Federal Airtight 264CCL Questions

[hoppeman]

more pics on FA264CCL-R used stove

Here are the rest of the pictures before I reburbished the stove. This the way I received it. $200.00 worth of glory....lol

 

[geoxman]

hoppman, the stove cleaned up really well! I would love to have that top brass rack for my stove, you do not see too many of them. You will notice a BIG difference once your blower arrives and is installed. What shape is the catalyst in? good luck

 

[hoppeman]

Fa264ccl-r

The catalyst combuster is in real good shape. No cracks and is not really blemished at all.

Have used it twice now, temperature is doing well, although ordered a new thermometer, coming next week. Blower also. It stays pretty warm all thru the night,have cinders in the morning. Just put some kindling in and she starts right up again.

I will keep a look out for the brass rod for you. I am also in need of a fixed center grate, the one I have broke in half, doubt that I can weld it.

Have one question, what is the optimum temp. to run the stove at? with all the vents closed except the one above the side loading door.

Thanks, Steve

 

[geoxman]

Are you talking about the center shaker grate? Unless you plan on burning coal I would remove the grate and fabricate something to fit in its place. The center grate in my stove sticks up a few inches and takes up wood space. I plan on fabricating a center grate this spring... maybe out of a piece of steel with holes drilled in it?
Hopefully Wood Doctor will chime in on an idea on fabricating a grate since he comes up with great modifications for these stoves.

good news on the catalyst! I am using a stainless catalyst I got from wood stock and if yours ever starts to erode, I would suggest a stainless.

As far as the temp I mainly keep an eye on the cat probe and like to keep it between 1500 and 1000. I have a magnetic thermometer on the front left and it cruises between 400 to 600 in the situation you described. These stoves are so simple and cheap to fix and your find will keep you warm for many years to come! Update us when the blower arrives. good luck

 

[hoppeman]

center grate

Hello guys, just wanted to say my blower works great, thermometer let's me know when to refill with out looking thru side door.

Oh, BTW, I took out the grates all together, found a barbecue grill grate that fit to a "T" in the bottom. Seems to be working great. If you try this idea, remember to turn the grill grate with "V" pointing down toward ash pan, will have a flat surface to remove ashes later.



Any other suggestions wood be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, the hoppe woodworker

 

[Wood Doctor]

Hello guys, just wanted to say my blower works great, thermometer let's me know when to refill with out looking thru side door.

Oh, BTW, I took out the grates all together, found a barbecue grill grate that fit to a "T" in the bottom. Seems to be working great. If you try this idea, remember to turn the grill grate with "V" pointing down toward ash pan, will have a flat surface to remove ashes later.



Any other suggestions wood be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, the hoppe woodworker

Well, if the grates are gone, then you may have to cut back the bottom air opening valve. The grates do serve the purpose of reducing air flow from below. You will also be dropping ashes straight through to the ash pan below. That's rather thin steel so that may reduce the pan's life. Small concern, however, because the ash pan rests on heavy cast iron.

One of the reasons these stoves last so long is because the cast iron keeps on going and going and going...

 

[hoppeman]

Grill bottom

Sorry guys, I gave you the wrong info on my home made bottom grill. I took it off the old Sears roebuck wood stove from 1920. I took the cooking grill that wood attach to the front of the stove to swing into the flames and cook on, very old. So I took the grill and made it into my bottom for the dutchwest stove. It is 3/4" thick grate. Will let you know how it holds up in time.

Also, when I took out the grates for the coal, I had to plug up the holes it left behind on the side of the stove, below the side feed door.

Keep the suggestions coming, always looking for new ways to save money and stay warm.

Thanks

Steve, the hoppe woodworker

 

[geoxman]

What did you plug them up with? Can you post a pic of the grate and the stove now? TIA

 

[hoppeman]

stove replacement grill plate

Ok, here is a picture of the grill plate I used instead of the rocker grates. Like I said, I got this off an old wood stove from the 1920's. It is in great shape. Also, I plugged the holes left by removong the rocker grates with fiber glass rope gaskets.

Thanks, hope this helps

Steve

 

[hoppeman]

stove grill pic

View attachment 224207

Ok, here is a picture of the grill plate I used instead of the rocker grates. Like I said, I got this off an old wood stove from the 1920's. It is in great shape. Also, I plugged the holes left by removong the rocker grates with fiber glass rope gaskets.

