Rust inside insert. Is this normal?

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Jaugust124

Feeling the Heat
Feb 14, 2010
375
Mid-Hudson Valley, NY
Here are a few pictures of the inside of my 1 year old insert. Just had it cleaned professionally and after checking it out I noticed all this rust inside. So, the question is, is this normal?
 

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There's nothing in those pictures which are over alarming IMO. It's probably just some summer humidity inside a dirty stove which is causing some light surface rust. Is there any evidence of water entry anywhere else? Staining on the ceilings, puddles, etc? Is there a cap on your flue?
 
I wouldn't get overly alarmed by it. Humidity can be a culprit depending on the amounts. As per cmonSTART's question, any signs of leaks or trapped moisture around the insert?

A
 
Thanks for the quick responses. Glad to hear it doesn't seem to be abnormal.

To answer your questions, no there are no signs of water or leaking on or near the stove. There is a cap on the flue as well.

I did have one incident this past heating season when a wicked rain storm caused water to go down the flue and into the stove. Talked to the dealer and he just told me to clean out the wet ash and get a good fire going in there to dry things up. That was probably back in February, so the stove was run many times after that to dry it out.

Is this something that I should give a little attention to? Maybe a wire brushing or some steel wool to knock off the rust. If so, should I get a little high temp paint to touch it up?

Thanks.
 
The high heat of a season's burning leaves raw steel exposed to the elements. In a humid environment some minor surface rust is inevitable unless components are all stainless. This will all be a memory after the first few fires.
 
Like BG says. Not a problem.
 
Technically, rust is a slow burn.

It's ashamed they don't look like they did before the very first fire, at the beginning of each burn season.
 
Actually, the inside of that firebox looks great! The small amounts of rust are the raw exposed steel, like all the other responding posts are saying. In short time you will have the heat blazing again...
 
Someone here mentioned about used a desiccant for these purposes. I have a roasted peanut tin can full of kitty litter sitting right in the middle of the burn area. I don't know if this has helped but my stove inside looks just like I left it after the last cleaning.

Pittsburgh is a pretty humid area so extra protection for the investment is not such a bad idea.
 
Totally normal. Most of the rusting occurs during the burn season. High temperatures + oxygen = oxidation. Even stainless internal components will look rusty from high temperature corrosion.
 
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