How does a Salamandre anthracite stove function?

I have a Salamandre anthracite stove which I am trying to restore. They were made in Paris around the turn of the last century, and were apparently very popular. They are on wheels, so they can be moved between fire places (you can find images online) and seem to have been designed to produce maximum heat from a shallow body. Mine is rusted, and I'm trying to find out if there are any internal moving parts, and if the flap immediately behind the handle on the top of the stove should open.
I would appreciate any knowledge - or guesses - as to its internal structure and how it works; i.e., how the air and heat circulate before exiting by the vent at the rear.
Many thanks in advance!

can you post pics?



Welcome to the forum



Eric

The flap you described should open, it enables you to refuel without opening the front door and would help minimize ash flying around...
As for the moving parts, valves, dampers ect... there were an awful lot of different series of these stoves on the market (check link below), so it´s difficult to tell...

http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http ... 2520(suite).htm&usg=__qCbQZ7gLJtL_3Fq1BHCNEmOckA4=&h=932&w=648&sz=43&hl=de&start=2&zoom=1&tbnid=Nag0U_lqa7OSIM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=102&ei=mA8gUJqPKISo4gTi6oGgBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsalamandre%2Bpoele%26hl%3Dde%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1

.... even found a short user´s manual on the same homepage(in case you do read french):

http://arnauld.divry.pagesperso-orange.fr/entretien.htm

Hi alacranguapa,

I found the time to do some more reading, here´s a summary of what I found:
Salamandre stoves are direct draft slow combustion stoves, designed for the use of smokeless fuels - basically anthracite or coke. The early models appear to be of a relatively simple design: combustion air enters through primary air inlets in the the ash pit door (no option for secondary air) , rises through the bed of glowing coal, continues to rise along the front of the stove and follows the rounded shape of the stove to the back where it exits.
Later - and larger- models like the 1920´s Mega Kritos were a bit more elaborate: The general design stays the same, but the path of the hot gases is enhanced. They can either be sent directly up the chimney or can be directed towards the bottom of the stove and then up again - a bit like a indirect draft pipe on some of the Glenwood stoves. That´s why late models like the Mega-Kritos do also come with a lever on the right hand side of the stove´s body. That lever operates an internal damper which changes the direction of the exhaust gases. Besides that the later models come with a second lever at the front. That lever would control the intake of combustion air and would move along a scale from "lent" to "vif" - that is "slow" to "lively".
Larger models of the Salamandre come with an enameled casing around the back of the stove, which helps increase a convective flow of air because it would be designed to be open both in the bottom and the top of the casing.
A La Salamandre (unlike some of it´s competitors) will always come with 2-3 horizontal bars right behind the large door in the front. These would look like rows of teeth and would hold back the glowing embers from the mica windows. These bars are essential, because the original La Salamandre was literally meant to be filled to capacity with coal. Smaller models hold up to 12 lbs, lager models up to 30 lbs. They are supposed to be filled right up to the flap on the top of the stove to provide long burn times (the user´s manual suggests average burn times of 24hrs on one load of anthracite and 12hrs using coke). Competing models would sometimes come with just one horizontal bar at the level of the relatively shallow fire pot, but the original La Salamandre was meant to be filled all the way up.

Hope that was a bit more helpful than my last reply.
If you look at link I´ve postet in my second reply: go to the very bottom of the homepage your directed to and click on "retour", the following page will show a lot of links in it´s middle titled "pages suivantes", there you´ll find A LOT of photos and some diagrams of the numerous models of Salamandres produced between 1890 and 1953

Mark

Mark, thanks for sharing these informations. Very interesting

Wow what a classy looking stove~!

Yes, they are very nice. When I was looking for a Baltimore Heater insert, I saw a few models looking just like La Salamandre for sale on Ebay. Maybe they were but not shure, what I remember is that they were $$$$$$$. But when you want, really want something for a long time......

Thanks very much for all the posts, and to Mark for all that info and the great link. I am much better informed now - it seems I have a Salamandre Renaissance. I'm busy translating the French, with a little bit of help, and it looks as if all the information I could ever need is there. Thanks once again.

Those are really nice stoves and having the indirect flue path I bet they work very well.