My Wife Is Going to Kill Me! Zephyr Cook Stove

nortcan wrote:

Smokeyja wrote: yea but then you would have to make the trip down with a big trailer and lug these accross the border. Btw how does buying a large stove go over with customs in Canada?

Well, I didn't though you got so many stoves . I will have to make some arrangements with the railrod guys... For the Canadian customs, no problems as long as what you buy is ""Made in USA""

You can take over the picture of the sexy stove lady as well

That stove is similar to mine but mine doesn't have the water reservoir.

Be careful when shaking the grates. These grates will dump the whole fuel bed if you're not careful...rotate the grates and you will see what I mean

Smokeyja wrote: What exactly does this do?

(I couldn't get the photo to copy to here)...Is this at the back of the stove?

Mine doesn't have that but I suspect that it is a tool to help remove ash etc. from below the oven...?

On my stove, there is a small cover that is removed so ashes can be scraped out from under the oven with a special tool. The tool is basically a long stiff wire with a small rectangle piece of sheet metal welded to the end.

I can go get a photo of it if needed but this tool would be very easy to make if it's needed for this stove.

Does your stove have a door or removable cover below the oven on the front of the stove?...I can't tell from the photos.

What irony-a kerosene heater in the background...

rockwood wrote:That stove is similar to mine but mine doesn't have the water reservoir.

Be careful when shaking the grates. These grates will dump the whole fuel bed if you're not careful...rotate the grates and you will see what I mean

Smokeyja wrote: What exactly does this do?

(I couldn't get the photo to copy to here)...Is this at the back of the stove?

Mine doesn't have that but I suspect that it is a tool to help remove ash etc. from below the oven...?

On my stove, there is a small cover that is removed so ashes can be scraped out from under the oven with a special tool. The tool is basically a long stiff wire with a small rectangle piece of sheet metal welded to the end.

I can go get a photo of it if needed but this tool would be very easy to make if it's needed for this stove.

Does your stove have a door or removable cover below the oven on the front of the stove?...I can't tell from the photos.

The spring thing is at the back of the stove but it's not hooked to anything at the bottom right now.

The stove has a cover below the oven door that pops off and then an inspection plate you could shove a poker in.
How do you like the results of the stove ? Also is this set up for anthracite? That is what was in the ash pan.

Can you send me any photos of your grate rotating tools? This one didn't come with them do I would like to recreate them as close to original as possible.

63roundbadge wrote:What irony-a kerosene heater in the background...

Man they are some awesome heaters. I don't keep my garage heated because it would be a waste of coal and I haven't set any piping yet and I'm not out there enough to justify dedicated heat. The bright side to these heaters is that kerosene last forever . Before I got my chimneys functional in the house I used that heater to heat it and it did awesome. Just more expensive than coal . When I get the garage insulated it's getting it's own cook stove and little coal stove upstairs. It's becoming my recording studio and dark room upstairs. I'm building another garage , a steel building with high ceilings so I can put a lift in it and work on autos in there instead of this garage. This garage is bigger than my house (1500sq ft) so when the stuff moves out its going to become a place to burn more coal

I've only burned soft coal and wood but not anthracite so I don't know but it is a very good stove.

This stove that I have was my Grandma's so obviously I wouldn't even think of getting any other

Here is the grate shaking tool....I will get a photo of the scraper tool and lid lifter tool and post it.

rockwood wrote:I've only burned soft coal and wood but not anthracite so I don't know but it is a very good stove.

This stove that I have was my Grandma's so obviously I wouldn't even think of getting any other

Here is the grate shaking tool....I will get a photo of the scraper tool and lid lifter tool and post it.

Thanks Rockwood!

Hey I found a little info. They where both coal and wood stoves and I have a AC at the end of the serial # so maybe that means its set up for Anthracite coal?

I found out that in 1951 this exact stove cost $109.90
The spring in the back is called a "fool-proof" spring but I haven't figured out what that means yet.

I think those flat plates are French plates ? Whatever that means lol.

That's it though , that's all I can find on it right now. Maybe someone else can chime in with some info like old manuals or something like I found with my WMs

I don't have any manuals or any paperwork for the stove I have and I can't think of what a foolproof spring would be... I still think it might have something to do with cleaning ashes out....can you tell what the other end of the rod is connected to?

