I've been putting off cleaning the flue. My gut feeling was that it was ok. We only burned 2.5 cords last year and the wood was nice and dry. But today was quiet so I got out the Sooteater and got to work. I picked up some 3/8" stove gasket over the weekend to make a custom baffle gasket too.
All went well. I cleaned out the ash first. The firebrick is still in good shape. There's one cracked brick in the rear which I'll watch but it appears to be holding together for now. I know exactly it happened too. It was an oversize piece that I was trying to squeeze in on a hot bed of coals. Moral: Don't force or slam wood into the back of the firebox! The baffle is fine too. Looks like a simple cleaning.
I pulled out the baffle and brushed thoroughly. As suspected, I could have skipped this year. I got less than 6 ounces. I may skip sweeping next year.
Now on to the custom Hog Gasket™ . I've wanted to try making one for a few years now but still had leftover factory gaskets to use up. It was pretty straight-forward thanks to instructions left by Hogwildz. I flipped the baffle over and measured out the perimeter of the secondary inlet then added a couple inches on each end and cut the rope. Then I marked the perimeter length on the 3/8" gasket rope with a sharpie and proceeded to unbraid the rope to the marks. Then you just tie the two end strings in some knots, one at a time voila, a custom gasket. This should last quite a while.
gasket in place on the secondary tube
The old gal is ready for her 9th season. I was a little leary about getting a painted stove after having the beautifully finished blue-black Castine, but that was unwarranted. The cast pieces don't get hot enough to bake the paint dull. It still cleans up very nicely. It's too warm today to warrant a fire, but maybe tomorrow morning. I want to check out the new gasket.
All went well. I cleaned out the ash first. The firebrick is still in good shape. There's one cracked brick in the rear which I'll watch but it appears to be holding together for now. I know exactly it happened too. It was an oversize piece that I was trying to squeeze in on a hot bed of coals. Moral: Don't force or slam wood into the back of the firebox! The baffle is fine too. Looks like a simple cleaning.
I pulled out the baffle and brushed thoroughly. As suspected, I could have skipped this year. I got less than 6 ounces. I may skip sweeping next year.
Now on to the custom Hog Gasket™ . I've wanted to try making one for a few years now but still had leftover factory gaskets to use up. It was pretty straight-forward thanks to instructions left by Hogwildz. I flipped the baffle over and measured out the perimeter of the secondary inlet then added a couple inches on each end and cut the rope. Then I marked the perimeter length on the 3/8" gasket rope with a sharpie and proceeded to unbraid the rope to the marks. Then you just tie the two end strings in some knots, one at a time voila, a custom gasket. This should last quite a while.
gasket in place on the secondary tube
The old gal is ready for her 9th season. I was a little leary about getting a painted stove after having the beautifully finished blue-black Castine, but that was unwarranted. The cast pieces don't get hot enough to bake the paint dull. It still cleans up very nicely. It's too warm today to warrant a fire, but maybe tomorrow morning. I want to check out the new gasket.
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That could be used about anywhere, I guess. I could use that on the Buck ash pan gasket, where I can't afford to have any air leak into the stove. Last time, I cut the gasket, then worked a small amount of silicone into the ends to prevent unraveling.
I got more like 1.5 qts. on the external masonry chimney.
