Who has their stove off ?

Mine is off, for the moment anyway, but should the wife think she is cold or damp, the stove will run without regard to the date. We have a gas furnace, but that won't make her any way near as comfortable as the stove does. Just call it a creature comfort.

 

Both stoves got the final cleaning for the season today. The P43 had cobwebs in it. Flues will be cleaned in the fall.

 

That's on my to do list maybe this weekend

 

I'm pulling the back exhaust & OAK pipes off, covering w/ a couple of quart storage bags, and rubber-banding the ports until I can get to cleaning next week after this weekend's work cycle -

no Damp Rid in the stove this year: just cleaning, oil coating surfaces, and sealing it up tight.

* Found a lot more rust @ the start of last season, not entirely sure if the Damp Rid had anything to do with it, but really don't want to go through that 'rehab regime' again if I can avoid it.. Was a lot of manual labor (& hours) hand sanding, oiling, stove blacking, firing up, checking -> rinse-lather-repeat to "re-season" the mild steel, used in the stove here.

 

Hi WW, it's simply taking a cotton rag, or painter's sponge & soaking w/ (SAE 20) oil & wiping all the interior (and exterior) surfaces on a clean stove, until an oil sheen is visible. And sealing all ports up, and checking every so often, which I'll forget to do anyway.

The oil coats and protects the metal from rust formation, no different than oil-undercoating a car. Well, a little different, usually after oil-undercoating a vehicle you would find a dusty dirt road and do a little "4-wheeling" to bind the oil w/ dust to the frame (at least around here).

But I think I'm going to use a blend of 3-in-1 oil, SAE 20 oil, and a few tablespoons of PB Blaster penetrating lubricant: that's the base-blend I used, with carbon black (from the first few feet of the vent pipe directly exiting the stove) to make the "stove black" to rehab the stove at the beginning of last season above. * The carbon black serves the same function as the 'road dust', provides a binder and protective layer over the metal, and plays nice / binds -> bakes to the mild steel here well.

You gotta wear old clothes, long sleeves, and heavy duty gloves applying this stuff, it's messy.

 

I gotta do the same thing with the P61. Going to hold off for the P43 - I remember last year I had them all cleaned and disconnected, then had to hook back up in June when it was in the 40's

 

I usually let the oil sit / soak for about an hour before firing back up (usually doing other things like cleaning the hopper in the interim), but I would guess 10-15 minutes is good.

re: "what" to oil: any surface, interior or exterior, that is exposed to high heat, but -not- direct flame, including: burn pot support metalwork, fire chamber, heat exchange chamber, interior walls (hidden behind Firex panels here), baffle plate (aka flame trap), any support bracket, interior combustion chamber area, which is behind/below the fire chamber here.

The exhaust / impeller assembly on the stove here is cast aluminum, so it's not needed.


* I have not treated the burn pot directly on the stove here, it is new, and cleaned frequently. I have treated the supporting metalwork which forms the air chamber directly underneath the burn pot though.

On the outside of the stove here, I will remove the protective heat grate directly in front of the heat exchange tubes, and also cleanup / treat that area.

The lower front stove panels on either side of the front door, and lower area of the fire chamber (where the ash tray sits) are in very good shape, so no treating there.

--

I'm a firm believer of using the least amount of material removal needed in order to get the job done, so if I found just surface spotting, I would start with a non-abrasive scouring pad and some SAE 20 oil (or a 50/50 mix of 3-in-1, SAE 20, and a squirt or two of PB Blaster) mix, lightly work the area, wipe down, and see how it looks. If improvement, add a bit of carbon black to the mix, re-apply, let it sit for an hour, fire up stove normally, get up to operating temp or run normal (usually 8-10-12 hrs. here), then re-check after the stove has cooled / is cold.

After a non-abrasive (plastic) scouring pad, 000 steel wool, 00 steel wool, 220 grit automotive sanding paper, 180 grit, 120 grit sanding paper are in the toolkit here, listed in order of least to most aggressive.

I wouldn't use any sanding paper coarser than 120 Grit automotive (wet/dry) paper, unless I intended to strip the stove panel down, and do a complete re-sanding & re-paint.

 

The DampRid didnt cause anything...it pulled the moisture out. I have found that even if I seal the exhaust at the tail coupling, seal the intake and keep the door closed and latched, the Damp Rid still takes moisture out and I get almost no rust, but there is still liquid in the basin below the blue stuff.

 

I appreciate that feedback G -

I will be the first to admit that I 'pressed' the stove into service back in Dec. '14 after making necessary repairs / that I was a complete 'newbie' at that point / and I did not inspect, scrutinize, or address "all" areas that needed attention before firing up the stove for 6+ months straight - it was just to freakin' cold that winter. (Seems like a lifetime ago now.)

Note to self: BUY MORE PELLETS.

I'm going to try the oiling, and will pick up a small size Damp Rid as well & toss it in there / check it after a few days.

Given that the stove sat for several years unused, then was badly over-fired within a few months of purchase, most likely contributed to the condition issues found @ start this past burn season. (Given how badly it over-fired when I tested as-is / unfixed after purchase - it's a wonder the glass didn't melt out of the front door.) Edit: what I'm trying to say it's no surprise the interior firebox had some condition issues, w/ peeling & missing paint.

Regards,
Rob

 

Oiling is fine, but seal it up, close it up, put in the Damp Rid and leave it alone-if you open the door you are letting in moisture. It's tough, I know...but its like smoking a pork butt-you have to have faith-Once it is closed and cooking, leave it be for many many hours.

I made the rookie mistake after season 2 where I left the door open slighty to "let the moisture out".....IN AN UNFINISHED BASEMENT. .

Needless to say I had rust in the fall. Now I close it up, stuff rags in all the openings (write down where they all are and store that note in the hopper) put 1 bucket of DampRid in the hopper, and 2 in the fire box. Overkill maybe but piece of mind is worth a few dollars to me.

BTW, find a multi pack of Damp Rid and then buy a bag of replacement material. I havnt had to buy anything more in 4 years.

 

Been warm and dry until this morning.

Rained a bit last night, but HOT weather coming by Sat/Sun with near 100 F maybe, then cooler again

Just comfy this morning.

No fires for several days now, and by the look of the forecast, we may be done with them until fall, but ya never know.

Usually early June is the end of the stove season.

 

May be the end of the season for me. The stove hasn't run for at least a week. Although it has been cool enough in the house that I would normally run for a bit to get the chill out, solar gain, or hot afternoon temps keep me from doing so since I don't have AC. The last two nights I have slept under a sheet, summer blanket and comforter to keep warm. Unless we get a couple of dark, damp days in the 50's, I don't see a fire in my near future. Of course if I go ahead and button up the stoves, I'll most likely get that dark, damp string of days in the 50's (like last year).

 

Next week looks to be a little chilly B, but shutting down here anyway.. Too busy to do multiple end-of-season cleanings at the moment.

 

That's a lot less $$$, Thanks for the tip G.

 

I was tempted to light her up this morning and I still may. It's chilly in here.