End of the year cleaning

[begreen]

We've gone through about 1.5 cord of wood so far. Time for a stove shutdown and inspection. It's been burning hot lately. I thought it was the wood because we had some very dry fir in the first cord, but now we are burning fir that has been seasoned 9 months and it was burning a bit too eagerly so time for an inspection.

I shoveled out the ash and then took out the vacuum to clean up. As I vacuumed the inside of the stove door the entire bottom run of the gasket dropped out of the groove. Hmmm, that may be the issue. I glued it back in place and let it set up for a couple hours. Cleaning with the sooteater went fine. The baffle is in great shape. Only got a couple cups of fine sote. I see that I have cracked my first brick in the back and know when it happened last week. Don't shove in splits so hard that they hit the bricks!

The stove is ready for the rest of the season. After 8 seasons the only expenses have been the door and secondary tube gaskets. Not bad. The gasket appears to have been the issue. Last night's 11am loading was just a few thick splits. There was a nice hot coal bed this morning at 8am. The kaowool on the sides of the baffle is starting to look ratty. I will replace that next summer. May replace the door latch then too as it is getting sloppy.

sock stuffed in secondary tube

baffle down and ready for cleaning

new gaskets (doubled)

couple cups of soot and sote are what came out of the flue

burning nicely again.

 

[Heftiger]

Lookin' good!

 

[rdust]

I usually sweep over the break but realized I never ordered a replacement sooteater rod that twisted off the last time I swept. I'll get one ordered and sweep next weekend. Wish I would've done it before the cold set in.

 

[jatoxico]

Sounds like you're really liking the Alderlea. Cleaned, inspected and fixed, good feeling to have it done. My stove always seems to run better after a sweep whether it needed it or not.

 

[begreen]

It's been a good stove that heats nicely over a wide temperature range. I like its simple yet elegant design and low maintenance. One surprise is that the paint has stood up very well. A previous painted cast iron stove needed a touch up or repaint every couple years, but it was a true cast iron stove that got the paint much hotter than it gets on the T6. The stove is not perfect, the door is heavy and showing a slight sag. It's nothing that affects performance, but something I note as it ages. (Note that I too am starting to sag in the past 8 yrs..) The door latch assembly is simple, but a bit crude and lacking adjustment at the door to compensate for wear. BK and Jotul have nicer latches on the F55 and Ashford. These are fairly small points. Overall we are pleased with the Alderlea and thank Tom Oyen for making it happen.

 

[2broke2ride]

I cleaned today too, have put about a cord through the smoke dragon furnace, got about a half gallon of dry powdery creosote out of the oversize clay lined chimney. Not too bad compared to my first year last year when I had a chimney fire two days before Christmas. Unfortunately I'm having little luck breaking down the glazed creosote near the top that I created at the end of the year last year trying to burn wet pine (bad idea) despite putting the Rutland creosote remover right to her.

 

[Offset]

Great information Begreen. I have a feeling that my door gasket on my T5 is not performing as well as it should. It seems to have come away from the door in several spots, it is flat and hard. I believe the gasket size is 5/16" and I noticed that the existing gasket has some type of covering over the joint. I am I best to order a replacement from PE to do this job? So can you tell me the proper method of replacing this gasket? Do you simply lay it into the track or do you stretch it all? What is the recommended adhesive for this gasket.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. The stove is in its fourth year of use. What kind of like are others getting from this part?

 

[begreen]

Yes, the graphite impregnated gasket is 5/16". Don't stretch it. Rutland's gasket should be ok. Remove the old gasket and clean the channel very well for a good bond with the new gasket. I used Meeco gasket black adhesive but will probably use black RTV the next time. If you use the Rutland or Meeco gasket adhesive be sure to mix it very well in the tube first by kneading it a lot.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/alderlea-door-gasket.114013/

Update 1/3/2017: Well the Meeco failed after a season of use. The gasket just dropped out of the channel in spite of a good bead of cement still adhered to the back of the gasket. Switched to Rutland for replacement today. It's a much more homogenous mix, not watery. I also got some better high-density 5/16 gasket from the local dealer. It was bronzed and I suspect this might be Meeco brand but am not sure. Definitely more dense than the gasket I put on last season.

 

[Offset]

Thank you for the advice Begreen. I will let you know how it works out.

Happy New Year to you and all the members of this forum.