R.I.P. Chubby

 
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the snowman
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Location: upstate NY Tug Hill area
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Jotul 507
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Post by the snowman » Wed. Feb. 16, 2011 10:10 pm

Well, the piece of crap delivered a fatal blow to its self this evening. I was shaking down the piece of junk and the grate broke in three pieces and looks to have damaged the pot when it broke(has the new pot and grate design). Funny, the damn stove has never been fired hard, always 450 F and no more than 500F for short periods. At the time the grate broke tonight the stove was running at 375F. I inspected the grate and pot before putting the piece of crap into service this season and neither had any signs of cracking, flaking or anything else. So, tonight the paper weight is cooling so tomorrow I can close my shop and pull the Jotul 507 out of moth balls and install it in place of the Chubby. Tonight and until I get the other Jotul installed the Jotul 507b on the other side of my house will have to cover the heat demands of the house.

I know that in my other posts concerning the Chubby I have been what seems to be overly critical of the design and quality of the stove. I believe tonight, for me at least, the stove has placed a very fine point on the quality and durability of the stove. I know some will post the question, "Why not just order a new pot and grate?" It is a good and fair question. My Chubby has the heat tubes running though the interior of the stove and in order to replace the fire pot, the tubes first have to be cut out in order to remove the fire pot. Then once I have the new fire pot installed, the heat tubes have to be welded back into place. I do not have the time to do this nor do I have the time to run the stove down to Larry and wait for him to rebuild the stove. The heating season would be just about over by the time I got the stove back and installed. So, for the rest of the winter my two Jotul stoves will once again cover the heat demands of the house. Funny, both my Jotul stoves are older than my Chubby and they both have their original grate, grate support and fire brick. For me this speaks volumes concerning the quality and craftsmanship of the Jotul stove over the Chubby.

I don't see myself rebuilding the Chubby. If anything I would be more likely to cut the stove up and send it for scrap. From my first eval of the Chubby I have always thought the stove to be of poor craftsmanship and durability and tonight I firmly stand behind my eval of the Chubby. I know other members who have a Chubby will argue different and I am glad your Chubby has served you well, however, for me this will be the first and last Chubby I will ever own. I always believe a stove should never be thrown out but be restored and pressed back into service. This is one unit that I do not hold the same belief with. This stove will probably never see another coal or wood fire again. Maybe if I do not cut the piece of crap up for scrap I might just sell it as is and get rid of it. I guess only time will tell. So, tonight I will go and start to remove the 507 from the crate I have it stored in. Since I have been giving updates and evaluations all season to my experience with the Chubby compared to the Jotul, I thought it right to give this update concerning my Chubby. Over the course of the winter I have had both negative and positive comments concerning the Chubby and it is unfortunate that my last update on the Chubby has to be so poor and filled with anger towards the stove. To all those who have a Chubby, may your stove serve you well for the rest of the winter.

The snowman.


 
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DOUG
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Post by DOUG » Wed. Feb. 16, 2011 10:40 pm

Too bad and sorry to hear that you have had a bad experience with your Chubby. There could be a lot af variables which may have made yours fail, just as with any other coal stove. If yours is a top vent, please send it to Larry, before you scrap it, I'm looking to get another and Larry doesn't have any right now. Anthracite coal stoves are still the way to go and I hope that you find the right one for you. Good burning with your Jotuls. Be warm and happy burning anthracite!

 
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the snowman
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Jotul 507
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Post by the snowman » Wed. Feb. 16, 2011 10:50 pm

Doug:

My Chubby is not a top vent, it is a rear vent. The only reason I purchased the Chubby this year was the price. I nearly stole the stove. I have wanted a larger output stove to replace my one Jotul and thought the Chubby would be a good replacement. Don't get me wrong, with the heat tubes in the stove, the Chubby is capable of producing a lot of heat at lower temps. I was getting impressive burn times (17-18 hrs) and it produced great heat. It allowed me to throttle back my Jotul on the other side of my house this winter. The long burn times and great heat production were the reasons why I could look past its short comings. It is unfortunate, however, at least I can fall back on my Jotul stoves and keep heating with coal. I will now be on the hunt for a new stove. Should be fun.

The snowman.

 
Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Wed. Feb. 16, 2011 11:13 pm

I have not found the Chubby to be of "poor" quality, but I have to say that there quality and performance has been over exaggerated in many posts. As far as the broken grate, it was most likely a defective casting, not indicative of the quality of the Chubby stove. As far as the stove in general, I find no justice in stating it to be anything other than what it is. A small economy parlor heater, not sufficient to heat anything but small houses, or used for heating separate sections of larger houses, where layout inhibits the distribution of heat from one central stove. With a simple, but functional rotating grate system, insufficient to clear clinkers, making it necessary to occasionally shut the stove down during the heating season to be cleaned. Nothing but disappointment comes from exaggerated expectations. If a small economy stove is what you want, this could be the stove for you.

 
lobsterman
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Post by lobsterman » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 1:26 am

A broken grate is not a big deal and is a cheap replacement. A damaged fire pot, however, is a big deal and likely happened independently of the cracked grate.
PS I just realized you may be saying that the center bar under the grate is damaged. That would be bad and may indicate a weak point of the design. Please tell us what happened to the fire pot.

 
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the snowman
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Post by the snowman » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 1:53 am

It is now 1:41 a.m. and I have just finished getting the Jotul 507 out of the crate I had it stored in. I have given the stove a good cleaning with a damp rag and have moved it from the storage room in the shop into the house where I will install it tomorrow. I will have to cut new pipe and rearrange the baro due to the height difference between the Chubby and the Jotul.

