Tarm Solo 30 Tunnel Stone Replacement

[Rory]

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I spotted some cracks in my 2 year old tunnel stone while replacing my nozzle, so I cemented them in hopes of extending its life. The repair didn't take, and I pulled the front 4 inches or so of my tunnel out in 2 pieces while cleaning ash the other day. I called Brian Willette at Tarm and he shipped me a new stone that arrived the next day! Brian's great to deal with, no pressure, but I opted for a new stone that cost a bit more, since I had such a disappointingly short life from the last one. My last one required pounding into place, and that may have contributed to its failure. Pulling it out was the hard part of this chore, what finally worked was reaching in behind it with a pry bar and executing a series of tugs that amounted to pounding from the back side. I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished. The new stone, however, went right into place with room to spare. I hope this doesn't mean it needs the shims that I passed up buying, but I think it's probably close enough. Another option might be to seal the small gap at the top with refractory cement, but I've never heard of anyone doing that. The fire's going now and it appears to be doing its job.

The new beauty
.

The remainder, which was still working.


As Jimi would say. "Stone Free".


In place, easy as could be.


First flame.


Another dead soldier.