Franco Belge Monaco stove

We've had this stove since September 2009 and as instructed only burn seasoned dry wood on it. It is never used at full capacity and never overloaded. I found yesterday that when i opened the door the stove belched plumes of smoke out into the room and flames were coming out and licking around the top of the stove. I called the engineer that fitted it to see if the flue could already be blocked but he had never heard of this after only 5 months worth of use.
I then saw that the flue baffle was warped, stopping the fumes escaping up the chimney. I called the supplier having found the reviews on this site stating the same had happened to other stoves. I spoke to a woman who rudely and abruptly told me that I had overfired the appliance and used innappropriate fuel. I use dry seasoned wood from a stove firewood supplier. She refused to accept that there is a problem with the stove and told me she didn't like my tone of voice or the implication that these stoves are not fit for purpose. Thats it, no offer of help, assistance or further advice on how to avoid this happening again. Simple advice, don't buy from ACR Heatproducts in Birmingham. If your stove fails, it'll be your fault. You've been warned.

Update to review: ACR have e-mailed me to say that as a gesture of goodwill they will be sending a replacement baffle 'free of charge'. The reason i wanted to pass this on is because I thought it unfair to not give ACR credit for their change of heart.

V Good stove

This is a great Fire, looks great, air wash is good; heat out put is high but not east to control. BUT. . .

As with the previous 2 comments I have also had the flue baffle warp. The fire is only 1yr old. We only burn wood, (free from the local golf course) and have been accused by the manufacturer of over firing or using a non specified fuel, which I might add we didn’t as we have had fires before with no problems.

I am an engineer by trade and I deal with cast parts all the time.
I argued with dealer and supplier and eventually they supplied a new part at cost £15.

I am still a little unsure if this is the modified part that is discussed below, following up with ' This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '.

The replacement part is a solid plate and at the bottom there is a half moon extension bolted on. The bolts on this part also failed. They are too small and sub standard for its required job.

Also in my opinion flue baffle looks to be missing a vital 3rd cross rib in the center which allows the panel to warp in the 1st place.

As per Mixed Ratings statement - "think the manufacturer should have alerted all suppliers to ensure that the modification was made to the stoves before they were sold, instead of leaving it until users complained"

This is a great Stove. I love the large clear view of the fire.
The big glass gives you the large clear view of a modern contempory stove but with a more traditional frame. This stove will look great in almost any style of room or property.
Just like some of the other reviewers I did have some problem with the baffle, but was issued with the modified part and securing plates free of charge.
The biggest problem i had was of control, I couldn't shut the fire down to slumber. Dry timber would roar away even with both dampers fully closed and the glass would discolour around the area of the latch.
I have had the stove for 18 months now, and during the first winter I enjoyed using it but found that wood burned much quicker than I wanted. There are 6 holes in the vermiculite material at the back of the stove, three on each side, that can bee clearly seen through the glass. It was quite obvious that even when the dampers were fully closed the strong chimney draught was pulling air through these holes and feeding the fire. I also found that air leaked through the door seal next to the handle and this cased an area of dirt to form on the glass around the leak. One evening I opened the door and the door seal stuck to the stove as I opened the door the seal tore into three parts.
I visited the approved distributor / installer I had used and offered to come out to repair the seal however I accepted his offer to give me a length of new seal rope and fire glue to complete the repair myself.
Whilst I was repairing the door seal I made two other deliberate modifications and the Stove is now a joy to use.
1. I removed the fire bricks and using DIY Store bought fire cement. I blocked the holes in the back wall of the stove (I used some short bolts to plug the holes first so I could remove them if it was not an improvement) and re-fitted the firebricks
2. I used the fire cement to fill in the small gaps above and below where the door latch is bolted in in the surface where the door seal makes contact with the stove. I sanded this down when it was dry and painted with stove paint.
The new door seal rope was the same diameter as the original but of a more dense material and provided a tighter seal.
The result of this modification is a tremendous amount of control. Once the stove is lit and hot I can close down both dampers and hypnotic flames appear in pockets around the top of the stove light the northern lights, pale blue and translucent yellow flames move in slow motion off the logs.
The glass also stays much cleaner and only just discolours slightly at the very bottom after a day or so but it can be wiped off or burnt of by giving it air and burning the fire hotter.

The best feature of the modified stove is the long slumber properties of smokeless fuel pellets. I now use a re-formed smokeless coal and I can load the stove full of fuel, close both dampers fully and the stove will give off a consistent steady heat for up to 24 hours. I’ve even left it 32hours and still had enough glowing embers to re-light kindling without paper.
I use well seasoned Oak and Ash logs and each log will last between 1 to 2 hours, surprisingly the stove actually gives out just as much heat for longer now I can shut it right down than it did when it was pulling through more air. I love the smell of the Oak and Ash wood smoke if you open the door quickly and little wafts into the room.
Very pleased with this stove but the modifications have made it even better.

Slightly mixed feelings about the Monaco. Had the same problem as a previous reviewer, in that a cast iron supporting lug for the baffle sheared off, leaving the baffle lopsided and the fire unusable. Having said that, once I made the supplier aware and she pulled out all the stops to get the modified baffle and supports fitted. Since that was done the fire has been excellent. I only rated the "burning overnight" as a 3 because I haven't actually tried it yet, so don't really know about that element. I'm not convinced that the airwash works properly, despite burning very dry logs the glass still gets a bit tarred at the bottom. However, a damp kitchen towel dipped in a little bit of ash gets it off easily enough. Controllability is not great - the difference between fully open and fully closed at the top vent is very small, and so it's a bit hit and miss when trying to adjust it. This stove is great, but only if you get the modified part fitted. The trouble is that you only become aware of the problem when the baffle fails. I think the manufacturer should have alerted all suppliers to ensure that the modification was made to the stoves before they were sold, instead of leaving it until users complained.