hearthstone gasket replacement question

Hoping there's some knowledgeable (or even just sympathetic at this point) person still kickin' around the forum tonight.

Boiler is dead in the water, RIP, sad story of its demise last Thursday recounted elsewhere here, won't bore you again w/details; gasket on Hearthstone failed; Tonight Clear. Patchy ice fog. Lows 30 to 40 below...except 10 to 20 below on the hills. Light winds...except east winds 10 to 15 mph on the hills.

I opened the stove door this a.m., encountered some resistance, thought it was the hinges, then realized the stove gasket was stuck to the doorframe assembly that bolts to body of stove along the bottom. An inch or so stuck, about six inches pulled out. I tucked it back in, and tested it with a stick of incense--didn't see it drawing air, so built a fire and left for work.

How I got lucky: stopped at stove store on way home from work over the whiney complaints of DS who just wanted to go home (so did I) and yadda. Got some RUtland Gasketing Cement and advice, which was that it was probably fine unless it frayed, looked compromised, etc., and after a little discussion, "just in case", got a spare gasket because you never know when you might need it.

Came home, house was at 60 (stove has been holding it at 65 during the day) and the stove was cold. Opened door, and gasket flopped out sadly along the bottom; closer exam showed corners frayed and the gasket looking compromised. Checked out firebox--nothing looks overfired, but I don't know how to tell. Examined outside of box, nothing seems cracked, etc. A little discoloration on the stone underneath where the gasket came out this a.m.

So. Found a wire brush wheel in my toolbox (lucky again) and cleaned up the gasket channel. Instruction manual says to take stove door off hinges and lay it flat for this. Logic says that's the best way. I can't get it to budge--tried it in several degrees of open, even tapped very judiciously w/a mallet. It's not moving.

My questions:

Can I replace the gasket w/o taking the stove off the hinges?

I tried some of the gasket cement on a vertical application, and it's pretty runny. Is it better to put it on the gasket?

How long do I need to wait before I can build a fire in the stove?

Is the universe trying to tell me something?

I"m going outside now to pull some wood up the hill from the pile, because it's something constructive I can do, and it will seem really warm in here when I get back in, and then I'll check to see if any of you have any ideas you felt like sharing.

Thanks for reading this.

ETA: okay, rethought the woodpile trips--baby, it's cold outside--and I don't want a chill if I can't have a fire.

Two more questions: How can I tell if this stove was overfired?

Is the process of taking the ceremic baffle out of the ceiling of this stove (and putting it back after) relatively easy to do w/o cracking fragile baffle? I want to take it down to inspect the stove, but don't want to wish I hadn't.

Thanks again.

And another question: Stove Store Guy sold gasket material by figuring out which I needed and cutting it to length. It's several inches longer than the one that came out (76 to 66"); manual identifies need for 67". I'm not sure whether to cut it shorter or stuff it in there. It didn't want to shut when I first tried it--felt like I would have had to force the door shut--but I see an arrangment of door-to-frame that's kind of a knife-edge profile that fits into gasket. Will this force it in?

Looked over stove carefully, no visual damage.

Tonight's going to be a long night, I suspect.

gyrfalcon said:

Sorry to hear of your troubles, and I don't want to add to your stress, but be careful about replacing the gasket. You don't say what model of Hearthstone Heritageyou have, but I came to serious grief replacing the gasket on mine. DO NOT stuff the gasket material in there. Stretch it out and test it by trying to close the door. I followed the instructions of the dealer and the manufacturer in replacing mine, even had the installer/chimney sweep do it for me to be sure it was done right, and it ended up requiring terrific force to close the door on it. Long story short, not only did the latch break from the pressure, but the cast iron "catch" on the frame wore away and cannot be fixed. I still don't understand why this happened, frankly, but the stove was out of warranty by the time this happened, so I now have to wedge the door closed with my ash can. This works OK, but obviously far from ideal.

Thank you for your kind words, for taking the time to post, and for sharing your experience. I didn't have time last night to reply--hit the ground running when I read this--but it was truly helpful. Please accept my condolences for the damage to your stove--I can imagine how disappointing that must have been. Have you spoken to a good welder about this?


So just be very, very careful when you're replacing the gasket and be absolutely sure you have the right thickness for your stove.

I wonder if it wouldn't make more sense to just reglue the stuff you've got in there already that's coming loose.

Tried that already, and I couldn't get it to fit. Plus it was pretty badly compromised.

Even with a door leak, unlikely you've overfired your stove (hard to do with a Hearthstone because the soapstone sucks up so much heat) unless you stuffed it with super-hot pallet wood or kiln-dried kindling and left the primary air wide open.
Nope to both.

If I were you, I'd take it a bit easy and live with a colder house until the weekend when you can literally spend a day sitting by the stove and seeing how it behaves (You do have a stovetop thermo, yes?) yes so you can tell whether you're in danger of overfiring or not.

I'm not sure what you have in mind by living with a colder house, but I don't think `let the plumbing freeze' is what you have in mind. And that would be the outcome without this stove being up and working. I am trying to put that in the same bowl with `take it easy' an stir it up, but I can't get the lumps out.

