1994 Jotul 602 cb

[demolition dave]

I just picked this used stove up from craigslist. it's in good condition, but after getting it home last night and shining a flashlight into the box, i did see a tiny bit of light through the back panel joints where the back meets the sides. The light was so subtle and difficult to see even in a dark room as the way the side and back panels mate together, it didn't make it easy for light to escape. Needless to say, the stove is not airtight, but my question to those of you is, will this be an issue of too much air entering the box ?
Short of a complete rebuild , should I clean the interior joints and cement them or just fire it up ?
Do these type of "fixes" usually hold up with some care in not over firing ?
I plan on changing the door and glass gaskets in any case.

Thanks

 

[webby3650]

That type of repair will not hold up. It really needs to be pulled apart. I rebuilt one last year, it was not very difficult.

 

[demolition dave]

That type of repair will not hold up. It really needs to be pulled apart. I rebuilt one last year, it was not very difficult.

thanks for the input. after closer inspection, the back plate appears to be warped slightly so the previous owner did indeed overfire the stove . i also found out that this back to side plate intersection should be dry fit, no cement from the factory so it appears i have no choice but to cement it up ( complete rebuild or a bandaid for now )
does anyone have experience with running a stove with a hair line opening in the panel joints ?
i imagine it will leak some smoke when the stove cools down, less draft at the end of the fire.

dave

 

[webby3650]

Is this crack between the actual stove panels or are you seeing the joint between burn plates inside the firebox?

 

[demolition dave]

Is this crack between the actual stove panels or are you seeing the joint between burn plates inside the firebox?

it's not a crack, but the joint between the back plate of the box and the side plate(s).
the back plate has a slight bow outward and appears to open up a little. This hairline joint is 2" long and 1/16" wide.
I'll try to take a picture to describe this, but i may be tough given you see it best in a dark room with a flashlight in the box.
thanks