On Friday I took the chance to sneak up to Shobnall Chandlery in Burton on Trent to wallow in the Squirrel maintenance expertise offered by Ian and Andy. Thanks chaps.
I bought a blanking plate, some glass rope and a flue brush declining the saftey gloves, firebricks and replacement flue collar. It's amazing how easy it is to refurbish one of these stoves as all the bits seem to bolt together conveniently. The only snags arise if the stove has been used say by burning fossil fuels for the creation of warmth and suchlike. If kept pristine the restoration should be a trivial procedure. Sounds like a Land Rover provided you keep it in a dehumidified sitting room. In my case the rear flue closure plate had dropped off leading to a voyage of discovery concerning the internals of the stove. Uncle Mort's stove chimney has never been swept (shame, guilt etc)so this weekend was one of excitement, especially as I had assumed that whole stove replacement was the most likely action in view of its forlorn state. First job was to remove the bricks I have used inside the stove to reduce the burn cross section area - that's been really successful in terms of economy and keeping the stove going for long periods. At the top of the stove (inside) is a baffle plate that seperates the combustion chamber from the chimney. I have in the past scooped great lumps of crud off the top of that though access is difficult and involves knuckle scraping. The Shobnall boys explained that the plate can be jiggled out - and this is so. The plate MUST be taken out to sweep the flue. The Shobnall boys also said that the stove lining could be lifted out (and replaced at significant cost) and that this was necessary to get access to the closure plate location. Well I couldn't get the linings out but I could get the new blanking plate in above the back lining. So I did and bolted it into place with some glass rope and globs of fire cement for good measure. Then my "chim chim cheroo" moment when I swept the flue. No soot whatever, just flakey corroded metal tumbling down into the stove. Then it was sufficient to clean off the muck, tidy up the seal to collar join and lavish with shiny black stove paint. Now we have a pristine looking Squirrel presumably back in fairly safe working order. The Achilles heel must be the flue and the collar to the stove. The products of combustion have taken their toll and sooner or later more serious work will be required. The question is how many more winters ? We have a CO alarm which we will keep well maintained as I would not be at all surprised if gases escape to the saloon from some of the corroded joint areas. Beeky
