rebuild firepot w/ epoxy putty?

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
I have an older Quadrafire 1000 pellet stove with a ceramic firepot. In the bottom of the firepot ( the upper side where the pellets drop in) was a dome shaped part that disintegrated over time. I'm not sure what the function of this dome is, I'm guessing so that not too many pellets fall into the hole where the ignitor is ( I don't know). Even though the dome is gone, the stove seems to be working fine.
Anyway I've looked into replacing the fire pot with the new cast iron ones, but they are 500.- (yikes) and I'm trying to find a cheaper alternative.
I have in the past used epoxy putty to rebuild all kinds of things and there is a putty called PC Fahrenheit for high heat.It's like play dough and I could easily mold the missing piece. I'm just not sure if the putty would hold up.It's rated up to 500 degrees F. I don't know how hot the firepot gets.
Has anybody here tried a repair like that? And if so, what product did you use?

 

[jdempsey]

I guess you could try it. Or below. Its resistant to over 2000 degrees. I think the main issue would be getting whatever you use to stick to the ceramic. Clean it good and i would rough it up and see what happens. If it does not hold at least you tried.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/chimne...reg-fireplace-mortar-gray-10-3-fl-oz--3198056

or

http://www.tractorsupply.com/chimne...-reg-furnace-cement-black-10-3-fl-oz--3198682

 

[krooser]

Give it a try.... for $500.00 you could buy your own welder and make one up of steel!

 

[jtakeman]

The ceramic pots were doomed from the get go. Quad redesigned them once they notice the cracking and came out with a cast replacement. Some where replaced under warranty. You could try it as a temp fix??? But I doubt it will last. Best case would be it would only crack somewhere else.

I see used cast pots on ebay once in a while. New well more like $500 clams by the time you buy igniter and dump mechanism that goes with it. One of these days I'll strip my quad 800 and put the parts on ebay. Probably worth more in parts than resell complete! Still runs so I really hate to do that!

 

[gimmeagig]

I guess you could try it. Or below. Its resistant to over 2000 degrees. I think the main issue would be getting whatever you use to stick to the ceramic. Clean it good and i would rough it up and see what happens. If it does not hold at least you tried.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/chimne...reg-fireplace-mortar-gray-10-3-fl-oz--3198056

or

http://www.tractorsupply.com/chimne...-reg-furnace-cement-black-10-3-fl-oz--3198682

If the fire pot was cracked, this might be good. or even to put a thin layer of new material on the burn surface.....What would probably not be possible with this stuff is to actually shape that dome piece. That's why I'm looking for the play dough like 2 component epoxy. I just don't know if it could hold up to the heat.I'm sure the fire pot gets much hotter than 500 , which is so far the highest rating in a putty that I could find.

 

[spirilis]

Maybe try this if you're worried about durability-- http://www.tractorsupply.com/chimney-sweep-reg-furnace-cement-gray-16-fl-oz--3198674

That's the good stuff. Has a sandy mortar-like consistency (the fireplace mortar/regular furnace cement listed above has the consistency of caulk, not this stuff though.) It holds up to some serious heat...

 

[peakbagger]

Belzona used to make some pretty neat repair compounds including ceramic repair materials, I expect they make one for high heat applications. Its an industrial product so it may be a PITA to buy.

Rod Hughes was the rep for Maine

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