Advice needed for heating with multifuel stove!

Sarahjude

Hi, we are starting our first winter with a Stanley Errigal multifuel stove/cooker/boiler and are having some problems. We've only had other types of woodstoves in the past and I wonder if anyone can give us some advice.

Even when the fuel's well ignited and the fire burning nicely, if we close the back damper, smoke comes out of the seams around the cooktop surfaces, and various other seams all over the stove. Why would this be, with a relatively new stove? What can we plug these up with safely? If we close the back damper there's no smoke leakage--but you can't run the stove like that all the time or you can damage it, we've been told. We've got some of that eco-coal that's recommended for multifuel stoves, it sure stinks if we close that back damper!

The stove doesn't heat the room it's in that well, nor does the oven get hot--but it does heat the boiler and attached radiators upstairs pretty well. Would the stove itself heat more if the back damper were always closed?

We've also not burnt much coal ever before--it's very different from wood and peat... not sure how little or much coal to burn at once. We've only been laying it in a couple of inches at a time. Seems like maybe if you burn too little it doesn't combust right--but how high up can you fill the fuelbox?

Lastly, we'd hoped to bake in the oven but haven't yet gotten it hot enough. Any tips on that would be very much appreciated!!

Many thanks,

Sarah

suitseir

I have a Stanley Oil stove which just heats itself (I don't know anything about your type of stove) A bit of pain when it comes to servicing because the guy who does it lives 20 miles away and you have to book him about 1 month in advance. So when I have a problem, as I have had a few!! it is now 9 years old with a lot of upgrades as insisted by Stanley, I ring Stanley in Waterford. I have also written to them so they have to reply.

If you log onto their website there is a section that deals with problems and a phone number. Ring them and ask how this can be solved. Good Luck

wazzoraybelle

Are you maybe closing the damper a little too soon after adding coal?

We had a solid fuel range( not stanley) years ago and used to fill the grate completely( we kept it lit 24/7) and would only close the damper after 20 mins or so.

We cooked on it all the time and it worked a treat on the central heating.

Sarahjude

Are you maybe closing the damper a little too soon after adding coal?

We had a solid fuel range( not stanley) years ago and used to fill the grate completely( we kept it lit 24/7) and would only close the damper after 20 mins or so.

Thanks for the reply. We have been waiting about that long, other advice we'd gotten said to wait til all the coal was ignited with blue flame; but then just as soon as we close the damper...

when you say you filled the grate, do you mean you just covered over the surface of the grate--like a few inches deep--or did you heap it up fairly deep in the firebox?

wazzoraybelle

We used to fill the whole firebox to the top.

I wonder if there is a front damper also on your stove? If so that should be closed first.
The only other problem I can think you may have is that there isn't sufficient draught in the room. Does the smoking stop shortly after opening a window?
I have a wood burning stove ( stove only) which only has front dampers. I thought about installing a back damper but it would not make huge difference as it is already quite efficient.

ttm

Simple answer.......................

Sweep the $%£%$£ chimney!

In many cases these stoves are badly installed and there is either no access or poor access to sweep the chimney, so theres a good chance the chimeys never been swept. Also if you've just moved in then soot could have fallen down and bloked the chimney or Jackdaws could have built a nest.

TO TEST CHIMNEY - only if the chimney pipe comes straight up off the stove - with a cold stove (unlit) take off the access plate at the bottom of the chimney (has Stanley written on it) and if you can't feel a strong airflow up the chimney then it will smoke! If you aren't sure if you can feel an airflow then chimneys blocked!

If you don't have a stove pipe comming off the top of the stove then the chimneys fitted to the back of the stove behind the oven and thats an area that often gets blocked.

I have my errigal running on a 12ft high (from ground level) chimney which is a total bodge up but it works.

Technically your stove should have been "comissioned" by a Stanley installer and they won't install the stove unless the chimneys OK.

Also these stoves need a weekly clean if you don't they will soon stop working. Sweep the chimney twice a year!

If you want more info or the manual for the stove drop me a PM.

Final note.............my stove runs just like yours does when the chimenys blocked!

ttm

Also..........

If you have lots of rads then you might have the model with a 47K boiler - BAD LUCK! That isn't really a Multifuel stove as you'll need to burn coal to get enough heat to bake with it. The wrap around boiler gets first go at taking the heat so even the exhaust gases that heat the oven will be cooler unless you have enough of a fire going + if its been run cold (oven never hot) the chimney will never have got warm which means it soots/tars up quicker. Even so still shouldn't smoke - unless the chimney is blocked.

