I have a Hearthstone woodstove and one of the soapstone tiles on the top has broken completely through. It is a clean break. Does this break cause a problem - is it dangerous? Can the stone be repaired? I've had some experience with 2 part epoxy repair on soapstone sculpture, but I can't find any information on what happens to a high-heat epoxy when exposed to temperatures higher than 450 degrees F.
broken soapstone on top of stove
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I would not say it's dangerous to burn it with a broken stone, but you will probably go thru wood
faster than you normally do, since more air will be getting in.
If you are worried about CO escaping thru the break, it probably won't happen
until the stove stops drafting, but that shouldn't happen until the fire is out.
Get yourself a CO detector to be safe.
You can probably repair it temporarily with furnace cement. It WILL hold up to the high temps.
In order to replace that one stone, the ENTIRE top has to be removed.
faster than you normally do, since more air will be getting in.
If you are worried about CO escaping thru the break, it probably won't happen
until the stove stops drafting, but that shouldn't happen until the fire is out.
Get yourself a CO detector to be safe.
You can probably repair it temporarily with furnace cement. It WILL hold up to the high temps.
In order to replace that one stone, the ENTIRE top has to be removed.
Thanks for this info. As a matter of fact, the stone was broken in the process of removing the entire top, which was necessary to replace the part of the side door latch inside the opening. It turns out this is a not uncommon failure of these particular stoves, and it isn't possible to repair that piece. No one in any forum I've found yet has found a way to replace the need for that piece other than by replacing the whole frame in which that piece resides. The local Hearthstone dealer has no repair person on staff, and hasn't for years but told us this afternoon after I posted here that we need refractory cement - a very expensive hard-to-get/have to order from Hearthstone item. The other two local wood stove stores don't even return our calls, so we've elected to try this repair ourselves. We've gotten as far as purchasing everything we think we need based on the little bit of info we can find on the web and from Hearthstone, securing the stove walls with a tie-down, and removing the top without bending the rod. As an aside from the original post, apparently the rod is either not removable or removing it makes re-threading it through the stove a nightmare.This info came from a Hearthstone agent we contacted when we discovered that the rod in our stove did not match the exploded parts view and instructions for this particular model. The Hearthstone agent wasn't surprised by that.
Love your screen name. Fitting. I sold my modern hearthstone heritage when I saw that the latches and hinges were wearing out fast and they weren’t replaceable without a stove tear down. I am very glad I dumped that stove before the repair was needed after hearing your story. Also very glad I risked buying a cat stove next!
Cracked stones are very common and even considered normal. Most people leave them in place or “grout” the crack with furnace cement.
Cracked stones are very common and even considered normal. Most people leave them in place or “grout” the crack with furnace cement.
Which model #stove do you have? I have access to the technical & repair data & may be able to get you a little more info...
It's a Hearthstone Heritage 8021. Thanks for whatever data you may have. One can never have too much information when doing a first time repair!
The local dealer said we had to use refractory cement when we reinstall the latch frame and re-attach the top, but I haven't seen this in my searches. It looks to me like regular furnace cement is what is generally used. Any comments?
Also, I read an old posting on ArboristSite.com which talked about cleaning everything before cementing/re-assembling. We intended to do that, but I could use recommendations on how to do that and if there are products to use or not use. My experience with gluing/re-gluing tells me we need to be sure we have removed any old cement. Should that be done with a carefully hammered chisel? I also want to be sure to take this opportunity to remove any type of build-up in the stove/flue, and possibly to address the rust that has occurred where the enameling has worn away or been chipped off. Any suggestions - sites I can access for directions/pictures/videos? I haven't yet searched for any - I figured you all might be able to save me some time weeding through irrelevant or incorrect stuff. Thanks.
Also, I read an old posting on ArboristSite.com which talked about cleaning everything before cementing/re-assembling. We intended to do that, but I could use recommendations on how to do that and if there are products to use or not use. My experience with gluing/re-gluing tells me we need to be sure we have removed any old cement. Should that be done with a carefully hammered chisel? I also want to be sure to take this opportunity to remove any type of build-up in the stove/flue, and possibly to address the rust that has occurred where the enameling has worn away or been chipped off. Any suggestions - sites I can access for directions/pictures/videos? I haven't yet searched for any - I figured you all might be able to save me some time weeding through irrelevant or incorrect stuff. Thanks.
Hearthstone uses a proprietary cement, it has soapstone dust in it so it bonds the stoves stones better. It’s really good stuff.
To help with removal, you can saturate the area with water for a few days, the cement is water soluble. You want to isolate the water to the affected area obviously.
After the stones are removed a small chisel works well to remove the old cement. I prefer a cheap wood chisel, you can be more exact woth this than a masonry chisel.
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