Wood stove problem.

[JSUnlimited]

The main firebox door on my add-on wood furnace has developed a small hole. It is a cast iron door. Can it be fixed? I'm probably going to either have a new door fabbed or order a new one. Just wondering.

The hole is located between the L and the A as indicated by the pics.

 

[kenmac]

Must have been a bad cast. I would just weld it up

 

[Highbeam]

Most wood stove companies including my Hearthstone will have a lifetime warranty on cast iron parts unless it can be shown that the failure was due to overfiring. I would send the photo to the manufacturer (Clayton) as it appears to be an obvious casting defect.

Otherwise, braze in some filler or maybe even JB weld.

 

[pwl]

If the warranty thing doesn't work you could clean it and braze or use Belzona.

 

[Egon]

You cold also drill it out and put a decorative bolt in it.

 

[ToadHill]

Or you could machine out the middle and put a glass door in so you could watch the flame.

 

[schmism]

welding cast is tricky at best.

best bet is braze if you cant get the warneete thing to go through.

 

[CurlyDave]

You cold also drill it out and put a decorative bolt in it.

You need to be a little careful if you do this.

Common nuts & bolts are cadmium plated. Surprisingly, Cadmium has a fairly high vapor pressure and in a high temperature application will release Cadmium vapors.

Cadmium is also pretty toxic. The poisoning is very painful and is not reversible.

I would highly recommend either a stainless bolt, or an unplated one for a stove in a living room.

 

[Egon]

Opps!

 

[Highbeam]

Comeon now, how many bolts, nuts, or studs have you welded on and not died from cadmium poisoning?

 

[Bill Barrett]

Comeon now, how many bolts, nuts, or studs have you welded on and not died from cadmium poisoning?

Yeah, I silver soldered for 20 years before they come out with cad-free. It really made it flow nice!

 

[WayneB]

The main firebox door on my add-on wood furnace has developed a small hole. It is a cast iron door. Can it be fixed? I'm probably going to either have a new door fabbed or order a new one. Just wondering.

The hole is located between the L and the A as indicated by the pics.

I would suggest that you contact the manufacturer and see if he can help you with the problem. They might be able to replace the door. Or at least tell you the best method of repairing the casting.

you can reach them here I think?

United States Stove Company

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I've got a buddy that welds cast iron using 1311 (I think) rod. (calls it "farm rod" because he uses it to weld almost everything on his farm)
has repaired his wood stove with it more than once. (not in the same spots)
doesn't even bother preheating, which surprised me the first time I saw it.

Also used to work with a guy in a machine shop who would weld engine blocks, but he preheated them to about 600 degrees and used a heliarc. after welding we reheated the blocks to 600 then put them in a shot blaster to stress relieve. Not real practical here, but it worked.