Hi all,
I inherited an Encore 1450 nc with the home I purchased. I burnt daily from December to March without any real problem. I did notice that the corners were broke off on my shoe refractory and left in place broken. It didn't seem to be causing any real issues. Finally I poked one to hard and it crumbled. I decided to rebuild the unit which included the fountain, lower refractory, shoe refractory, damper housing and damper. I changed the door, glass, griddle, flue collar, lower refractory, and shoe refractory gaskets. The only gasket I didn't replace was on the ash tray door. It seemed in decent shape.
The fountain was completely destroyed and came out in pieces. Both refractories were damaged and/or cracked.
I finished the rebuild a few days ago and today was my first burn. I noticed with the flue closed that the coals at the back by the shoe refractory burn quite bright. There appears to be an air jet or stream coming in at both corners of the shoe refractory. Is this normal or am I leaking somewhere?
The fountain and both refractories were in bad shape when I replaced them. I don't think I have ever seen the stove burn properly so I'm not sure what to expect.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
![[Hearth.com] Encore 1450 nc rebuild](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/278/278060-87aba7c08d97414595ceb6c94d5f5e70.jpg?hash=zW5zmtmQfb "[Hearth.com] Encore 1450 nc rebuild")
I inherited an Encore 1450 nc with the home I purchased. I burnt daily from December to March without any real problem. I did notice that the corners were broke off on my shoe refractory and left in place broken. It didn't seem to be causing any real issues. Finally I poked one to hard and it crumbled. I decided to rebuild the unit which included the fountain, lower refractory, shoe refractory, damper housing and damper. I changed the door, glass, griddle, flue collar, lower refractory, and shoe refractory gaskets. The only gasket I didn't replace was on the ash tray door. It seemed in decent shape.
The fountain was completely destroyed and came out in pieces. Both refractories were damaged and/or cracked.
I finished the rebuild a few days ago and today was my first burn. I noticed with the flue closed that the coals at the back by the shoe refractory burn quite bright. There appears to be an air jet or stream coming in at both corners of the shoe refractory. Is this normal or am I leaking somewhere?
The fountain and both refractories were in bad shape when I replaced them. I don't think I have ever seen the stove burn properly so I'm not sure what to expect.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
