Fireview & Staining

[D_Skee]

Hello all, I bought a Woodstock FireView last fall and i just noticed some staining on the top of the soap stone. It looks like the gasket cement is leaching outward onto the stone. Has anyone experienced this with their soap stone stove and if so how did you clean it?

 

[BrotherBart]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like a prime question to ask the folks at Woodstock.

 

[ScotO]

they are beautiful stoves with quite a few very high accolades here.....I've never heard nor seen anyone posting about this problem. Kinda looks like oil leaching into the soapstone. I'd take Brotherbart's advice and get in touch with Woodstock ASAP......at least it will be on record that you called and I'm sure, with the good reputation they have, that they will take care of you...

 

[Woody Stover]

Probably creosote. If so, I'd think that drying creo would eventually seal any gap to where more couldn't get through. Agreed, ask Woodstock. They've seen and heard it all, for sure. Wipe it with a paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it, maybe?

 

[rideau]

Definitely call Woodstock. If that is am indication of smoke leaking, then you have a seal issue. They will surely know. Shoot an e-mail to Loren with a copy of those photos prior to calling. That will save you some time and calls.

 

[Todd]

I've never seen stains like that on any of my Woodstocks or remember seeing anyone else here with this issue. Any other stains around the sides?

I bet you will need to flip over the cover and remove the iron bracket that holds in the stones then check the gaskets. If the stains aren't soaked in too deep some fine 000 steel wool will take them out, if not I bet Woodstock will send you replacement stones. I've had to replace a couple stones and Woodstock was really great helping me along.

 

[dylskee]

Thanks for the replies, I am sending them an email today along with the pictures and I will follow up with a phone call tomorrow and see if I can figure this out. The only place it is staining is on the top. Even stranger than that is I haven't used the stove in 3 months and this just appeared in the last week or so.

 

[rideau]

Just out of curiosity, have you lifted the top and looked underneath? Is there a stain on the bottom of the stone? If that stain has definitely appeared in the past week, it's odd. What has happened in that time? Lots of rain? It isn't a moisture stain, is it? Has it changed day to day? Did you have anything on top of the stove? Could anyone in the family have put something on the stove? Just thinking....that statement that it has appeared suddenly long after and unrelated to burning has me wondering....Hopefully Woodstock has some answers tomorrow. Would be interested in hearing what they say.

 

[dylskee]

No stain on the bottom of the stone, the stain could have appeared in the last month or so, not exactly sure when. I'm almost positive it did not happen during the burn season though. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened and no spills, everyone in the house knows this stove is my baby....... It's definitely coming from under the cast iron on the top of the stove. I did burn some wet wood at the end of the season so maybe that contributed to the staining, I don't know. I just want to make sure it's safe and get it fixed before the winter.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Most definitely a puzzle there, especially happening since burning season. I don't think it will be a difficult problem to solve either but I'll let Lorin give the fix on this one for sure.

 

[TheBean]

D_Skee, we have seen this before in the off season, especially in humid weather. Moisture in the air can wick into the gasket and onto the stone. In most cases the stain will go away in drier weather. You can buff it with some very fine steel wool (000 or 0000) if you like. Most people do not realize that soapstone is a very dense stone and virtually nothing will penetrate its surface. This is why laboratory table tops are made from it, very non-reactive. Give a call if you have any other questions. Hope this helps.

 

[Woody Stover]

After about a week of not looking at the stove, I just saw that I have the same thing happening!


(broken image removed)

(broken image removed)


Like dylskee, I haven't burned in several weeks, so here's my theory; On a warm, sunny day the attic air gets hot and starts a chimney effect in the house, drawing warm, moist air down the chimney pipe and into the stove. The moist air is then pulled out into the house past the stone gasket. Moisture condenses on the cooler cast iron frame of the lid near the gasket and dissolves a little creosote. This " creo-water" then wicks through the stone gasket and onto the surface of the stone. I think it's just on the surface of the stone, or very shallow, and will be able to be buffed out with 0000 steel wool. I'll wait to see what dylskee hears before proceeding, though....
To prevent future occurrences, I'll seal off the top of the chimney pipe and maybe stuff something inside the pipe at the bottom, to prevent moist air from being drawn into the stove.

 

[Woody Stover]

Shoulda refreshed the thread before posting... Thanks, TheBean!

