Does Anyone Have Any Information About This Fuller & Warren?

OK I have taken some more pictures and I thought it would be better to take a video showing the levers working. I am no hollywood producer so you will have to excuse the filming. The first minute of the video is sideways as well as the last minute of the video. Hopefully you guys can chime in about whether or not this could be in working condition with the mica glass replaced. Also I will need to learn how to actually burn coal using all these levers and such.

I have also put some captions on the pictures. The new pictures and video are located here

**Broken Link(s) Removed**

I will try to load it in to movie maker to correct the first and last minute of the video by flipping those sections and uploading the fixed version so that you guys don't get too seasick watching.

-Steve

Steve,

Looked over your pictures and video. I'm not sure about all the little bits and pieces, but am starting to get a good idea of most of the controls.

You have a couple things in this stove. You have the vent in the back, the one that has a flapper on the right but none on the left - looks like that right hand flapper you want open with starting the fire and when loading it after it going to re-fuel. Looks like it is the direct vent flapper. That means when it is open, the gases from the fire can go out that right hand side and straight out the chimney. Closing that flap makes the gases from the fire go out that left hand side. You'd have to follow that to see exactly here the gases go and how they get back to go out the chimney. This is how you want to run the stove when it's running nice and the fire is well established. The flap on the right looks too loose to me, I think it should seat a bit better.

Then I think you have a gas circulation system that allows some of the air flow to come into the base of your stove behind your ash pan and get drawn back up through the fire. I've never run a stove with kind of set-up so I can't give you much advice on how that works, when you use it, when you don't. I'd guess you use it when the fire is going well, not when starting. Might be when burning bituminous rather than anthracite, I don't really know.

The little side doors you have I'm not sure yet what they do. I'd have to follow how the air flows with them open. It wasn't clear to me how that might be....

As a first pass, I'd keep the lowest valve closed, the one that goes into ash pit. Open the valve on the right side so you'd be in direct draft mode. You could start the fire that way and get it running, should run pretty well like that.

The doors in the back look like they may be mainly for cleaning out the exhaust circulation system and may not be used when the stove is running.

That top plate could be used for heating water or cooking if need be, but I think it may be more likely that this stove could have had a magazine that went in there to feed the fire and you could load the coal through that top plate. Again, I'm no expert, but that's a guess...

I'd really have to see how all the airways work and connect to get a better understanding, but from what I can see, that's my 2 cents worth...

dj

Okay, let's start from the bottom and work up. I'll try my best to explain what everything is.
The little damper/valve behind the ash pan is called a,"Check Valve," It's purpose is to slow down the amount of air going through the fire. Some of these stoves, the check damper will send gas back through the fire to re burn them. It depends on if the stove is in direct draft or not, but; let's not get to ahead of ourselves.
The check damper must be closed when starting a fire, otherwise you will not get enough direct draft to get the fire started. Plainly speaking, the stove will not draw.
The sliding damper on the ash pit door is called the, "Primary Damper." This is the most important damper on the stove. This is where 90 percent of all the combustion air comes from and is controlled. Coal demands that it be fed air from beneath the firebed in order to burn correctly. The primary damper must be tight and have no play in it. The ash pit door MUST fit tight and have no leaks around where it fits to the stove body.

The little door on the outside back of the stove is an air inlet for air to be brought in the bottom of the stove and be heated then exhausted at the top rear where you have the fancy cover with the letters in it. This is called a, "Double Heating," option. Your stove is not only a radiant heater but also a convective heater. with the air inlet open at the bottom and the little damper open at the top. The stove produces lots of warm air.

The flapper damper on the right of the stove at the top of the firepot is the base heating valve. As dj stated above that damper determines the direction of the exhaust. With the flapper down the exhuast goes straight out to the stove pipe. That is called being in, "direct draft," in 99% of most stoves this as far as you get as most stoves are direct draft. When you flip up the valve, it puts the stove in, "Base Burner Mode," This setting takes the exhuast out and down to circulate it under the ash pan area and then allow it to go back up and exhuast. this allows for all the heat in the fuel and exhaust to be put into the house instead of being lost up the chimney for ever.

The flat plate under the dome is where you load the stove with coal. Your stove used to have a cone shaped chute that ran from that top door down to the fire pot. The Chute is called a ,'Magazine." With the magazine the coal was fed automatically into the fire and you had to load it up only every few days. the grates need a crank handle to shake them. There is a fall away crank that fits onto the end of the shaker rod that sticks out of the side the stove.

Thanks for the replies. I am going through the post "How to light a hand fired coal stove" right now. Only on page 16 of 26. Its a lot to take in but I am understanding more as I go. Now I can see more of how it works with the information you guys provided along with that thread. Do you think this stove is in working condition if the mica glass was replaced? Obviously, getting it refurbished would put it closer to the highest efficiency possible, but is there anything other than my lack of knowledge and replacing the mica glass that should prevent me from burning coal in this stove?

I have replied to a message that emery sent me. Hoping that those pictures and the video give him a rough idea on the cost of restoration for this stove. But if I can use it this winter before restoring it in the spring, that would be my goal. I have a lot more reading to do and questions to ask before I even think about buying a bag of coal.

wsherrick, dlj,

As I read over your posts carefully a few more times, it is making more sense to me. What about that little slot at the bottom of the right side door? The one that has a little cover that opens and closes? Any ideas what that is for?

The little door is to light a long straw or taper so you can light your pipe or a lamp.

