Newb with a Grandpa Bear

[Frank K]

First off, I'm completely new to this set of forums, and new to wood stoves in general.

Several years ago, I bought a newish house with what seems to be a Grandpa Bear stove in the basement, under the Kitchen. The previous owners had used the stove, but I have been wary of it.
The house is about 1500 sqft, and otherwise heated with propane.

See the attached pictures, which have been edited to hide all the basement junk which has accumulated around the cold stove.

First off, the doors do not shut all the way, unless you really SLAM them. They touch each other about 4 inches out, but something flexes, allowing them to close, but not quite all the way. Is this normal / OK?
I tried banging on the doors, and filing the center, with no effect.

Second off, there was a fiberglas rope seal in the doors (or on the face of the stove, I can't remember which). In reading up on Fishers, they are supposed to not need these seals, Right? BTW, the doors will not close with or without the seals - worse with it. Should I glue on the new seal I bought?

Third, the flue pipe is stepped down to 6", right at the back of the stove. The house has a 6" lined chimney, exclusively for the stove. Is it OK to use the stove like this?

Considering all the above, can I get this stove working, or should I just forget using this thing and get a different stove?

Signed,

Frankly Afraid of my Fisher

 

[coaly]

Welcome to the forum;

Frankly, I edited your thread title to reflect the correct stove model.

I never tried to close both doors at once until you mentioned they hit. That is normal. They are designed to close the left door first and the right door overlaps it. If you close either door only, the door should close against the channel iron "door seal" flat, but not touch the plate steel stove front. (the doors only touch the door seal iron) They close easily, no slamming required. They should move effortlessly on the hinges. If either door doesn't close fully, (with the other one open) they are not aligned or centered correctly to contact the door seal. This is alignment when the hinge plates are welded on. No gasket is required or installed originally. Wire wheel all the old gasket cement off the door sealing area to close properly.

The "door gap" you picture is the space between the door and stove front. It is not a contact sealing area. This space (clearance) is actually the thickness of the channel iron body (door seal) under the door at the contact area. The raised portion on the door contacts the center of the channel iron preventing the door edge from touching the stove front.

Notice there is a groove cast in the door contact area for the outer "leg" of the channel iron to contact the flat door surface. The channel iron edge should fit the groove as close to centered as possible. Both inner and outer edges of channel iron contact the inside door surface, and the raised center portion contacts the channel iron center giving you 3 contact areas. With doors open, lift at the handle edge to see if there is a lot of play in the hinges. Also look for sag and alignment at door tops when closed. The left door should close easily making contact with the metal door seal, and the right door should feel the same when closed wether the left door is closed or open. They only interfere with each other when you try to close them at the same time. Don't do that.

Hinge pins when dry and rusty require tapping out, sometimes PB Blaster or WD-40 and rotating them gets them moving. Once removed, they should be buffed on a wire wheel, greased and installed by hand. They should remove by hand as well. A Fisher door should simply lifts off the hinge plates along with the hinge pins.