Thanks, hope this helps

Steve

 

[schumi78]

great thread for someone who wants to learn more about the federal airtight stove. I also need the rear grate and left grate, i checked them on the links mentioned here but i'm not going to spend 300+ dollars for a metal guard. the sizes are around 17.5X6.5 rear grate, 11.5x6.5 left side grate, anyone knows a way to get them cheaper in northern VA? i don't know a metal shop around here that can do that, but i never had the need before.

another question for the experienced, i recall someone mentioning that smoke coming out of the warm air ducts is a sign of trouble. well obviously that shouldn't occur but how severe is it? it happens very rarely, only on those days where the chimney is cold and the chimney is not warm enough to draw air upwards, other than that , i don't see any smoke there and we don't smell it in the room either

also, what would make the protective grates to break down like that, my rear grate has a crack in it and the left one is now in three pieces. we bought the house four years ago, but i didn't inspect the cracks in the grates so i'm not sure if the cracks were there or it is something i'm doing wrong. Of course, i burn seasoned wood and don't burn other harmful stuff, so i'm curious to know what type of fire would destroy the grates like that?

Thank you

 

[Wood Doctor]

Also, what would make the protective grates break down like that. My rear grate has a crack in it and the left one is now in three pieces. We bought the house four years ago, but i didn't inspect the cracks in the grates, so I'm not sure if the cracks were there or it is something I'm doing wrong. Of course, I burn seasoned wood and don't burn other harmful stuff, so I'm curious to know what type of fire would destroy the grates like that?

Thank you

Years and years of use will destroy the grates. Steel does not last forever. The back plate on the stove usually gives out first from heat. That's easy to replace. Just give the dimensions to a welding shop for 1/4" plate steel or 5/16" and they will supply it. Drill your own mounting holes for the bolts that hang it.

I'm rather surprised that the grates gave out before the back plate.

 

[geoxman]

Welcome to the forum.
If smoke is coming out of the top ports then the top needs to be taken off and you need to re-cement the next layer of the stove. When you are doing this it is also a good time to replace the damper gasket and check for any warped parts. good luck

 

[schumi78]

thank you Wood Doctor, it seems finding a local welding shop is the most reasonable choice. the stove's left protective plate just broke to three pieces yet i still don't need to replace the back plate as there is only a crack in it but still solid. Is it time to change it when a crack shows in the middle? would i damage the stove wall behind that crack? also i snapped one of the screws head, i'll need to carefully drill that out.

thanks geoxman, the thing is, once i remove the top part, many things can go wrong and i might end up with a bigger project than i anticipated. So the question is, if i'm getting little smoke from the top ports twice or three times in a season when it is really cold (and it disappears after a minute even with the bypass damper closed), is it worth it to go through the trouble? do you forsee any issue if i don't do anything about it for now, and maybe postpone it a season or two? we usually use the fire place in the weekends only, and this year we probably used the fireplace 8-10 times total as we didn't see much cold or snow.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I doubt you will damage the stove with only a crack, but it will continue to widen as the heat takes its toll. Eventually, it will cumble. I'd wait at least a year and see what happens. My original back plate lasted 16 years. I doubt the replacement I installed will last 10.

If the bolt head is gone but threads remain, consider Liquid Wrench and double nut for removal before drilling and retapping.

 

[jojo69ME]

new house w/ a FA224

So moved in a few weeks ago in a new house (more like a swiss chalet-looking place) that is using a FA224 as it's main heating source. (there is 2 propane heaters as well throughout the house).

To make a long story short, the landowner came in to "show me the ropes" on the stove. I have small experience with old school wood stoves (i.e. put it in and regulate air flow).
He comes in and notices that the cat is gone... he opens the thing up and I point out that several of the backing plates have disintegrated! (see pics).
Bottom line, he's looking into getting replacement parts.

So this is my stove using a secondary chamber and I'm only on pg.7 of this thread, but figured I'd show some pics and continue reading and informing myself on how to use this stove.

Here is the stove in the main living room

Here is the inside (back plate gone as you can see. Will be replaced soon i hope)

(notice the crack in the back of the stove? It doesn't show on the outside back panel. Should I be concerned?)


Here is a picture of the damper adjuster and it's brass key and the other handle I am curious about. I've added a quick video that hopefully can help identify how they work.

If i am correct, the lever on the left panel is the damper adjuster. As you can see in the video, I have a 2nd small handle that is in the early part of the pipe leaving the stove. That one seems to close off any heat/air to the chimney.

It seems, (please correct me if i'm worng) that I would not touch that small lever. I can play with the damper (closed or open... it doesn't want to stay halfway) as well as the brass dial dampers. Correct?