Here is a photo of the scraper and lid lifter for my stove.

rockwood wrote:I don't have any manuals or any paperwork for the stove I have and I can't think of what a foolproof spring would be... I still think it might have something to do with cleaning ashes out....can you tell what the other end of the rod is connected to?

Here is a photo of the scraper and lid lifter for my stove.

I will go out and take a photo of it through that access plate .
What about that flip down door above the ashpan is that for toasting bread or something ?

Any idea of those little swing plates on the back of the grates?

Smokeyja wrote:What about that flip down door above the ashpan is that for toasting bread or something ?

From what I understand, it is for inspecting/tending the fire while pans are sitting on the lids. In my stove you would have to remove a cast iron firebox section to be able to use it this way, but it's easily doable.

Smokeyja wrote:Any idea of those little swing plates on the back of the grates?

Those are for adjusting the manual draft. How they are set depends on how strong the chimney draft is, and once they're set you shouldn't need to adjust them. If your chimney draft is strong and you plan to be using anthracite, you'll probably want them to be closed but you will have to do some testing to see what works best for your installation.

Hope that helps

rockwood wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:What about that flip down door above the ashpan is that for toasting bread or something ?

From what I understand, it is for inspecting/tending the fire while pans are sitting on the lids. In my stove you would have to remove a cast iron firebox section to be able to use it this way, but it's easily doable.

Smokeyja wrote:Any idea of those little swing plates on the back of the grates?

Those are for adjusting the manual draft. How they are set depends on how strong the chimney draft is, and once they're set you shouldn't need to adjust them. If your chimney draft is strong and you plan to be using anthracite, you'll probably want them to be closed but you will have to do some testing to see what works best for your installation.

Hope that helps

That does help a lot! It's great to find someone else with the stove!
Maybe that top flip down plate it to be used with a wood fire? Put logs in and tend to it that way?

That air control for the draft is really awesome ! I'm sure you can really fine tune it!

I have that photo for you of the rod attached to the spring. It is not attached to anything as of now.



this is where the ash pan goes .

I wonder how much it cost to re-enamel sheet metal. It would be cool to change the color.

It looks like I need to change the thermometer on it as well.

Smokeyja wrote:I have that photo for you of the rod attached to the spring. It is not attached to anything as of now.

With that wing nut and spring on the other end it would be to adjust tension on something...but I can't think of what or why. My stove doesn't have anything like that.

rockwood wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:I have that photo for you of the rod attached to the spring. It is not attached to anything as of now.

With that wing nut and spring on the other end it would be to adjust tension on something...but I can't think of what or why. My stove doesn't have anything like that.

Is there a hole on the back where maybe there was one at one time?

Any idea on how to date the stove? I just found a 1951 advertisement and that's it.

I am still digging for more info on the stove and the manufacturer .

On my range, it is to adjust the oven door relief spring so it stays closed and opens with minimum effort. I have the same spring and wingnut at the back of my stove.

I came across this and saved it on my phone . It was on eBay for auction.

coalturkey wrote:On my range, it is to adjust the oven door relief spring so it stays closed and opens with minimum effort. I have the same spring and wingnut at the back of my stove.

Hey Mike! I was wondering when you were going to chime in. I figure you would like this stove . It reminded me of your home comfort. It looks I will be building a water tank for two of us now .
When I saw it at the salvage yard and what great condition it was I wanted to call you I was so excited but then realized I only had your email address !

You know the more and more I look at this stove and learn about it the more I like it. Not to mention the cool name.

zephyr- a slight wind (usually refreshing)

Zephyr - (Greek mythology) the Greek god of the west wind

Interesting name for a cook stove .

About the spring and rod. I see where that would hold tension on the door and why they would call it a full proof spring now.
I am going to need a class on how to run this cook stove . So maybe we can get together when I build that tank . Do other cook stoves have that fine adjustment in the back as this one does?

Btw it seems that anytime I buy something old especially a stove I can't ever find much info on it. The WM I found a good deal. The pearl there is nothing about it, the deville is worth a god amount of money and I found a little about it and then the zephyr is almost as bad as the pearl I can only find one govt. record of A&J Manufacturing Company in Gladsden AL .