What maintenance should be preformed on a "new to you" stoker?

Hi Everyone,

After some hunting I found this Alaska Channing (III?) stove. The previous owner said she had a guy come by every season to service it but, she wasn't exactly sure what he did. She used it this past heating season. The stove was setup as direct vent but, I will be using it with natural draft. (I'm debating getting a draft meter or just paying a local stove shop to come out to connect it, though not many shops around me are familiar with coal stoves). The door gaskets seem pretty good to me. I was wondering about what, if any maintenance should be done to the stoker mechanism, it looks like there's a fitting for a grease gun on one of the bearings. I also watched a video on YouTube that showed clinkers and other debris can collect under the grate, so I was wondering if I should take that up to clean under it and then replace its gasket.

The only things that I found a little concerning was a warp in the hopper near the bottom seam and what seems like a warp where the coal feeds into the stove. I've drawn arrows pointing at both. Also one of the blades on the little plastic fan is missing.

Thanks for the input

Get you own draft gauge or manometer. You'll wish you did after one visit from a pro.

Hey Thinker,
Just an observation. In your 3rd picture, to the left of the burn grate and up a bit it appears to be a hole.

The hole is for the direct vent sensor that screws into the back of the stove. (I think it's called a fume switch?) Since I'm going to use it with a chimney I was told I can just remove it a place a bolt in the hole to plug it.

I've taken the stove apart to inspect everything. After I spoke with the Alaska stove shop in Bloomsburg, I ended up ordering a hopper, metal screen for the clean glass system, carpet plate (since the old one was warped), bushing for the pusher block, the little plastic four blade fan, new gaskets (except for the doors, they were still good), and paint (it's not getting repainted till next summer ).

I took apart the blower, that blows air into the room (convection blower?), and thoroughly cleaned it and then oiled it with 3 in 1 for small motors. I also cleaned and did a couple drops of oil on the combustion blower. I sanded the rust off of the feeder housing and I'm going to paint it will high temp stove paint. When the parts come in, the stoker motor will also be cleaned and oiled, along with its linkage and I plan to use red and tacky grease for the pusher block bearing (unless there's something that's better suited?). If I'm feeling ambitious I might wipe down the interior of the stove (after a thorough cleaning) with a baking soda and water mixture. Alaska recommended it to neutralize the sulfuric acid from eating into the stove.

I was told that Field Controls makes a good barometric damper, so that's what I'm probably going to purchase along with a Dwyer manometer, unless anyone has suggestions for better ones.

I apologize if I'm goofing up some of the part names or terms.

I was wondering about the stove pipe, is it just a friction fit out the back of the stove? I’ve seen some stoves where there’s holes to screw the pipe in but I didn’t see any on the Channing. If it is just a friction fit I’m wondering how well it will support the weight of the stove pipe and if it will come loose.

I was wondering how far should the stove pipe be from the back of the hopper? Is 4” too close? I have the stove pipe loosely fitted and I’m going from single walled to double near the ceiling because of clearance, the single walled doesn’t slide as far into the double walled as it does into other single walled, maybe it will with some coaxing.

I drilled two pilot holes so I could connect the stove pipe to the stove with screws. I kind of hate how the single wall pipe snaps together, it never pops together as well as I feel it should. I connected the draft meter, and got a stainless steel bolt to plug the hole from the fume switch which I won’t need since I’m using a chimney.

I took the stoker out, disassembled it completely, used a wire brush on my grinder to clean it, repainted with stove paint, replaced the carpet plate since it was warped, replaced all the gaskets, replaced the bushings the pusher block goes through (Not sure if that’s the proper name for them), pumped in fresh grease, oiled and cleaned the fans, made sure all the holes were open in the burn plate, and cleaned that too.

My only things left to do are replace the gasket around the door, and install a heat shield around the column that is near the front of the stove. Any suggestions for a narrow heatshield? Preferably something cheap and easy, I really don’t want to have to tile it.

I found a metal fabrication shop that quoted me $25 for a heat shield so I’m going to give that a shot. I know they recommend an 1” off the ground for air flow but, I’m wondering if I can go a little higher to avoid the trim at the bottom of the column, I’d rather not remove it, I can’t imagine it being that hot at about 2” - 3” Off the floor.