issues with fire risk from my stoves!

Well, we recently purchased our house, so insurance is still important. I feel that any stove in proper condition and operated correctly is a non issue in regards to a fire, but the insurance company doesn't agree. We have a new EPA Morso 2B Classic and we love it.