Fixing crack in cast iron

Replace the cast panel with a new one. Stove and gasket cement can be bought in chaulk tubes. Google vermont castings parts to find a source

Unless you know a welder, it's probably cheaper and better long term to replace it. It can be arc welded with a nickel rod, but that's still not always so successful. Most cast iron repairs are brazed, but the brazing has a fairly low melting point, and I suspect it'd be in danger of failing in an overfire. Any other cement style repair will fail, as the cast iron may continue to crack from expansion and contraction.

ur cast iron needs to be brazed with brass or bronze.... cast iron can not be welded it must be brazed

I have welded plenty of cast iron.
Grind a bevel on both sides of crack.
Leaving about a 1/8" land. PREHEAT the iron hot enough that you cant
leave your hand on it, weld with mig or stick welder. POSTHEAT the piece
so it dosent cool too fast. A good way if possible is burry the piece in sand,
to slow down the cooling process. Once the piece is able to be handled grind weld as necessary.
They make a series of crayons that melt at different temps. I know there is one for repairing cast iron.
Heat the piece until the crayon tip will melt if touched to the iron.
Its a tricky repair, but it can be done.
Brad

yeah, you can weld on it. I have not done it, but we just learned about it in welding class.

The problem, as I understand it is, cast iron is very brittle. The process of welding a joint puts a lot of stress on the metal around it, because the weld pulls the joint together. Cast iron is so brittle that this pulling together at the weld joint will cause splits elsewhere in the part.

I was told that when you weld on it, you have the peen the weld. This is in an effort to push the weld down into the joint which will relieve some stress on the surrounding metal.

Me personally. I would try to weld on it, but I'd have the money set aside to buy a new part in case I wrecked it while welding on it.

Russ

I can weld it with a TIG machine, I do it almost every day as we repair heads and manifolds. PM me and we'll talk.

94ranger55 said:

ur cast iron needs to be brazed with brass or bronze.... cast iron can not be welded it must be brazed

Click to expand...

not true, it can be welded. I have done it with a TIG as well. Grind it out, pre heat it and use a nickel based rod ( Inconel 82 works well) if you have a way to cool it down slowly that is even better

Like someone else said, if you braze it, the repair well fail overtime from the heat of your stove

There are shops that specialise in welding cast, check your local yellow pages

preheat cast iron to 400 deg. Weld with 55 % nickel rod. Cool slowly. Usually immerse part or cover in sand and wait,wait,wait. Contact local portable welding supply for compAny names of portable welders in area if needed.

I'm wondering how much a lid costs. Since it was free, it seems reasonable to just replace it and eliminate all possibility of failure, as long as it's not outrageously expensive. If a good shop you can trust can weld it for significantly less that seems alright, but if there's not a huge difference, I'd let them melt the old one down.

These folks are right cast is/has been welded daily by mig,tig and stick(even JB weld). Think engine blocks. I wouldn't be one bit afraid to have a competent welder repair it. It won't be as pretty but chances are you will be fine.

you should not run a cat encore w/o the cat. goes from one of the most efficent stoves .09 grams to a total dog 60 grams plus. heat transfer also drops