Great site and even better advice! Need some help with this one.
Checked the woodstove for the first time a couple of weeks ago only to find about a 1/2 inch or so of water where the blower resides underneath the firebox. Got out the wet dry vac and sucked it all out. Took some paper towels and got up the rest of the red rust. Started a fire to dry out the refractory and the musty smell.
Looked at it today and there is a light rusty powder at the bottom which is now very dry. So I have a few questions:
1) How do I safely remove it? The bottom now has a rough texture to it. I think the water infiltration is from the remnants of hurricane ike the rain was blowing horizontally into the vacu-stack and I think that is how it got in. Does it harm the blower if there is some on there?
2) Does this weaken the overall integrity of the woodstove?
3) Should I sand it right down to the bare metal and repaint it with stove bright flat black?
Another question I have is on the vacu-stack chimney cap. I have Class A Excell stove pipe which is great. Interior dimension of the pipe is 7inches. Should the cap go over the outside dimension of the chimney pipe or the inside?? I wonder if the gap between the side wall of the pipe and the cap itself is helping the water get in.
b-good.
Checked the woodstove for the first time a couple of weeks ago only to find about a 1/2 inch or so of water where the blower resides underneath the firebox. Got out the wet dry vac and sucked it all out. Took some paper towels and got up the rest of the red rust. Started a fire to dry out the refractory and the musty smell.
Looked at it today and there is a light rusty powder at the bottom which is now very dry. So I have a few questions:
1) How do I safely remove it? The bottom now has a rough texture to it. I think the water infiltration is from the remnants of hurricane ike the rain was blowing horizontally into the vacu-stack and I think that is how it got in. Does it harm the blower if there is some on there?
2) Does this weaken the overall integrity of the woodstove?
3) Should I sand it right down to the bare metal and repaint it with stove bright flat black?
Another question I have is on the vacu-stack chimney cap. I have Class A Excell stove pipe which is great. Interior dimension of the pipe is 7inches. Should the cap go over the outside dimension of the chimney pipe or the inside?? I wonder if the gap between the side wall of the pipe and the cap itself is helping the water get in.
b-good.
