Post by smarty on Mar 3, 2014 10:46:44 GMT -8
Anyone ever wondered what's inside one of those cast iron cooking ranges? I picked up a knackered old one and decided to have a look. It's a Rayburn number 1. There is a firebox to the left as you look at it from the front and an oven to the right. The firebox side has two doors. The lower one the ash clean out with an air regulator screw on the top door for loading. at the back of the firebox is a cast iron boiler.
Shown in the photos is the riser for a 4" system size peter berg style J tube. The riser is the full height of the firebox with a 3 1/2" gap to the underside of the cooking plate not including the heat exchange fins on the bottom. to the right of the firebox and running across the top of the oven is a flue channel that runs along the underside of the cooking plate before exiting out the back up a small flue box (not shown). The flue is 5" so I assume the channel is the same cross sectional area or close - I haven't measured it yet.
Assuming that its possible to install a 4" J tube Rocket underneath the floor of the stove with the feed tube coming up out the floor to the left hand side outside of the stove then it looks as if it would be a perfect fit. Assuming also that it had enough heat output to heat up the hot plate and oven (And perhaps even the boiler?), then with all the (what I think might have been sodden asbestos insulation removed) the case would be big enough to convert to a bell style stove. the insulation round the sides and front can be replaced with ceramic fibre the small cast iron section to the left side of the flue cut away and the flue box capped off. Thus opening up the entire inside to become a bell.
The only major adaptation would be that in order to leave enough gap round the back of the boiler no insulation would go there. Instead perhaps a brick or masonry back to store the heat or an insulated metal extension to make the stove deeper. Heat would then surround the oven on all sides bar the insulated right hand side adjacent to the stove casing. Air tightness might be a problem with the lid of this old thing but if the principle works it might be worth taking a punt on something more grand.
link to photos here: app.box.com/s/y86iwwty5ozc654wmhjr
Shown in the photos is the riser for a 4" system size peter berg style J tube. The riser is the full height of the firebox with a 3 1/2" gap to the underside of the cooking plate not including the heat exchange fins on the bottom. to the right of the firebox and running across the top of the oven is a flue channel that runs along the underside of the cooking plate before exiting out the back up a small flue box (not shown). The flue is 5" so I assume the channel is the same cross sectional area or close - I haven't measured it yet.
Assuming that its possible to install a 4" J tube Rocket underneath the floor of the stove with the feed tube coming up out the floor to the left hand side outside of the stove then it looks as if it would be a perfect fit. Assuming also that it had enough heat output to heat up the hot plate and oven (And perhaps even the boiler?), then with all the (what I think might have been sodden asbestos insulation removed) the case would be big enough to convert to a bell style stove. the insulation round the sides and front can be replaced with ceramic fibre the small cast iron section to the left side of the flue cut away and the flue box capped off. Thus opening up the entire inside to become a bell.
The only major adaptation would be that in order to leave enough gap round the back of the boiler no insulation would go there. Instead perhaps a brick or masonry back to store the heat or an insulated metal extension to make the stove deeper. Heat would then surround the oven on all sides bar the insulated right hand side adjacent to the stove casing. Air tightness might be a problem with the lid of this old thing but if the principle works it might be worth taking a punt on something more grand.
link to photos here: app.box.com/s/y86iwwty5ozc654wmhjr
