White spot on front door 1975 Defiant

[SpaceBus]

The right side front door, the one with the handle, has a large round white spot on it. Any ideas? I tried Google, but it assumed I meant the glass and not the exterior. Is it from touching it with my bare hand? This seems to have happened in the last hour or so. There's also a bit of discoloration on the left hand front door, and a bit around the handle on the load door.

 

[begreen]

That looks like the stove is overfiring in that area causing the finish to go chalky. When were the door gaskets last replaced?

 

[coaly]

Air leak causing hot spots. Black stove paint will lighten up and turn white at higher temperatures.
Below is an example of a very hot stove. These are steel plate and no damage was done. Normal for black stove pipe that reaches those temps as well.

Any leak at gaskets, seams or pipe connections lets air IN, not smoke out, since the chimney flue causes a low pressure area in chimney, pipe and stove. Oxygen leaking in burns hotter in spots around leak. Your paint may be getting old and more susceptible to loosing the color with added heat. Higher quality paints also hold color longer at higher temps.

 

[SpaceBus]

I don't know when the gaskets were done last, but I have a replacement set. This stove really just needs to make it through the winter. Ideally we are replacing the stove before next winter. I did check all the doors with an incense stick to try and find leaks, and didn't see any. I do also think there was a split against the door right there.

 

[SpaceBus]

My pipes look like crap, but the previous users of the stove put cement on them where none was needed.

 

[SpaceBus]

I just went around it again with incense and a flash light, still can't see anywhere other than the secondary and primary intakes where air might be leaking in. The fireback does have a bad crack in it. This is obviously less than ideal, but I don't have the budget for a nice stove right now. If this one dies before winter ends, I'm picking up a US Stove 1269e to survive the winter. My only other heat is electric base board heaters, and they don't cut it when it's actually cold out.

 

[SpaceBus]

I did use some packing paper, no dyes or glue, to get the fire lit today off of one tiny still hot coal I found. I don't have glass, but I can probably guess the ball leaned against the door as it went up.

 

[begreen]

I'm picking up a US Stove 1269e to survive the winter.

Don't waste your money. You would be better off and safer to limp along with the Defiant this winter.

Do the dollar bill test for the door gaskets check.

 

[SpaceBus]

Don't waste your money. You would be better off and safer to limp along with the Defiant this winter.

Do the dollar bill test for the door gaskets check.

Wow, that's saying something. I replaced the griddle gasket and the front door gasket in the center where a chunk was missing. Tried the paper test, but it wouldn't come out at all on the bottom, before I did anything. I have the door larch as tight as I can and still get the door closed, but I wish it were a big tighter where the doors come together

 

[begreen]

If you think that you will be able to afford a proper replacement for the Defiant by spring then I would keep it for now. As long as there are no cracks in the stove body that might be dangerous, it's going to be a better heater.

 

[SpaceBus]

We got a new flashlight that is much brighter than the ones we had, and found a few gaps by the corners of the doors. I can see no light after adjusting the doors, maybe this will help

 

[coaly]

If the gasket is crushed, sometimes you can loosen it from the metal and put Stove and Gasket Cement which is used to attach new gasket material under the gasket. Close the door gently without latching for an hour or more to allow the cement to solidify without squeezing it out by latching door. Then close and fire for final cure. The gasket cement takes up the space of the crushed gasket material.

Did you close the doors with a dollar bill in the sealing area and feel the drag pulling it out? It should be the same all the way around and shows the light contact areas better than using light or smoke.

 

[SpaceBus]

The thing is, the stove passed the dollar test on the areas with the most white spots... I think the crack in the fireback is also taking its toll. I'm heavy into researching replacements, but my spouse and I both find pretty much every modern stove to be boring. The Jotul F118 seems like it should work, but a lot of folks on here don't like them. There aren't many stoves sized for my intermediate two story, and I don't want to freeze or bake ourselves out of the house.

 

[begreen]

Some modern stoves may be boring, but they will give you a nice fire view and still be affordable. And they will burn less wood more cleanly.

 

[SpaceBus]

The fire view is nice, but not as nice as museum level Castings on a piece of art I can look at every day. The fire view only works in the cold.

 

[begreen]

There are stoves that provide both, but they cost more.