Advice on Franco Belge 10.1475

Another thing you might want to check is the condition of the back flue channels.. They have a tendency to brake at the tabs the screws go through. I had to replace the channel covers when I first bought the stove. The second time they broke, it was in the middle of the winter and I couldn't go without heat long enough to order new channel covers.

So what I did was to take stainless steel hose clamps and clamp the channels together (two on each side of the flue exit). Then I sealed around the edges with stove cement. If I was to replace the channel covers now, I would use the clamps again and skip the screws.

I used the stove like that for about eight years until I got my present stove.

Richard,

Thanks for your response, please see my responses outlined below yours:

You don't have to take the clean out covers off now, just check for leaks. To remove the knurled nuts when the stove is cold, a few drops of penetrating oil then grab the nut with pliers and work gently in both directions while tapping the pliers with another tool to set up vibration until it loosens. Coat with anti-sieze compound when putting back. If the gasket is damaged you can butter the outside with furnace cement which is easy to crack off the next time you remove the covers.

Joe: Good suggestions for when I clean the stove in the spring.

It really sounds like the grates are ash bound. Are you using the poker to slice the grates as well as shaking them? Try a really extended job with the poker to make sure they are clear. Some coal can be harder than others. I am burning Blaschak coal this year and have found I have to be more aggresive in clearing the grates than with coal I have used in years past.

Joe: I think you are right about "ash bound". I do not slice the grates. Do you do this by access from the front glass door? If so how do you avoid the heat from the stove and fumes from getting into the room? Do you just push the poker straight down through the coals and through the grates without regard for the heating of the poker. I used the poker to move coals around and it gets red hot!

It is not necessary to change the thermostat setting as it will already be open as the stove lost heat. That's one of the nice things about having a thermostat to control the air. Opening the ash pan door can't improve no draft.

I would suspect that the grates became ash bound and the stove lost enough heat until the stack temp. went low enough for the chimney draft to fail. What is your chimney? Perhaps its draft can be improved. When you first lit the stove with wood did it draw well or did you get smoke in the room? At least when it occurs with a dead fire you can't get very much CO.

Joe: My chimney is a stainless steel 5" pipe that goes up a clay tiled chimney about 15' high. When I start the fire I have a good draft and minimum smoke in the room.

When opening the door, crack it open and pause for a few seconds to allow room air to be drawn into the fire to keep the sulfer smell in the stove. Try to pin down just when the smell occurs. You should not smell it if the stove has not been opened.

Joe: Thanks to your previous suggestions I learned this and always do so when opening the door.

Richard- thanks again for all your help your suggestions have really helped me out with my stove operation this winter as you really know your stuff-----Joe

Richard

Joe: I think you are right about "ash bound". I do not slice the grates. Do you do this by access from the front glass door? If so how do you avoid the heat from the stove and fumes from getting into the room? Do you just push the poker straight down through the coals and through the grates without regard for the heating of the poker. I used the poker to move coals around and it gets red hot!


To slice the grates 3 slots are provided at grate level when you slide the shaker handles to the left. The left handle will uncover 2 slots and the right handle uncovers one. Just insert your poker into a slot and work it back and forth while slowly advancing it forward until it reaches the back of the firebox.Reverse the poker and do it again, then repeat in the other two slots. It is not necessary to open the door, however, I crack it open to lessen draft through the coals to help the ash to drop into the pan rather than fly ash floating up and settling on the glass and in flue passages. I usually precede this by opening the door and just slicing or poking through the coals along the front edge. Very quick and and the fire is lower at this point. Be sure to move the shaker handles to the right to close the slots when you are done, to prevent air from entering the slots and causing overfiring. This is a really nice feature of these stoves that 2 methods of ash clearing are provided and is a big help with firmer coal.

This is much more effective than shaking only and is usually all I do, with no shaking at all. In the past, with other coal I found that shaking worked very well and only occasionally used the poker to slice, but with the Blaschak coal the ash is firmer and needs the poker to slice it to reduce it to powder. With clear grates the burn time will be extended.

