Seeking info for McClary Royal Charm

[Keepin' Warm]

Greetings:
I'm a newbie here who has lately had this stove installed in my kitchen. I purchased it several years ago from a now deceased commercial fisher/trapper. I had been in contact with a stove shop in the Wiarton, ON area several years ago who claimed to have parts for this brand but sadly I have lost their contact information. Might anyone on this site know who they are/were and how to find them or suggest another supplier? The stove is in very good shape for its age but the oven door is sprung and I'd like to know how to fix it. The previous owner hadn't used it much and in fact as near as I can tell was unused for a very long time. It had sat in an used house that he'd moved out of a long time ago and as a result was not exposed to the elements.
BTW, my place has never been so warm and cozy since I fired it a couple of weeks ago.
Stay warm. Thanks for your help.
Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Further to my post yesterday, I'm wondering the purpose and use of the bottom and top sliding dampers on the left side of the firebox. As well the bottom one is hinged and can be fully opened when needed. Obviously they're there to control the amount of air to the fire but I'm guessing there's more I need to know amount their purpose before setting them correctly. Thanks for your help.

Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Here's the two dampers I referred to in my last post. Can anyone suggest a source for information on how to properly adjust these? Thanks for your help.

 

[pen]

I merged your three threads together, since they are all related to info/operation of the same stove to try and simplify things.

Have you installed and operated this stove to any degree yet? What is the condition of the firebox?

I'm wondering if this stove could have been operated with coal, and that bottom damper on the firebox was to feed air to the coal fire maybe?

If you are certain the unit is sound and you have it safely installed, then I'd simply recommend starting with small fires and playing around with the controls. The chances of finding someone still alive to share exactly how stoves like these were run is getting harder and harder.

Welcome to the site and as you experiment, keep us posted! Even if we haven't run this particular stove, we may be able to help you as you play around.

pen

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Here's the two dampers I referred to in my last post. Can anyone suggest a source for information on how to properly adjust these? Thanks for your help.

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Thanks for your reply. In fact, the stove is in excellent shape. The person who had it used it very little. The dimpled cast liners inside the firebox are like new, as are the clinkers, the ash box, etc. The water tank on the right hand side has no leaks. It could well be designed for coal but I have no way of knowing that.The bottom damper makes sense to me but the upper one is a bit of a wonder. Maybe it's for starting the fire and draws the air better to reduce smoke coming out of the stove. The openings are much smaller than on the lower ones. It seems to draw well either way and lights very easily as long as I use small dry kindling. I'll inquiry with some of the local seniors who have more experience with this type of stove.
Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Thanks for your reply. In fact, the stove is in excellent shape. The person who had it used it very little. The dimpled cast liners inside the firebox are like new, as are the clinkers, the ash box, etc. The water tank on the right hand side has no leaks. It could well be designed for coal but I have no way of knowing that.The bottom damper makes sense to me but the upper one is a bit of a wonder. Maybe it's for starting the fire and draws the air better to reduce smoke coming out of the stove. The openings are much smaller than on the lower ones. It seems to draw well either way and lights very easily as long as I use small dry kindling. I'll inquiry with some of the local seniors who have more experience with this type of stove.
Rob

 

[pen]

The Kalamazoo that I have run had a seperate damper for startup that would bypass the oven. I almost think there was a way to regulate temp to a warming rack/oven as well on it.

If it's solid, then I'd definately be burning small fires and simply playing with it to learn. With a small fire, it'd be very hard to hurt something.

I think I'd get a pot roast in a dutch often and play around on a day I had off seeing what it takes to keep that oven 250 or under.

I wish I could find a unit like that, and have a place at home to run it.

pen

 

[Keepin' Warm]

The stove has the original i.d. plate on the inside of the water heater door. Is there any kind a registry or way of knowing the year, etc. from the serial number?
Cheers,
Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Thanks for your reply. In fact, the stove is in excellent shape. The person who had it used it very little. The dimpled cast liners inside the firebox are like new, as are the clinkers, the ash box, etc. The water tank on the right hand side has no leaks. It could well be designed for coal but I have no way of knowing that.The bottom damper makes sense to me but the upper one is a bit of a wonder. Maybe it's for starting the fire and draws the air better to reduce smoke coming out of the stove. The openings are much smaller than on the lower ones. It seems to draw well either way and lights very easily as long as I use small dry kindling. I'll inquiry with some of the local seniors who have more experience with this type of stove.
Rob

I cleaned out the firebox today and thought I'd post a photo to show the condition. As I mentioned, it's in great shape.

 

[begreen]

Looks like it might be set up for burning coal? Is one set of dampers below the riddling grate at the bottom of the firebox? Also, is that a crack on the bottom left of the picture or is that firebox side supposed to be in 3 pieces. I would put some furnace cement in there in any case.

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Looks like it might be set up for burning coal? Is one set of dampers below the riddling grate at the bottom of the firebox? Also, is that a crack on the bottom left of the picture or is that firebox side supposed to be in 3 pieces. I would put some furnace cement in there in any case.

