Advice Needed on Franco-Belge Possible Purchase

I looked at Franco- belge coal stove, I do believe it's a 1985. Model # 10 13 75 and serial # 11985 The guy want's $400.00 for it. Which leads me to my first question is that a good price for this year stove ? The stove seems to be in good condition clean no rust and the door gaskets looked in good shape. the shakers operated freely and the burn area looked solid. The owner knows nothing about the stove he is a remodeler and a customer gave it to him to get it out of the way. The owner said he had it fired but wife did not like it. When I looked at the stove the knob on the right that controls air came off I my hand I guess it just presses back on not sure? also when I opened up the top door I noticed that there are three levals of adjustment is this to control the feed of the coal from the hopper ? above the adjustment area inside the top door there was a thick steel plate that slid down when I was seeing hoe the adjustment worked it wasn't attached to anthing and had small holes along the edge of it the whole length of it and it looked like it was supposed to be mounted somewhere inside above the adjusters. If anyone can help me out on what i'm seeing here and if this stove is worth it ? How many BTU' s is this thing or how many square feet will it heat. one more question I plan to use this in my 2 garage on the lower leval to provide heat to the apt that is above it the garege is 75% insulated I had a pellet stove down there but it wasn't quite enough plus my tennent broke it.

Thanks George

George,

You need to remove the sheet metal and check for cracked castings.
If it is sound offer $200 tops. If it's cracked, look for something else.

TSB

First see my previous posts regarding this stove. They will answer most of your questions.

The thermostat knob has a spring loaded clip that provides the friction to hold it on, probably lost.

The heat out put is 20 to 25000 BTU per hour or 40 to 50 pounds of coal a day. This is half the output stated by the manufacturer but is what can reasonably be expected since most of the makers wildly overestimate the output of their stoves. Tend it 3 times a day.

If your garage is 20x 25 feet that is 500 square feet times two for the upstairs equals 1000 square feet. The stove should easily provide enough heat for that area, but not if those garage doors leak a lot or have to be opened frequently.

How do you plan to vent it and how does the heat get to the upper level?

Do not buy this stove without first taking off the side and back panels (easy to do) and inspecting the stove and heat exchange channels for cracks or damage. If that stove was tipped on its back it will break the rear exhaust channel. To move it you will want to remove everything anyway to get the weight down. You should also have the right poker and special tool to shake down and remove the ash pan.

It is late in the heating season and I would offer less for the stove, especially since neither you nor the owner knows anything about it.

The stove should have an insulated chimney, 6 inch tops or an inside chimney to work properly.

Richard

There should be aplate on the back. That and the plates in the front tend to warp from overfiring but even if they are it should still be fine. Depending on the condition I'd suggest $400 is not bad. My brother paid about $300 for one about 10 years ago and that was worth it... sold it for nearly what it paid for it a few years later.

The important thing as mentioned is to check the cast iron isn't cracked anywhere, the condition of the grates and the condition of those plates. The front plates themselves are a little akward and if I remember correctly might even look like they don't belong where they are. Maybe someone can post a picture of the inside of one.

A friend of mine has one, paid $300 and it came with spare grate and spare glass. It works well, but likes to be shaken every 6 hours.

Are there any stoves that will go 12 hrs without tending ? if I go with the franco 2 people on here have said they need tending bwtn 6-8 hrs, right now the guy living upstairs is on workers comp so he will be able to tend it,but I don't see him living up there forever.

George