Morso fire hot

[LadyG]

6 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

A sheet of polished metal set on spacers in front of the tiles will make a big difference, reflecting the radiant heat and no path for heat transfer. Just stand one of your silver trays down there and see how much difference it makes with just a 5mm gap even

 

I spoke to the VICTAS technical line, they recommend their vermiculite insulating board

[mrsmelly]

I never measured mine but just have due to this thread. I have built the hearth and surround out of 18 mil thick stuff from wickes that cannot even be set alight with a blow torch and is away from the bulkheads so air behind. My stove is usual inside left front door and measurements in English are 18 inches back from front cabin bulkhead to side of stove and 7 inches from hull side to back of stove. the nearest wooden step is below the main body of the fire and five inches away. When I fitted it at the time I thought I wouldnt want it any closer than this to anything as stuff surrounding still gets hot.

[LadyG]

22 hours ago, bizzard said:

If you can put a house brick or two, one on top of the other at the back of the stove it will keep the back cooler and reduce heat a bit and save coal, the flue pipe will also be a bit cooler. Saw the back corners off the top plate if they're too close. If you need to cut a house brick to shorten it just use ideally a bolster and tap it lightly all around making a shallow groove, When the grooves meet place bolster on one side in a groove  and give it a shap blow with the hammer and it should break clean and square. A nice embelisher trim for at the ceiling hole where the flue pipe passes through can be made from a round alumunium pie dish, largish ones like Quiesh Lorrain comes in from supermarkets. Firstly eat the pie. Cut the bottom out leaving the side walls and rim with scissors then cut through one side to anable it to pass around the flue pipe, slip it up to the ceiling, trim to fit and stick it up with silicone with the rim overlapping around the aperture,  they look lovely.

there may be some clever ideas here, just not sure which ones !

[roland elsdon]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

there may be some clever ideas here, just not sure which ones !

We have used house bricks and extra fire bricks to reduce the grate size in our current fire , and in previous fires. Currently we have a 4 kw puffin (shudder) in our 12 ft extension cabin and it got too warm. Reducing the grate size keeps a small fire in better and as the bricks are orientated towards the rear reduces the rearwise heat output. I have never been happy with this stove or its install, feeling it to be too close to the walls. More worryingly when we bought it the firebricks were installed wrongly , and the ports for a backboiler not blanked off. We have 2 smoke and 2 co2 monitors.

itll be gone next year.

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

We have used house bricks and extra fire bricks to reduce the grate size in our current fire , and in previous fires. Currently we have a 4 kw puffin (shudder) in our 12 ft extension cabin and it got too warm. Reducing the grate size keeps a small fire in better and as the bricks are orientated towards the rear reduces the rearwise heat output. I have never been happy with this stove or its install, feeling it to be too close to the walls. More worryingly when we bought it the firebricks were installed wrongly , and the ports for a backboiler not blanked off. We have 2 smoke and 2 co2 monitors.

itll be gone next year.

OK, naive Q .....

what is function of firebrick?

what is difference twixt a builders brick and a firebrick?

"bricks oriented to rear" etc, why not cover back wall [inside of stove]? 

Edited October 30, 2019 by LadyG

[TheBiscuits]

On 28/10/2019 at 21:12, blackrose said:

It does sound like a bit of a faff though. I'd rather just leave a bigger gap behind the stove.

It's alright for you with your spacious wide interior ... if I left more gap the stove would block the galley!

[Timx]

• I replaced bricks etc but made no difference, so I put insulation over the walls, which are now cold.

looks xmassy, but feels safe enough to leave fire in, when off boat..

[Jen-in-Wellies]

On 30/10/2019 at 16:48, LadyG said:

OK, naive Q .....

what is function of firebrick?

what is difference twixt a builders brick and a firebrick?

"bricks oriented to rear" etc, why not cover back wall [inside of stove]? 

Placed on the grate to reduce its size, so concentrating the fire in a smaller area and removing air flow around it, making the fire deeoer. Coal fires keep in better if they are deeper as it slows down the air passage through them. A smaller area, but thicker fire seems to work better than a wide area, shallow one.

A firebrick will be denser, with much less porosity. If a house brick is used, then moisture in the pores could cause the brick to explode, or crack when heated the first time. Much less risk with a proper fire brick. People have used house bricks successfully, but that is the risk. If you have a squirrel stove, then they sell cast iron bits that do the same job. At Morso prices though! Maybe they are cast gold, not iron.

The squirrel coal inserts go each side of the grate. The recommendation above to put them at the rear was to reduce the temperature there and hence heat transfer radiated to the boat wall. This being the closest point and most at risk. On my stove, the Squirrel has a couple of thin metal plates spaced off the back, built in that help convect warm air at the rear. These considerably reduce the heat to the wall behind. There is a small risk that the different thermal stresses by deliberately cooling one wall might crack the stove.

 

I bought my Mum a couple of fire bricks last winter when she wanted to use smokeless coal in her stove in her house, instead of wood. They were a present, so I asked the man on the till at Travis Perkins if he could gift wrap them for me. Surprised to be told that this wasn't a service that they offered! The fire bricks work well and have reduced the coal consumption to reasonable levels.

 

Jen

Edited November 6, 2019 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Alan de Enfield]

38 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I bought my Mum a couple of fire bricks last winter when she wanted to use smokeless coal in her stove in her house, instead of wood. They were a present, so I asked the man on the till at Travis Perkins if he could gift wrap them for me. Surprised to be told that this wasn't a service that they offered! The fire bricks work well and have reduced the coal consumption to reasonable levels.

