A couple of years ago I purchased my late grandfolks' place from my dad and aunt. While the house has had many different heating sources over the years, I only remember a 10,000 BTU space heater and the Hearthstone II that has been the centerpiece of the living room since about the time I was born.
It's been clear from the gitgo that the wood burner needed some work, but I only replaced gaskets a few times. In the last few weeks, though, it had finally gotten to a point where I was burning too much wood due to the baffle plate having collapsed. I ordered a new plate.
The old hardware was shot. I broke both baffle support bolts removing the bottom nuts, so that was game over in terms of proceeding with just a rip and replace of the baffle. (The side and rear pieces need replaced, too, but those can wait until spring. I had just run out of patience for being unable to govern burn speed and sending so much heat up the stack and so decided to replace the baffle plate.)
Presently, I have most of the top of the stove off, including the stones and flue plate. I have the new hardware and baffle plate installed and will replace the other cast pieces tomorrow morning after I make a third trip to the hardware store for the correct length bolts.
I have chiseled off nearly all of the old cement from the top of the chassis and top soapstones. The hot-sides of the stones were black with oil and soot and grease; I cleaned them as best as I could with dish soap, rinsed them well. They're now in the oven at 170 overnight to dry and suck most of the moisture out of them, hopefully this will make the break-in period go a little easier on everything.
I'll post my progress, but first, I have several questions.
It's been clear from the gitgo that the wood burner needed some work, but I only replaced gaskets a few times. In the last few weeks, though, it had finally gotten to a point where I was burning too much wood due to the baffle plate having collapsed. I ordered a new plate.
The old hardware was shot. I broke both baffle support bolts removing the bottom nuts, so that was game over in terms of proceeding with just a rip and replace of the baffle. (The side and rear pieces need replaced, too, but those can wait until spring. I had just run out of patience for being unable to govern burn speed and sending so much heat up the stack and so decided to replace the baffle plate.)
Presently, I have most of the top of the stove off, including the stones and flue plate. I have the new hardware and baffle plate installed and will replace the other cast pieces tomorrow morning after I make a third trip to the hardware store for the correct length bolts.
I have chiseled off nearly all of the old cement from the top of the chassis and top soapstones. The hot-sides of the stones were black with oil and soot and grease; I cleaned them as best as I could with dish soap, rinsed them well. They're now in the oven at 170 overnight to dry and suck most of the moisture out of them, hopefully this will make the break-in period go a little easier on everything.
I'll post my progress, but first, I have several questions.
- Where I don't have replacement Hearthstone hardware, I'm using grade eight stuff as I hope it tolerates the heat better. I couldn't find grade eight 1/4-20X3" stove bolts, so those are just whatever Menards had on the shelf for the flue plate. Am I wasting a few bucks on the expensive hardware, or is it smart and do I need to go searching for grade eight stove bolts for the flue plate?
- Is there something else I should be doing to these stones to ensure good adhesion from the replacement cement? The dish soap didn't do much for their appearance, but they do feel less greasy.
- I imagine 2,000-degree cement is sufficient, or should I get the 3,000-degree stuff?
- What diameter rope gasket? How often do you replace it? This is my primary heat source. I had hoped I could get away with replacing the rope every other year. This is my third winter here now and I think all of the rope needs to be replaced annually, and I may need to do the side and ash door gaskets even more often than that.
- This thing has either been overfired or just used too long without an overhaul. All of the cast iron is shot, though the back and side plates can wait for spring. I read elsewhere a theory that chimney sweeping can lead to baffle damage as the sweep knocks all of the soot and creosote down on top of the baffle, where it burns as soon as the next fire goes. Should I be removing my stovepipe and sweeping into something (big garbage can) to prevent this? How often do I need to replace stove and chimney pipe, or have it inspected?
- What's a good temperature to run this thing at? I usually end up dialling into about 400-450, but I suppose this might change with the baffle replaced.
- How often do I need to sweep? It runs very nearly 24x7 from late fall to mid-spring, comfortable during the day, a big blast in the evening, and then stuffed and choked as much as possible to get through the overnight without having to rekindle. Today is the first time I've had the stovepipe off and been able to look up from the bottom; there's certainly build-up but I don't know what's acceptable. I'd rather avoid a chimney fire.
- There's no reason to empty the ashtray unless I'm doing a cold start or otherwise need to improve air intake, right? Sometimes I'm lucky to have good fuel that doesn't leave much ash, sometimes I'm burning junk (wood), but unless I'm doing a rekindle from dead I don't bother with the ashtray.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
