New door gasket makes a big difference!!

[ckarotka]

I finally got around to replacing the door gasket on my NC-13 today. The reason I replaced it was I had re-occurring build up in the same shape and location on the glass, burn after burn, and they were hot fires 600*. My old original gasket felt hard and was very matted down with little to no squish to it. Since the stove was bought new in Jan of 2010 I though this was normal. Even fresh out the crate it never burned this good.

I was wrong. Before I would have to hit 600-650 to get the light show from the secondaries, well not any more. 550 and I've got great entertainment. It is acting like a totally different stove, better flame pattern and even more control. I thought it burnt good two days ago, now it burns even better.

The old gasket must have been leaking so bad to starve the pull from the secondaries until the whole load was burning well. I admit I never did the $1 test, the dirty, patterned glass was enough for me to change it out for less than $20. Total job was less than an hour and then let the cement set up for 2 hours before heating according to instructions on the Rutland tube.

Very pleased with my cheap fix/upgrade, maintenance. I have to wonder how the gasket got to be this way considering it was purchased new? Did it sit on the shelf to long at Lowes? The stoves a tad hot to crawl behind to look for the production date right now too.

Charlie

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Great that you got that fixed Charlie. Now you can really enjoy it.

 

[VCBurner]

Thanks for the thread Charlie. I too have a small bit of stainning on the glass and unless I tighten the door really tight it always happens. I did the paper test last year and it showed it needed a little tightenning. The cloudiness went away after that. Fast foreward to this year's season, now I wonder if a new gasket or even a bigger gasket may work better.

 

[ckarotka]

Thanks for the thread Charlie. I too have a small bit of stainning on the glass and unless I tighten the door really tight it always happens. I did the paper test last year and it showed it needed a little tightenning. The cloudiness went away after that. Fast foreward to this year's season, now I wonder if a new gasket or even a bigger gasket may work better.

VC,

Not sure if I would go bigger. I was very surprised at the difference between new and old in the same size. I don't have to really tighten the door anymore to get a good seal. I can feel the "squish" and know it's shut without really pushing hard.

IMHO for how easy and cheap it was, I wouldn't hesitate if you think it would help your burning quality. 48 hours ago the load I have going now, at this stage of burn, would have made some stains on the glass in the corners by now, even after a fresh cleaning from a cold start. Not today ma-man, not today.

 

[pen]

I bet this happens to many people on here a lot more often than we realize.

Good work and glad to hear of the results.

pen

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Yeah I am wondering about a gasket, but mine is also only a year old. I have one section that is hard, the rest feels good. Have to pick one up one of these days. I wonder how often do people change the gasket on average?

 

[ckarotka]

Yeah I am wondering about a gasket, but mine is also only a year old. I have one section that is hard, the rest feels good. Have to pick one up one of these days. I wonder how often do people change the gasket on average?

I wonder how often also. Quick update. I still get some tarnished areas in those trouble spot locations as before but this time they aren't black anymore. They are just a brown haze. I think the biggest improvement for me was a balanced fire E/W instead of one side burning and the other not.