The top on our Squirrel cracked open last year. It is right at the edge near the front. No gas leaks out etc but really I need to fix it ESPECIALLY as BSS is due soon. Although it is only an advisory for private boats, it doesn’t look good…

 

So my question is, apart from the new top and new screws and washers, do I need anything else? Is there rope sealing between the top and the sides? No doubt it will be a pain to get the screws out and I am concerned that it cracked in the first place due to the sides swelling slightly from corrosion and thus the new top might not easily fit. Any advice on this job welcome…

All stove dismantling is a filthy job.  Dress appropriately and dont do it on or anywhere near the new Axminster carpet🤣

 

There is stove rope under the top.  It sits in a groove round the top.  You will need some glue as well as the 7 mm IIRC rope.

 

Put a ratchet strap/ bit of big string round the sides before tackling the lid screws. This stops involuntary dismantling of the sides and damage to the securing lugs.

  If it is bulging a bit it might be worth a full dismantle and clean. A needle gun is a good tool and always cheers up the neighbours.

 

Easy way is to take out as much of the inside  stuff as possible, lower 8any boiler into the firebox, turn the stove over then grind the heads off the 4 securing screws. Go gently - you don't want to damage the lugs on the back and front.  Undoing the nuts with a spanner  is usually unsuccessful unless the screws were fitted with copper grease.  Don't disturb the back flue plug if you are not using it. 

 

Removing the base is same as the top.  Grinding the screw heads usually gets the stems red hot so they can then be extracted from the base with a Mole grip.

 

When reassembling, glue the rope to the lid/base/sides first. Use A4 stainless hex socket cap heads and washers and a good dollop of copper grease.  Don't  over tighten.  The panels need freedom to move as they heat up.

 

Once the bottom is fitted use a ratchet strap/ bit of big string to support the sides while you fit the lid.  The boiler, if fitted, can be ferkled in through the door, but it is a lot easier to put it in the firebox before fitting the lid and then get it into the final position after fitting lid, but before  finalising the grate etc.

 

Good places to buy parts  from,  ime: Harworth heating or Morso direct.  You will probably need a new collar (more rope and glue🙂) as well as the lid,  if you are using the top entry. The modern collar fastening  is not the same as the original but they are interchangeable.

 

Have fun.

Are there recorded anywhere what the torque settings for the nuts when doing it back up ?

3 hours ago, nicknorman said:

The top on our Squirrel cracked open last year. It is right at the edge near the front. No gas leaks out etc but really I need to fix it ESPECIALLY as BSS is due soon.

 

Just buy a refurbished 1410 like wot that nice Mr @b00ke23 did recently. £800-ish IIRC.

 

https://www.morsoheaven.co.uk/online-store/Morso-Squirrel-1410-Air-Wash-Multi-Fuel-Stove-p363915873

 

You won't regret it especially given you are loaded. Its a total ball-ache taking one to bits. 

 

 

 

 

24 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Just buy a refurbished 1410 like wot that nice Mr @b00ke23 did recently. £800-ish IIRC.

 

https://www.morsoheaven.co.uk/online-store/Morso-Squirrel-1410-Air-Wash-Multi-Fuel-Stove-p363915873

 

You won't regret it especially given you are loaded. Its a total ball-ache taking one to bits. 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean if it's just the top plate on @nicknorman stove then probably worth a go. However these jobs have a habat of uncovering other issues and unraveling ...If some of those bulging side panels need replaced then the bill will rapidly rise (£130 ish for the top panel plus the same for each side/back)....could be looking at north of £400 in parts if things go badly. 

 

Wheras the reconditioned stove is £800 and can be offset by flogging the old one which must still be worth quite a few hundred to someone!

I did look at a new or refurbished one but it’s not just the cost, it’s the logistics of living 400 miles away from the boat. I can easily put a top plate in the car next time we go down, an entire stove out and in is a lot harder to organise.

1 minute ago, nicknorman said:

I did look at a new or refurbished one but it’s not just the cost, it’s the logistics of living 400 miles away from the boat. I can easily put a top plate in the car next time we go down, an entire stove out and in is a lot harder to organise.

Can't you have it delivered to the marina ?

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

Can't you have it delivered to the marina ?

No they are a bit funny about that, and anyway what would I do with the old one? It’s 12 years old of “leisure” use so should still have plenty of life left,

10 hours ago, Tonka said:

Are there recorded anywhere what the torque settings for the nuts when doing it back up ?

Not that I have seen anywhere.  Be a bugger to get a conventional torque wrench to them anyway, though a big torque screwdriver might work. 

 

I usually go for finger tight with the ball end of an allen key, plus about 1/3 of a turn.  Some stove rope is softer and needs a bit more.

 

 

7 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

No they are a bit funny about that, and anyway what would I do with the old one? It’s 12 years old of “leisure” use so should still have plenty of life left,

Agree, but at that age a full dismantle and clean with new rope would deffo be a good idea.  IRAN for those who remember it.  Old age ( assisted by winter damp)  tends to make the rope go hard and encourages rust wedging between the sides and the back/front.  Change the rope on the door seals too.

