Advice on Franco Belge 10.1475

hello im new and i just got my first coal stove , i came across a franco belge , its a model 10.1475 it was burnt about 10 times from new , it has not been bunred in the past 6 years , the owner says he bought it 10 years ago brand new , i got the manual and the parts sheet for it also , the stove is in excellent condition , the only thing its missing is the shaker handle thing , bought it for 250.00 , , is there anything i should be worried about with this stove , he told me he burned pea coal , im need to put up a stainless chimney for it but if i want a coal stove i need to spend some money , another question i have is im putting the stove in my basement were my old pellet stove is, i have a 1100 sq ft ranch home , i cut vents in the floors for my pellet stove , the pellet stove was 14yrs old and not sufficient at all i burned 3and a half ton of pellets and still had to use my oil furnce , , any help with the stove or chimney project please let me know , if i remember my uncle had this same stove and it heated his 1400 sqft ranch no problem, well any help will be help in my project
thanks jeff

Hi first-timer welcome to the forum. There are a number of good Quality stainless steel chimneys out there. If you are a do it yourselfer, They sell everything you need to build a chimney at the big do it yourself store ( it's oppisite of highs ) I bought my chimney there. with a friend and a case of yuengling it will be up in a few hrs. As for your shaker Handle you need one to shake down ashes. there is almost allways one on ebay under (coal stove) for sale. Also one may be found at a flea market. I keep my stove in the basement also. I use a cheap window fan to circutate the air through the basement. It's not pretty but it works

Hi Jeff:
I'm so glad another "real man" has joined the forum! So often I read about stokers and pushers and other automatic equipment relied upon by the "girlie men". They are giving the rest of us a bad name!! Nevertheless, a fellow who is self-reliant enough to shake his own grates, stoke his own coal, and shovel his own ashes is always welcome in my book.

As you can see by the photo to the left, I also burn coal in a Franco Belge. My stove is about 25 years old but should be quite similar to yours. I started burning coal in the early '80s but moved in the early'90s. Two years ago I found my stove on the internet and have been loving it since.

Regarding the shaker grate handle, you might find one on the internet. I sometimes used a heavy wire coat hanger or a piece of metal stock. Just be sure that the metal you use for the hook is softer than the cast iron shaker grate. If something is going to break or wear out, you want it to be the handle and not the grate!

If you like, send me a PM and we can communicate via e-mail or telephone. I would be happy to share my experiences with you.

Welcome to the forum. I am quite confident that you will truly love burning coal.

John

Hey jeff try they sell wood and coal stove parts they list Franco Belge on the page also try http://www.hearthstove.com they also list parts you might find one on ebay as well under stove parts good luck


-----------------EDIT REASON--------------------

Edit: Whats MFA (Made for adsesne) you ask? A site that contains nothing but ad links and no content, in other words its been made strictly to serve ads. Sorry don't want such links posted.
Dad

more info: http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum89/3253.htm

Hi Jeff, I'm another new guy to this Forum. I have the same model Franco Belge stove you have. It was in the home I live in when I moved in. I can't manage to keep a coal fire going for more than 12 hours. I use anthracite pea coal that is avaIable in Eastern Pennsylvania. I can't figure the stove out without any manuals. The dial on the right side that turns from 1 to 8. I believe it's called a thermobulb? Where should I initially set this? When my coal is fully burning, where should the dial Be? If there is any way I could get a copy of your manuals. I cannot locate or buy them anywhere. If you could scan and email them as an attachment. Or copy them and mail them to me I would be most appreciative.

I recently acquired anFB 10.1475. In the process of moving it the thermostat control kn0b was shattered. I wonder if anyone knows whre a new one or a dubstitute can be found? Len G Poughkeepsie NY

Hi.

I also have a Franco B. This is my 15th winter with it and although there are times I do wish it was bigger, it's "done alright by me". I burn about three tons of pea from usually the end of September to the middle of May. I use this as my only source of heat (I suppose it's a good thing I'm single as I can tolerate cooler temps in the house and I absolutely refuse to turn on the electric heat) at least I have a golden retriever to sleep on my bed in the winter.

Before I retired I would shake it down about 6:00am fill the hopper and go to work. by the time I got back home it usually be around 5:00/ 6:00 and the stove would be burning away I'd shake it down and not touch it until around 11: at night when I fill it and shake before bed.

as far as the temp knob on the side I usually keep it set between 1 and 2.
Wayne

The manual I got from jerseycioal (many thanks) says that amber color in the glass will cause the stove to overheat by keeping in heat that shuld escape. Mine has a slight amber color to the glass and shows signs of having been over heated (red rust) so I'm converned about that. I received some glass strips from woodsman's plus which appear to be for a 10.1475 Frabco Belge. I cought them for my previous stove as an experiment. Does anyone know for sure how to get glass for the stove?

New here...Looking for info on my new bought but old wood stove model # 13.390/13.490.I've serched a few sites for the Franco Belge but no luck..I need my model It is built around 1984..Looking for a technical Manual ..I need to get parts or have them made..Thanks...John,Cornwall,Ontario,Canada

I have been also ruuning a Franco belge for about 9 years,. But his year i decided to replace all the glass and gaskets. I dropped it off at KC coal and i know it aint goint to be cheep but this is the year for maintence. I burn about 2 tons a year for my 1500 sf home..
Now here is my idea about shaking it down. Every year I buy a few open eye hooks, like the ones you use for your clothes line pully. only a little thinner. I open it up a little and screw it into an end of an old base ball bat. I can than shake it down wiyh 2 hands easily. My wife can now do it. It never gets jammed up any more.

