On Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 4:02:47 PM UTC+1, gill wrote:
We are about to move to a house which has an Aga. (House is empty at
present, Aga turned off, no instructions!)

Does anyone know what fuel it uses - I think some sort of anthracite but are
there different types?

Also the books I have read say solid fuel Agas should be serviced once a
year by a specialist - my husband says this is a waste of money as there is
nothing to go wrong, it will just need a bit of cleaning - is he right?

TIA

Gill

Wow, there's a lot of ignorance around when it comes to AgA and Rayburn cookers/appliances, especially when the "conversation" turns to fuel. Fact: an AgA was primarily designed to cook, and as a secondary consideration, it will heat some hot water through a back-boiler, but this will negatively impact on its performance as a cooker as some of the heat is 'diverted' to heating that water. Fact: an AgA has round hotplate lids, a Rayburn will have either two rectangular/square ones, or if older and smaller, perhaps just the one which may cover all or only part of the hotplate. In fact, some early Rayburns havee no hotplate cover at all. Fact: THE ONLY SOLID FUEL you should use for an old solid fuel burning AgA is anthracite - NOTHING else. Fact: you can burn wood, coal and various of the coal 'family' solid fuels in a Rayburn; not so in an AgA. Fact: a Rayburn is quite easy to get going again if it's gone out. Fact: a solid fuel AgA is quite difficult to get alight again once everything (in particular the flue) has cooled down/gone out. Fact: there is very little to service on an old solid fuel AgA, but obviously depending on its previous care, it may need some help. Ours had been rusting away in a corner for 10 years and needed new insulation, a new flue-box, new flue, rope around the hotplates, a new castings indicator (a bit like a temperature gauge that tells you the stored heat in the AgA's castings) and new sides as they're only made from mild steel that's then painted in the factory, rather than the heavy cast iron of the rest of the AgA. The reason there's so little to do is there are no moving parts in essence and though it's a beautiful piece of engineering, its beauty is partly its simplicity. Fact: a solid fuel AgA needs riddling and emptying once a day and filling twice a day - morning and evening, basically, but if you're going to be away one night and a day to a day and a half, filling it up to he gunnels will normally mean you come back to find it is still going - depending on the weather (wind etc, mainly). Fact: you absolutely do NOT need another cooker unless you're someone with zero patience, little common sense and a large family, perhaps. We have both a solid fuel AgA (in the kitchen and refurbished by selves) and a solid fuel Rayburn in a workshop. They are both utterly amazing things to have around and cannot be equalled, but are probably best if you are either at home or working from home a lot of the time. Having said that, the morning and evening routine does fit perfectly well with a working day. A solid fuel AgA is no dirtier than an oil-fired Rayburn; we've experienced both. Oil does not burn cleanly, therefore it's not the be all and end all. Yes, you need somewhere to store anthracite; yes you have to lug it around, but the best course of action when it comes to cooking, heating and hot water is to diversify anyway. Never put all your eggs in one basket. The all-electric house is no fun in a power cut and if your CH is a gas (boiler) powered wet radiators system you're also stuck during a power loss as the pump circulating the water to the rads will not work during a power cut. When you're slightly "off-grid" or a rural-dweller, a solid fuel appliance is king.

wrote:
On Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 4:02:47 PM UTC+1, gill wrote:
We are about to move to a house which has an Aga. (House is empty at
present, Aga turned off, no instructions!)

Does anyone know what fuel it uses - I think some sort of anthracite but are
there different types?

Also the books I have read say solid fuel Agas should be serviced once a
year by a specialist - my husband says this is a waste of money as there is
nothing to go wrong, it will just need a bit of cleaning - is he right?

TIA

Gill

Wow, there's a lot of ignorance around when it comes to AgA and Rayburn
cookers/appliances, especially both.
Snip something that looks like it was written for one of those Sunday
Newspaper lifestyle supplements.


When you're slightly "off-grid" or a rural-dweller, a solid fuel appliance
is king.

But you could at least get a battery powered clock with a date indication,
the question you supplied the answer
to was asked nearly 17 years ago.

They may just have used it in the meantime and worked things out for
themselves.

GH

Only 2002 eh, almost up to date by recent old thread standards.
Brian

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wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 4:02:47 PM UTC+1, gill wrote:
We are about to move to a house which has an Aga. (House is empty at
present, Aga turned off, no instructions!)

Does anyone know what fuel it uses - I think some sort of anthracite but
are
there different types?

Also the books I have read say solid fuel Agas should be serviced once a
year by a specialist - my husband says this is a waste of money as there
is
nothing to go wrong, it will just need a bit of cleaning - is he right?