You mentioned that there are a few ways to make the mica airtight. Can you elaborate? I took the grates off that hold the mica in, so I could see which ones need to be replaced and clean off the black soot on some of them. To my surprise, there were 2 pieces of mica for each pane. Is this normal? Should I be buying 2 pieces of mica for each pane? Some of the pieces were thinner than others. Most seem thicker and less flexible but I noticed that some of them were thinner and more frail. Also, I have no idea where to buy a few bags of anthracite coal in my area. If anyone has any suggestions about what to look for when I do find a place to buy the coal, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Steve

Two pieces would give more strength than one, but; it's not really necessary. Mica is a natural mineral so it has variations in color and other aspects, this is normal. Take your time to make sure the pieces fit in the windows properly and that they are tight. To make sure they are tight you can use thin rope gasket found at any stove and fireplace shop, or you can get some high temperature gasket seal like permatex to seal them. You can put the gasket stuff on the holding frames and it will press down on the mica as you tighten the frames back down. Others may have more suggestions as well.

That's one heck of a stove!

Thanks smokeyja. I actually removed all the grates this weekend and removed the mica glass that needed to be replaced as well as cleaned all the soot off of grates and glass. Then I replaced the glass and sealed it with permatex per wsherrick's advice. Now I just have to locate a few bags of anthracite coal and a thermometer and I am going to give this stove a try using a video wsherrick posted using a baseburner and the thread "How to Light a Hand Fired Coal Stove". I will keep everyone posted on how it goes.

It looks like the coal bug is biting you. The ash pan is too small. If you decide to burn the stove regularly I would have a new pan made to take maximum advantage of the space. To do that it might require the grate to be partially rotated to get those fingers out of the way when removing or putting back the ash pan. I can't understand why so many makers of stoves both old and new skimp on the ash pan, especially with a stove as ornate as yours where so much labor was expended elsewhere. How hard would it have been to make the area a little bigger?

What did Emery tell you about your stove? Good luck with your first attempt at burning coal in it. I think you are about to discover a whole new world of how to heat and you will look at your stove in a very different light.

Hey everyone. So, funny story, I bought the house where this particular coal stove lives last year. Did some searching on how to use our new coal stove, found this thread, learned a lot! Love the stove, definitely keeping it and plan to use it. We've run into a problem though.

Last year, it took a few tries to figure out how to get the stove running, but we got pretty good at getting a coal fire going, changing out the ashpan, etc. We had a cold spell in November and had the stove cranking for a solid week, at one point the house was at 74 when we normally set the thermostat to 67. Just roaring away, the room it's in was sometimes a little too warm unless I closed the primary damper almost all the way. After about a week the weather warmed up and we let the fire die out on purpose.

After that, we cleaned out the clinkers and ash, and then we could never get the stove working properly again. We can get it going and it feels like it's chugging along, but it never really gets that hot. Just sort of mildly warm. Certainly not even close to heating the whole house like it did that one week. And because it never really gets that hot, we can't keep it going. After 12 to 24 hours and a couple shakedowns, it just gradually gets cooler and dies no matter what we do.

This spring, we had a fireplace guy come in. He wasn't an expert on antique stoves, but he cleaned it thoroughly, resealed the outside chimney, and installed a newer chimney cap, the kind that keeps birds out (ask me why I felt that was an important design feature) and reduces backdraft when its windy. We were excited to get the stove going again this winter, thinking maybe the upgrades would solve the problem.

They did not. Still can't get it hot enough and can't keep the fire alive. I *think* I at least kind of know what I'm doing, or at least I apparently did at one point! But maybe there is some valve or damper somewhere I'm missing, this thing has a million little doors. Or maybe using it made it no longer airtight enough to function properly? I noticed one of the mica windows has slipped so there's a 1/8-inch gap, so I'll fix that next week, but it doesn't seem that alone would make such a big difference. Anyone have any theories as to what the problem might be?

I'll post a detailed rundown of the various flap and door positions I'm using in a little while to try and troubleshoot that part of it, but for now, wanted to say hello to the forum, reintroduce y'all to this stove and our efforts to keep it as a workhorse and not just fancy furniture.

Wow! What a read. I was rooting for the OP to fall in love with the heat of a good base burner. But it's good to know that the stove is going to be put to good use. Once you figure out the nooks and dampers.

I'm no William Sherrick, but he was my first mentor and the main reason I purchased an antique base burner rather than a square crap box stove. (His words not mine. Lol) I've had my Base Burner for 4 or 5 seasons now. And I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But reluctantly I must admit after each summer I forget the correct position for the damper (The lever on the back of my stove) to put the stove in BB mode. I then have to go back and re-watch the late great William Sherricks videos to refresh my memory of how to work the stove. Then it all comes back to me.

I say all that because I have tried to start fires while in BB mode and that's when I've experienced what your speaking of.

If you try starting a fire while in BB mode there won't be enough draft to get the fire going. Unless your draft is extremely strong in the first place. Which would require you to open your check damper. Which can also impede with getting your fire started and keeping it going.

In short, familiarize yourself with the BB/DD (Base Burner/Direct Draft) lever that's somewhere on the stove. Hell, I'm thinking I need a sticker with arrows pointing or something. The stove needs to be in DD to get started and then switched over to BB mode once the required temp is reached. The check damper should be closed also to ensure a strong draft when starting also. Then you'll be back to that sweet spot your looking for.

This post is so old. Might I suggest new pictures or video of the stove. That way other members might be able to point out these levers and dampers. And quite frankly pics get these coalhearts engaged. A stove like that must be able to be admired.