Cracked Front Plate On Englander 30NC

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BIGChrisNH

Minister of Fire
Dec 16, 2015
647
New Hampshire
I noticed some cracks around the front door on my Englander NC30 recently. They are right at the top edges where the air wash plate ends on the interior of the stove. Not sure how to handle this. I'm not a welder, but perhaps they could be welded? if anyone else has run into a similar problem with an Englander I'd love to know how you handled it. The stove is about 5 years old at this point.
 
Can you share a picture? That would help a lot.
 
Trying to upload images from my iPhone but this website hates them. I'll give it a try later.
 
[Hearth.com] Cracked Front Plate On Englander 30NC [Hearth.com] Cracked Front Plate On Englander 30NC
 
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That blows. Hope I don't see that on mine in a few years. I would say yes, it can be welded. Might be able to stop the cracks from getting worse by drilling a hole at the ends of the cracks, but that will not help more air getting in unless it's inside the gasket line.
 
That blows. Hope I don't see that on mine in a few years. I would say yes, it can be welded. Might be able to stop the cracks from getting worse by drilling a hole at the ends of the cracks, but that will not help more air getting in unless it's inside the gasket line.
It is inside the gasket line by a decent amount. I guess I'll try drilling a small hole, then think about how to go about welding. I was hoping to get more than 5 years out of the stove.
 
Did it get badly overfired? The NC30 is known as a true tank of a stove that is nearly indestructible...
 
Did it get badly overfired? The NC30 is known as a true tank of a stove that is nearly indestructible...
Not that I'm aware of, I suppose it's possible, but I'm pretty conscientious about cutting the air back when it gets rolling. I'm surprised it cracked like that.
 
It is inside the gasket line by a decent amount. I guess I'll try drilling a small hole, then think about how to go about welding. I was hoping to get more than 5 years out of the stove.
That's what I would do. It's not a common failure with this stove, but it looks repairable.
 
I have the same crack on the hinge side only so far. Just noticed this year. Mine is still well inside the gasket so I’m not concerned.

I’ve never overfired the nc30 but I aim to run it hot as much as possible.
 
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Alright, thank you. I appreciate the comments.
Here’s my crack.

I’m even less worried about it now that I’ve poked around inside the stove. The crack will run into that vertical corner weldment (primary air riser)before running past the gasket. I would guess it is very unlikely to keep going after the significant barrier.

[Hearth.com] Cracked Front Plate On Englander 30NC
 
Here’s my crack.

I’m even less worried about it now that I’ve poked around inside the stove. The crack will run into that vertical corner weldment (primary air riser)before running past the gasket. I would guess it is very unlikely to keep going after the significant barrier.

View attachment 292085
Thank you good to see someone else with the same issue. I'll still try drilling the ends out with a small drill bit to be sure to stop it. It's been a great stove I was just surprised to see the track. Yours is in the exact same location.
 
Be sure not to drill into that weldment in the corner. Stay inboard of that weld.
 
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