Timberline Stove - Door Gaskets?

[mathetes]

All,

First post here, never needed to post before as nearly everything I wanted to know/learn about is here for the taking. Thanks to all who have contributed in the past. It's really helped me, a relative newbie, to get somewhat up to speed.

The details - purchased a new home last Jan, homeowner has a Timberline 2 door stove installed - said he used it exclusively to heat home - a tad bit of an exaggeration, but not that much. I used it from last mid-Feb through the heating season and it performed well - area that it heats is nearly 2000 sq ft - some cold pockets, but layout of house works pretty well for getting the hot air where it needs to be.

Anyway, now that I went through last season not really knowing what I was doing. Read much through the summer getting a bit of an education. I am now convinced that this will be the last season the Timberline will serve this duty. Like I said, it performs well, but with the age that I understand this stove to be, I know I could be doing much better in terms of efficiency and cleanliness - the new stove selection process will be a springtime post, I'm sure.

Here's the nut of the question - with both of the front mounted air controls turned all the way down, I can sometimes hear quite a bit of air being sucked in and around the doors. The doors have a cast, double "ring" all the way around, when closed, air can travel in and out & up & down, twice, - sort of like the air is drawing an "M", by no means are the doors "air tight".

Does anyone know if the Timberline doors are meant to be gasketed? I can see how they might be installed...

If they never had gaskets, is there a reason why I should not install gaskets?

As I said, this is the Timberline's last year of service, but I'd like to be able to control what's going on a bit more, and it's still got several months left to perform - I'd like to try and get it to run for all it's worth.

Thanks for any input you might be able to give me.

Bruce

 

[BrotherBart]

On the Timberlines that I have seen there was not a gasket. The "knife edge" around the opening in the firebox fits into the channels in the door edges. People have tried to put gaskets in them but nothing they could find was small enough to sandwich in there. You might try the thin gasket material that is use for door glass.

 

[mathetes]

Yes, anything I might use is going to have to be small or thin.

After posting, I found the attached photo - it's from a current ebay listing - looks like this guys has some gaskets in the door channels - most other photos from older ebay listings show no gaskets, & some listins for timberlines on craiglist say that the stoves need gaskets.

Conflicting info... Anyone else have an opinion or thoughts? Any reason why I should NOT try and install some gaskets?

Thanks!

Bruce

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, I used a Timberline single door stove for 26 years and heated 2100 sq. ft., 24/7 with it. It had no gasket on it when I bought it. I tried to put gasket on and the door would not close properly so I removed it. I just replaced the Timberline with a Jotul F 500 Oslo and am really enjoying it.

Jim

 

[Beetle-Kill]

This has been killing me all day. Craig just had to put this zombie thread in here. Just..can't...resist.
Yes, you can put a rope gasket in a Timberline. Mine looked exactly like the one in the photo. the gasket should be installed on the stove, in the door channel. I don't remember the size of rope, but it was either 1/2", 5/8", but not 3/4". I used more cement than called for, and closed the doors on the new rope before the cement cured. Left it that way for about 2 days. When I opened the doors, the compression had squished the hinge side of the gasket more than the center, and the excess cement held the "squish" in place. It sealed very well, and the doors locked together without problem. Thank you, just had to get that out of my system. JB

 

[mellow]

I use 1/2" flat gaskets on timberline inserts. You have to use stove cement and shut them hard a few times while the cement is wet then shut the doors and leave them closed while the cement is drying, after that it is a nice snug fit.

Dang.. this is a zombie thread, that is what I get for posting before looking at dates.

 

[Indiana farmer]

I put gaskets on my Timberline years (decades) ago. It slowed the burn, but I had to open the door vents more, and I had more creosote. I did not see any advantage, so I removed them.