By slicing the grates you will find that more coal will be sitting on the grates rather than ash, but some of these pieces of fresh coal will be cought between the grate edges and firebox slots causing difficulty when moving shaker handles back to the right to close off slots. What I do is rap the end of the shaker handle with the heel of my hand to force it over, sometimes very hard. If it is still too hard to move the handle then if you come back in a while the coal will burn and the handle will move freer to allow you to close the slots.

When you do a good job of slicing, that bright fire will dissapear and be covered with fresh coal and you might think you have lost the fire but just have patience and it will soon be fully lit again. The coal fed from the hopper will be very hot and will ignite easily. No need to change the thermost setting unless you want a change in heat output. The air flap will have automatically opened to compensate for the fresh coal and will close when the heat builds up again.

Richard

Richard,

Thanks for the slicing tips. I think I need a skinnier poker. The one I have is a bit over 1/2 inch in width and does not fit in either openings that you mentioned. For some reason the grates only allow the openings to go so far, even when I had the stove empty with nothing on the grates.

One more question and I will be set. I tried pulling the knob to the thermostatic setting but it will not come off and I may have screwed something up with the sensitivity of the knob and numbers. I wanted to get the side panel off as you instructed to investigate leaks. Is this knob held on by a set screw somewhere? How do I check to make sure the setting of the draft door coincides with the number setting on the knob?

thanks Richard,

Joe

capecoal wrote:Richard,

Thanks for the slicing tips. I think I need a skinnier poker. The one I have is a bit over 1/2 inch in width and does not fit in either openings that you mentioned. For some reason the grates only allow the openings to go so far, even when I had the stove empty with nothing on the grates.

One more question and I will be set. I tried pulling the knob to the thermostatic setting but it will not come off and I may have screwed something up with the sensitivity of the knob and numbers. I wanted to get the side panel off as you instructed to investigate leaks. Is this knob held on by a set screw somewhere? How do I check to make sure the setting of the draft door coincides with the number setting on the knob?

thanks Richard,

Joe

The correct poker is 5/8 wide and has an offset at the end. The slots are about 3/4 width so there is plenty of room for the poker. The shaker handle goes through a sliding plate which covers and uncovers the slots. To check why they do not open fully the stove would have to be cold. With a cold stove lift out the hopper and firebox and the two grates. Now you should be able to slide the slotted plate to see if it goes far enough. Maybe a small piece of coal has gotten lodged where it has to slide. If it is free and goes all the way then put in a grate to see what is stopping it. It sounds strange to me that all three openings are too small since the right hand shaker handle only controls the right opening while the left shaker controls the left and center openings. One side or the other should be working properly since they are independent. It is also possible that the sliding plates were put in upside down, though I doubt it. The shaker handle should go to the end of the slot provided for it. All the way to the left. You could also try swapping the grates though they should be the same. Another long shot is if the shaker handles were put in the wrong slots, but then the shaker would barely move. The uncovered slots are to the right of the shaker handle.

The thermostat shaft is a round shaft about 6mm with a flat on one side. There is no set screw. The round hole in the knob is cut away on one side and there is a steel clip that encircles the knob shaft and has a flat on one side to hold the knob on by friction. A bit of rust on that clip is holding your knob on tighter than normal. Push in on the panel and get your fingernails under the edges of the knob on each side and pull and pry with your knuckles evenly and it will come. Look for the steel clip as it may well come loose from the knob and you will have to push it back on the knob. Whatever you do, if you have to pry, do it evenly on both sides or you risk breaking the knob which has thin edges.

The thermostat setting does not have to be an exact thing because with practice you find the settings that work for you. My old stove was set so that the damper was about 1/4 inch open when the stove was cold and knob set at one.I usually ran this stove at a setting of 3. The newer stove has the damper set to just start to open when cold with the setting at 1 when cold. I run it between 4 and 5 depending on weather outside.

Richard

"Just insert your poker into a slot and work it back and forth while slowly advancing it forward until it reaches the back of the firebox."

