looking for advice to rebuild a waterford Wood stanley cookstove

[ray milosh]

I have heated and cooked with a 1993 Waterford Wood Stanley Cookstove for 16 years. It is time to disassemble it and remortar it, as it is getting harder to control the air to the firebox.

I haven't found any how-to's or any good blow up diagrams. Specifically, there are flat topped flush mounted quarter size circular caps on the corners of the top that must conceal bolt heads. I presume they are step one and I can't get them to come off...

Please let me know if you have any information.

thanks

Ray

 

[Qvist]

I'm not sure if this helps but here is a diagram. https://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/68/details/9694/Some-Parts-Available/8603.html
I do not have a cookstove but I have a Waterford. I got my parts for a rebuild from them in a few weeks. I have called Lehmans for parts wait time is several months to non existant and all parts come from Ireland.

 

[ray milosh]

Well, it's almost done.
17 hours so far.
remove doors, bottom grate, eyes, griddle, chimney, oven racks, etc.
I put old bed sheets on the floor, plywood over that, all to protect the hardwood floors from damage. I put plywood on the bottom of the stove and lifted it with a rolling floorjack and rolled it to the middle of the room. Remove side shelf and brackets. remove warming oven, backsplash and brackets. The bolts on the base of the brackets were stuck. I used a chisel, vice grips. impact, penetrating oil, an impact driver, a #3 phillips and patience to turn them out. Remove water jacket pipes. Remove rear insulated lower panel. Remove outer side covers, inner side covers and insulation. Remove water jacket, front upper and lower firebox shields and insulation. Remove side firebox shields. Turn out four corner spindles with penetrating oil and vice grips. the four caps on the corners of the stove top are threaded at the bottom and theoretically can be turned out, revealing a large cone shaped screw. I was not able to remove the caps, so I just turned out the spindles. Remove top of stove. Remove the exterior sheet metal cover and insulation from the back right. I didn't find it necessary to disassemble it any more than that.
Vacuum and wire brush off, chisel out loose mortar everywhere. Like Everywhere. I used a flashlight to look for air gaps. There were many of them. Especially between the left side and the top and the left side and the front side and along the interior plates of the oven.

Clean and paint things if you wish. I painted the warming oven sheet metal and the backsplash.

Mortar all interior spaces you can find but not the top, yet. Replace the top and check for fit. Figure out where to put mortar on the underside of the top. It took me a long time to figure it out. It's complicated. I used a tool to scribe the underside of the top while it was dry fit. I also carefully gasketed the bypass door, as its fit left many gaps. I removed and replaced the top several times so I could ensure that I could get it well seated. It hangs up in many places and requires practice to get it right.

I ran a bead of mortar on top of the stove and on the underside of the top and reassembled it and tightened the four corner bolts. After fitting the top, I ran mortar around the seam one more time, filling any gaps left over.
I used a total of 5 tubes of fireplace mortar. I used buff colored, as it is easier to see gaps.

I have a damper in the chimney. Historically, if it is fully closed the stove smokes. That's why I rebuilt it. It has always smoked from the reft rear of the griddle. I solved it by stuffing fiberglas insulation up from underneath.

On replacing the water jacket, I put fibergls insulation behind it and around the pipes to prevent it from leaking air.

 

[begreen]

What is being used for stove cement?

 

[SpaceBus]

Is fiberglass safe for use in this application? Perhaps mineral or ceramic wool would be better.

 

[ray milosh]

I used imperial brand stove and fireplace mortar. If the fiberglass doesn’t last, I have rockwool. Would that be better?
Also, here’s a list of the tools and materials that I wound up using: adjustable wrenches, Number two and three Phillips, regular screwdriver, a standard (not metric) socket and wrench set, scrapers, dental picks, A rubber hammer, a 3 pound sledge, vice grips, an impact driver, chisels, Scissors and fiberglass insulation, fine and coarse steel wool, anti-seize, three eights inch stove Gasket and glue, Flat adhesive backed quarter inch wide stove gasket to seal the bypass damper door, high heat paint, stove mortar, easy off oven cleaner, paper towels and rags, stove black, large and small wire brushes and Penetrating oil.
I put the stove back in service two days ago. It is a whole different animal. Last night I filled the firebox and backed it down. Eight hours later, there were still coals in the stove, top was almost too hot to touch. it heats up way way faster than it ever has And I can load wood in the fire box without it smoking in the house even with the bypass damper closed.
Helpful hint: I use a stock pot to humidify the house. Hanging a towel in the pot Evaporates water about four times faster.

 

[rodgershall]

Hi Ray...your work on your stove is remarkable and very much appreciated. We have had a Waterford Stanley wood cookstove in our northern Maine cabin for probably 20+ years. My Dad took good care cleaning annually it but that last good cleaning was in 2015...it has had limited use since then (my Dad passed away in 2016 and the stove has been used maybe two weeks a year since). It is in need of a heavy cleaning, at least. It has been smoking quite a bit and we are hoping that some good cleaning out of ashes will make a difference. Some of the enamel has also burned off (looks like pitting) and the door pulls aren't securing on the stove.

I'm wondering what the condition was of your stove such that you determined you needed to take it apart...what were the "symptoms" so to speak? We have moved back to Maine and plan to be at this cabin much more often so are in the process of catching up on maintenance and making improvements for the long run. The stove also serves as a source of heat for a large portion of the camp. It has entered my mind this stove may need to be replaced but I would appreciate your thoughts. Any advice appreciated!

 

[River]

I'm wondering what the condition was of your stove such that you determined you needed to take it apart...what were the "symptoms" so to speak?

Ray has not posted for almost five years, according to his profile. I do not know if he still reads posts. However, in the original post in this thread, he wrote: "It is time to disassemble it and remortar it, as it is getting harder to control the air to the firebox."

That has been my experience too. The controls had to be tightened down more than previously to keep the stove from overheating. My Waterford Stanley is from some time pre-1992. I am unable to be more specific.

As for the smoking you mention, scrape the top of the oven and the flue-gas passage on the right side of the oven. Use a radiator brush down through the bonnet. Then scrape everything out from underneath the oven through the cleanout port. That all should be done about once a month -- so you are long overdue. Clean the chimney. If that does not take care of the smoking, re-cementing your stove may help. Take a look at what Ray did -- his is a good tutorial.

I re-cemented my Stanley a couple years ago, and the cement fell out so I had to do it over again. I am pretty sure I used Rutland's cement that first time, so when I re-re-cemented it this fall, I used Hercules brand (which is an Oatey product). Of course, the jury is still out, but my stove has been drawing very well since I first lit it this season.

the door pulls aren't securing on the stove.

The door latches can be disassembled and (carefully) ground to tighten their grip. Probably your hinges are worn, too. If the hinge pins can be changed (unlikely, if I understand the age of your stove) that would be a good plan. If pins are not replaceable, replace the door gaskets and hope for the best. There is at least one way to shim door gaskets, but I have not tried it.

I wish you the best. The Stanley is a good stove. If yours is not too worn out, it should serve you well.

 

[Max W]

I’d try a good cleaning like River suggests first and see what that does. Use the Stanley provided tool to scrape those top and side channels. A major clog point can be at the bottom of those side channels. It is surprising how much you can pull out from there, beneath the bonnet and under the rest of the oven. If you don’t have that tool it is simple to make one.

Newdoor gaskets may help. I did shim a door gasket on our previous older Stanley. I cemented a flat gasket in the channel before cementing the full size one, not a cure all but it helped.