Valor Willow wood-coal stove

[Emerald Fox]

We have one of these little things in our boat - it came with the boat. We have been using it, but, despite having looked at the Valor instructions (available easily as a PDF download) it's still unclear to me what the throat plate is and where it's supposed to be! What is its function?

 

Ours has always been hanging down, vertically, against the back plate (insulating brick thingy). So the heat goes straight up the chimney. Is this throat plate supposed to be 'as a ceiling' so that the heat doesn't go straight up burning the tails off crows?

I have been reluctant to alter the status quo just in case the stove gets full of smoke which can't escape, or gets too hot - and it seems to sort of work OK as it is, and to see smoke coming out of the chimney well means that air is being sucked into the stove well, meaning the chances of us getting CO poisoning are pretty negligent.

However, are we being fuel wasteful and contributing a bit too much to global warming?

Does anyone have photos to show exactly how this throat plate is supposed to be positioned?

 

Also, how does one know when to renew the door edge rope? Is it easy to do - old one out, new one press into place - or are there tricks to this?

[stagedamager]

It sits above the fire in effect creating a flue baffle. The angled bit runs down to meet the back about half way down. It is removable to clean the back end of the stove out. In my experience no way as good as a squirrel but still a functional stove, which we, too inherited with our boats.

The door rope should scrape out and a new one stuck in with rope glue, available from all good stove stockists!

[LoneWolf]

 

 

Ours has always been hanging down, vertically, against the back plate (insulating brick thingy).

 

.....

Also, how does one know when to renew the door edge rope? Is it easy to do - old one out, new one press into place - or are there tricks to this?

 

 

so pull it towards you so it is hanging (off the side fire bricks like it is now) but in the middle. then push the bottom of it towards to back of the fire so the bendy bit sits on top of the back fire brick (which should only come half way up the back)

If it wont sit nicely on the back fire brick it may be in the wrong way round so take it out turn it around & try again

 

yes it is easy to change the rope. You stick it in with glue

In my experience no way as good as a squirrel but still a functional stove,

 

it looks about a million times smarter than a squirrel though dunnit

[Top cat]

On ours we had to fiddle with the fire bricks to get the throat plate to fit at an angle from the side pieces down to the rear brick. We contacted Valors technical depertment but they didn't know how its supposed to go together. The manual is pretty useless. Ive got a picture of how we put it together somewhere.

 

Top Cat

[Emerald Fox]

On ours we had to fiddle with the fire bricks to get the throat plate to fit at an angle from the side pieces down to the rear brick. We contacted Valors technical depertment but they didn't know how its supposed to go together. The manual is pretty useless. Ive got a picture of how we put it together somewhere.

 

Top Cat

 

Picture would be nice

 

I feel like someone from Missouri with this issue (the "Show Me" state).

 

Thanks for comments, I'll have another fiddle around. I can't help thinking that the throat plate, however angled, will block the chimney 'ole and there will just be a load of smoke mingling round inside the stove not knowing what to do with itself and suffocating the fire itself.

It was pointed out to us that the sides are stainless steel (door is cast iron) which means no cracking.

It's a little stove but a little boat (40') so is quite suitable.

It does take forever for the heat to get round to the kitchen though (back of boat) so if it's nippy in the mornings I've been setting a gas stove (MSR Pocket Rocket) on the steps and blasting the ceiling spiders from their slumbers - a 15 minute burst takes the chill off.

(this does happen: when the warm air rises, for some reason spiders often descend silently on their threads like... er... Spiderman.... so you have a sheet of kitchen towel in your hand, they land in the middle (you can draw a bull's eye target on it to please them if you like!) and you gently scrunch it up so as not to hurt them, and then chuck it out the window).

(it would be fun to see spiders come down unsilently - blowing a mini trumpet for instance! You know, like the Ryanair jingle).

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yRolcyDJjsw/maxresdefault.jpg

[springy]

It may be down to actual operating conditions - boat stove flues are generally too short - if the bridges had

more headroom then we could have taller flues & stoves would work better. Whilst a throat plate is intended

to stop excess heat escaping, it also reduces airflow and sometimes has to be placed "out of position" or even

removed to get a stove to draw properly - some days it will work fine, others particularly like todays foggy start,

it will be difficult to get going with a throat plate fitted as intended.

 

springy

[valrene9600]

There are pictures on a PDF from willow. Not sure how to li k a pdf

Just Google. Fitting throat plate to willow stove.

There is a PDF comes up and it has pictures.

[Ray T]

Page 8, here: http://www.valor.co.uk/assets/kb/operating_instructions/0/Willow_Instructions_Summer_2003.pdf

[Emerald Fox]

Thanks - but the PDF pics are a bit hard to translate, and that throat plate doesn't look like what we have. I'll ask now & then if I can ever get another boater to enter our lair!

I do find it novel to burn coal - as there's no coal in Finland (only for the power stations, from Poland), and I like the smell of the smoke, and at night to hear the lumps dislodge themselves and roll a bit and clink.

[Informer Fox]

Thanks - but the PDF pics are a bit hard to translate, and that throat plate doesn't look like what we have. I'll ask now & then if I can ever get another boater to enter our lair!

I do find it novel to burn coal - as there's no coal in Finland (only for the power stations, from Poland), and I like the smell of the smoke, and at night to hear the lumps dislodge themselves and roll a bit and clink.

Brother, I can send you one lorry with coal to you if you want.

[Informer Fox]

I am kindly asking, that no body need coal in Scandinavia?