 

 

 

24 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I did look at a new or refurbished one but it’s not just the cost, it’s the logistics of living 400 miles away from the boat. I can easily put a top plate in the car next time we go down, an entire stove out and in is a lot harder to organise.

You might be lucky and the old top could come off easily. On mine the lugs were on the back and front with bolts holding the top on. So armed with a new top you won't be too bothered if the old bolts snap off, and won't need to drill them out.  (Like I had to...)

 

Given a relatively good condition stove I think you will get away with it. A full strip down / rebuild is relatively easy took me about a day. Bengo instructions cover it and there are some good you tube videos too (and some crap ones).  I managed to lift my stove out/off the boat on my own and I'm a shiny arse (office wallah) not a shaved gorilla. But I did take off/out all the bits I could, like doors, fire bricks grate etc.  Don't lift it by the top, I did that which was why I ended up doing a stripdown/rebuild. !!!!!  Use some sort of strop under the stove. 

These things do have a habit of growing... mine started off as a simple flue pipe replacement and then became hearth replacement, fireproofing and new tiles to  surround, new deck collar. Then full rebuild of stove.... oh and I did replace the flue pipe !

 

Not the best time of year to start fiddling with your stove though.

 

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I did look at a new or refurbished one but it’s not just the cost, it’s the logistics of living 400 miles away from the boat. I can easily put a top plate in the car next time we go down, an entire stove out and in is a lot harder to organise.

 

It's a fair point. The main reason I didn't collect it....just lifting it in and out of a car boot would be hard.

53 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Not that I have seen anywhere.  Be a bugger to get a conventional torque wrench to them anyway, though a big torque screwdriver might work. 

 

I usually go for finger tight with the ball end of an allen key, plus about 1/3 of a turn.  Some stove rope is softer and needs a bit more.

 

 

Agree, but at that age a full dismantle and clean with new rope would deffo be a good idea.  IRAN for those who remember it.  Old age ( assisted by winter damp)  tends to make the rope go hard and encourages rust wedging between the sides and the back/front.  Change the rope on the door seals too.

 

Certainly if the logistics were easier I’d be keen to take the stove home and refurbish if properly. But circumstances are conspiring against me, I have a full calendar apart from 5 days on the boat with the in-laws culminating in the BSS. Maybe if I just have the new stove top on the boat and say I will sort if before winter the BSS chap will be OK, it is after all just an advisory for a private boat and the stove works fine as it is. On return from boat I then have 1 week at the gliding club followed straight afterwards by tackling the house kitchen - completely gutting the room back to the granite walls and re-lining with insulation, followed by new kitchen units. That will take many weeks and possibly run past the BSS expiry end of Nov, so I really need the boat to pass first time!

24 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Certainly if the logistics were easier I’d be keen to take the stove home and refurbish if properly. But circumstances are conspiring against me, I have a full calendar apart from 5 days on the boat with the in-laws culminating in the BSS. Maybe if I just have the new stove top on the boat and say I will sort if before winter the BSS chap will be OK, it is after all just an advisory for a private boat and the stove works fine as it is. On return from boat I then have 1 week at the gliding club followed straight afterwards by tackling the house kitchen - completely gutting the room back to the granite walls and re-lining with insulation, followed by new kitchen units. That will take many weeks and possibly run past the BSS expiry end of Nov, so I really need the boat to pass first time!

What insulation are you using in the kitchen out of interest?

3 hours ago, Tonka said:

What insulation are you using in the kitchen out of interest?

It will be Kingspan or equivalent between the studding, leaving an air gap between the insulation and the granite walls as that has to be ventilated. Not quite sure how thick it will be yet, I don’t want to reduce the room size much. Maybe only 50mm but even that will be massively better than lath and plaster between room and externally ventilated wall space. 

Edited September 9Sep 9 by nicknorman

16 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

It will be Kingspan or equivalent between the studding, leaving an air gap between the insulation and the granite walls as that has to be ventilated. Not quite sure how thick it will be yet, I don’t want to reduce the room size much. Maybe only 50mm but even that will be massively better than lath and plaster between room and externally ventilated wall space. 

Hope you're using metal studding. Far easier and better for damp situations. 👍 

3 hours ago, nicknorman said:

It will be Kingspan or equivalent between the studding, leaving an air gap between the insulation and the granite walls as that has to be ventilated. Not quite sure how thick it will be yet, I don’t want to reduce the room size much. Maybe only 50mm but even that will be massively better than lath and plaster between room and externally ventilated wall space. 

Wouldn't insulative lime plaster be better.  This is what I was going to use on our cowshed holiday let conversion which is stone built. Ty Mawr have a lot of good gen on it. The architect wanted me to do it similar to what you have stated but all the listed property info puts me off

4 hours ago, Jon57 said:

Hope you're using metal studding. Far easier and better for damp situations. 👍 

No, but will use some DPC membrane to keep the damp from moving into the wood since they don’t make wood like they used to. The entire house is made from granite walls with internal timber framing pegged into the granite, and lath and plaster. It’s lasted since 1880 so wood will be fine!

