New Guy with Majestic Fireplace WM36a

[davidpbritton]

Hi All,

Been reading through your forum for the last few days, and I appreciate all the knowledge that is being passed around. I'm new to fireplaces, we had a decorative fireplace where I used to live (Dallas, TX) that was good for ambiance, but not much else. When your coldest night of the year may not even get below freezing (I'm stretching the truth, but not by much) , you don't need much in the way of heat.

Now we are up in Colorado Springs, and the house that we purchased has a Majestic Fireplace model number wm36a. As near as I can tell, it's close to the wmc36, but is different (maybe older?). I can't find the model number on Majestic's site, and a google turns up 3 links for it. Basically, I'm just looking for how to use the thing appropriately. In researching for the past few days/weeks, I have found that it has the following features:

* at least Double walled insert
* Blower with variable speed (high speeds are loud)
* blower vents that are built into the double wall on all sides
* External Air Source
* Lever on bottom front of fireplace that I think opens and closes external air (not sure about that)
* variable damper control on top exterior of fireplace
* 8 inch pipe leading out of top of firebox
* tempered glass doors, I'm guessing they are not ceramic, but I don't know how to tell

Now, the way that I know how to use a fireplace is more of the open firebox with no fancy features. flue valve can either be open or closed and you basically just use it for ambiance, this fireplace has much more than that!

I was hoping that someone could point me to some basics for how to operate it. I checked out the wmc36 operating manual, and it was more of a installation guide, not a user guide. I guess you are just supposed to "know" how to use it. Anyway, thanks in advance. If I need to go into more detail, please let me know.

 

[seaken]

Your fireplace has been named the Royal Warm Majic and you can find it on www.majesticproducts.com here:

http://www.majesticproducts.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=108

I have attached the homeowners guide. Admitedly, it is a little hard to follow since all the wood fireplace models are in the same manual. You'll have to be careful to read the portions that apply to your fireplace.

Yes, the Warm Majic is a little different, in that is allows a partial damper opening. The idea is to concentrate the heat in the firebox a little longer rather than to let it all go up the chimney. But it's still just an open fireplace, not like a wood stove. Most people out here put in a wood insert to upgrade such a fireplace to an efficient source of heat.

Sean

Oops! This site only allows images to be attached. The document is in PDF format. If you'll PM me with your e-mail I'll e-mail it to you.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've got your fireplace's big brother, the WMC42. It's not in the same class as EPA-certified fireplaces; it's not remotely air-tight so the wood burns too fast and most of the heat goes up the chimney. Also no secondary burn. You can get useful heat out if you close the damper most of the way and keep feeding it wood, but you'll never get an overnight burn. I've only kept mine because it's in a seasonal (mostly summer) home with an abundance of wood.

You can use it 2 ways; if you open the doors and close the mesh it's an open fireplace; some radiant heat and hot air from the blowers but mostly a loss up the chimney. Or, close the doors (and the mesh) and partially close the damper to limit the airflow, you'll lose most of the radiant heat because tempered glass reflects infrared but you'll get much higher firebox temps and thus hotter air out from the blower.