Enviro Empress FS - Door and Window gasket maintenance and other stuff...

[jhirsch123]

Hi all,
First, thank you for this wonderful forum! So far I've replaced the igniter a few times, and the exhaust motor with help from here.

So the door gasket. I purchased a 5/8 x 7' gasket which I believe to be the correct gasket, though it doesn't seem to be exactly like the one I took out. I have RTV which I will use in the channel and let it get tacky for a few minutes before I apply the gasket. That brings me to my first question:

1. Should I dremel off the torx screws that hold the window bracket on to make more room for the gasket since it seems a little snug? The channel definitely has less room at that part of the gasket. Or don't worry about it? The gasket does seem to fit, though it appears much too large before scrunching it up to fit in there.

2. The window gasket has started to come away from the top part of the frame. Can I just use some of the black RTV to hold it in place, or get another flat "tape" gasket to replace the whole thing?

3. One of the posts I read about replacing these gaskets with this newer style door said something about "airwash" (to help keep the glass from getting dirty as quickly?) Does that mean that there is an intentional gap along the top and bottom of the window allowing air to come in? That seems counter intuitive to me since we're going through a lot of trouble to keep this thing sealed air tight. One of my main concerns is smoke leaking out. I have since purchases a UPS battery (and good thing I did!), so if/when we lose power, I can power off the stove and not smoke out my whole sun room.

Maybe I'm overthinking all this, and should just put some RTV and lay the gasket in and be done with it

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance.

 

[johneh]

If you have air wash there will be small holes just below the glass above the seal
Do not dermal off the screws ( how will you hold the glass in if the mounting screws are gone?)
Use a little Hi-Temp (red) RTV to hold the loose gasket in place
When dry do a dollar bill test on the door gasket to see if it needs to be replaced
My stove is 21 years old and I have never needed to replace the door gasket
would only replace it if it were damaged or fraying. Clean with a soft paintbrush
and a little water when dry squeeze to fluff (only a little water don't soak it just damp)

 

[jhirsch123]

If you have air wash there will be small holes just below the glass above the seal
Do not dermal off the screws ( how will you hold the glass in if the mounting screws are gone?)
Use a little Hi-Temp (red) RTV to hold the loose gasket in place
When dry do a dollar bill test on the door gasket to see if it needs to be replaced
My stove is 21 years old and I have never needed to replace the door gasket
would only replace it if it were damaged or fraying. Clean with a soft paintbrush
and a little water when dry squeeze to fluff (only a little water don't soak it just damp)

Hi, thanks for the quick reply! Yes, you can see the holes in the pictures for what must be an "air wash". I guess that means there is supposed to be a small gap for air to go through the holes in the door, and then between the glass and the bracket. (In fact, in one of the pictures, you can see dust stuck to the bracket, just opposite where they line up with the holes in the door. So be it, but not sure how people don't get smoked out of the room when the power gets cut unexpectedly, unless they have a battery backup!)

For the screws, once they're in all the way, they protrude into casing, which you can see in the picture, I was just proposing to take off some of the length to make more room for the gasket, since the channel narrows there, already, due to the bracket, but I think I'll leave it be.

Good to know your gasket has stayed so long. Hopefully I won't have to change these for a long time.

Again, thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated sir!