NC-13 Door Seal

[BamaRama]

Hi again. My NC-13 has been used for one season and about 2 cords of wood. The door and glass seals appear to be separated in the corners where the ends of the rope meet. Backstory... didn't realize there was a problem until I lit the first fire of the year and loaded some very dry white oak for a long burn before bed (had not so dry wood last year). With damper closed, fire would not die down and flames were leaping towards the corner of the door with the seal gap. Stove temp reached 750 and rising so I stuffed a wad of aluminum foil in the air intake. Fire cooled to 500 so i finally get to go to bed.

Questions: Is there a way to seal the gaps? I'm ready to order new seals and replace them if need be, but a year on door seals seems a bit weak. Is there a better option than the stock fiberglass rope?

Thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

It's best to use the factory specced gasket material if possible. Usually a small gap will not cause a serious overheating of the stove. How thick were the oak splits? A fire with thin splits of very dry wood can get hot quickly.

 

[BrotherBart]

That high density rope ESW uses should last a long time. Mine is on year 10 on the 30-NC and looks new. The ends of the door rope should be meeting in the middle of the hinge side of the door. Something ain't right here.

 

[BamaRama]

The door seal ends meet not quite in the middle of the hinged edge and the glass seal meets in the lower corner on the same side. Both are frayed badly. I think the glass is leaking more based on the direction of the flames. I also did the dollar bill check and it failed at center bottom and left top, both places about 6". It did not fail where the door rope ends meet.

Looking at the imprint of the seal in the paint, it appears that there is less sealing (rope pattern is thinner) in the areas where the dollar bill will move when the door is shut. I'm wondering if the stove is warped.

The splits were 3-4" and stacked tightly east-west. I think there were 5 splits in there at the time.

 

[BamaRama]

I appears that the stove is warped....

 

[begreen]

That sucks. Call Englander support tomorrow or Monday.

 

[BamaRama]

I measured the gap from straight edge. Bottom is a little over .10" and the top is.07".


The seal imprint on the paint tells the story.

Are the ends of the seal supposed to fray out like that --->

I will contact tech support ASAP.

Thank y'all.

 

[moresnow]

Let us know the outcome.

 

[BamaRama]

Afterthought.... I recall another member with an NC-13 talking about the ash door leaking air and causing a run-away. This was the first fire after removing the door. I normally don't remove it at all and leave it sealed with ash deposit (that's what a shovel is for). Maybe that factored in with the driest wood I've ever burned and a leaky door.

 

[BrotherBart]

There is no ash door on the 13-NC. Just a plug in the floor of the stove to remove to dump ashes into the pan.

 

[BamaRama]

There is no ash door on the 13-NC. Just a plug in the floor of the stove to remove to dump ashes into the pan.

Yeah, the plug. Rookie terminology mistake.

 

[BamaRama]

1 phone call, sent pictures at technician's request, emailed twice... crickets.

It hasn't done it again so it was probably air leaking around the plug.

 

[Woody Stover]

The door seal ends meet not quite in the middle of the hinged edge and the glass seal meets in the lower corner on the same side. Both are frayed badly.

I had a gap like that on the ash pan gasket on the Buck 91. I replaced it (with OEM gasket) and after I cut the ends, I worked a small amount of high-temp silicone (from the auto parts store) into the ends of the rope to keep it from unraveling. I only wanted a small amount of silicone so that the rope could still conform to the sealing surface...I didn't want a lot of silicone, to the point that the ends of the rope would be stiff. Door gasket on that stove was adhered with silicone, from the factory.

 

[Dix]

The imprint of the gasket on the stove body looks weird / off to me. Mine has never done that.

And yes... no ash pan on the 13. Hell, I didn't even know there was a plug, probably better I didn't

 

[BrotherBart]

I missed the gap in my first pass through here. My first 30-NC was like that and they replaced the stove. Manufacturing defect.

Paging Mike Holton. Call in the lobby for @stoveguy2esw

 

[BamaRama]

I sent pictures of the feeler gauge in the gaps. I've found that if I put more than 3 splits in it, it runs up to max operating range and a little beyond with the air shut down. Is that normal?

 

[Dix]

I sent pictures of the feeler gauge in the gaps. I've found that if I put more than 3 splits in it, it runs up to max operating range and a little beyond with the air shut down. Is that normal?

No, it's not.

I can pack 4-6 splits in E/W and have it run at normal temps, while slowly cutting air down.

 

[Highbeam]

The way they crank these stoves out with one sheet of steel bent into a U to make the front and sides seems to really provide a lot of opportunity for the type of warpage you have. It's not like they cut the face of the stove out of a single sheet and then weld the sides onto it.

If their machine or jig for bending the U piece is overbending the corners then a whole lot of stoves could have this "feature".

My gaskets look like yours. Frayed at the ends. The glass gasket is the worst, it was not carefully or evenly placed under the glass. I've thought about resetting that one but all of those screws are scary. A little extra air into a non-cat like these is no big deal but if you can't control the output then yeah, time to look for the BIG leak.

 

[BamaRama]

It's in my living room and we don't like to turn over to cook the other side.

It's controllable as long as I don't load it full of fuel. I think the big leak is at bottom of door. Ol' George just slides right through.

 

[BrotherBart]

What I did to heat the house without the stove going nuts while we worked out the exchange was to put a piece of ribbon door glass gasket over the bow at the bottom of the door opening. That filled the gap when the door was closed and gave me control until we could do a stove swap.

 

[Woody Stover]

What I did to heat the house without the stove going nuts while we worked out the exchange was to put a piece of ribbon door glass gasket over the bow at the bottom of the door opening. That filled the gap when the door was closed and gave me control until we could do a stove swap.

If the gap isn't too huge, he might be able to pull up the gasket and put more adhesive under the section of gasket that needs more height, or put in a new gasket and bunch it up a little in that area when putting it in.

 

[BamaRama]

If the gap isn't too huge,

I gauged it at .126" from flat at the deepest point.

 

[BrotherBart]

That high density gasket that ESW uses is hard as a rock. Ain't gonna be any fluffing it up.

 

[BamaRama]

One other thing... The air inlet control was very stiff when I first set up the heater. I had to open it all the way and bend the rod over about 10 degrees before it would move without binding. So it slides easily now but I can push the spring handle down (towards the floor without sliding the damper) and it lets a lot of air in the stove. Enough to cause more flame. Is this normal?

 

[Woody Stover]

So it slides easily now but I can push the spring handle down (towards the floor without sliding the damper) and it lets a lot of air in the stove. Enough to cause more flame. Is this normal?

Doesn't sound normal, but I don't have that stove. Hard for me to visualize....can you see what is causing that to happen, how the door handle is interacting with the air control flap or rod?