Hey guys, I was hoping you could answer how easy or hard should a dollar bill slide out of the door for this dollar bill test. I replaced my gasket last year before the heating season. I have a regency i 2400 medium insert. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Dollar bill test question on door gasket
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Hello
I did a dollar bill test on an Enviro Meridium which is the same as the Regency GF-55
You should not be able to pull the dollar out of the door gasket.
However even though I said it fails on the ash pan which it DOES FAIL.
Because the latch is not so strong, the stove will work fine if the bill comes out with a good tug.
See my video
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
thechimneysweep
Minister of Fire
The long answer depends on which type of gasket your manufacturer uses. Traditional white fiberglass rope gasket (particularly the low-density stuff) is pretty porous, and relies upon compression to make a good seal. It should take a pretty good tug to pull a dollar bill out of a door that's properly sealed with traditional gasket.
In recent years, some manufacturers have upgraded to graphite impregnated gasket, like the gasket that came with Hog's and begreen's PE models: the graphite powder fills the airspaces in the weave, which allows a good seal to be achieved without as much compression. When testing a door sealed with graphite gasket, a little resistance to a tug on the bill is all that's required.
So, how do you tell the difference? If your gasket is white, it is the traditional kind; graphite turns the gasket black. However, all black gaskets aren't graphite impregnated: traditional gasket is available dyed black. To determine which kind you have, look at the gasket supplied by the manufacturer: if it has a paper strip on one side that peels off to reveal a smooth, tacky surface, it is graphite impregnated. The smooth surface prevents the graphite from interfering with good gasket cement adhesion.
In recent years, some manufacturers have upgraded to graphite impregnated gasket, like the gasket that came with Hog's and begreen's PE models: the graphite powder fills the airspaces in the weave, which allows a good seal to be achieved without as much compression. When testing a door sealed with graphite gasket, a little resistance to a tug on the bill is all that's required.
So, how do you tell the difference? If your gasket is white, it is the traditional kind; graphite turns the gasket black. However, all black gaskets aren't graphite impregnated: traditional gasket is available dyed black. To determine which kind you have, look at the gasket supplied by the manufacturer: if it has a paper strip on one side that peels off to reveal a smooth, tacky surface, it is graphite impregnated. The smooth surface prevents the graphite from interfering with good gasket cement adhesion.
Good info Tom, I wondered why they used graphite in gaskets.
Another variable is how the seal is made. Some stoves have a mating rim on the face of the stove that acts like an edge to depress the gasket. The dollar bill needs to be pulled through this in an S shaped fashion and can offer good resistance. Other stoves just depress the gasket against the smooth flat face of the stove. The dollar bill is pulled out flat with less resistance than the knife edge seal.
Another variable is how the seal is made. Some stoves have a mating rim on the face of the stove that acts like an edge to depress the gasket. The dollar bill needs to be pulled through this in an S shaped fashion and can offer good resistance. Other stoves just depress the gasket against the smooth flat face of the stove. The dollar bill is pulled out flat with less resistance than the knife edge seal.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
So you replaced the gasket last year and think you may have to again? That would be odd. I've read about others replacing gaskets really often but not yearly. Our last stove had the gasket replaced one time. I think it was between 15-20 years before we replaced it. Present stove will be going into the 6th burning year this fall. Still the same gasket.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I just changed the door gaskets on my 1993 Jotul this summer. I believe the gaksets I removed were the originals, and they were actually working just fine, but the cement holding them on was just about completely shot.
i replaced my gasket last year. I didnt replace it for 5 or 6 years prior. Im not saying it needs replacing.
The graphite also keeps the gasket from sticking to the paint on the stove in shipping and storage. A biggie to watch out for is low vs. high density gasket rope. The Englanders use high density and if you buy the stuff at the hardware store it ain't gonna seal. Experience speaking here. From watching the door handle spin like a propeller and dollar bills falling out. Good thing about the high density is that it should last a really long time.
I consider that if the bill is held firmly and doesn't slide out easily, the gasket is fine.
I consider that if the bill is held firmly and doesn't slide out easily, the gasket is fine.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
McMaster-Carr sells both, but unfortunately, my Jotul manual only calls out size, and doesn't tell you which type of gasket to use. I bought the high density stuff to reinstall the rear burn plate after replacing the cat chamber, and had a hell of a time getting the rear burn plate reinstalled to where the bypass damper cam worked right. I guess Jotul must've used the low density stuff for that location.
thechimneysweep
Minister of Fire
Treacherous
Minister of Fire
Would leaving the stove door unlatched during the off season offer any appreciable increase in gasket longevity due to the lack of compression?
