gasket stove last longer than cement?

[snowtime]

I have noticed that VC says their stoves are fully gasketed. Is this way going to last longer or shorter than cemented stoves? I am trying to accumulate a list of all the strong and weak points of the stoves available to me. Thanks

 

[BrotherBart]

Gasketed should last much better than furnace cemented stoves. Furnace cement gets cracked from the flex of moving stoves, the contraction of the stove panels heating up and cooling down and many other forces. Gaskets will allow flex in the joints while still maintaining the seal. They should have been using the things for the last forty years.

And another benefit is going to be the ease of rebuilding a cast stove without having to clean all of that old cement out of the joints. The joint gaskets are not going to wear like door gaskets do from the friction of opening and closing the stove doors hundreds of times a season.

 

[elkimmeg]

BB summed up pretty good the other plus is the ability to replace parts easier with out dealing with re building a lot of the stove

Many refractory cement stoves will last 15 to 20 years before requiring rebuilding None of the current gasket stoves have been in existence that long to compare

we can only speculate there length of service.. Another factor is these plates are now held together with bolts nobody can tell you how easy a heated in frozen bolt will be in removal after 15 years ther is a good chanv ce they will be frozen in and snap off requiring drilling and re-tapping into cast iron. A job that could prove quite challenging

 

[BrotherBart]

Is VC using stainless bolts now Elk?

 

[elkimmeg]

yes with 3000 degree never sieze Believe it or not, they monitored our forum and follow a discussion we had here and decided we had good ideas and incorporated them
ie the stainless steel bolts and never sieze

 

[snowtime]

Thanks for the info. What other stoves are fully gasketed?

 

[begreen]

A good stove, well cared for, should last a long time whether it is gasketed or not. Time will tell, but VC's move to gasket joints should reduce maintenance when the stove is 10-15 years old. Most well made cast iron stoves can go that long before a rejointing or rebuild. Jotul is now using a different variety of seam caulk that looks much tougher that previous joint caulking. We'll see how it looks in 10-15 years.

If this is a big concern, get a steel stove. It's not gasketed or caulked - it's welded.

 

[BrotherBart]

A good stove, well cared for, should last a long time whether it is gasketed or not. Time will tell, but VC's move to gasket joints should reduce maintenance when the stove is 10-15 years old. Most well made cast iron stoves can go that long before a rejointing or rebuild. Jotul is now using a different variety of seam caulk that looks much tougher that previous joint caulking. We'll see how it looks in 10-15 years.

You will. I will be in "The Home" drooling in my soup and complaining to a nurse that I need another blanket.

 

[elkimmeg]

Be green ever see a welded joint burst or crack? Steel can also stress expand and crack seams. Over firing stove has no preferences

 

[begreen]

Or a change of Depends. :lol:

Hard to figure how long things or people will last. My Mom had heart surgery at 82, not long to go was the prediction. Then at 92 a big aortal aneurism was discovered, and oh, oh, we were told, maybe a year or two at best. She's about to be 99 and still feisty. Ya never know.

 

[begreen]

Be green ever see a welded joint burst or crack? Steel can also stress expand and crack seams. Over firing stove has no preferences

I've seen some tough old stoves that were chalk white from overfireing and seams still intact. And some newer stoves that have been treated well with seams cracking. They just don't build the old tanks like they used to.

 

[elkimmeg]

I had an old fisher in my truck for some reason the tailgate sprung open and the stove fell out on the hardtop the only damage was to the hardtop
real pain in the ask to get back into the truck. I almost put a rope on it and dragged it home