TIA

Gill

Wow, there's a lot of ignorance around when it comes to AgA and Rayburn
cookers/appliances, especially when the "conversation" turns to fuel. Fact:
an AgA was primarily designed to cook, and as a secondary consideration, it
will heat some hot water through a back-boiler, but this will negatively
impact on its performance as a cooker as some of the heat is 'diverted' to
heating that water. Fact: an AgA has round hotplate lids, a Rayburn will
have either two rectangular/square ones, or if older and smaller, perhaps
just the one which may cover all or only part of the hotplate. In fact, some
early Rayburns havee no hotplate cover at all. Fact: THE ONLY SOLID FUEL you
should use for an old solid fuel burning AgA is anthracite - NOTHING else.
Fact: you can burn wood, coal and various of the coal 'family' solid fuels
in a Rayburn; not so in an AgA. Fact: a Rayburn is quite easy to get going
again if it's gone out. Fact: a solid fuel AgA is quite difficult to get
alight again once everything (in particular the flue) has cooled down/gone
out. Fact: there is very little to service on an old solid fuel AgA, but
obviously depending on its previous care, it may need some help. Ours had
been rusting away in a corner for 10 years and needed new insulation, a new
flue-box, new flue, rope around the hotplates, a new castings indicator (a
bit like a temperature gauge that tells you the stored heat in the AgA's
castings) and new sides as they're only made from mild steel that's then
painted in the factory, rather than the heavy cast iron of the rest of the
AgA. The reason there's so little to do is there are no moving parts in
essence and though it's a beautiful piece of engineering, its beauty is
partly its simplicity. Fact: a solid fuel AgA needs riddling and emptying
once a day and filling twice a day - morning and evening, basically, but if
you're going to be away one night and a day to a day and a half, filling it
up to he gunnels will normally mean you come back to find it is still
going - depending on the weather (wind etc, mainly). Fact: you absolutely do
NOT need another cooker unless you're someone with zero patience, little
common sense and a large family, perhaps. We have both a solid fuel AgA (in
the kitchen and refurbished by selves) and a solid fuel Rayburn in a
workshop. They are both utterly amazing things to have around and cannot be
equalled, but are probably best if you are either at home or working from
home a lot of the time. Having said that, the morning and evening routine
does fit perfectly well with a working day. A solid fuel AgA is no dirtier
than an oil-fired Rayburn; we've experienced both. Oil does not burn
cleanly, therefore it's not the be all and end all. Yes, you need somewhere
to store anthracite; yes you have to lug it around, but the best course of
action when it comes to cooking, heating and hot water is to diversify
anyway. Never put all your eggs in one basket. The all-electric house is no
fun in a power cut and if your CH is a gas (boiler) powered wet radiators
system you're also stuck during a power loss as the pump circulating the
water to the rads will not work during a power cut. When you're slightly
"off-grid" or a rural-dweller, a solid fuel appliance is king.

Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

Thanks!

On 03/03/2020 11:54, wrote:
Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

You mean you cannot fill it up with coke?
Been some time since I used one, is this the sort you fill by removing a
metal plug in a hot plate?

extra cooling on the plug might help: ice maybe or freeze spray if you
have some?

It may be possible to remove the whole hotplate and knock the plug out
from the back too


Thanks!



--
Gun Control: The law that ensures that only criminals have guns.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 03/03/2020 11:54, wrote:
Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

You mean you cannot fill it up with coke?
Been some time since I used one, is this the sort you fill by removing a
metal plug in a hot plate?

extra cooling on the plug might help: ice maybe or freeze spray if you
have some?

It may be possible to remove the whole hotplate and knock the plug out
from the back too


Thanks!




I suspect he has tacked on a lazurus thread about a solid fuel Aga but
really has an oil fuelled version
and CNBA to amend the header.

GH

On 03/03/2020 13:15, Marland wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 03/03/2020 11:54, wrote:
Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

You mean you cannot fill it up with coke?
Been some time since I used one, is this the sort you fill by removing a
metal plug in a hot plate?

extra cooling on the plug might help: ice maybe or freeze spray if you
have some?

It may be possible to remove the whole hotplate and knock the plug out
from the back too


Thanks!




I suspect he has tacked on a lazurus thread about a solid fuel Aga but
really has an oil fuelled version
and CNBA to amend the header.

Oil agas do not have 'fuel plugs'


GH



--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.

wrote in message
...

Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

Thanks!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My parents had a solid fuel Aga, and ISTR that they would occasionally have
the same problem, typically after the fire had gone out when we had been
away on holiday.

My mother had a gas poker which she used to light the fire, and simply
placing the lit gas poker in the grate via the ash box (sorry I can't
remember the exact name of it) and leaving it to warm up the hotplate - the
access plug would then come out quite easily.

I also remember that my mother would turn the fuel plug upside down while
the fire was being relit - but I can't remember why.

Hope this helps

wrote:
Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

Thanks!


Whack it with a hammer. Works for our stopcock covers in the street. ;-)

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 03/03/2020 18:37, Tim+ wrote:
wrote:
Hello,

Any one have any tips for unjamming a stuck fuel plug? The Aga is out.

Thanks!

Lift out the whole fire drum and knock it out from inside.

Mike