Glass fireplace door sealant

[hayes410]

I'm working on refinishing a set of metal-and-glass fireplace doors on our downstairs wood-burning fireplace. They were in rough shape, and badly in need of a cleaning and paint job. I've got a question about the glass that is used in them.

Both the doors and the sidelights on this unit have stacked panes of glass set in the frame. This leaves a horizontal seam right down the middle of each panel.

I'm not sure how old these doors are, but I'm guessing somewhere around 20 years.

Here's my problem - there is no sealant between the panes of glass. It just leaves about a millimeter gap between the 2 panes on each panel, which I would imagine allows smoke to exit through the front of the doors (haven't used the fireplace yet). To make matters worse, on one of the sidelights, the panels have managed to seperate further, leaving a gap of about 1/2".

Is there a clear sealant or caulking that I can use on the seam that can withstand being so close to the fire and on hot glass without discoloring?

 

[ssgi]

Any clear silicone sealant are only good to 550F and will not with stand the heat. Woven fiberglass would handle the heat but the appearance would be poor.

 

[begreen]

Would you consider a nice insert to turn the heat sucking fireplace into a heat providing stove with a nice fireview?

 

[granpajohn]

To seal a lower gap on my doors, I used the Rutland High Heat RTV, rated 700F I think. But, this was a PITA (in my case), and I had to tear it out for blower repair the next winter. So, I switched to the woven fiberglass, as Steve suggested and was much happier. However, mine was not in a visible location.
It's a long story, but on my doors this lower gap has to be sealed or else the blower could get some smoke or soot smell into it. Drove me nuts for a little while, but well...I told you it's a long story.

Oh, and as BG suggested, we did switch over to the insert eventually and are quite happy we did.