Progress Hybrid - Shielded Cooktop and screen - diff stove

[begreen]

No, not my first use by a long shot. I do all my cooking on the cooktop. Don't be too nervous about using it.

I knew that HollowHill had her cooktop split, and so was a bit leary, and being careful not to add fuel to a good fire, which is what she had done, immediately before hers split. I don't think her stove was very hot either.

My theory is that both our stoves just had a rapid elevation in temperature in a very short time, as opposed to reaching any particular temperature. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid that, after HollowHill's experience.

My son was not at all surprised about HollowHill's cracking, when I told him. He had installed my stove for me, and he said that the cooktop had way too much exposed surface to be able to take the rapid heating and expansion without cracking, because of the surface area the flanges on the bottom add to the cast iron cooktop lower surface.

Cracking at 300F doesn't sound like the stove was being pushed too hard or too fast. This sounds like a design flaw. Your son may be correct. If different materials are expanding at different rates and there is not enough room for this expansion, something has to give.

 

[3fordasho]

Update- my slight smoke smell came back so I searched for different door gaskets- tried to follow binko's suggestion for the 1/4" grey gasket with 1/2" on top of that but with what I found available locally just no way would all that fit (5/16" was the smallest available locally) I ended up using 1/2" meeco grey rope gasket with the thin gasket adhesive. 1 week since install and the smoke smell seems to be gone... or do I just not notice it anymore? Unlike the new woodstock supplied gasket, with the rutland gasket the door was easier to latch the first time, but so far it's sealing better. The old woodstock gasket had brown stains where the smoke was seaping through and also had become fairly stiff since its install last spring.

Yesterday's and last nights burns were pretty much smoke smell free... too soon to claim any kind of sucess yet but obviously maintenance of the cat screen and cat itself is much more critical with this stove than with a Fireview. I think I'll be checking out those items everytime I clean out the ash. Last night I was able to close the draft fully which I think is necessary with this stove to get a decent burn time and control the heat output.. with the draft open any amount I would see a very warm house overnight but after 7-8hrs the stove top would only be ~200f or so and enough coals for a slower restart- to be honest my fireview was maintaining better stove top temps after 8hrs and easier to restart... the PH is heating the house to higher temps than the fireview, but controlling that output and extending the burn was one of my goals with the PH.

 

[WarmInIowa]

3Ford, that's good to hear; I may tried the same. Where did you get the rowland gasket? I may try Menards tomorrow and see what I can find. My smell is back again, same as yours and it is very frustrating!!

 

[WarmInIowa]

I dont believe the smoke smell is coming from the door gasket. Seems to be coming from where the door frame meets the top plate, not the cook top gasket. In our application, the smell goes away by cracking the air open just a touch. We dont get the smell when the secondaries are firing, only when in 100% cat mode

It very hard to tell. I've been trying to pinpoint this for Woodstock for a long time. I can smell it at the top of the door and also above the door frame. Three is so much heat rising at the point and the scent goes up very fast with the heat.

 

[rideau]

If you look on Ford 60's post, which I think is headed "Overfired!" he found a 1/8 spacer roll pin in each back corner of the stove, that can only be accessed with the entire top of the stove off, that is clearly leaking smoke. That location corresponds to the area where I alwys see flames dancing around first in my firebox, which is interesting. An extra air supply...a tiny one...He has caulked his. Hasn't posted about the smell since, but did claim to have found the source of the smoke smell. You might want to look at his post, if you have not seen it. He has good photographs.

 

[3fordasho]

Originally thought Rutland brand but it is actually Meeco- got it at menards in a package with the adhesive for $8.99. 1/2" round is what I used. They also have 5/16,3/8 and 5/8" in round and 5/8" flat. I can't say it's 100% gone but it does seem better. I no longer lay in bed after loading the stove for an overnight burn and cuss the smoke smell wafting up to our bedroom. Like others have mentioned it's much more likely to notice the smell if the stove is loaded, air cut back and no flame in the box. Chipsoflying's description of the smell location is dead on for mine as well.

3Ford, that's good to hear; I may tried the same. Where did you get the rowland gasket? I may try Menards tomorrow and see what I can find. My smell is back again, same as yours and it is very frustrating!!