Review of Franco Belge Monaco stove
Design issue with baffle plate
We bought our fantastic looking Franco Belge Monaco stove in Feb 2009
We initiate the fire with kindling and "Homefire Ovals" - a smokeless fuel, then once the fire is going we switch to burning dry logs, no more than 2 at a time, we follow the guidelines in the user manual. We are now using our third baffle plate, we replaced the others due to warping. There is a design flaw in the baffle; the end lugs are heavy and weigh down the baffle plate, so that when heated the centre begins to warp, reducing the size of the air gap to the flue. We have been told that this part has warped because we burn too much fuel, and so the stove is running too hot. This is rubbish, if we burned the stove too hot then the ceramic glass would crackle; look like crackle glazed glass (this has not happened) I have seen this happen on other peoples stoves! Franco Belge have not offered to replace the baffle at their expense, and thisn is a shame as a design change would eliminate this. So in summary we have a fabulous looking stove that requires a new baffle plate every few years due to a design flaw that could be quick to fix, very disappointing.Stove expert replied: Stoves can be operated above their optimum working temperature and this would cause a smokey discolouration of the glass and not a crazing affect, crazing is caused when the stove is shut down for pro-longed periods and the flue gases attack the surface of the glass as they are staying in the firebox longer than recommended.