Wood stove cement/sealant??

[bkatzman]

Hello folks,
So I started up the antique Round Oak 20 Cylinder wood stove after replacing the stove pipe and noticed some smoke coming from two spots when the fire is really cooking. One is where the stove pipe begins (oval shaped unlike newer stoves that are round) and the other is beneath a bolt. Any ideas on what I can use to fix this?

 

[cmonSTART]

I like high temperature silicone, myself.

 

[JimWalshin845]

Let the stove go cold and throughly clean the inside. Place a work lamp or bare bulb light inside the stove with door closed, turn off the lights in the room and throughly look for any cracks.

 

[Webwidow]

I like high temperature silicone, myself.

To the best of my knowledge high temp silicone will not take the high temp.of stove pipe. We recommend only using high temp furnace cement. All wood stove require a good upward draft. If the chimney does not draft well the result will be smoke leakage. If you see smoke only from the initial start of the stove you may have to preheat your chimney.

 

[Webwidow]

Let the stove go cold and throughly clean the inside. Place a work lamp or bare bulb light inside the stove with door closed, turn off the lights in the room and throughly look for any cracks.

Good advice checking old stoves for cracks is always a good idea. However this would not account for smoke leakage at the stove pipe. For example the old open face franklin's typically burned smokeless as does a stove designed for their front doors to be open.
It is all about the draft.
When was the last time you cleaned or checked your chimney?

 

[webbie]

Use black furnace cement - I like the rutland brand. You can find it just about anywhere (hardware stores, etc.).

You can apply it from the inside, which makes a nicer looking joint. If possible, damper the area first.

WW is right that silicone can only take about 600 degrees, and stove pipe easily hits 1000 or more sometimes. Furnace cement is good to 1700-2000+

 

[cmonSTART]

Very interesting!

 

[BrotherBart]

Very interesting!

Silicone vaporizes at 800 degrees.

 

[Webwidow]

Vaporizing is a cool trick. Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat? :zip:
[quote author="BrotherBart"

Silicone vaporizes at 800 degrees.

 

[BrotherBart]

Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?

Yes.

 

[Webwidow]

Opps...wrong hat rocky.

Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?

Yes.

 

[JimWalshin845]

Opps...wrong hat rocky.

Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?

Yes.

That was a great show, always politically skewed and very punny(sic). Frostbite Falls Minnesota... I bet there are a lotta stoves cooking up there tonight!

 

[bkatzman]

Good tips everybody.

I especially liked the tip about using a light to find all the cracks.

I also was kind of worried when I heard mention of draft issues. We had the chimney cleaned in October and replaced the stove pipe at the same time. Currently it has a 45 and 90 degree turn in it and I was wondering if it may effect draft drastically. I also was wondering if there could be any issues with blockage since we have burned 2x4s in it and have burned at 150 degrees several times (perhaps this would leave deposits in the chimney?)

The smoking only occurs when I open the bottom door (where the ashes are stored) to increase draft. It really works well to increase the heat/burn, but also causes smoke to come out of the small hole in the back and where the stovepipe meets the oval "exhaust" of the stove.

I will research the silicone, cement, and tape routes as well.

Thanks!

 

[swestall]

More air = smoke, sounds like the chimney can't keep up with the additional combustion at first. Does the smoke go away after a minute: if so there is your answer. Those angled connectors may be giving you fits.
And, that stove was not meant to be opened up and blasted. It is unique and could be dammaged by operating it that way. They were meant to build the fire over time and get the stove hot.
I'm with Craig on the stove cement from the inside; you will only do the job once that way.

 

[bkatzman]

Good point.

I checked the stove further and notice a couple of places where smoke could leak, which I believe impacts the "suction" from the stove through the chimney. I have to replace the mica window "glass", and there is some leakage through the round cover that sits under the decorative finial.

I haven't really attempted to get the thing to hot after I accidentally threw in too much scrap wood on my first attempt and watched the thing shoot to 450 right in front of my eyes and cause A LOT of smoke. I try to hover between 150 and 200, which kind of heats our kitchen along with our ventless propane heater..

I am not really too confident about using this 100+ year stove regularly even though it is in good shape, the pipe is new, and the chimney was just cleaned in October.

Is there any danger if I constantly burn between 150 and 200? I was worried that it could lead to build up in the chimney, although the chimney seems to be letting out smoke quickly?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Webwidow]

Smoldering your fire does lead to excess creosote build up. I recommend changing out your elbo for a tee with a removable cap. Then clean out the tee weekly. I think your stove has a grate and ash pan, if not place about 1" of sand on the bottom of your stove. Or better yet change out the stove and place this one in a corner with a plant on top.

 

[JimWalshin845]

Is there any danger if I constantly burn between 150 and 200? I was worried that it could lead to build up in the chimney, although the chimney seems to be letting out smoke quickly?
Thanks for your help!

Those temps sound like it will lead to a lot of crosote build up so I agree with WebWidow. If you are going to burn that low, then at least once a day burn the stove HOT to help eliminate some of the build up.

 

[swestall]

Well, you shouldn't be too concerned about 400 on that stove; I'd try to keep it below 700; and if you put a stack thermometer about 2.5-3 feet up the pipe, you can safely run at 400 there. You should not be burning at 160-200 as it is too cool and will produce massive amounts of creosote there. 300 Plus is a safe place to be.
Once you get a fair ignition on this unit, then you should burn two or three fair sized splits to keep it at a reasonable temp. You need two or more so the air can keep the fire going around them.
You will actually find out that stove will put out a significant amount of heat. In the old installations, those stoves would usually have a pipe damper installed so you could reduce the draft/pull. But, your elbows may be doing that, or not. Is there a way to use fewer angles and still get to the chimney?

For mica and other antique items you will find that the folks at : (broken link removed) rebuild old stoves for a living and will be able to help you with mica and other items you need. If you have the time it is worth a trip to go there and see the old stoves, he has a number of them burning all the time, and discuss this stuff with him directly. If not go to the web site anyway. If you do go, Yankee Candle's home shop, etc is also there and makes for a nice side attraction as well.

Those stoves are very nice and when kept in good order will do a nice job. They will go through more wood than you might like, but can be worth it. Also, you can get an inline CAT for them to install in the pipe just above the outlet; then they burn clean too. Agree with webwidow's comments on clean out, ash pan, etc. If you don't have an ashpan with the stove, you can get a local duct work maker to bend you up one, usually pretty inexpensively: or use a metal cake pan of aprox. size, etc.

I have a number of these old stoves that I use a little and they are wonderful.

 

[JimWalshin845]

Swestall,

I thought the in-line Cats were just gimmicks and really were just creosote collectors. Do you have any links or suggestions as to good in-line Cats?

 

[swestall]

Hey Jim, I don't at the moment but could do the research. I have one installed in an older stove in my shop; I've had it there for many years now. It is a round converter just like those used in many stoves, in a 6 inch pipe that is heavier guage than stove pipe. I'll get my flue temp up to around 550+ on it and close the converter, it will light off (there is a peep hole where you can see it glowing) and there isn't anything out the stack but heat. Its been very effective and the stack has only a little dust in it: so this one works. Let me go and see...........

(broken link removed to http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1983-01-01/A-Catalytic-Converter-You-Can-Build.aspx) This is an interesting article about this topic.

http://bre.umd.edu/html/151.html And, another...

(broken link removed) A unit like the one I have installed.

Hope this helps all.....Steve.