Cement? broke off inside Oslo. Do I need to worry about this?

[marajade]

I was just moving coals around inside my Oslo (installed in January, burning mostly evenings, weekends and snow days) and just noticed this chunk of what I think is cement laying in the ashes. It looks like it broke off the top corner above the firebricks.

Is this a problem? How do I fix it, if it is? Should I stop burning until it's fixed?

 

[pen]

Are you noticing anything different while burning? Is the fire running hotter than normal? Do you have to shut the air down further than normal? Does a full load burn down quicker than normal?

If everything seems fine, then it seems to me that you are looking at some extra cement that ooozed out of a joint during assembly, which really doesn't do anything, and just broke out due to lack of support seeing as though it is extra cement.

If it were me, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, then keep on keeping warm.

pen

 

[Woody Stover]

Seems like some smoke could get directly to the flue instead of passing through the secondary zone. Can you see more smoke from the flue? I would think you could keep burning without harming the stove, just not as cleanly. When you patch that seam, let the cement dry for like a week or more. I had some 'boil' and get air bubbles in it because I tried to rush it, but it was "gasket/stove cement" and was pretty thin stuff, maybe has more water and takes longer to dry. Then fire the stove to cure the cement. I thought I read somewhere that you should cure it within a month of application....

 

[marajade]

Pen, my last two fires were a little bit hotter than usual, but it was cold / extremely windy on those nights and my husband and I have recently gotten better at both starting a fire and packing the stove tighter so it's hard to tell of something was out of the ordinary.

 

[claydogg84]

My Oslo is the same way Mara, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[firefighterjake]

No worries ... general consensus here in the past is that the cement is used to keep the baffle board in place during shipping. If it really concerns you as it did me in my first year of burning you can wedge some stove cement in there when the stove cools ... and then pick out more chunks next year.

 

[Woody Stover]

general consensus here in the past is that the cement is used to keep the baffle board in place during shipping

OK, that makes sense. I assumed that was a steel baffle. As long as there's no gap between the baffle board and the back of the stove, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[marajade]

I shone a light up there and don't see a gap. Thanks everyone. I knew not to freak out until asking you all