Morso stoves - hit or a miss?

[Alycidon]

On 16/12/2019 at 11:53, neiln said:

Reading this I think next spring, after I sweep the flue and clean out the stove, I'll wipe the inside over with an oily rag as a bit of extra moisture protection over the summer.  Other than spots of rust flakes on my baffle I don't seem to have any trouble but a wipe of oil seems a simple bit of protection for the summer.

Good idea.

[Alycidon]

On 16/12/2019 at 12:09, difflock said:

Some interesting stuff above, especially the "out-sourced-on-price" East German cast Iron parts!

I got a reply from Morso UK, and, guess what it appears we were "overfiring" our stove,

conifer burning so hot and all that.

But how come our 1996/1997 Panther with the flue pipe glowing dull cherry red as I freely confessed(so kinda definately overfired)

DID NOT CRACK?

But the newer model, almost certainly incorporating the out-sourced-on-price*** East German cast iron, which was never overfuelled, nor had the flue pipe even approaching glowing.

DID BLOODY CRACK!

But nothing about the quality of their cast iron has changed, per the UK importer.

cough cough,

On yer bike Mr. Morso(e)

 

***

I believe I mentioned the possibility of a venture/vulture capitalists buy-in seeking to maximize the revenue from a long established and well respected brand name somewhere above?

I have a Morso Panther in my lounge at home, used every day Sept - May it has been there since 2009. Changed usual consumables yes but no major problems. baffle plate is heavy cast iron,  I only burn wood,  usually pop, willow, pine or conifer,  it gets pretty hot and the baffle plate has needed replacing in the past as it has warped but this is to be expected.  Given a forge it could probably have been straightened out.   Most later designs of stoves (Panther is a 70s  design, Squirrel a 50s design) ) have either a steel, stainless steel or vermiculite bricks as baffle plates.   Stove body cracking is usually moisture creating rust,  this drives in between the back and the sides and top and splits the stove apart,  this affects any cast iron stove where the parts are bolted together.  Steel stoves that are welded together are a lot more immune, in fact I have never seen one that I have supplied split.

 

A

 

[Macpherson]

4 hours ago, Alycidon said:

this affects any cast iron stove where the parts are bolted together. 

I'm probably a bit old school but to me the mark of quality is something that's able to be completely stripped and rebuilt when necessary or as part of a long term maintenance schedule. If your unlucky enough to find a crack in cast iron it can be welded if the part isn't available or too expensive.

I'd rather have bricks than vermiculite and cast parts than plate steel....

 

Having said that I definitely take onboard your points regarding dampness.

 

I've burnt most woods { seasoned } in my Squirrel over the 12 years that I've had it and haven't suffered any heat damage other than door / glass rope.... but I've got 2 pals with the same stove who've had to replace parts often... I know for a fact that they burn builders rubbish, chipboard etc and their wives like coke [ as a fuel ].... so I would suspect that there lies the problem. 

[Alycidon]

4 minutes ago, Macpherson said:

I'm probably a bit old school but to me the mark of quality is something that's able to be completely stripped and rebuilt when necessary or as part of a long term maintenance schedule. If your unlucky enough to find a crack in cast iron it can be welded if the part isn't available or too expensive.

I'd rather have bricks than vermiculite and cast parts than plate steel....

 

Having said that I definitely take onboard your points regarding dampness.

 

I've burnt most woods { seasoned } in my Squirrel over the 12 years that I've had it and haven't suffered any heat damage other than door / glass rope.... but I've got 2 pals with the same stove who've had to replace parts often... I know for a fact that they burn builders rubbish, chipboard etc and their wives like coke [ as a fuel ].... so I would suspect that there lies the problem. 

Coke is definitely a stove killer,  if not burning wood or wood derived products then stock to Anthracite.

 

A

[Macpherson]

1 minute ago, Alycidon said:

Coke is definitely a stove killer,

Sorry, I used coke as a generic term, I,m sure it is anthracite and or ovoids, but it gets a lot hotter, cheers.

[difflock]

Zero moisture ingress or rust folks.

The removable baffle plate, the middle bit, was replaced when it warped and refused to seat properly.

Never overfired, and per my earlier comment, I can recognise overfiring, tough!

I was however using the wrong draught apparently, the bottom fed one, simply because the stove burned cleaner that way(I got no instructions at point of sale, NOR were any available on-line, cos  I searched most diligently), and I declined to cheekily phone any other Morso dealer for info.

Cheers,

Marcus

P.S.

I swop the less than satisfactory modern Morso for one of the 2 other old-skool Morso stoves.

Edited December 20, 2019 by difflock

[BowlandStoves]

We had issue with Morso in the past - they didnt seem to be able to control some parties offering them at huge discounts which impacted all other retailers. Unfortunate though as there are some very good stoves in the Morso range. However, if as a business you are not allowed to compete on a level playing field, this leaves you only one option.

[Richard A]

4412 owner for 3 years. 
Glass cracked - replacement glass, £480 !!

check spares prices before making a choice..

[Stubby]

8 hours ago, Richard A said:

4412 owner for 3 years. 
Glass cracked - replacement glass, £480 !!

check spares prices before making a choice..

Measure your glass dimensions and thickness and get one ( or two ) cut . There are people who will make ceramic stove glass to order for much less than that . 

[Woodworks]

6 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Measure your glass dimensions and thickness and get one ( or two ) cut . There are people who will make ceramic stove glass to order for much less than that . 

Think they are curved on that model