Jotul 3 caulk or...

[Sue and Wayne in VT]

We just bought a 1987 Jotul 3TD, and disassembled it somewhat for easier transport.
When putting it back together, we noticed that the bottom plate had a line of caulk, or some such around its edge inside the firebox. We see no mention in the manual, so don't know if it was part of the original assembly, or something the previous owner did to air-tighten it a bit. It's now mostly cracked out, so what do we replace it with?
We are looking forward to having this baby fired up soon - nights are chilling down. Thanks!
Sue and Wayne

 

[begreen]

Given the age of the stove it's possible that is was leaking at a seam. Sometimes you can tell this by turning off the room lights and then shining a bright light pointed at bottom and side seams to see if there are any light leaks. If the seam(s) need sealing the may be temporarily sealed with a bead of furnace cement on the seam, finger troweled into the seam. The better approach though might be to disassemble the stove, clean all seams and then reassemble with fresh cement.

 

[bholler]

Yes you need to clean it up and re cement it. Also if you took it part of the way apart you really should do the rest. Chances are you cracked the cement on the joints you didn't take apart as well. Tear it all down and re cement it all

 

[Sue and Wayne in VT]

Thanks begreen and bholler - guess we have one more project for the weekend...