Yes, you can replace the gasket without taking the door off, but it's much, much harder to do. Did you lift the door a bit on its hinges? I can't think of any reason why the hinge bolts would get stuck. Certainly there's no rust there unless you've been pouring water over them! But you do have to relieve the pressure of the weight by lifting the door a bit in order for it to come out of the hinges (just like a house door).
Thanks, this was helpful. It turns out that the bottom pin was larger than the top, didn't slide out easily, but it did slide out once I was sure that this is the design.

No, you don't need to wait after replacing the gasket before firing up the stove. The cement won't even harden until you do, most likely. Yes, works better to put the cement in the door grove rather than on the gasket material.

You're right, much more easily done on the horizontal.

Why do you want to take the baffle out?

Just wanted to do a visual check for damage if it was easily done. It wasn't, so I didn't.

Yes, the universe is trying to tell you you're WAY too anxious. Calm down. Have some decaf. Odds are overwhelming that everything is fine.

Your words were kind, and your advice was more helpful than the decaf would have been (don't do coffee). I'd guess you're not a professional gambler. If I may point this out, and still communicate how much I appreciate your posting: your stove is not fine. I just lost my boiler last week, a huge hit. I would have a really tough time of it if my stove latch ends up like yours. This is me being calm.
Stove guy did the right thing and cut you a few inches extra gasket just in case. DO NOT try to stuff it all in. You won't be able to anyway, and it would make the gasket way too thick (see above).
Very helpful, thanks.
If you really are too stressed about dealing with this, call your dealer or chimney sweep/installer for help. He/she can also reassure you that you didn't dangerously overfire the stove.
He was asleep.
If it were me, I'd reglue the gasket you already have, then do a "dollar bill" test on the door to see if it's reasonably tight, before replacing the gasket.

Be calm. Take a deep breath. It's actually quite hard to damage a stove. You and it will be fine. Just do be careful with replacing the damn gasket material.

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I had searched this topic before I posted, and saw your posts on this topic. Wondered how that had worked out for you, and am genuinely grateful for your reply. It's supposed to warm up some--to lows of -20 to - 35. This isn't just about ambiance and comfort for me. It's what's keeping out there from being in here. Thus the heightened sense of awareness, if you will. Best to you, and thank you again for your support and information.

soupy1957 said:

Here's a video that I found some time ago..........perhaps it will be helpful??????

-Soupy1957

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THanks, Soupy. I took a look at this video.

The part I'm having trouble with is that the gasketing material is simply to large to allow me to easily close the stove again after I've put it in. I've stretched it out as far as I can, and at least it shuts, but not easily. I went ahead and used what I had so that I could have a fire, and will replace it today with something that fits better. Using the other stove door until this problem is resolved.

Thank you, gentlemen, for your replies. I feel like I've been through Gaskets 101 at this point. I was able to get the gasket stretched out enough to close the door. Had to lever down the handle more than I would have liked, but not as bad as at first go-round. It was 2 a.m. by the time I'd fixed it, cleaned up my project mess, got a fire going and watched it until I felt safe to go to sleep (then up at five to check the fire--talk about running on empty). Ironic, I'd gone home tired and was looking forward to a peaceable evening in front of a warm stove, not a frazzled one with the temperature dropping. Best laid plans and all. I was pretty fraught, so I thank you for your kindness. It turns out, in fact, that everything did turn out just fine.

Called the stove store the next day and was told that the tight fit at first is typical--that the stove that I received had its door ut for months (years in my case) and that's why it was crushed down enough to open and close easily. And he was right--it did open and close more easily that evening. More importantly, the following morning (this morning) I got up and went downstairs to a warm room and found a warm stove with enough coals to start the fire. Felt like I'd made it when I got to that point. I would describe it as a success now--stove door shuts as easily as it did before. Wanted to follow up in the even that someone else is

gryfalcon, thanks for sharing your experience. It can be uncomfortable bringing up something that has gone down like that--so I really appreciate your sharing your experience and saving me from the same.

Have you talked to a welder about a repair? Do you still have the part that broke off? I've seen welders do some pretty amazing things,

Have you tried contacting Hearthstone about this? I've heard of situations where they honored a repair even past warranty, and in this case, since you acted on their advice, so they may feel some responsibility. At the least, they might give you break on the price of a replacement piece, or credit the cost of repairs towards that new, larger stove you were talking about. and you are eloquent and able to state your case persuasively. Might be a `catch more flies with honey' situation, but I would think that they above all would understand how disappointed an owner would be to see it go down. Might be a `catch more flies with honey' situation, but I would think that they above all would understand how disappointed an owner would be to see it go down. I'd take it to the top, though, not to a middleman. Someone with the `the buck stops here' sign on the desk, who is proud of the company. I'd like to see a happy ending on this one.

Hi Dan,

I'm in Interior AK. It's warmed up to -20 at my house, and I'm grateful that it's not colder right now. I think I'll take Dave's professional advice and keep a propriatary spare gasket kit on hand, along with the high-temp silicone mentioned on gyrfalcon's gasket thread (said to be much easier to remove than gasket cement if I have to change out again). I've learned a lot here, too, and that's why I'm trying to summarize and notate everything I've learned from all the various sources, so that the next time someone comes looking for info on this, it'll be useful to them as well.

I know it didn't need to take me anywhere near as long as it did to do this project, mostly just the learning curve. Now I know how to swap a gasket, where the challenges are, and how to get my door off (and back on). Living and learning.