We purchased a 1998 Gateway, by Champion, in May this year. It is on one acre. There is a fireplace, manufacturer is Marco. The company no longer exists!
There is a lever on the right side of the fireplace that we cannot quite figure out! We have found the damper lever, we think, on the top center. Anyone else have one of these?

That lever I think opens a path for air to be vented to the fire place from outside air. If you look outside the home a vent that looks like a dryer vent should be there. This is suppose to make your fire place more efficient by not taking warm air from the inside of your home up your chimney.

I didn't see any vent outside, maybe it is under the house? We are on a foundation, and do have a crawlspace. We tried using the "blower" WOW! is that LOUD!
Thanks,
Cathe

That very well could be your air control - the air would be drawn from outside (likely your crawl space). Try moving the lever from one side, let it sit 15 sec, then move to the other side. If the fire changes in intensity, that's your air control, to control the burn rate. When starting a fire, put the lever in the position that allows the most airflow.

I have a Marco Fireplace, maybe you can help me, I can't seem to find a damper switch.

Joe

The fresh air intake is under the home..straight down from the fireplace...Your crawlspace will have vents as well..to allow the free flow of air....

the vents where my blower is have cold air coming out when it's windy, could that extra lever control that?? I'll try it.
Cathe

the cold air is when fireplace is not going

Can someone please tell me where i can get an owners manual for a marco Fireplace? We just purchased this home in Aug. but it was built in 1997 and of course Marco is no longer in business. You'd think you could at least still find the owners manual for these things somewhere!!!!! Thanks

Go to this web site for instructions on technical assistance

[www.marcofireplace.com]

From this site..


"If you have a Marco fireplace and need Technical assistance
E-mail your request to: Tech@LennoxHP.com "

If you search Google for Marco Fireplaces there are hundreds of [possible places to buy parts and get information...

I am a service suspervisor for a manufactered home company. MH3203 is correct in his/her post The extra lever questioned in this and other posts on this forum are for the fresh air intake which helps with combustion and sould be in the open position while burning a fire, but can be closed when not is use to eliminate cold drafts. The opening for this intake is probably directly underneath through the belly of the home. Cathe: the blower motor that is too loud probably needs to be replaced. We do this occasionally in service and it can be done fairly easily. See Murray's post for good info on finding parts.

I tried to email Dianne to ask two additional questions but it didn't go through. So I hope she's checking this site.

1. I too have been trying to figure out the purpose of that little lever. So, since it is a 3 position lever, is open full up, middle, o full down?

2. We have been having problems with smoke backing up into our house. Could my not knowing how to use this lever be the cause of that?

Hi:

I bought a "Four Seasons" manufactured home in 1997. Our home has a MARCO Deluxe 36" fireplace with fans. The paperwork says it is a Model " BM36HCD Deluxe 36" heat Circulating with fans "

One of the fans is making noise, but I cant figure out how to get to it. Is there a way to open the grill on the front? Or do I have to cut a hole in the wall on the back side of the wall?

Thanks for any help you can give me, Gil

We have a 2000 Redman with a BM36HCD fireplace. It smoked real bad and I was told by a chimney guy that the chimney is too short. My seller wants to fix it but no one can find the chimney for it. Also do all of the Marco fireplaces have a cool air intake underneath?

All fireplaces for manufactured homes have the fresh air intake on the bottom...A smoking fireplace is usually caused by a too short chimney..When properly installed the chimney should be about 1 foot above the highest peak of the roof...Zero clearance fireplace chimneys should be available at your local manufactured home parts store or any store that sells fireplaces...Check the parts store on this web site..Have you read the post here from 12/22/05 it is 3 above this one...

My parents purchased a Shult Manufactured Home in 2003 that was a model home since 1999. They have a Marco Fireplace which they have never used because the very first winter and every winter since then, especially on windy days .....water leaks down the front of the fireplace !!! They have had the Shult peole and the fixer people where they live come out 7 times and do things like caulk the chimney , add more caulk, add roofing shingles, etc. BUT nothing works. I moved here frecently and got involved. The booklet on the fireplace itself had been in the fireplace when they moved in and they didn't inspect it before they bought the place BUT the booklet noticabley had been wet and dried several times (since 1999 I suspect). They do not know where to turn next. I read that there is supposed to be a part to block the air intake when not in use (no parts seen....a kit it said) What can we do ?? any body got any ideas ??? HELP ???? Like I said they have never been able to even think about getting the stuff they would need to make the fireplace work (gas or wood) bacause of this problem. And with all this leaking they wonder what other damage there is ?? Could it be an insulation problem in the chimney ?? Could it be they need this missing "kit" ??

