Hey all, for the last 4-5 weeks I've been tearing apart an older Quadra-Fire - Santa Fe pellet stove that I've had for about a year from Craigslist. Works like a champ, it's just aged and the previous owner let water drip on it, so it has lost of rust everywhere. I'm cleaning every single part of this pellet stove, and am repainting the entire thing.
Just a quick rundown on what I've done. This is my first time doing this, so it's been a learning experience to say the least. At first I thought "Sand Blasting will make quick work out of this!". Little did I know that sand blasting would make quick work out of my patience. So after fighting through a few pieces with a sand blaster (and a few valves later) I decided to try something different. Got some paint remover from O'Reily's and that worked beautifully on the paint. However it did nothing for the rust. So I went back to the drawing board and decided to try Electrolysis...and let me tell you the Angels did sing. Not only did it get rid of the rust completely, it also softened the paint, so that I could use a random orbit sander to make quick work out of the rest.
Now that I'm on a roll with cleaning, I'm starting to think about the painting. I'm planning on using StoveBright, and as I was thinking I had a few questions. What should I paint, and what shouldn't I paint? Anything external to the firebox is obvious, but I'm also cleaning inside the firebox. Would it be bad to paint in there, and/or should I paint in there? Also, what about around the door, where the door shuts? Any special considerations there? I want to do this right so that it will last many years to come without any need for me to take it apart again.
I'm also working on getting replacement Gaskets for everything as part of this major maintenance. Just curious on what you guys consider 'signs' of the gaskets needing replacements?
I'll probably have more questions soon. Thanks!
Just a quick rundown on what I've done. This is my first time doing this, so it's been a learning experience to say the least. At first I thought "Sand Blasting will make quick work out of this!". Little did I know that sand blasting would make quick work out of my patience. So after fighting through a few pieces with a sand blaster (and a few valves later) I decided to try something different. Got some paint remover from O'Reily's and that worked beautifully on the paint. However it did nothing for the rust. So I went back to the drawing board and decided to try Electrolysis...and let me tell you the Angels did sing. Not only did it get rid of the rust completely, it also softened the paint, so that I could use a random orbit sander to make quick work out of the rest.
Now that I'm on a roll with cleaning, I'm starting to think about the painting. I'm planning on using StoveBright, and as I was thinking I had a few questions. What should I paint, and what shouldn't I paint? Anything external to the firebox is obvious, but I'm also cleaning inside the firebox. Would it be bad to paint in there, and/or should I paint in there? Also, what about around the door, where the door shuts? Any special considerations there? I want to do this right so that it will last many years to come without any need for me to take it apart again.
I'm also working on getting replacement Gaskets for everything as part of this major maintenance. Just curious on what you guys consider 'signs' of the gaskets needing replacements?
I'll probably have more questions soon. Thanks!