Thanks for your reply. In fact it is below. I took a picture of it and will post it later from home. It's the damper on the left shown above in a previous post that is hinged. When opened, the ashbox is directly inside of it. The liner is not cracked but is made of several cast pieces that lock into place. The rectangular slots at the top of the inserts are what locates them. We removed them along with the other bits that can be taken off easily to save weight when it came to installing the stove. Thanks for pointing out the crack. I will cement the gap that's showing. The i.d. plate shows that it's a Type 2. Maybe that designates it as a coal stove?

Rob

 

[begreen]

Not sure about the type 2 designation but by the look of things I would say this is meant to burn coal. The stove will burn wood, but probably not as efficiently or evenly. The air supply is mostly set up for coal which takes air under the fire to keep it going. Wood on the other hand gets it's air supplied at the fire and above for a basic reburn. If you try burning wood, start the fire with the bottom control open and the top halfway closed. Once the fire has started and it burning well, turn down the bottom air supply as far as possible without extinguishing the fire.

You might post on the coal forum over at www.nepacrossroads.com to see if they recognize this stove.

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Not sure about the type 2 designation but by the look of things I would say this is meant to burn coal. The stove will burn wood, but probably not as efficiently or evenly. The air supply is mostly set up for coal which takes air under the fire to keep it going. Wood on the other hand gets it's air supplied at the fire and above for a basic reburn. If you try burning wood, start the fire with the bottom control open and the top halfway closed. Once the fire has started and it burning well, turn down the bottom air supply as far as possible without extinguishing the fire.

You might post on the coal forum over at www.nepacrossroads.com to see if they recognize this stove.

I posted with NEPA as you suggested and cross-referenced to this site. I'll see what kind of a response I may get.

Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Thanks for your reply. In fact it is below. I took a picture of it and will post it later from home. It's the damper on the left shown above in a previous post that is hinged. When opened, the ashbox is directly inside of it. The liner is not cracked but is made of several cast pieces that lock into place. The rectangular slots at the top of the inserts are what locates them. We removed them along with the other bits that can be taken off easily to save weight when it came to installing the stove. Thanks for pointing out the crack. I will cement the gap that's showing. The i.d. plate shows that it's a Type 2. Maybe that designates it as a coal stove?

Rob

Here's the photo. You can see the ash box with a wire handle inside the opened damper. Your suggestion about the dampers was right on! The top of the stove seems hotter than it was with the bottom damper not throttled back. I neglected to mention it also has a slide damper at the back of the stove where the flue gases enter the box on the outside of the stove (don't know the proper term) that leads to the stove pipe. Again, I'm not sure exactly how to set it but right now it's at half way. I imagine the more you close it the hotter the stove top becomes. Thanks again for your help.

Rob

 

[Keepin' Warm]

Not sure about the type 2 designation but by the look of things I would say this is meant to burn coal. The stove will burn wood, but probably not as efficiently or evenly. The air supply is mostly set up for coal which takes air under the fire to keep it going. Wood on the other hand gets it's air supplied at the fire and above for a basic reburn. If you try burning wood, start the fire with the bottom control open and the top halfway closed. Once the fire has started and it burning well, turn down the bottom air supply as far as possible without extinguishing the fire.

You might post on the coal forum over at www.nepacrossroads.com to see if they recognize this stove.

The posters on the site you have above agree it's a coal stove. I never had a clue although my grandparents had one but I was just a kid back then and wouldn't have known except they actually had a small coal shed which at the time intrigued me. Thanks for your insights.

Rob

 

[begreen]

Here's the photo. You can see the ash box with a wire handle inside the opened damper. Your suggestion about the dampers was right on! The top of the stove seems hotter than it was with the bottom damper not throttled back. I neglected to mention it also has a slide damper at the back of the stove where the flue gases enter the box on the outside of the stove (don't know the proper term) that leads to the stove pipe. Again, I'm not sure exactly how to set it but right now it's at half way. I imagine the more you close it the hotter the stove top becomes. Thanks again for your help.

Rob

The back damper could be a flue damper or it could be a flue gas diverter. You will have to examine it's operation. All cook stoves that I have seen have a diverter to reroute the flue gases around the oven for more even heating. You engage this diverter once the fire is going well and has warmed the top up.

Here is some general info about wood cook stoves that may be helpful.

(broken link removed to http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/2004-12-01/The-Art-of-the-Wood-Cookstove.aspx)

And this video is with a somewhat similar stove as yours. It has a great old fellow telling how to run the stove.

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[Keepin' Warm]

The back damper could be a flue damper or it could be a flue gas diverter. You will have to examine it's operation. All cook stoves that I have seen have a diverter to reroute the flue gases around the oven for more even heating. You engage this diverter once the fire is going well and has warmed the top up.

Here is some general info about wood cook stoves that may be helpful.

(broken link removed to http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/2004-12-01/The-Art-of-the-Wood-Cookstove.aspx)

And this video is with a somewhat similar stove as yours. It has a great old fellow telling how to run the stove.

Thanks for the information. I printed off the cook stove article and watched the video. It reminded me of my grandparents stove back in the day. The term "eyes" (I think that's what he used to describe the removable top plates) I'd never heard of before. I'm getting the hang of the dampers now and all but close the bottom one once the fire is going well. I'm expecting a load of firewood this weekend from a local seller to supplement my own supply. It's kind of like the saying "Bringing coal to Newcastle" as I have my own woodlot but not the time right now to put it up.

Rob