1 hour ago, Tonka said:

Wouldn't insulative lime plaster be better.  This is what I was going to use on our cowshed holiday let conversion which is stone built. Ty Mawr have a lot of good gen on it. The architect wanted me to do it similar to what you have stated but all the listed property info puts me off

No, the Victorian Scottish house with granite walls and no DPC only “works” because there is a ventilated air gap between the granite and the inner room lining.

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

No, the Victorian Scottish house with granite walls and no DPC only “works” because there is a ventilated air gap between the granite and the inner room lining.

A bit like modern cavity wall construction really!

37 minutes ago, David Mack said:

A bit like modern cavity wall construction really!

 

Except nowadays the cavity is required to be stuffed with insulation so no longer much ventilation! 

 

 

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Except nowadays the cavity is required to be stuffed with insulation so no longer much ventilation! 

 

 

Not according to current building regs

As soon as people start talking about house construction & insulation I realise it's something I know absolutely nothing about. 

 

On 09/09/2026 at 09:17, b00ke23 said:

 

It's a fair point. The main reason I didn't collect it....just lifting it in and out of a car boot would be hard.

 

I collected my new 110kg Morso Panther from Uxbridge Boat Centre over 20 years ago. It was £960 which seems like a bargain now. Phil who used to work there, me and a young guy who worked in the yard, lifted it and put it into the back of my old Mazda 323 and I drove back to Brentford. It came on its own mini wooden pallet with a carboard box on top. Later I drove around to an industrial estate a few hundred yards up the canal which backed up to the towpath and talked to the security guard (an African guy called Duncan) to ask him if I could bring my boat up and get the stove out of the car onto the boat. He agreed and even offered to help.

 

A couple of days later the boat was in place and I drove to the car park which was only about 20 yards from the canal, down a few steps in the bank. I had a friend with me and fortunately Duncan was helping otherwise I don't think we'd have got it out of the car. We got it onto the stern deck and I got into the boat. I'd put some boards over the steps and the idea was to tip the pallet onto the angled boards and I'd take the weight from below and lower it down to the floor. I did a lot of weight training at the time so was pretty sure I could take the weight and lower it.

 

We were rushing a bit because Duncan had left his building and was probably worried about his job, so he was telling us to get on with it and get it into the boat, but what happened next surprised all of us. We'd all foolishly assumed the stove was strapped to the pallet. It wasn't and as we tipped the pallet the stove rolled out of the box over my left shoulder and landed on the floor! Fortunately there just happened to be a small sheet of 3" thick expanded polystyrene sheet on the floor. I can't remember where it came from but I was fitting out the boat at the time so there was lots of random stuff laying around and the corner of the stove landed on the polystyrene. If it had landed on my foot it would have crushed it. Amazingly there was no damage to the stove - even the glass in the doors was ok. Those Morso castings must be fairly good quality.

Edited September 11Sep 11 by blackrose

5 hours ago, blackrose said:

As soon as people start talking about house construction & insulation I realise it's something I know absolutely nothing about. 

 

 

I collected my new 110kg Morso Panther from Uxbridge Boat Centre over 20 years ago. It was £960 which seems like a bargain now. Phil who used to work there, me and a young guy who worked in the yard, lifted it and put it into the back of my old Mazda 323 and I drove back to Brentford. It came on its own mini wooden pallet with a carboard box on top. Later I drove around to an industrial estate a few hundred yards up the canal which backed up to the towpath and talked to the security guard (an African guy called Duncan) to ask him if I could bring my boat up and get the stove out of the car onto the boat. He agreed and even offered to help.

 

A couple of days later the boat was in place and I drove to the car park which was only about 20 yards from the canal, down a few steps in the bank. I had a friend with me and fortunately Duncan was helping otherwise I don't think we'd have got it out of the car. We got it onto the stern deck and I got into the boat. I'd put some boards over the steps and the idea was to tip the pallet onto the angled boards and I'd take the weight from below and lower it down to the floor. I did a lot of weight training at the time so was pretty sure I could take the weight and lower it.

 

We were rushing a bit because Duncan had left his building and was probably worried about his job, so he was telling us to get on with it and get it into the boat, but what happened next surprised all of us. We'd all foolishly assumed the stove was strapped to the pallet. It wasn't and as we tipped the pallet the stove rolled out of the box over my left shoulder and landed on the floor! Fortunately there just happened to be a small sheet of 3" thick expanded polystyrene sheet on the floor. I can't remember where it came from but I was fitting out the boat at the time so there was lots of random stuff laying around and the corner of the stove landed on the polystyrene. If it had landed on my foot it would have crushed it. Amazingly there was no damage to the stove - even the glass in the doors was ok. Those Morso castings must be fairly good quality.

 

Flipping heck! Fancy them not strapping it to the pallet. That is exactly the sort of thing I feared. I’d reckoned on needing 3 blokes to get it in and out of a boot so your story proves that theory. 

 

But absolutely amazing it took that much of a fall with no damage! And the chances of it hitting the 3” piece of expanded polystyrene….you’d never be able to do that if you tried! Doesn’t bear thinking about if upon ended up on top of you.

 

This is a good reminder of the difficulties of moving these things. When mine was delivered just getting it off the pallet onto a sack truck was a major effort by myself.