"Firebrick" of St.Croix Ashby peeling

[SueY]

I have had my Ashby for a year now, it was installed in February last year. After about a month and a half of use I noticed the paint on the metal firebrick was chipping off in a small area. Now after another couple of months of use the chipping had increased. Is this normal? I asked my installer about it last year and he said that it is. Really? I find it hard to believe for the price of this stove that peeling paint after such a short time is normal wear. If is it not normal should I push to have St.Croix replace the firebrick? If it is normal, can it be painted and what paint would be suggested.

Thanks!
Sue

 

[imacman]

Hello neighbor.

It's possible that the factory didn't do a good job of prepping the metal before painting.

If you want to try doing it yourself, I suggest getting the old paint removed first by wirebrush, paint stripper, or sand blasting. I recommend using Stove Bright brand paint....comes in spray cans and in many colors.

 

[SueY]

Thanks. Does anyone know if there is any warrantee on this?

Sue

 

[imacman]

From the St. Croix web site:

"St. Croix Warranty
The St. Croix stove, insert, or furnace, manufactured by Even Temp, Inc. is warranted for five (5) years, to the original owner, against defects and workmanship on all steel parts (excluding the burn grate) and two (2) years on electrical components from the date of sale to the original owner. There specifically is no warranty on the paint, glass, burn grate, brick paint and all gaskets."

Sorry.

 

[SueY]

Isn't this a workmanship defect? The firebrick is not real firebrick, but is metal, so I would read that to mean it is covered. I have sent an email to my dealer and asked him to talk to St. Croix about it. Has anyone else had a problem with this?

Sue

 

[heat seeker]

My paint has burned off in areas, too. I repainted it last spring with high-temp paint, which started to burn off, too. As the stove ran this winter, you can hardly see where the paint is bad, so I don't worry about it. I'll paint it again in the spring so it looks good over the summer, since it's really visible in the Afton Bay. During heating season, I just figure it looks a lot better than some of the stoves I see, and the flames catch my eye more than the "firebrick".

Not much help for you, I know, but I wouldn't expect paint to take the temperatures in the stove for very long. I used generic high-temp paint, so maybe the Stove Bright would last longer.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Isn't this a workmanship defect? The firebrick is not real firebrick, but is metal, so I would read that to mean it is covered. I have sent an email to my dealer and asked him to talk to St. Croix about it. Has anyone else had a problem with this?

Sue

The manufacturer has the fake brick (paint) classified as a consumable just like the gaskets and it is explicitly excluded from warranty coverage. You might be able to scream enough to get it covered but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

 

[SueY]

I checked with my dealer and he echoed the comments here but suggested I contact St. Croix myself. Sometime when I have nothing better to do (ha ha) I might contact them. Last time I did they were really nasty to me and said they would only talk to their dealers, and I think I was calling them to find out the names of their dealers!

Appreciate the answers!

Sue

 

[Salty]

Rotsa ruck. When I bought my stove it had the poured back not the metal. That lasted about a month and was cracked. I bitched about it and got a replacement "metal brick" which I think is cheesy and looks like shat.

Mine has almost no paint on it now. I rub it with the metal vacuum cleaner end now and it's missing quite a bit of it's paint. Looks even worse now. They're not going to give you another I'm pretty sure..you can try but my quess is not.