It is hard to tell what is going wrong without seeing the problem. But apparently the roof is leaking around or inline with the fireplace stack.

It is possible that the leak is above the fireplace stack... in the direction of the peak... that a tiny leak is permitting water to enter and the water then is working its way down the inside of the roof (most of the time it will follow a rafter) 'till it gets to the fireplace stack where it hits the stack and drips down.

Your best bet is to bring in a local reputable roof contractor and let them asses and repair the problem. The longer you let this continue, depending on folks that have so far been unable to figure out what's going on, the worse the water damage will be.

Talk to the neighbors, check out the local phone directory, [www.angieslist.com] and local home service oriented web sites and get someone that understands roof systems on the problems ASAP

David Oxhandler
webmaster@mobilehome.com

does anyone know if the lever is supposed to be up or down to allow the air draft.

i have had trouble figuring that out also. it is the draw for air as our house is on a full basement and i can see where the intake is. i have found that when the lever is in the up position and the fireplace doors are closed the fire does intesify, so i would say that the up position is what you want to draw the air. whenever i light a fire i leave the doors closed to get it going. since our blower is noisy and it usually blows dust and ash out (no matter how much we shop vac it out) we usually just close the sreen and let the fire heat the room.

I recently bought a home with a Marco Fireplace and I'm hoping someone can help
with a question about the fans. I have power at the receptacle that feeds the fans and I checked the switch for continuity and everything is good but the fans will not come one. Do I have to have a fire going for the fans to work? I don't remember seeing a thermostat unless it is built into the motor. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Marco has gone out of business. There is no longer an active Marco website.  Listed below are a dealers offering replacement panels and parts for Marco fireplaces who would be best equipped to answer your question

The parts suppliers listed at

[hearth.com]

[www.fireplaceguys.com]

I too have had all the aforementioned problems and been on the hunt for answers as well. Thanks to all for their little bits; they answer some of my questions too. Here is what we have found out along the way.
1) Chimneys are all too short! Yes, one foot above ridgeline is the minimum. When doing this it does expose the "chimney" (insulated flue pipe) to an increase in wind exposure. One would have to use a strap kit to secure the pipe to the roof decking and use at least four screws per section (around the pipe sections) to hold it together. Most any fireplace supplier, gas company servicing logsets, or store selling this style of chimney should be able to order it if it is not in stock. We got ours from Tractor Supply Company.
2) The chimney must have a cap or spark arrestor. If you do not have one do not use the freplace. In the case of the insulated flue pipe design common to MH units it serves two functions. It stops sparks and more importantly keeps the rain out: both from the top and the side. If it is not down securely it will allow water into the inside of the pipe assembly and perhaps into the fireplace insert.
3) The "leak down the door" is typically not from the roof flashing seal but the insde air space of the flue pipe. If your flashing is good and the roofing sealer in tact see above (2). There are two rain caps on this system. The first is at the flashing, and the second is the spark arrestor. The stain on the glass is actually drywall dust from the top of the insert. That indicates that the pipe is leaking above the flashing at some point. It also indicates that the insert is not level. When examining mine we found it to be tipped to the room at almost 15 degrees. We were able to reduce it to 5 by removing the face, mantle and wall board. What we found was a large bow in the midddle of the unit where the pipe had actually made a depression. It also made it very hard to seal abve to to expansion and contraction. Not being able to get it at the level position it was designed to be; we imrovised. Using the available framing inside the wall we wired the outer surround to give it support where it had been previously crushed in and vacuumed the dust and removed the extra pices of drywall. After that step the "chimney" has stopped moving. Outside wind noises are also reduced and the leking has stopped. The years searching for these solution have left the doors unusable. Thanks to you all we now have a source for them.
In closing let me say that this has been no small job. It seems it would have been easier on a regular house, maybe not. The fireplace is working and the ceiling fans seem to distribute the heat reasonably well. My wife is pretty much done chasing this and i only have a few more things i would like to try; her patients not being one of them. If requested I can prvide assistance in explaining how these are put together and how they come apart. Warning; before you start: have a plan and a budget with clear expections. You will need the patients of your family, some strong friends and a couple professionals along the way. Major repair is a good time to look at it; new roof, major interior redo etc