OK, I will try and get the knob off when I let the stove cool. I have it on right now and strange things are happening. The knob and thermostat are not working in the sense that the numbers and the action of the door do not coordinate. What I mean by this is that the thermostat door does not begin to open until I get to the setting of 6 and above. I am looking on line to see if there is a way to adjust the linkage that I can see behind the side panel, now that you have told me that I can just pull off the knob. There appears to be a set screw linking two wires, one to the thermostat and the other to the door.

I am concerned about one thing. The door is completely closed as I thought the stove was beginning to overheat, and with the door closed the stove continues to stay at a relative high burn (not runaway). Where can the fire be drawing oxygen in to keep it going?

Good tips on the grate issue, I will work on the grates when I have the stove emptied the next time.\\


Thanks---Joe

capecoal wrote:OK, I will try and get the knob off when I let the stove cool. I have it on right now and strange things are happening. The knob and thermostat are not working in the sense that the numbers and the action of the door do not coordinate. What I mean by this is that the thermostat door does not begin to open until I get to the setting of 6 and above. I am looking on line to see if there is a way to adjust the linkage that I can see behind the side panel, now that you have told me that I can just pull off the knob. There appears to be a set screw linking two wires, one to the thermostat and the other to the door.

I am concerned about one thing. The door is completely closed as I thought the stove was beginning to overheat, and with the door closed the stove continues to stay at a relative high burn (not runaway). Where can the fire be drawing oxygen in to keep it going?

Good tips on the grate issue, I will work on the grates when I have the stove emptied the next time.\\


Thanks---Joe

The air flap door actually has a smaller door within it. Most of the time the large flap you see will be closed and the smaller flap adjusts the burn. When you take off the side panel you will see it easily. It is there to get a more sensitive control and to avoid any flutering of the main flap. Adjust the knob to a slightly lower setting and it will respond after a few minutes. The thermostat senses heat on the right side; if the fire is stronger on the left, the thermostat will tend to allow more air since less heat is is on that side. Strive for an even fire.

Richard

grizzly2 wrote:
"Just insert your poker into a slot and work it back and forth while slowly advancing it forward until it reaches the back of the firebox."

Hope this improves your technique.

Richard

just got my first coal stove , i came across a franco belge , its a model 10.1475 . anyone know where i can get a manual or a copy of one ? the stove is in good shape

I have a franco belge 10.1375. Same stove, but different covers. I've been burning it since new for 24 years. Burn it 8 months straight. Start it in mid-October and burn through May. Have it in my basement and use it to heat the house. 3-4 tons a season. Didn't read all the posts or questions, but the highest I've ever set the thermo to is 4. Usually it stays at 3 in the winter or less in the spring or summer. If you're setting it higher, you are overfiring your stove. I have all sorts of info specific to starting and continued operation. I also have a manual. It's hard to find Franco owners. It's a great stove, very efficient. You have to keep the glass clean. It's not to look at the stove, all the little panes release heat. You must use good quality coal. If anyone wants copies, let me know.

Hi All,
I too just purchased a used Franco Belge model 10-1475. It's in excellent condition & I'm trying to found out what a fair price would be. Is there any way I can determine how old the unit is? Is there a date manufactured stamped on the stove?
Thanks, Dan

If it is not on the UL label on the back heat shield it may be on the ash pan door.

Thanks,
Glenn

Thanks Glenn,

I found the year & something I don't think I wanted to find. A previous owner has over fired this stove to the point there is a crack in the middle base plate. The glass is also yellowed & I managed to crack 3 pieces. The cracks are mild. The previous owner has applied furnace cement to any & every place smoke (gas) might be able to vent outside the stove prior to the chimney pipe.
Now I'm wondering what I should do with this stove. I do think I can clean up the furnace cement and re apply new furnace cement and keep a tight seal.
I am worried about the cost of replacing the glass.

Thanks, Dan

franco b wrote:

grizzly2 wrote:
"Just insert your poker into a slot and work it back and forth while slowly advancing it forward until it reaches the back of the firebox."

Hope this improves your technique.

Richard

Sounds like a life lesson to me.... LOL

dj