New Stove Paint curing - best method

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john is burning

New Member
Oct 14, 2020
12
NJ
I just ordered the Drolet 1800 insert (2020 EPA revision). I had one installed at my house in 2015 and recall the smoke from the paint curing process being pretty intense. I am wondering what the best way to do this is. My instinct says to just burn it really hot for an entire day, open all the windows, and play outside with my kid so I can monitor it. No idea if that will work. Your feedback is appreciated.
 
When you get it, put it out on the lawn, add a section of stovepipe, and follow the manufacturer's break-in instructions. Then burn a hot fire, really let it rip. THEN take it inside and install it...
 
From the manual:

Burn one or two small fires to begin the curing and conditioning process. Then build bigger and hotter fires until there is no longer any paint smell from the insert. Once the paint smell disappears, your insert is ready for serious heating.
 
My Kuma Stove will be finished being installed on Friday and I plan to do as the manual suggest below.

Paint Curing: When building your 1st fire, be careful to start small and increase the heat slowly over a 4 to 5- hour period. The paint on the stove cures with heat and needs to be done slowly. As the paint cures, it gives off a smell and even sometimes a visible haze into the room. Make sure the area is well ventilated during the curing operation. The smell will subside after a few hours of operation.
 
From the manual:

Burn one or two small fires to begin the curing and conditioning process. Then build bigger and hotter fires until there is no longer any paint smell from the insert. Once the paint smell disappears, your insert is ready for serious heating.
I followed this process with our Escape 1800 and fumes were not an issue.
 
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When you get it, put it out on the lawn, add a section of stovepipe, and follow the manufacturer's break-in instructions. Then burn a hot fire, really let it rip. THEN take it inside and install it...

It was delivered already and its 500lbs and on a pallet in my garage. Unfortunately I have no way of moving it otherwise I would do this. Much better than doing it inside
 
500# is not very heavy for one guy if you put it on wheels.

Tilt the pallet onto a couple $20 furniture dollies from Home Depot, and you can roll her right out into the driveway. You might enjoy having them around for the install too!

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Harbor Fright's dollies are cheaper.....lol Paint it, fire it in the driveway with a short length of flue pipe and let it stink outside.... Or, paint it, let it dry put it back in the house, open all the windows, fire it up and stink up the house for a while.... ;lol
 
Put a fan in the window if the paint is off-gassing badly as it bakes in.
 
Put a fan in the window if the paint is off-gassing badly as it bakes in.
10-4....... 2 years ago I painted mine (pellet stove) in the house, never moved it, just covered everything around it with newspaper and masking tape and spray painted it carefully, fired it up and cooked it with the windows open and the central furnace on blower only. Took about 2 days and the stink was gone.
 
I used Stove Brite to repaint my stovetop last year- worked great, but man it stank while curing.

It stank again every time the stove hit a new high temperature, too. Do a real hot fire while it's still warm enough to have windows open!
 
Harbor Fright's dollies are cheaper.....lol Paint it, fire it in the driveway with a short length of flue pipe and let it stink outside.... Or, paint it, let it dry put it back in the house, open all the windows, fire it up and stink up the house for a while.... ;lol

Um wait a minute - paint it? Am I supposed to paint a brand new stove? It's black...wasn't it painted by Drolet? I'm confused...
 
Don't worry, you will at some point in the future so be prepared for that.

They all stink when new anyway. Some worse than others.
 
I hadn't considered that....why so?
Because of the rust preventive oil on the steel before fabrication and someone might have left a cigarette butt inside too. MY SOP with a new unit is fire it up in the driveway and let it 'stink off' outside. Slap a short length of pellet pipe on the exhaust outlet, put in some fuel, plug it in and set for maximum fire and let it stink.
 
I installed an Escape 1500i in the spring, and yeah, the first few fires were extremely stinky and required opening all of the windows and front door to air the place out. All of the smoke alarms in the house also went off during the first fire. :eek: Then it stank (although not as bad) every time I had a fire for the next handful of times. I had my first fire of the season last week and it did smell a little bit when I got it going pretty hot, but it was not nearly as bad. So, I'm guessing you'll have the same experience as it's almost certainly the same paint. If I could have broken it in outside first, I would have, but it would have been a pain for me to move it. Oh, and warn your kid that it's gonna smell bad in the beginning but that will go away with time. My kid was pretty unhappy about the stink.