Lobsterman, I do not know exactly what happened to the grate. Right now I have an ash pit half full of burning coal as well as half of the fire pot. I am going to assume it was poor casting due to it looks like it was a clean break in three places. Right now part of the grate is in the ash pit and the rest of the grate is at awkward angles due to the load of coal pressing down on it. It looks like when it broke it torqued the tab on the fire pot. Almost looks like it cracked the pot. I am going to let it burn until the coal is used up. I will know more tomorrow when I am able to clean out the stove and get a better look. Either way the stove will be pulled from service tomorrow. I can't justify ordering a new grate and take the chance the pot isn't damaged and then have the pot break later on. It would be a complete waste of money. So, I am off to bed since 4:30 a.m. will be here very shortly and my day will begin. I will keep everyone updated as to the progress and what I find with the Chubby.

Pete69:

Well put. I agree.

The snowman.

 
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JB Sparks
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Post by JB Sparks » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:01 am

Snowman, what a shocker to hear of your troubles with the Chubby. Don't blame you a bit for being upset about it.

When I first heard about the need to cut out the tubes and have to reweld them back in in order to change out the fire pot, I thought it was a suspect design. I think a better method would have been to make the tubes with a flange so they could be gasketed and bolted in place. That way a fire pot change out would be at least a reasonable job.

If the pot turns out to be ok, maybe replacing the grate and selling it would help recover your losses. If the pot is damaged I agree with Doug, call Larry as he may want to take the stove off your hands.

Good luck on what ever you decide to do.

JB


 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:53 am

I'm sorry to hear your Chubby crapped out on you. Makes a person want to "Arghhhhhhhh!!" Good thing you kept the Jotul.

If the fire pot is OK, then it's just a broken grate, there can be 100 reasons for that. Either way I'd call Larry. I've only dealt with him once, but we spoke a few times. There is no one on Earth that stands behind his products better. He will bend over backwards to help a reasonable person. I know you're not one to yell & curse, so I'm sure he'd help as best he can. On the other hand, if the stove is dead, he might want it and be able to give it another life. Rather than sell it for the $7 scrap value, I'd donate it to Larry as long as he paid the shipping or arranged to pick it up.

 
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the snowman
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Post by the snowman » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:08 am

JB SPARKS:

I also couldn't believe it when I found out about the tube removal in order to change the pot. This is something I have known about since I purchased the stove this summer. I never thought I would be in need of changing the pot or grate. I agree something along that line should have been designed to make replacement of the pot easier and cheaper. The tubes could have been designed differently so they wouldn't have to be cut out to allow pot removal. The stove is almost cool enough to remove and I can start my work of installing the Jotul. I will have to go to the hardware store this a.m. to pick up more pipe I will need to complete the connection. It is important to get the Jotul installed as soon as possible for every hour that passes the house temp drops like a rock. Currently I have the red Jotul running at 775F and the house shows no signs of slowing on its cooling trend. I could switch to the evil juice, however, I do not have any in the tank, I would have to have a delivery and currently getting to the fill tube would be pretty difficult. This also has nothing to do with my desire to never burn the evil juice again (it has been 4 yrs).

I will take a closer look at the burn pot later today to look at the damage. Either way if the pot is damaged or not I still need to install the Jotul to help heat the house. If it turns out the pot is not cracked and it just needs the grate replaced I might go ahead and order one this spring and then put it up for sale to help with the cost of replacing it with a different newer bigger and better unit. This a.m. I'm still not happy, however, I am less apt to destroy the stove via torch. I am glad I didn't sell the Jotul to one of my customers this summer. I almost did. My wife thought I should have sold it at the time, however, now she is also glad I kept the stove in my collection. I will post updates as to how the change out is going and what I find with the Chubby.

The snowman.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:09 am

New cast iron needs to be seasoned/cured. To season, you'll need to start 4 or 5 small fires. Each one getting hotter. Cast iron shouldn't be put into full service with high temps till this treatment has been done. Were the parts that failed new? Not seasoning could be the reason they failed.

 
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the snowman
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Post by the snowman » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:12 am

Freddy:

I too have talked with Larry this past summer. I had to replace one of the air valves on the side of the stove and he was nice to deal with. If the stove is dead I would probably contact him to see if he would like to make a deal. If it is just a grate I will probably replace it and sell the stove. I have no desire to burn the stove again. I must get to work on changing out the stove.

The snowman.

 
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the snowman
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Post by the snowman » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:15 am

Oliver power:

No, the parts were not new, they were well seasoned. This is one reason why I don't understand why the grate broke. It was not mistreated or being jammed when it broke last night. I do see the breaks are very clean and new and not a crack that finally broke.

The snowman.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:17 am

Thankfully you kept "old faithful" for a backup. Stay warm.

-Rob

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 7:15 am

the snowman wrote:Oliver power:

No, the parts were not new, they were well seasoned. This is one reason why I don't understand why the grate broke. It was not mistreated or being jammed when it broke last night. I do see the breaks are very clean and new and not a crack that finally broke.

The snowman.
Could be, not seasoned correctly by previous owner. You got the blunt of it. Who knows.......... Maybe just bad luck.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 8:22 am

Ain't hindsight grand--I think pete69 covered the reality of the whole thing--snowman,hook up & crank up that jotul--we've still got some good old NYS weather lingering :lol:


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