 

[Woody Stover]

OK, I'll toss out another cosmetic question:
I dropped a mini flashlight onto the top of my Fv and it chipped the stove. The chipped area is very white, and I'd like to get the stone color to come back through so that the chip blends in with the rest of the stone. When I've accidentally dropped a SuperCedar crumb on the top, it darkens the stone. I was thinking that I could drop a little paraffin into the chip and let it darken that area, but I'm hoping that TheBean or someone else has another idea. This problem has likely been addressed many times....

(broken image removed)

 

[TheBean]

Woody, the wax in the SC is what leaves the dark spot for sure. You could try it in the ding, but I think it may lighten back up in time. You could also try to feather that spot out a bit wider to try to get it to blend with the surrounding stone. This will leave a bit of a low spot tho. If it really bothers you, remove the stone and sand the whole thing down with a random orbital sander. Start with 120-ish and finish with a polishing pad. Will get dusty so take it outside.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yeah, the wax stains tend to fade and disperse with time if I don't soak 'em up right away with a paper towel....
We have a 'rustic' lifestyle so stuff like the chip doesn't bother me enough to make a project of it, but if I can blend it easily I'll give that a try.
I'm going to heat with the Keystone and the Fv is going to my BIL's house, so I'd like to get it real purty before I take it over there.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Please let us know how this turns out Woody and D_Skee.

 

[dylskee]

Thanks for the reply The Bean, and everyone else who replied as well. I got an email fro a Lorin first thing this morning, great customer service from Woodstock for sure...... Here's her reply to my email:

Good morning Dylan,

Thank you for your email.

The staining that you are seeing around the perimeter of your stove is typically caused by moisture/humidity pulling down through your chimney when not in use, and then wicking through the fiberglass gasket which forms a seal to the stone.

One way of mitigating this problem would be through blocking your stove pipe with some insulation in the offseason to prevent the downward flow of air. The key here is to stick a note on the pipe so you don't forget to remove the insulation when you start up your stove at the beginning of the heating season.

To remove the moisture discoloration, I would first start simply by buffing the areas with fine aught steel wool. If that is not effective, and you've stopped the source of the moisture, you can remove the stone from the top casting and use an orbital sander with a very fine grit (220) on the stone.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Lorin Day

 

[charly]

Thanks for the reply The Bean, and everyone else who replied as well. I got an email fro a Lorin first thing this morning, great customer service from Woodstock for sure...... Here's her reply to my email:

Absolutely great customer service!

 

[Todd]

Interesting, I'm suprised I never had this problem in my humid basement.

 

[dylskee]

I think it's more of pulling the humid air down the stack, my house is kept really cool with ACs so that could be the cause in my case.

 

[charly]

I think it's more of pulling the humid air down the stack, my house is kept really cool with ACs so that could be the cause in my case.

Is one of your AC units blowing towards your Fireview? Wonder if your creating the sweating glass syndrome were the stones are staying warmer then the air your cooling, thus sweating in a sense? Warm air on the chimney side , cold air on the outside of the stone.. Maybe open your draft to allow air to circulate?

 

[Woody Stover]

Is one of your AC units blowing towards your Fireview? Wonder if your creating the sweating glass syndrome were the stones are staying warmer then the air your cooling, thus sweating in a sense?

What's happening is condensation on the cast iron frame. Same thing happens to me in the winter; When I come inside, moisture in the warmer inside air condenses on the cold lenses of my glasses, fogging them up.
The cast iron frame doesn't even have to be that much colder. I don't have AC but the stove being maybe ten or so degrees cooler than the humid outside air is enough for condensation to occur, and wick through the gasket onto the surface of the stone.

 

[Todd]

Another good reason to do a small breakin fire at the beginning of the season to drive out that moisture.

 

[Woody Stover]

I forgot to describe this pic that I had posted above. This is the underside of the front of the lid. The large gasket is the lid frame gasket. Then the part of the frame inside the top of the stove, that's got some creo on it. I'm assuming this is where the moisture condenses. Then, barely visible, is a thin, light-colored line which is the edge of the stone gasket, between the top of the stone and the frame. You can see the 90* corner of the stone, and on the top edge of the front of the stone, some creo has been deposited (kinda hard to see, almost looks like a shadow.)


(broken image removed)