There are/have been 3 boilers for the errigal....and a non boiler version...

Errigal 10 - 10Kbtu which is just at the back and is for hotwater only (plus perhaps a towel rail) and will cook/bake and heat hotwater on wood alone.

Errigal 21 - 21Kbtu which runs from the back of the fire box around the left hand side (hot water plus up to 4 rads) and might be OK on wood alone if you can keep it well fed - this model may not exist as its not currently on Stanley Waterfords website but the boiler is on a diagram of the model I have.

Errigal 47 - 47Kbtu (hotwater and 8 rads) which wraps around the back, left side and front of the firebox, IMHO its not a good option unless you are just going to burn coal. Not saying you can't use wood but you'll have to keep it burning well to cook on it.

All the btu outputs are calculated burning good quality household coal.

I think its possible to change the boiler from one size to another rather than replace the stove if you find the boiler size isn't suitable.

AND check the ventillation if the smoke is less when you open a door or window a crack then the fire isn't getting enough air and you need to put in a vent.

jeffhr7

I will shortly be on my third Errigal 50 or Stanley Traditional as it used to be called the first I had was a dry cooker , the second ran central heating very well which has just been damaged in a flood but I am going to buy my third shortly and I am sticking with it becuase it really is good , but you need to know the insides before it works well


It sounds like your problem is with your chimney or ventilation as has been suggested but if you would like to email me jeff@theoldbridgehouse.wanadoo.co.uk with a photo of whats happening , I could talk you through my own meandering experiences of this cooker...

Im no expert although , theres not alot I dont know about this stove having successfully contacted Stanley on several occasions about problems with it and have taken it apart and rebuilt it , it really is a great stove when you understand it I had my last one which is still rusting in my kitchen running 6 rads and hot water and cooking at over 300f , and I wouldn't ever chose another solid fuel range


could your problem be as simple as wet wood ?


anyway it took me ages to sign up to this site , so I really want to help, you have my email address


Jeff

ttm

jeffhr7 wrote: »

anyway it took me ages to sign up to this site , so I really want to help, you have my email address


Jeff

Hi Jeff

I also had problems signing up I was beginging to think it couldn't be done! 5 attempts I think.

So how do you get on with the 47,000 btu boiler burning wood and what sort of wood? Or do you mix in coal?

jeffhr7

I was using coal/anthracite and a few weeks on some dry wood I had for the last 7 years but I have learnt alot about wood in the meantime and when I get my new one I will be using wood , I have the 47k boiler model , I just had my woodburner replaced by the insurance after a flood and now have an amazing woodstove that is heating half the house on wood and so cant wait to get my new errigal 50 in as well

When I was burning the dry wood the rads got hotter and the cooker got hotter than on anthracite ....amazing but true , its just dry wood takes alot of time and sometimes effort but it dosent seem like a chore chopping logs !!, its good fun and you get warm, so long as you have a good axe

....wood warms you twice as the saying gos !!


I have burnt dry wood on the errigal and I should have realised it was only wet wood that caused the issues I had , so I cant wait for my new one only thing is it probably wont be up and running for this winter as I have to get the house floodguarded first the good thing is stanley have recently updated this model to make it easier to open the front firebox door and the firegrate to load wood and it will take up to 16 inch logs ...


Bring on a cold winter 2008/09 !!! I am stockpiling wood now



Jeffrey

ttm wrote: »

Hi Jeff

I also had problems signing up I was beginging to think it couldn't be done! 5 attempts I think.

So how do you get on with the 47,000 btu boiler burning wood and what sort of wood? Or do you mix in coal?

ttm

jeffhr7 wrote: »

good thing is stanley have recently updated this model to make it easier to open the front firebox door and the firegrate to load wood and it will take up to 16 inch logs ...
Jeffrey

ROTFL Stanley haven't changed this stove in years seem to remember the Stanley Super was identical?

I've just measured my firebox (Errigal DHW about a year old) and max wood it takes is 14 inches. Now if you open the fire box and measure from the back of the firebox door to the back of the fire box you get 16inches but if you put in a log that size you can't close the fire fence and even if you could the log won't drop down in the fire box. So don't start cutting timber at 16 inches yet . Looking at the design I can't see how it would be possible to add the extra 2 inches to the fire box to easily take 16inch timber, unless the whole thing is redesigned and I really can't see that happening.

The latest manual for the cooker (updated since they moved but still with all the same old errors) still says "Wood logs up to 21cm long are suitable." which is a bit conservative but ideal if you fill by opening the front hotplate over the fire box.