Ashful
Minister of Fire
My experience is that dealers are useless on all questions pertaining to stoves older than the current model. I ask them about my Jotul F12, and just get a blank stare. The owner of the local Jotul dealer tried convincing me the Firelight 12 is a pre-catalytic stove!
Depends on the dealer. We have a few great dealers out here that have been around since the 70's. They know their stuff. Tom being one of them.
Burnmeister
Member
Reviving an old thread here..
Between myself and a stove tech, my side load door gasket on my Jotul Oslo has been changed 4 times in about a moth in a half. It keeps failing the bill test, and Im getting pretty fed up.
Areas of the door are tight, but along the top the bill comes out, but not without resistance. I do have have to pull on it with varying degrees of pressure, but it does come out.
Between myself and a stove tech, my side load door gasket on my Jotul Oslo has been changed 4 times in about a moth in a half. It keeps failing the bill test, and Im getting pretty fed up.
Areas of the door are tight, but along the top the bill comes out, but not without resistance. I do have have to pull on it with varying degrees of pressure, but it does come out.
Whoa, this is an oldie. Varying resistance is normal. The gasket gets squeezed a little harder in some areas than others. If there is some resistance then the gasket is fine. Why the frequent gasket changes?
Burnmeister
Member
This coincides with the other post I was writing on of an uncontrolable fire and the tech put the wrong size gasket on the ash pan door.
I did the ash pan door myself last night and just bill tested all the doors again before I light the stove later.
Burnmeister
Member
We'll see. After the last bunch of overfires, my confidence on running the stove is a little shot.
The stove never went over 800°, but when the air is shut and watching stove temp keep climbing is nerve wracking to say the least.
The stove never went over 800°, but when the air is shut and watching stove temp keep climbing is nerve wracking to say the least.
If it has stayed below 800F it most likely has not overfired yet. Now that the gaskets are in good order, try loading larger splits, tightly packed and turning down the air as soon as possible without completely squelching the flame and smoldering.
KindredSpiritzz
Minister of Fire
Im going too have to delve into this gasket changing business pretty soon to i think. Lately i notice then i tamp my air way down i get a nice secondary flame up and down the edge of the door by the latch. Im assuming thats not good, latches pretty loose too but still seems to run fine. Not looking forward to trying to change that out. If its to snug or loose what do you do, theres no adjustment is there? Guess i'll find out.
Reading over this old thread I have found some more info that somewhat contradicts earlier posts. When I did a gasket change on our PE I learned more than I wanted to about gaskets. It took 3 changes to get it right. Color is not always a good guide and all gaskets are not manufactured equally. One big variant is the gasket density. There are low, medium and high density variants in most colors of gaskets. Another variant is how the gasket is hardness. Meeco makes a gold gasket that is very firm. This was the second gasket I tried. In spite of a good fit and easy passing of the dollar bill test the gasket did a poor job of sealing, leaving me again with a hard to control stove. It was only when I got the OEM gasket that I had success and normal operation. When in doubt, go for the OEM.
Having scraps of several different gaskets (I had also just regasketed a Lopi) I had the opportunity to closely examine each variant. It was then that I noticed that the OEM PE gasket was not just graphite impregnated, but it was also constructed with an inner rope gasket within the outer rope gasket. This creates a soft, yet dense seal that works perfectly for our stove. This is important for our Alderlea because unlike the Summit knife edge seal, our stove is a flat-face seal. I then looked at the Lopi OEM white gasket and found it to be of similar construction, though maybe slightly firmer. When compared to stock graphited gasket from Rutland this difference is quite apparent. Moral of the story is that all gaskets are not made equally. When in doubt get the OEM.
Having scraps of several different gaskets (I had also just regasketed a Lopi) I had the opportunity to closely examine each variant. It was then that I noticed that the OEM PE gasket was not just graphite impregnated, but it was also constructed with an inner rope gasket within the outer rope gasket. This creates a soft, yet dense seal that works perfectly for our stove. This is important for our Alderlea because unlike the Summit knife edge seal, our stove is a flat-face seal. I then looked at the Lopi OEM white gasket and found it to be of similar construction, though maybe slightly firmer. When compared to stock graphited gasket from Rutland this difference is quite apparent. Moral of the story is that all gaskets are not made equally. When in doubt get the OEM.
KindredSpiritzz
Minister of Fire
It's the Drolet Austral. It has a roller on a pin kind of latch, there is an adjustment on the treads of the latch mechanism but it seems its either to tight or to loose as you can only adjust it one spin of the handle. Gasket looks in great shape, just pressed down and compacted over the 5 yrs i have had the stove. After reading this thread i'll make sure i get an OEM replacement gasket when i do it.
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