Time to re-seal?

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My hearthstone Crafstbury is about 5 yrs old, been great its whole life. This year, I am noticing i don't get as much burn from the tubes up top. It still burns hot, but closing the primary air has less of an effect. I think I have some leaks in the cement materiel in the stove joints.
Does the stove need to be dissembled, or can i locate the gaps and caulk with high temp rtv or butter in some cement patch for the season.
I noticed at the beginning of the season while cleaning out, a few spots where i could see light coming through.

 

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After a more thorough search on this site, I see what i should do. Clean, squeeze in some Rutland 2000. and follow directions for cure.

 

[pen]

See where you get with that and then contemplate a complete tear down and rebuild depending on your results there.

If you still have a fire going, it may be helpful to move around the stove w/ a lit cigarette, incense stick, etc, and look for places where the smoke is getting sucked into the stove.

pen

 

[WellSeasoned]

See where you get with that and then contemplate a complete tear down and rebuild depending on your results there.

If you still have a fire going, it may be helpful to move around the stove w/ a lit cigarette, incense stick, etc, and look for places where the smoke is getting sucked into the stove.

pen

Ciggs work for me, I tried inscense, but they stink.

 

[BobUrban]

Even your lighter held close will show the flame bending if there is an air leak -

 

[Highbeam]

You can see light That's not good. The way these stoves are assmebled should not allow light through the seam. Regular furnace cement doesn't stick too well to soapstone, you would be better off buying tubs or tubes or Hearthstone cement from Hearthstone direct. Their cement is made to stick to soapstone better. Might also ask them about your seam failure. These stone stoves are not supposed to need rebuilding unless you need to replace a stone or casting.

 

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After fully cleaning, i can see some light in the back bottom corner, where the side meets the bottom. Hearthstone has a wad of cement on this spot on both sides. A small section has broken loose.
After cleaning and re sealing this spot the stove runs as new.