As soon as the stove is back in working order, I am planning on reading the instructions and trying to follow them to the 't'.
and yes, I'll continue to read through 26 pages before that

 

[Wood Doctor]

"I can play with the damper (closed or open... it doesn't want to stay halfway) as well as the brass dial dampers. Correct?"

Yes, The "damper" is called a block off plate. It's either closed when the fire is hot or open when first lighting it. There is no half-way setting. I have a separate T-shaped iron handle that I use to control it. Just wait until the flue gases reach about 500F and then block it off so that you don't roar your fire away.

Now, please read carefully all of the posts on this enormous thread.

 

[desertmccools]

by-pass gate on fa264ccl

We bought a federal airtight wood stove early this year and finished out the cold this spring tossing wood into it and hoping for the best. Well, as it's cooled down into the 20's here at night and we're back to using it round the clock, I thought I'd see what I could find about it on the internet. I found this forum and I printed out the manual. From what I can figure out we have a fa264ccl pre-1984 (only the one damper and the door on the side). But I still have two questions I haven't found answers to yet:

#1. This stove has nothing that looks like it could be the lever for the by-pass gate expect maybe an eye-bolt located on the right side of the stove just 4 inches from the bottom. From what I have seen the 264 is the only one with the by-pass gate lever on the right side, but four inches from the floor doesn't sound right. And the eye-bolt is all wrong, but may have replaced the original hardware there at some point. Also, I have turned that eye bolt and found this: it stops after 4 rotations in either direction (meaning I can't just unscrew it completely and take it out). So that needs some figuring out and if anyone has an early 264 or has any idea what this eye-bolt may or may not be related to, pass it on!

#2. A Thermometer: The cook top on our stove is oval and of the same slightly textured material found on the rest of the outside of the stove. It is not the large smooth square cook top I am seeing on pictures. It also has no thermometer and no hole for a probe thermometer. So, is there a place for a probe thermometer on this thing that I am missing? If not, would a cook top (non-probe) thermometer actually read the right temperature if I set it on the cook top?

So that's all I have for now.

A little history on our stove: bought it from a guy who had just purchased a mountain cabin where he wanted to switch out the wood stove for a traditional fireplace (his loss!). From the looks of the stove it was just a weekend warrior, if that. The back inside where the draft pulls out the chimney is pretty rough around the edges, but other than that it looks great. (Haven't looked at the combustor yet, didn't even know it was there until just a few days ago!). It is missing the latch on the front doors so I always run it with the dampers shut up tight, but I did find a replacement for the latch which we'll be getting soon. So that's about it. We have never had a wood stove before but compared to the dilapitated fireplace insert we had in here before, we are noticing quite a difference! And I am learning a ton about this stove thanks to this forum. Already on the look out for another federal airtight for our remodel of a different area of our house next year. Getting excited reading about all these ways to get maximum efficiency out of this thing!

 

[cobequidkid]

Great Thread Going Here

I came here looking for insight to some problems I've been having with my '87 vintage FA224CCML.

I've read through page 5 so far, and am finding the answers I need, but think I'll keep reading as there is a wealth of info in this thread. If I see something on this end of the thread that I can add to, I will

Thanks to everybody who chimed in asking questions and sharing tips over the past 4 years on this thread.

BTW-The questions helped me as much as the answers, don't be afraid to ask.

 

[ngzcaz]

I came here looking for insight to some problems I've been having with my '87 vintage FA224CCML.

I've read through page 5 so far, and am finding the answers I need, but think I'll keep reading as there is a wealth of info in this thread. If I see something on this end of the thread that I can add to, I will

Thanks to everybody who chimed in asking questions and sharing tips over the past 4 years on this thread.

BTW-The questions helped me as much as the answers, don't be afraid to ask.

Its an old thread but useful info even if its not exactly stove specific some general principles apply. I have the extra large 288 series I bought new in the 80's. For the first 10 years or so it was going the whole winter but wouldn't supply enough heat for the whole house but too much for the finished downstairs. Had I simply cut in old time registers it might have been ok for most of the winter but still would have needed a bit of help during cold spells. When oil became cheaper we switched to oil until a few years ago when I got pissed at the price fluctuation without rhyme or reason so I bought an outdoor wood boiler. Last year it paid its self off but its a lot of work compared to the 288. But it heats the whole house and the hot water as well so I'll keep doing it as long as I can. BTW, my 288 has a cat converter which is still in the stove after 25 plus years. It still hits near 800 degrees or better.
Have a feeling its a bit colder where you are than here in NE Pa.