The joys of buying an old stove

[hydr0boy]

Hello world of wood stove enthusiasts,
I recently bought a Glo King GK 400 HT-I (the insert model) on Craigslist. I’ve been struggling with a couple ‘new stove’ questions that I can’t seem to find straight enough answers too. Especially as my stove seems to be from a closed down company.

First: what kind of firebricks to replace some of the cracked/ crumbling ones with. They’re odd sizes: 12” x 4.5” and much lighter (pumice?) than the traditional ones you buy at Tractor Supply. Should I just cut the normal heavy ones down to size and stack them where needed?

Another question that I’ve been toying with: some of the insulation behind the bricks is a little worse for wear. Should I look into replacing this? In my evening search I found some ceramic insulation that seems to fit the bill though I have no idea how I would attach it if I did tare out the old stuff. Regardless it seems I should replace the ceramic blanket that rests above the firebricks above the wood box.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Is this a Hitzer? If so, they are still alive with doors open. Their support is pretty good from what has been posted online. I'd start with them.
http://hitzer.com/
The manual is posted in this thread:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hitzer-gk-400-ht.161035/

 

[Poindexter]

The only two major firebrick types are clay (heavy) and pumice (higher temperature rating).

If you have them, it is generally ok to replace clay with the more expensive pumice. If you got pumice, probably you should replace it with pumice. When I needed some I got with my local pottery guild. They buy pumice firebricks by the pallet for the kilns they fire ceramics in and had very reasonable prices.

Good luck.

 

[hydr0boy]

Well thanks for your tips on the fire bricks! I'll reach out to Hitzer. I guess, I didn't see that name on the stove, but that manual sure looks right.

EDIT: Thanks for the tip contacting Hitzer! They were exceedingly helpful! Spoke with one of the guys that was still there from the 90s when they were building my old stoves. Told me not to worry about what kind of brick I put in it, they replace with clay bricks in their stoves. Sounds like the isolation problem wasn't worth the head ache, and just for note, isn't glued down, just held in place by the brick.

 

[hydr0boy]

New Question: has anyone tried to retrofit an old stove with a blower? My insert has a vent and four 1" holes. As the terrible decorative fireplace I had previously had a fancy blower included, I was thinking about re-purposing this. Was thinking about welding small stand underneath my insert so I can suck air under it and force air though the holes/ vent, that would then vent along the sides and top of my stove.