# Help me identify this Dove insert!



## boonefrog (Nov 10, 2010)

Hey folks,

New here and to wood-burning stoves. I purchased the stove you see below (attachment) recently for what I think was a good deal ($490) from a local Habitat for Humanity Home Store ...but I have no idea what kind it is! I'm trying to figure out the make and model so I can hopefully track down a user manual and learn how to heat efficiently with it and get more active here on the forums. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

PS: it looks a lot like this stove, which makes me think it's a Dove brand?
http://www.woodstove-parts.com/images/dove_insert.jpg


----------



## boonefrog (Nov 14, 2010)

bump. 

No ideas here, folks?


----------



## tickbitty (Nov 14, 2010)

Is there no name on the plaque above the door?  It looks 70's or at most 80s and like a Buck stove insert maybe or something.  It's not an EPA rated stove and is probably a "slammer" as they say, meaning it's backed up directly into the fireplace opening and vents freely into your masonry fireplace.  If it's got a round flu opening in back you might be able to hook up a liner to it for a safer more efficient install, but if the opening that vents is several holes or a big slot or rectangle then it's a slammer, so you have to make sure the chimney's nice and clean and sound and make sure the seal around the front is really good when you install it.


----------



## boonefrog (Nov 14, 2010)

Couldn't find any nameplate. And yeah, it sounds like a "slammer." Are these inefficient? I remember it has a big, elongated slot in the back. We sealed the front plate pretty well I think and had the chimney cleaned a week prior to install. The chimney cleaner said we had a (terra cotta i think?) liner that was in nice shape in there.

Don't the side grates look similar to the Dove though? Also, the 4 blower outlets, the vertical brass edging, hinges, and brass knobs on top are all identical. Were there just similar parts used in multiple stoves? It seems fairly new as it's in great shape and its got a thermostat that auto-kicks on the blower. I'd really like to know so I can find an owners manual or get an idea how to run it well... right now I'm sure we are doing things rather inefficiently!


----------



## firefighterjake (Nov 15, 2010)

Looks like something that was in my grandmother's house . . . no, wait a minute . . . I'm thinking of her combination record/8-track tape player/speakers with grills in a 5-foot long wood console.


----------



## Fsappo (Nov 15, 2010)

If its a non epa certified insert that can not be installed with a chimney liner, you probably didnt get a great deal.  Thats my opinion.  You can go to a fireplace shop, buy a brand new (small) wood burning insert with a stainless liner kit for about $2000, get your 30% tax credit, now you spend $1400, and dont even sell that insert to someone else.  Take it on the chin, do a service to your fellow man and take it to the scrap yard...or put it outside and use it for an outdoor burn pit.


----------



## boonefrog (Nov 15, 2010)

I'm a grad student living off student loans, it was already a stretch affording this split 3 ways with my roommates (and we rent by the way). Not only is your post a little confusing for me but I'm also not to keen on throwing out a month's worth of my spare income budget. But thanks for the tip... so it's a pretty useless endeavor trying to identify this then? 

How should we going about learning to operate it efficiently?


----------



## tfdchief (Nov 15, 2010)

boonefrog said:
			
		

> I'm a grad student living off student loans, it was already a stretch affording this split 3 ways with my roommates (and we rent by the way). Not only is your post a little confusing for me but I'm also not to keen on throwing out a month's worth of my spare income budget. But thanks for the tip... so it's a pretty useless endeavor trying to identify this then?
> 
> How should we going about learning to operate it efficiently?


As the others have told you, the new EPA Cert. stoves are certainly great new technology and the way to go if you can afford it, and are so inclined to do so.  However, you have it, and it is installed, and you are using it.  OK, the manual would be great, but you can’t find one.  I tried to identify your stove but couldn’t.  It looks a lot like my Buck though (been burning it for 30 years) so I will try to help you based on that.  

It looks like you are burning it right in the picture.   Make sure the flue has been inspected and it meets code for clearance from combustibles….very important.  Have it checked in a couple months to see if it needs cleaned.  Your wood needs to be seasoned…very important!  The draft controls look to be on the bottom and feed air to the fire.  The damper looks to be on the top and controls how much and the rate at which the fire gases exit to the flue.  This has an effect on how much heat is held in the stove.  Make sure the door gaskets are in good shape and a good seal.  Check the glass seal as well.  

