Hearthstone Heritage firebox damage?

[Felix5513]

So, I bought this used Hearthstone Heritage model 8020.


There are a couple of defects that I see and I want to know if they need to be replaced or if can get away with it for awhile. I have burning for the month of January and everything has gone well( other than going from pre-EPA to EPA learning curve).

1. It looks like a steel plate that protects the soapstone but it has a crack running up it.


To me it doesn't seem like this needs to be replaced because it still protects the stone behind it.

2. I believe this is the middle bottom back soapstone. It has some damage on the inside and a crack on the outside. The crack does not go all the way through but it still concerns me( I could not get the rear heat shield off, so, no picture).


3. On section of the baffle seems to have some the ceramic blanket insulation stuff missing, that doesn't seem to be a big deal.




Everything seems to be operating correctly and safely, but I am curious about these things.

Also, is it good to clean the secondary burn tubes and/or replace them?

 

[Highbeam]

That thing was beaten.

1) The iron plate that is cracked is called a bash plate to protect the stone from people chucking wood in the box. It is easily replaceable but not necessary IF you can avoid chucking wood in there. Without that plate, the impact from chucking splits against that back wall will now act to blow out the sidestones.

2) With that stone damage, again from a bad operator with either a poker fetish or chucking wood, and a crack on the back I am afraid that the stone is compromised. I would be inclined to attempt a bondo style repair here. Hearthstone sells cement made from ground soapstone that is supposed to stick. You don't want an air leak. To replace that stone would require a full rebuild so it is worth trying some things.

3) Your tubes are not supposed to be pointing willy nilly like that. The holes in the tubes are supposed to point forward so we know that those front two tubes at least have lost their indexing. As long as your baffle plate covers the front tube I wouldn't worry about replacing it but put it on the list.

4) The top of the firebox, right above the door appears to be sagging like it was overfired and melted. That along with the eroded baffle tells us that this thing was run hard.

 

[Felix5513]

Should I turn those tubes forward? Is the baffle plate the 1x18 piece of metal in front of the front burn tube? What does indexing mean? Is the sagging something to be worried about? Should I replace the baffle?

 

[Highbeam]

Should I turn those tubes forward? Is the baffle plate the 1x18 piece of metal in front of the front burn tube? What does indexing mean? Is the sagging something to be worried about? Should I replace the baffle?

Yes, turn the tubes forward so that you can see all of the holes from the front. Indexing means there was originally some sort of retainer mechanism that fixed the orientation of those tubes so that the holes would point forward.

If the sagging and warping is isolated to the baffle then I wouldn't worry about it. It is an indicator that the stove got very hot.

 

[Felix5513]

Ok. The front tube is the only one that is sagging. The middle and back one are level.

 

[Felix5513]

I cleaned my stove today very thoroughly; Took down the firebrick baffle, cleaned above the baffle, vacuumed the whole thing out. The insulation blanket on top of the baffle firebricks was all tore up and a lot of it was missing. Bricks are still in good condition. Will not having the insulation stuff make a big deal with performance?



I figured out that the front burn tube was not even in one of the holes and that the indexing was off because one of the irons are slightly warped, not a big deal though.

 

[Smoked]

Too bad that thing can't tell us how hot it was run. Check the gaskets including the ash door. See if you can get a manual and get a good stove top thermometer. Not sure how much space you are heating but try to keep it below 550 f on the center of the top center stone. My manual says try not to exceed 600 for extended periods but I treat that as an absolute max.

 

[Felix5513]

Trying to heat 1600.sqft. one floor 8ft ceilings. It did OK this past winter. Gaskets are all good. I'll probably buy a thermometer for next winter.

 

[Smoked]

Trying to heat 1600.sqft. one floor 8ft ceilings. It did OK this past winter. Gaskets are all good. I'll probably buy a thermometer for next winter.

Yea, I would think it can handle that except for the coldest weather unless you are somewhere in the high country. Try to dr up that back stone though!

 

[begreen]

Replaced the sagging tube and insulation blanket. If there is a broken tube or leak at the manifold air will be introduced at the wrong spot and can cause a hot spot there that could bring on further damage to that location.

 

[Felix5513]

Can you replace just the insulation? The bricks are fine.