[rgreg]

39 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

.....

The squirrel coal inserts go each side of the grate.

I have these and they are well worth having; they act as a kind of funnel for the ash over the grate.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

4 minutes ago, rgreg said:

I have these and they are well worth having; they act as a kind of funnel for the ash over the grate.

I do too. They work really well.

[Timx]

Just to finish this off,  I did end up putting that silver insulation stuff all round areas that were getting hot. Anyway I noticed in time the stove wasn't getting as hot, I'e heat coming up from the sides where the Morso outer protective plate is. And in time it all went back to normal. I still don't know the answer, maybe my sweeping the chimney a couple of times better than last year, maybe replacing the front glass.

i will have to re assess next year, I did not try sweeping the chimney again this year, but Winter has been mild, temperature wise. 

Anywayas an aside , this year I have been using a new coal, and have used it for last four months, it has made me rethink my ideas of changing to a diesel burner. 

I use "glow" briquettes, my fire has been on constantly, I have to empty the ash pan once a week, last year it was once a day, or fire choked itself and went out. Brilliant stuff, it's about £12 a bag, I mentioned same to someone else who used it, but did not have a squirrel, he did not find it as good, so all I I can say I have found it great in our set up.

[TheBiscuits]

33 minutes ago, Timx said:

I use "glow" briquettes, my fire has been on constantly, I have to empty the ash pan once a week, last year it was once a day, or fire choked itself and went out.

Don't get too used to it - it's not a smokeless fuel so you won't find anyone stocking it 12 months from now.

 

Have you tried Excel?  More ash, daily is about right, but you use less fuel for the same heat I find.

[Rambling Boater]

You can fit a back boiler onto the back of a Morso. You can then run the out and return pipe up to a radiator fitted to the other end of the boat. That way the heat will get distributed more evenly throughout the boat and the stove walls won't need to get so hot in order to heat the boat!

[Alan de Enfield]

7 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Don't get too used to it - it's not a smokeless fuel so you won't find anyone stocking it 12 months from now.

I was under the impression that it is the sale of 'house coal' that is being banned, 'manufactured solid fuels' (smokeless or otherwise) seem to be exempt.

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/government-ban-coal-wood-heating-2023-1886130

 

 

Manufacturer of 'Glow'  says :

 

Although they are not suitable for smoke controlled areas, nevertheless, Oxbow Glow briquettes are a non-authorised yet excellent substitute for Excel, which is fully approved for use in smoke control areas.

Providing impressive heat output, Glow briquettes have all the burning characteristics of Excel - but at a much-reduced price.  And whilst they don’t have HETAS approval, Oxbow Glow is the recognised alternative fuel and long term answer to bituminous house coal which will be banned from use in 2020.

For anyone not restricted to a smoke control zone, Oxbow Glow briquettes are undoubtedly the most cost effective fuel for cooking up a tasty meal!  

 

https://www.fourseasonsfuel.co.uk/coal-household-and-boiler/oxbow-glow-non-smokeless-oval-coal-min-order-of-5-bags-5-0-P-133/

[Nightwatch]

Going back over old ground. We found that during the recent windy periods our fire has been burning hot even though it’s very nearly closed down. Air obviously down t’flue.

[Higgs]

1 hour ago, Nightwatch said:

Going back over old ground. We found that during the recent windy periods our fire has been burning hot even though it’s very nearly closed down. Air obviously down t’flue.

 

The wind blows across the top of the flue and works like an atomiser or spray gun and draws the air up the flue, increasing the draught being drawn up through the fire's vents.

[ditchcrawler]

10 hours ago, Timx said:

Just to finish this off,  I did end up putting that silver insulation stuff all round areas that were getting hot. Anyway I noticed in time the stove wasn't getting as hot, I'e heat coming up from the sides where the Morso outer protective plate is. And in time it all went back to normal. I still don't know the answer, maybe my sweeping the chimney a couple of times better than last year, maybe replacing the front glass.

i will have to re assess next year, I did not try sweeping the chimney again this year, but Winter has been mild, temperature wise. 

Anywayas an aside , this year I have been using a new coal, and have used it for last four months, it has made me rethink my ideas of changing to a diesel burner. 

I use "glow" briquettes, my fire has been on constantly, I have to empty the ash pan once a week, last year it was once a day, or fire choked itself and went out. Brilliant stuff, it's about £12 a bag, I mentioned same to someone else who used it, but did not have a squirrel, he did not find it as good, so all I I can say I have found it great in our set up.

Maybe its not burning so hot because your chimney requires sweeping if you haven't done it since before the winter

[Dr Bob]

23 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Maybe its not burning so hot because your chimney requires sweeping if you haven't done it since before the winter

Yep, our fire struggled to get hot this winter and far too much CO till I cleaned the flue out. Now really toasty.

[koukouvagia]

On 29/10/2019 at 10:35, Keeping Up said:

They removed the tiles and inserted a thick fireproof board (25mm I think) which, they claimed, was a newly-released product that didn't need an airgap because of its internal construction. Looking at an offcut, it seemed to be some sort of honeycomb construction, or like a bar of Aero chocolate. They said that it hadn't yet been approved in the standards for an RCD - that would take a couple of years at least, they said - and therefore was virtually unknown in the boating world, but in the meantime it was an excellent solution for use on an existing boat.

Can you remember what it was called, Allan?  

[Keeping Up]

58 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

Can you remember what it was called, Allan?  

No, sorry, I don't think they told me its name.