Bis Tradition CE rust problem

[Giffin02]

Hello everyone, My name is Paul and this is my first thread. I have a Bis Tradition CE that is three years old. Before this last winter, I opened the door to the box to make sure everything was good for the burning season and found the box was full of surface rust. Some spots worse than others. I am getting nowhere with my distributor. His solution was to scrape it off and paint the inside to which I did not do this. I followed all the guidelines, my first stove purchased, small fires at first. Only burned seasoned hardwoods, etc. I did have one water leak on the outside chimney pipe. It was fixed and to the best of my knowledge it never leaked inside the chimney into the box. Any help would be appreciated and I'm glad to be in the forum. Thanks again

 

[DAKSY]

Not an expert on the BIS Units by any stretch of the imagination, as I've only serviced one of them.
Surface rust - in my experience - is pretty common place inside ALL stoves & fireplaces. You have
an extremely harsh environment, temperature-wise & any protective coatings (ie PAINT) get burned
off after the first major fire in the unit. That exposes the steel or cast iron base metal & unprotected
iron alloys RUST. This rust shows up even more after a long off season when the doors are kept shut
& outdoor moisture WILL get sealed in. Even my Harman pellet stoves & my Heat n Glo gas fireplace
exhibit this corrosion. I use a wire brush on them & hit the areas with Hi-Temp Stove Bright paint after
the burning season & that seems to help, tho there are still areas the the rust will show the next time
I'm ready to fire them up.

 

[VirginiaIron]

The inside of my insert was pristine when I got rid of it. After a couple months I visited the new owners and checked out the stove; it sure looks better in their house than mine. Anyway, the heavy steel baffle was rusted and flaking when I looked inside. Their wood is not the driest and I think moisture content has some influence on deterioration.

 

[Giffin02]

Not an expert on the BIS Units by any stretch of the imagination, as I've only serviced one of them.
Surface rust - in my experience - is pretty common place inside ALL stoves & fireplaces. You have
an extremely harsh environment, temperature-wise & any protective coatings (ie PAINT) get burned
off after the first major fire in the unit. That exposes the steel or cast iron base metal & unprotected
iron alloys RUST. This rust shows up even more after a long off season when the doors are kept shut
& outdoor moisture WILL get sealed in. Even my Harman pellet stoves & my Heat n Glo gas fireplace
exhibit this corrosion. I use a wire brush on them & hit the areas with Hi-Temp Stove Bright paint after
the burning season & that seems to help, tho there are still areas the the rust will show the next time
I'm ready to fire them up.

Thanks a lot for the info. Thinking of selling this unit and getting a bigger one. any suggestions?

 

[Giffin02]

The inside of my insert was pristine when I got rid of it. After a couple months I visited the new owners and checked out the stove; it sure looks better in their house than mine. Anyway, the heavy steel baffle was rusted and flaking when I looked inside. Their wood is not the driest and I think moisture content has some influence on deterioration.

Thanks a lot. What type of unit do you have now, I am thinking of selling this one

 

[begreen]

Heat accelerates oxidation. Light surface rust is not uncommon inside a stove, especially after a humid summer.

There are many threads here on Zero Clearance fireplaces with recommendations and reviews. To go larger usually means a complete tearout, often with chimney pipe replacement too. Some good brands are the Heat n Glo Northstar, Quadrafire 7000, Pacific Energy FP30, etc.. RSF has a wide line too.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Thanks a lot. What type of unit do you have now, I am thinking of selling this one

We removed the insert and installed a free standing US Stove 3000- Very happy with the quality, the BTU's, how quickly it heats, length of burn, and the ease of keeping the house warm.

 

[Giffin02]

Heat accelerates oxidation. Light surface rust is not uncommon inside a stove, especially after a humid summer.

There are many threads here on Zero Clearance fireplaces with recommendations and reviews. To go larger usually means a complete tearout, often with chimney pipe replacement too. Some good brands are the Heat n Glo Northstar, Quadrafire 7000, Pacific Energy FP30, etc.. RSF has a wide line too.

Thanks alot man

 

[Giffin02]

We removed the insert and installed a free standing US Stove 3000- Very happy with the quality, the BTU's, how quickly it heats, length of burn, and the ease of keeping the house warm.

Ok. Thanks again

 

[safehomefireplace]

It’s very likely due to the fresh air supply to the fireplace. In the summertime your firebox is essentially a cold steel box and because zero clearance wood-burning fireplaces require a fresh air supply it’s constantly feeding humid warm air throughout the summer from outside,