Summerizing, what should I do to the insert?

[MrGriz]

I'm not throwing in the towel yet, there are still a few good fires left this year; in fact, there's one burning right now. As this first season with the insert winds down, I'm wondering what I need to do to 'summerize'.

Of course, I will clean all the ash out and do a good general cleaning, including brushing the liner. Beyond that, I was wondering if I need to treat the steel inside the fire box with anything. Also, what about the glass and exterior of the insert?

 

[Corie]

Some people advocate spraying down the inside with WD-40 to prevent rusting and things like that.

I've never personally done it before, but I can't see why it would hurt anything, that's for sure.



Get the ash out, clean the glass good and maybe toss one of the those big, moisture absorbing bags in there.

Work the air controls once in a while just in case they want to corrode in place. That's about it.


My grandfather is on year 25 of his stove doing nothing but cleaning the chimney, taking the ashes out and scraping the crud off the solid cast iron door.

 

[elkimmeg]

I know some sprinkle some baking soda down their chimney since it is a base it nutralizes acid sulfur mixed with water It is also an ordor eater Personally I use it and I put an open box in the stove after I sprinkle some around

 

[wg_bent]

I went through the same question last year. Ended up I did a good cleaning and that was it. BUT! I did get a small amount of surface rust where the door gasket meets the stove. So, take that for what it is. My concern is over the WD40 smell, but I think I'll do it this year.

 

[MrGriz]

Rather than using WD40 (I'm not fond of the smell in the house either) could I use some type of oil? I was actually thinking of olive or vegatable oil, that works well on the cast iron cookware.

 

[wg_bent]

Rather than using WD40 (I'm not fond of the smell in the house either) could I use some type of oil? I was actually thinking of olive or vegatable oil, that works well on the cast iron cookware.

Yeah I was thinking same thing. The other option would be wax. I use Carnuba car wax on my table saw and it doesn't rust. Still, veggie oil has almost no smell, so next fall it would'nt be too bad, just a little smoky. Not sure what the wax would do.

 

[Corey]

Food oil will go rancid over time, turn into a sticky, gooey mess and start to smell. If the quantity of oil is small, it might not be too big of a problem. A little bit of mineral oil might do the trick with minimal smell.

As far as my summerizing, I just clean out the ashes, clean the glass, sweep the flue and put a cap over the top. The cap stops the summer storm rain from getting in and also stops the 'wood burning' smell on those few days when the flue wants to run in reverse.

Corey

 

[drizler]

I know some sprinkle some baking soda down their chimney since it is a base it nutralizes acid sulfur mixed with water It is also an ordor eater Personally I use it and I put an open box in the stove after I sprinkle some around

Hey Elk, when you are done with that old baking soda make it do double duty. Take it out and put it in the fridge. Then you can use the one your wife had in there next year. What do you think...................................She will never know the difference.

For oil I don't like WD 40 for anything. The lowest grade walmart veggie oil will at least still be there in the fall unlike WD. I just find the stuff tends to evaporate in time. I definitely am going to start wiping down the inside of my multifuel. Its about 3 years old and there are signs of surface rust especially on the inside and it forms in the summer.

 

[begreen]

Has anyone used silicone spray for this? It has much less odor. That would be my spray of choice.

 

[adrpga498]

All intersting ideas. On another note, I was wondering if keeping the doors open slightly would help extend the life of the gaskets. My reason was 5 months of doors not compressing gaskets . Any thoughts appreciated.
ps. Enjoy the "off season" everyone.

 

[loneeagle15]

"maybe toss one of the those big, moisture absorbing bags in there".

Try useing cat litter it's cheap and soaks up moisture,you can also use your wives old nylons to make sacks with it and throw some in with your tools that are prone to rusting my shop is not heated so it doesn't get used much in winter so it used to be a problem but not now