When you first start a fire you will need both open but only until the fire gets going…don’t leave the stove un-attended at this point.  After the fire gets started good, start dampering down and start closing the drafts a little until the fire seems to be burning at a good controlled rate.   All stoves are different in the combination of, and how much draft and damper you need.  The species of wood and how dry it is will affect these settings as well, and so does the amount of coal bed.  You will have to experiment.     Don’t slow the fire any more than you have to, as a smoldering fire in these old stoves will creosote up the chimney….which you want to avoid.  A big build-up of creosote in the chimney can catch fire in the chimney and that is a dangerous thing….burns at 2000 degrees +.  If that happens, you will find out how good your chimney is and if it has the proper clearance to combustibles!   Again, have the chimney checked in a couple of months to see how you are doing.  Look at the chimney top outside when you are burning and see how much smoke is coming out.  You want as little as possible.  Buy a magnetic stove thermometer and put it on the stove top or wherever you can that is a single wall area of the stove and maintain a temperature in the OK range on the thermometer.  I have mine on the front and run it at about 350 to 400 degrees when the stove is cruising.  Maybe a little hotter when it gets real cold out and I can run it hotter.  Does this stove have a blower that sends air through a heat exchange area of the stove?  If it does, you probably can’t run the stove without it….it will get to hot.

Hope this helps.

Steve


----------



## bkfunk (Mar 4, 2011)

We have this stove in our family room.  It is a Dove stove, only the one we have is not a fireplace insert as shown, but is free standing and has a chimney pipe running up the back.  It was bought here in the chicago land area. Our was put in about 1996, but the manual has a copywrite of 1985 for Buckner Enterprises, Corp.  They used to have a retail store here, but it has since been closed many years. From the manual is shows 2 inserts, model # DI and DII, and our is Considered DIII-Solid Fuel Room Heater.
Ours has been very reliable, the fans are is working fine.  Our only problem has been having to replace the glass a couple of times.
I do have the booklet.  The Buckner Enterprises Corp is located in 1221 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville, NC  28803 and list a  phone of 704-274-1365.  Not sure if still in business.


----------



## bkfunk (Mar 4, 2011)

I got thet install date wrong, that would have been about 1986 that we bought and had it installed.


----------



## Mt Ski Bum (Mar 4, 2011)

boonefrog said:
			
		

> Hey folks,
> 
> New here and to wood-burning stoves. I purchased the stove you see below (attachment) recently for what I think was a good deal ($490) from a local Habitat for Humanity Home Store ...but I have no idea what kind it is! I'm trying to figure out the make and model so I can hopefully track down a user manual and learn how to heat efficiently with it and get more active here on the forums. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
> 
> ...



that one on top looks freaking ancient!


----------



## Totem (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi There. I literally just restored this exact same insert as pictured on this thread.
I paid $140 for mine and it was in near mint condition, just small rust so i hit it with naval jelly, brushed and repainted with header high temp paint.. I consider myself to have gotten a great deal because its prolly worth so much in scrap, and the blower works. The only difference between whats pictured here and mine are the doors. My doors are solid cast iron. Everything else identical.
My chimney is immaculate, no creosote etc currently at all smoke chamber clear flue all clear, tiles clean as whistle.
Installed slammer. There seems to be no air control unless you consider the bottom ash catcher tray (which does provide a source of air). I am assuming the more I open the ash catcher door the more air provided underneath the grate to the fire.
The Insert's Damper has three settings done by pulling the top center handle and locking into place from one of the grooves. Does anyone have the manual to these Doves by chance? would love to know the old 198o's operations strategy.


----------



## mtn man (Dec 22, 2012)

boonefrog said:


> Hey folks,
> 
> New here and to wood-burning stoves. I purchased the stove you see below (attachment) recently for what I think was a good deal ($490) from a local Habitat for Humanity Home Store ...but I have no idea what kind it is! I'm trying to figure out the make and model so I can hopefully track down a user manual and learn how to heat efficiently with it and get more active here on the forums. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
> 
> ...


----------

