Stove service?

[Lizzy]

Now that evenings are turning colder, my eyes have wandered to the stove in the corner. Since I've only just bought the boat I haven't used it yet. The survey said that a firebrick is broken and should be replaced and that the seal to the flue needs to be resealed. I am ever so slightly paranoid about the dangers of carbon monoxide too. Is it worth having somebody competent do a stove service or does that even exist? I don't mind learning the DIY skills to do all this myself, but the stove to me is a bit like gas installation, potentially dangerous.

[Rickent]

Potentially lethal.

If you have the slightest doubt about what you are doing then get a competent person in to do the work.

[nicknorman]

I'd start off by getting and/or checking a carbon monoxide alarm.

 

Replacing the firebrick is straightforward, out with the old and in with the new, although you may have to lift out the baffle plate above. A dirty job but not a high tech or complicated one.

 

For the stove to flue seal, again it is pretty straightforward once you have procured the right stuff to re-seal. Traditionally fire cement has been used but this does tend to crack and crumble within a year or so and then needs redoing, alternatively you can use high temperature silicone (the 1200degree stuff, not the 300 degree stuff) which will last indefinitely and thus is a no-brainer!

 

Also I'd clean out the flue - again messy but not difficult.

[bizzard]

If you have a baffle plate its important to remove it when sweeping the flue pipe. Soot is unburnt fuel, still volatile, and if its swept down and accumulates on the plate it is liable to catch light and cause a flue pipe chimney fire. If the stove has a back boiler, clear soot away that falls and rests on top of it.

[Chewbacka]

In case you do not have a CO alarm - as recommended above - this explains where to fit it

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe/carbon-monoxide-(co)/placing-co-alarms/

as fitting it in the wrong place may mean it does not react within a safe time.

 

Alarms will be approved to British Standards, with BS EN 50291-2 shows that they are suitable for the environment on a boat.

Something like these - http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/264586/CoGDEM-CO-alarms-List-Feb-2015.pdf

though it is a bit old, and I am sure there are others available.

[Lizzy]

The bad weather today has revealed that it's leaking as well. Drip drip drip around the flue. Ah well. Is this the stuff I want for sealing it?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heat-silicone-Stove-flue-liner-Pipe-high-temperature-1250c-fire-proof-sealant-/111537854517?hash=item19f82c9835

 

Could I ask you for a bit of diagnostics?

 

The metal plate I pulled out from the top of the fire chamber. Is this a baffle plate? Does this look OK to you? It was not secured to anything just lying on top of the bricks really.

 

I presume the broken firebrick from the survey is the bit missing at the bottom of the one in the back as shown in the picture. I can replace that brick. But where the bit is missing there is bright red crumbly stuff. Corrosion? The texture is more like ash than rust. What is this and should it worry me?

 

Thirdly there is this rope seal in the door. Does that look OK to you? It looks quite squishy.

 

Also how do you actually clean the flue and chimney? I guess dangling something in it like a chimney sweep does? What?

 

I do have a CO alarm. Installed at head height. Just so I understand what the dangerous bits are, is it leaking of the gases at the top, i,e, the flue? Also the door seal? I used to have a huge coal fired tiled stove in my student flat in Germany. You shut the air supply off completely when the coal flames had died down and they were only glowing in ordee to keep it warm longer. Never before, I was always told that that way CO death lay. Not sure how that translates to this type of stove, which will always have some air draft won't it? You can see I know nothing, but I need to understand this in order to be confident using it.

 

Thanks as ever for any hints.

[Chewbacka]

To see if you have any leaks,and if so where the gasses can escape you could do a smoke test.

http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/articles/smoke-testing-your-stove/

using smoke pellets you can get from toolstation or screwfix.

 

If yo are not sure a Hetas chimney sweep can do it for you.

[canals are us?]

The baffle plate looks holed. So will need replacing at some point.

 

I would replace all the firebricks and keep a spare door glass. The glass may clean. The door rope seals look ok but personally I would refurb the stove with all new parts, check chimney joins for rot/ sealed properly as better to be safe than sorry!. Is it an arada/arrow ecoburn?

 

James

[Lizzy]

It is an Arada Becton. Are the firebricks glued on? They don't come out easily.

[nicknorman]

It is an Arada Becton. Are the firebricks glued on? They don't come out easily.

I doubt it, probably just jammed in by years of fine ash. Gentle wiggling should get them out, but they are quite fragile. They probably need to come out in the right order. Have you removed the top baffle plate?

[Lizzy]

This is all crumbling under my fingers, so these bricks may well break. I have found the website for spares and identified my model - and realised that the baffle plate is not supposed to have a hole! It looks like the stove has not been well looked after at all. I'll replace minimum the plate and the firebricks.

[nicknorman]

I'd imagine the baffle plate hole is due to rust (bit difficult to see from the pic) which is probably caused by rain coming down the chimney when the stove isn't lit. I suggest putting a cap over the collar to keep rainwater out when the stove is not in use. Keep the stove air vents open when you do that, to allow air to circulate.

[Dinz]

www.aaheatinguk.co.uk/uploads/2/0/2/5/20255371/becton.pdf

[copy and paste]

May be of some use?

Edited September 4, 2016 by Dinz

[Lizzy]

I'd imagine the baffle plate hole is due to rust (bit difficult to see from the pic) which is probably caused by rain coming down the chimney when the stove isn't lit. I suggest putting a cap over the collar to keep rainwater out when the stove is not in use. Keep the stove air vents open when you do that, to allow air to circulate.

 

Ah yes you are right! It was raining down the chimney before. I had put a hat on it already.

[Lizzy]

www.aaheatinguk.co.uk/uploads/2/0/2/5/20255371/becton.pdf

[copy and paste]

May be of some use?

 

Fantastic link thank you!

[canals are us?]

From the pictures it looks like the rear firebrick comes out first then the side ones. The rear keeping the side ones in place.

 

I would replace all of them with new vermiculite fireboards.

 

James