I had planned on building my RMH this year, BUT.....I got busy at work and started a chicken coop, and basically ran out of time.
So I rebuild the old stove instead. First off here is the back story.
I bought my house in 2003. This stove was here when I bought it. The house was built in 1985. So this stove is somewhere between 11 and 29 years old. It is a Wondercoal Model 2827 by US Stove Co. I know that it is not much too look at and a basic entry level stove at best. It is plumbed thru a 6 inch thimble to an exterior masonry chimney. My house is a 1000 sqft rancher with excellent insulation. The stove is sitting on brick with a brick wall behind the stove:
The struggles with this old stove started last winter. First the shaker grate broke in half. No big deal, I just raked the coals and ashes with my poker. Then the back of the firebox warped around the stove pipe flange. It made gaps that caused the fire to burn too hot when I had good draft and leaked smoke into the house when I lost draft. I fixed that by drilling extra holes in the flange adding some bolts and filling the gaps with furnace cement. Then the grate broke again and this time I could not even get the ash pan out. This also happened on the coldest night of the winter. Luckily, I do have a heat pump and electric coils so I was able to stay warm long enough to patch things up. I first let the fire go out. Then I fished the broken grate out. Not only was the grate in several pieces and swelled, but the support for the grate was also missing several supports:
And the grate:
So I pieced the grate back together and put it on the few remaining supports:
Then I covered the grate with firebrick both to add some stability and to protect the grate from the extreme heat:
I was able to make it thru last winter with these patches.