My 1912 Hub Heater Baseburner Thread

Is the stove assembled well, as in each part has been sealed with stove cement. It sounds like your leaking a lot of air..

SON OF A BITCH!! After looking at your close-ups, I just realized that this is the EXACT stove a buddy of mine was going to give me FOR FREE, about 4 years ago .... and I turned it down thinking the more modern ones would be more efficient! That would have been my first coal stove!

If I only knew wtf I was looking at, at the time.... What a sweet lookin' unit!

ggans2 wrote:Is the stove assembled well, as in each part has been sealed with stove cement. It sounds like your leaking a lot of air..

It was restored by Barnstable Stove shop so I trust they did a good job.

I'm wondering if the ash door is warped or something. I'll have to put a straight edge on it tomorrow as I'm working midnights now.

I'm a selfish prick ..... got all caught up in what I could have had ....

Anyway - sounds like that rope gasket isn't sealing like it should. Hopefully it's just the gasket & not a warped item ..... But they built things RIGHT in those days, so my money is on the gaskets.

Ok, don't get too worried. Let's take first things first. Your chimney obviously has a good draft, so no problems there. First make sure the areas where the doors fit the stove are clean and free of any caulk, cement or anything else. Next. check the door handles to make sure they tightly pull the doors closed. If that's okay the next thing you do is get something that will make enough heat for a good draft inside the stove, like an oil lamp, sterno can or even a small charcoal fire which you know won't get out of hand. After you do this close the doors and all dampers and open the pipe damper and make sure the stove is in direct draft. NOW, take a lighted candle, cigarette or incense stick (the candle is best) and go around all the seams in the stove the doors, everywhere. By doing this you will find any leaks in the stove by the candle flame or smoke getting sucked in through the gap. Get some good furnace cement and plug up the gaps both INSIDE and OUT. If there are leaks where the doors fit next to the stove you can put gasket around them. I wouldn't worry about tiny leaks around the door, but if there is a major leak you gotta fix it. If the doors fit that badly ( they shouldn't) call Doug at Barnstable and I KNOW he will do what ever he needs to fix any major flaw that might have gotten over looked.
I have bought two stoves from Barnstable and he has earned me as a customer for life. I hold him in the utmost regard.
Please let us know how you make out. I'm sure it isn't as bad as you might think.
William S.

Oh, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you. When I start the fire in the Glenwood, I close the door right after I light it because it takes a minute for the draft to pick up enough to pull the smoke out the pipe without smoke coming out of the loading door. After the kindling gets going good there isn't any problem. If that is the problem that is not any thing to worry about. The smoke should clear up once the fire finds it's way out of the back.

Thanks a ton! I'll have to do some investigating.

And your right on getting it to make draft right at the begining, I could feel the draft going the wrong way at first. I lit it and closed the doors, there was a quick puff for a minute or so at first but that was it. I looked outside and there was smoke comming out the chimney like expected.

But later when it got going there was quite a bit of smoke leaking out of the door and top and it was very hard to keep the fire from really roaring.

I would focus more on the install and chimney as the source of the issue...
Barnstable Stove even though the owner is not the 'warmest' kind of guy does put out great product...
The stove took a ride to get down to you...
Check to see that everything is where it should be in the stove...
Do a charcoal fire with real wood charcoal as it has minimal smoke...
Then once it has warmed up put a stick or two of wood on to get some smoke and see if you still have issues...
How big is the flue...
Do you have a cap...
Pictures of the chimney from the outside...

CapeCoaler wrote:I would focus more on the install and chimney as the source of the issue...
Barnstable Stove even though the owner is not the 'warmest' kind of guy does put out great product...
The stove took a ride to get down to you...
Check to see that everything is where it should be in the stove...
Do a charcoal fire with real wood charcoal as it has minimal smoke...
Then once it has warmed up put a stick or two of wood on to get some smoke and see if you still have issues...
How big is the flue...
Do you have a cap...
Pictures of the chimney from the outside...

I would try all the above and if that doesn't work I would consider reassembling the stove where it is going to stay. Moving it could have caused any seals to break. You never know. I could not imagine moving my stove in one piece..good luck

Well I didn't get to look at it too close today. I did play around with the ash door and it is not closing all the way. I could see where they ground on the door a bit though (barnstable that is). Seems to be a door fitment issue there.

As for it's travels, it came home wrapped in bubble wrap and plastic in the back of my fathers truck. It is possible that some of the selant got jarred loose.

I have off tomorrow so I hope to play with making a draft and see where it is leaking from.

oros35 wrote:Well I didn't get to look at it too close today. I did play around with the ash door and it is not closing all the way. I could see where they ground on the door a bit though (barnstable that is). Seems to be a door fitment issue there.

As for it's travels, it came home wrapped in bubble wrap and plastic in the back of my fathers truck. It is possible that some of the selant got jarred loose.

I have off tomorrow so I hope to play with making a draft and see where it is leaking from.

It may not be all original parts to that stove, If they used furnace cement , the black gooie stuff, It doesn't flex well , very hard and brittle. It could have cracked during shipment.

It's no big deal to reassemble it if need be. You will probable learn something you would not know if you didn't take it apart. I know I did when I rebuilt mine..

wsherrick wrote:First make sure the areas where the doors fit the stove are clean and free of any caulk, cement or anything else. Next. check the door handles to make sure they tightly pull the doors closed. If that's okay
If there are leaks where the doors fit next to the stove you can put gasket around them.
if there is a major leak you gotta fix it.
If the doors fit that badly ( they shouldn't) call Doug at Barnstable and I KNOW he will do what ever he needs to fix any major flaw that might have gotten over looked.

Well I think you hit it on the head. The Ash door is not fitting tightly at all. I can force it shut but it's not easy. With the latch shut, I cannot force it shut. I can see where they ground on the latch. So something is up with the latch too.

I switched the latch from the top door to the bottom and the bottom won't shut at all, But I can see where if you grind like they did it would at least kinda shut. There is a bout 1/8th inch gap around the door that gets tighter as you go toward the hinge. The hinge side definately hits before it is closed.

So my next ideas:
Do a little more grinding to try to make it fight tight.
Try to come up with a gasket to make it fit.
Call Barnstable and ask for help.

Probably call first.

I also started a small charcoal fire and checked for leaks. I noticed a couple small ones but nothing as much as the door.

Thanks a ton! Keep tossing out the help.

Put the problem in there lap first, see where it goes..

Snake a power cord into the stove and hang a trouble light in the top and bottom of the stove...
Do it when it is dark in the room and all the leaks will show as light..
Got a some pics of the bad ash door fit?
A few closeups and one of the whole door gap...

Already used a light! I'll have to get some pics.