Summerizing my Jotul Castine

[G6 at Snook TX]

Sometime in April I will clean the chimney on my stove. Also, what other off season maintenance things do I need to take care of? What about rope seals at the glass and along the secondaries baffles? Do they automatically get replaced every year, or what is the criteria to know to replace them--or not? Jotul Castine 400

 

[begreen]

If this is a new Castine, then seasonal maintenance should be just cleaning and inspection. Most gaskets will not need replacing for 3-5 years.

 

[pmac]

Sometime in April I will clean the chimney on my stove. Also, what other off season maintenance things do I need to take care of? What about rope seals at the glass and along the secondaries baffles? Do they automatically get replaced every year, or what is the criteria to know to replace them--or not? Jotul Castine 400

I would check the small enclosure at the front bottom of the firebox, where, inside, the primary air lever connects to a metal plate with a hole in it to adjust air flow. Just this past weekend the lever worked loose from the plate, and I wasn't able to adjust air. It's the second time this happened in the past several years.

I had just started the stove the night before, after a warm week, and didn't want to let the stove cool completely down and restart. I waited until there were just embers left, pushed them back, removed the two bolts from the enclosure and re-attached the plate to the lever. Not easy to do with fireproof gloves on

What I noticed, though, was that the two bolts were quite loose already (and hence allowed too much play in the lever, the lid has a retention bolt to keep the lever/plate from moving vertically)... and I'm wondering if that loosening happens over time with thermal changes in the stove....