I own a Franco Belge model 10-1475 and I cannot keep a continuous fire going and it will not stay over night so that I have to clean it out and start every morning--what a pain. I read that I should only shake it about once every six hours but if I wait the fire goes out. I think I am following all the rules but i am very frustrated with the restarting procedure. I have been running the stove at around "7" on the draft dial is this the reason and I might be creating too much ash so that it starves the stove for oxygen?

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know what that model looks like, but I suspect it has a hopper above the fire box???
If you have a picture or link to one, it would be helpfull. There are a lot of folks here that probably still use one so maybe they'll chime in. I have a Vigilant hopper fed stove so the operation is probably similiar.

Do yo fill the hopper after a good strong coal bed is established?

Can you describe the chimney, hieght ect?

When it's been running for an hour or so, how hot is the pipe at the chimney connection? and can you put a magnetic thermometer on the stove top?

When you say it goes out, are you saying the fire dies and there is a lot of black unburned coal left, OR is most of the coal burned up with ashes at the bottom of the fore bed and grey unburned coal at the top????

A lot of problems are caused by too little draft or to much draft from the chimney and a barometric stove pipe damper solves the high draft problems.


So post some more information, and I'm sure you'll get the advice here to get her hummin' along nicely.

I remember a friend used to burn a Franco Belge in the early 80's (he's dead now) but it burned nice and steady, pumping out massive heat.

Paul


After posting this I searched this site and came up with these threads: Franco Belge: Can't get coal lit/draft problems and Franco Belge Coal Stove -Won't stay lit!

Hi Rewinder.

Thanks for taking time to respond to my plight. Below are some answers to your questions:

* The stove is exactly like the photo that Jersey Coal has posted on the site. The hopper is above the firebox.
* I do fill the hopper after ignition of a good coal bed
* Stack is stainless steel 5" dia. within a tiled chimney about 18' high.
* I do not have a termometer on the stove because the stack is recessed in a fireplace hearth and hard to reach and read, any other locations for this and what Temp. should I be looking for.
* When the fire goes out most of the coal is burned and a lot of ash is left even after shaking.
* I do have a barametric damper on the stack with a "T".
* I have been burning the stove at it hottest setting and maybe I was creating too much ash. I am going to throttle it down to see if I can get longer burns.

thanks for the research you added as it has proved fruitful.

* The stove is exactly like the photo that Jersey Coal has posted on the site. The hopper is above the firebox.
* I do fill the hopper after ignition of a good coal bed
* Stack is stainless steel 5" dia. within a tiled chimney about 18' high.
* I do not have a termometer on the stove because the stack is recessed in a fireplace hearth and hard to reach and read, any other locations for this and what Temp. should I be looking for.
Well if the stove is putting out good heat before it burns up the load, than I'd suspect too much draft, pulling the heat out of the stove. That why if you could determine there is a temp differential between the hottest part of the stove and the pipe down stream from the baro, you'd know if ther is or isn't too much heat going out the chimney. You said you have a boro, is it active during a hot burn ( swinging open some) or pretty much verticle? ) Did you set it with a manometer or just eyeball it? The baro should be introducing room air into the pipe, and the pipe should be much colder than the pipe just at the stove exit. Just like it does on an iol furnace or boiler. If no manometer set up you can slide the weight (depending what type of baro you have) to make the flapper swing in some to cool the exaust, and thus keep more heat in the stove. Then you can run the thermostat arm lower, giving you more time between fills.

* When the fire goes out most of the coal is burned and a lot of ash is left even after shaking.
That's a good indication you're wasting heat because of high draft. You should be able to shake/refill longer than 6 hrs and still have enough fire left to re-ignite a new load. I know I can and I can only put in 25lbs in a hopper that's almost empty.

* I do have a barametric damper on the stack with a "T".
How much does it open with a good fire rate?

* I have been burning the stove at it hottest setting and maybe I was creating too much ash. I am going to throttle it down to see if I can get longer burns.
If at the hottest setting, there is no differential between the pipe temp before the baro and after, then the baro is not reducing the high draft enough. I would guess the stove want .04 to ,05" of draft on a manometer. If you know a local oil burner guy maybe he could hook one up and set it for you.



How many pounds will the stove hold, including the fire box and hopper filled?

Paul

capecoal wrote:I own a Franco Belge model 10-1475 and I cannot keep a continuous fire going and it will not stay over night so that I have to clean it out and start every morning--what a pain. I read that I should only shake it about once every six hours but if I wait the fire goes out. I think I am following all the rules but i am very frustrated with the restarting procedure. I have been running the stove at around "7" on the draft dial is this the reason and I might be creating too much ash so that it starves the stove for oxygen?

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Set the hopper on the brackets as high as it will go.

Lower the thermostat to a lower number, try 4 or 5. At 7 you are probably over firing. These stoves are happiest burning about 30 to 50 pounds a day. Shake down thoroughly every 8 hours. Use the poker to slice the grates if need be. Some coal will feed more easily from the hopper; it depends on how much the coal collapses when exhausted to allow fresh coal from the hopper to feed.

Richard