What is the best way to re-seal an VC Intrepid II wood stove?

[babolu333]

Hey all, I originally posted here regarding an VC Intrepid II that I inherited. I cleaned and rebuilt the woodstove and fired it up. I noticed when I closed the dampener, smoke came out of the top of the stove. @begreen and @bholler were nice enough to look at the post and, with subsequent images, recommend a rebuild. I took the whole stove apart and I believe I need to reseal. It looks like the OM or a rebuilding enthusiast, used cement caulk to seal the stove. I am looking for some guidance or best practices on how to do reseal this stove? I ordered two tubes of the Rutland cement caulk. Thanks for the help!

 

[begreen]

All the mating channels have to be completely cleaned of the old cement. Then they get a generous bead of the new cement. Wipe off ooze on the exterior with a damp rag.

@defiant3 may have some additional tips.

 

[babolu333]

Hey guys, I took the stove apart and resealed it. I caulked the crap out of the sides with the Portland stove cement. However, when I fired it to test it, I still got smoke leaking out of the the top panel. I let it get to 500, turn down the thermostat and close the dampener to go through the catalytic converter.

Could it be that my test fire, the chimney is not long enough?

 

[begreen]

Could be. The stove needs at least 16' of flue to draft properly.