Sides of wood stove bowing

[oharatree]

I run a fisher momma bear in my basement and I've been burning hard in this cold snap. One side of the stove is bowing out and the other side is bowing in a bit. i noticed it last night. Any suggestions on how to further prevent this? I know it might be as simple as not burning so hot but maybe there's other solutions?

 

[johncinco]

the adventourous, care free, live wild side of me says keep burnin until it caves in.

The parent with 2 kids in the house side of me says I wouldnt light it again in the house.

Its obviously older, since I dont think they make them any more. Did you get it used? Maybe take a look and see if it had some rsut get to it years ago and thin down the sides or something. My Gramma Bear is stout and I have had the pipe glowing and the sides have never shown any signs of distress.

 

[oharatree]

I think its a momma bear. It takes 24 inch logs. I've never had to pipe red on it. It didnt come to me this way. My father in law bought it new a few years back and used it for some time. No, not a spec of rust or corrosion on the stove inside or out. I cant see never lighting it again because it bowed a bit one way or the other. Were not talking bowed out an inch. maybe 1/4 out. Just enough to see when you look at it from the front.

 

[husky455rancher]

one of the sides on mine bulges out a hair too. im not worried about it. i figure i prolly hit it with a log when it was really hot. its the upperside of the stove above the firebricks. im still gonna burn mine as is, the stove isnt rusted or anything like that either.

 

[danrclem]

I didn't think that anything short of dynamite would get a Fisher Stove out of shape. I think they're made out of 1/4" steel. I've got one that I've had for over 20 years and it's been great. If all of the welds are in good shape and everything is tight I wouldn't be afraid to use it.

Does it say Fisher on the door?

 

[Zodiac45]

I think its a momma bear. It takes 24 inch logs. I've never had to pipe red on it. It didnt come to me this way. My father in law bought it new a few years back and used it for some time. No, not a spec of rust or corrosion on the stove inside or out. I cant see never lighting it again because it bowed a bit one way or the other. Were not talking bowed out an inch. maybe 1/4 out. Just enough to see when you look at it from the front.

It's obviously a plate steel stove? I'd just keep an eye on it and as along as it's not too bad I don't think you'll have any probs. Maybe in the summer you want too shore it up (from going any further). Take the door off and weld some angle stock too the inside running vertically.

 

[habanero]

...If all of the welds are in good shape and everything is tight I wouldn't be afraid to use it....

That's the key point from my perspective. If the sides are bowing, you might be putting a lot of stress on the welds. I'm not familiar with the design of that stove, but on a lot of stoves if a weld were to crack open allowing extra air in (or CO out), the results can be very bad.

If it were in my workshop, I wouldn't worry about it much, but it'd make me nervous in the house.

 

[November Wolf]

That's the key point from my perspective. If the sides are bowing, you might be putting a lot of stress on the welds. I'm not familiar with the design of that stove, but on a lot of stoves if a weld were to crack open allowing extra air in (or CO out), the results can be very bad.

If it were in my workshop, I wouldn't worry about it much, but it'd make me nervous in the house.

Why in the heck would you even take a chance if you are nervous about it. CO will kill and there is no reason to take a chance.

 

[nitro]

YOU really got to stop burning that low grade plutonium in that thing .or youll have a meltdown

did you have a chernobal stove

 

[habanero]

Why in the heck would you even take a chance if you are nervous about it. CO will kill and there is no reason to take a chance.

I wouldn't use it in my house; I guess I wasn't clear enough on that point. In my shop I wouldn't worry about it so much since it's leaky enough in there that there's plenty of air exchange.

 

[bore_pig]

CO? How would a cracked weld let it leak out when the damper won't. It is open to the firebox as well. Check your welds if it makes you feel better. If the corners are still square, then the welds should still be fine.

 

[Zodiac45]

CO? How would a cracked weld let it leak out when the damper won't. It is open to the firebox as well. Check your welds if it makes you feel better. If the corners are still square, then the welds should still be fine.

I've seen lots of welded steel stove with distortions and I don't think it is a problem. Just keep an eye on the welds like was suggested.

I'm in agreement with these guys, grow more vegetable! Opps I mean grow more veg and don't worry too much about the stove unless it gets really ugly. If it's just slight, and as TreeCo said, many of the steel plate stoves do this, I'd not be that worried if the welds look good. Fisher's were pretty much of a tank as stoves go. Loads of them are still cooking.

 

[Jredsjeep]

if it got hot enough to bow the sides some it was the metal softening up and moving a little. this should not stress the welds, the welds would be far more stressed if you cold worked the steel. if they arent strong enough to take somthing like that they were bad to begin with.

i would double check to make sure its not leaking just to be safe then run it. you should have a carbon monixide detector anyway if you are using a wood stove.

 

[November Wolf]

I wouldn't use it in my house; I guess I wasn't clear enough on that point. In my shop I wouldn't worry about it so much since it's leaky enough in there that there's plenty of air exchange.

Good Deal!

 

[Crofter]

If you run a bead of weld around the perimeter of say a 3' square 1/4" plate it will shrink the rim slightly and the centre will dish slightly. could go in or out but likely dish out to the side opposite weld. Dished out looks better than in.

I saw this when we made several large fuel tanks for old skidders to go in and fuel the feller bunchers. As the welding proceeded the panels took a dish; a few panels dished in and as you were filling them up with fuel they would go the other way with a boinnggg!

Mild steel plate is quite forgiving and it would be highly unlikely that a weld would split open enough to let in a dangerous amount of air. I have seen the old barrel stoves get some pretty hideous shapes to them and sway backed like an old horse. If it was cast iron taking on a bend I would worry more. Keep an eye on it and maybe after the heating season pop the dished in one the other way with a block and hydraulic jack.

I got a wood cook stove too on the lower area so it is much nicer to be able to let the big heater to fire down and take the ashes out. It is easy when you are firing hard and continuously to have coals build up so you are getting a lot more heat above the firebrick than you should.

 

[Moss Man]

I wouldn't worry much about it leaking gases, those are going up the chimney on the draft. If gases were a concern, wouldn't the air openings where air for the fire enters the stove be a problem? The door on my Alpiner isn't very airtight and it causes no problems whatsoever.

I had the same impression that the Fisher stove was way over built and could withstand a small bomb going off in it.