The fire grate (riddler?) in the bottom is new (or at least different to the older Stanley stoves I've used) but I was told by someone at Stanley that it was designed for the Irish market and Coal burning. This seems to be a good feature as on the older ones I've used the support lugs break off in time and while the lugs are the same this new riddler probabaly won't put as much pressure on the lugs. the riddler I'm talking about takes a square headed key to operate (no mention of it at all in the manual).

Anyway if I'm wrong on any of that I'm sure someone will put me right

jeffhr7

Well, the superstanley , or Stanley Traditional ( or at least the one I had didnt !!!) had no front loading capabilites and you had to load it from the top and the design of the front grate inside the firebox has been changed becuase the old one used to stick and its been changed slightly to allow easier opening...

and also the stove top has been changed too from the last model I bought (4 years ago)which had a steel top and the new one has steel plates but a matt black top, so I beg to differ


Ok I may be wrong about the log size , but its still plenty big enough for running 6 rads off wood with a bit of work , but thats all the fun !

Kind Regards...


Jeff

jeffhr7

You are right about the riddling grate too , I had one warp in less than one heating season ....but its still a great cooker ,oh and the summer plates warped too , as did the ashpan....


maybe I shouldnt punish myself again and get a rayburn !!

ttm

jeffhr7 wrote: »

.......maybe I shouldnt punish myself again and get a rayburn !!

Its all a matter of what you are used to, expectations and what you are prepared to put up with . Cooking on a wood burning cooker is not for many of the "wipe clean" generation...wow there's a controversial thread all on its own, but then food out of a microware doesn't quite taste the same. Think the words "life style" cover it, hmmmm better add the word alternate in there somewhere;).

After 4 major power outages this year (plus about 4 days off that the ESB notified us about) I feel reasonably justified in sticking to a simple DHW system that needs no electricity. House is not that big and if I include a second wood burner for heating then the most I'd need would be 2 rads.

btw what’s the marvelous new wood burner?

I'm interested in the Stanley cooker you had with no front fill? All the older models I've used didn't have the round hot plates over the fire box so front fill was the only option. I don't think I've used every old Stanley stove in the houses we have rented (I'm hoping my wife will make our fortune writing the book "Grotty bathrooms I have known") but there can't be many I haven't cursed at one time or another.

I've seen a few changes in the top over the years and the main one (good!) is the cut/split from the central hot plate to bonnet which relieves stress in the casting.

jeffhr7

It was the first reconditioned range I got from a local Range specialist , and the only way to load it was from the top , so I mainly burned coal on it and everyone told me it wouldnt be sufficient to heat central heating even with a boiler , I believe when they took it out to bring the new model they will have reconditioned it and sold it on again , so its still out there probably doing a job for someone , it also had no riddling grate.


My second one to be honest was full of problems like I said but sufficently ran 6 rads mainly on coal and was damaged in a flood so Im waiting for the new one to be fitted , which leads onto your whats the new woodstove....


I had an Old Country Brit stove , massive double glass doors that was damaged by the flood and after alot of looking I decided on a Euroheat Harmony 43 , not as big but its really woodburning at its best , and the best thing it has remote control ( yes remote control) on a woodburner and stays in for 12 hours on one load of wood and unlike my stanley log size estimation thats no exageration !

I also use a free breeze woodstove fan on the top

perry stanley

You may try a little test for me on that stove /chimney. First thing one morning, when stove /firebox is cold, grab a page of newspaper and with door open light the paper inside the fire .... the smoke that follows , does it "hang about" or flow up the chimney? When commisioning these a smoke tablet would be used but I think you will find this test just as good.

have screw gun will travel

I have an old stanley 8 which is the same model
It was built in 1983 and i installed it into my farmhouse one month ago

they will smoke unless you clean the internal chimney

You have to take the plates off and then scrape them inside..not the firebox just all the rest.

That stopped mine smoking for sure

I love my Stanley btw
I bought it for heating but I so love it for cooking and baking
with the back damper open it heats to dangerous like 300deg in 45 mins
thats with coal and half filled to the top of the oven

I just fill it with coal to just below the oven level

I would never have the back damper open for this


I would just do this for an overnight burn with everything locked down

The oven damper regulates the temperature...kinda
it a combo of riddling. opening the spinning gate at the front..ie more air

the back damper or it might be called the direct damper is only for lighting it or for forcing a furnace if you want to heat up the water or the oven quickly

Maybe ur chimney is not working right?

Im happy to trade tricks anytime

demanufactured

Old thread dude.

TPM

AAARGH
I hate this, you start reading a thread then after a post or two you see that it is over 5 years old and someone has dragged it up :mad: