# hearthstone gasket replacement question



## snowleopard (Jan 20, 2011)

Hoping there's some knowledgeable (or even just sympathetic at this point) person still kickin' around the forum tonight.

Boiler is dead in the water, RIP, sad story of its demise last Thursday recounted elsewhere here, won't bore you again w/details; gasket on Hearthstone failed; Tonight Clear. Patchy ice fog. Lows 30 to 40 below...except 10 to 20 below on the hills. Light winds...except east winds 10 to 15 mph on the hills.

I opened the stove door this a.m., encountered some resistance, thought it was the hinges, then realized the stove gasket was stuck to the doorframe assembly that bolts to body of stove along the bottom.  An inch or so stuck, about six inches pulled out.   I tucked it back in, and tested it with a stick of incense--didn't see it drawing air, so built a fire and left for work. 

How I got lucky: stopped at stove store on way home from work over the whiney complaints of DS who just wanted to go home (so did I) and yadda.  Got some RUtland Gasketing Cement and advice, which was that it was probably fine unless it frayed, looked compromised, etc.,  and after a little discussion, "just in case", got a spare gasket because you never know when you might need it. 

Came home, house was at 60 (stove has been holding it at 65 during the day) and the stove was cold.   Opened door, and gasket flopped out sadly along the bottom; closer exam showed corners frayed and the gasket looking compromised.  Checked out firebox--nothing looks overfired, but I don't know how to tell.  Examined outside of box, nothing seems cracked, etc.  A little discoloration on the stone underneath where the gasket came out this a.m.  

So. Found a wire brush wheel in my toolbox (lucky again) and cleaned up the gasket channel.  Instruction manual says to take stove door off hinges and lay it flat for this.  Logic says that's the best way. I can't get it to budge--tried it in several degrees of open, even tapped very judiciously w/a mallet.  It's not moving.   

My questions: 

Can I replace the gasket w/o taking the stove off the hinges?  

I tried some of the gasket cement on a vertical application, and it's pretty runny.  Is it better to put it on the gasket? 

How long do I need to wait before I can build a fire in the stove? 

Is the universe trying to tell me something?  

I"m going outside now to pull some wood up the hill from the pile, because it's something constructive I can do, and it will seem really warm in here when I get back in, and then I'll check to see if any of you have any ideas you felt like sharing. 

Thanks for reading this.

ETA: okay, rethought the woodpile trips--baby, it's cold outside--and I don't want a chill if I can't have a fire.

Two more questions: How can I tell if this stove was overfired?  

Is the process of taking the ceremic baffle out of the ceiling of this stove (and putting it back after) relatively easy to do w/o cracking fragile baffle?  I want to take it down to inspect the stove, but don't want to wish I hadn't. 

Thanks again.

And another question:  Stove Store Guy sold gasket material by figuring out which I needed and cutting it to length.  It's several inches longer than the one that came out (76 to 66"); manual identifies need for 67".  I'm not sure whether to cut it shorter or stuff it in there.  It didn't want to shut when I first tried it--felt like I would have had to force the door shut--but I see an arrangment of door-to-frame that's kind of a knife-edge profile that fits into gasket.  Will this force it in?  

Looked over stove carefully, no visual damage.  

Tonight's going to be a long night, I suspect.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2011)

Sorry to hear of your troubles, and I don't want to add to your stress, but be careful about replacing the gasket.  You don't say what model of Hearthstone you have, but I came to serious grief replacing the gasket on mine.  DO NOT stuff the gasket material in there.  Stretch it out and test it by trying to close the door.  I followed the instructions of the dealer and the manufacturer in replacing mine, even had the installer/chimney sweep do it for me to be sure it was done right, and it ended up requiring terrific force to close the door on it.  Long story short, not only did the latch break from the pressure, but the cast iron "catch" on the frame wore away and cannot be fixed.  I still don't understand why this happened, frankly, but the stove was out of warranty by the time this happened, so I now have to wedge the door closed with my ash can.  This works OK, but obviously far from ideal.

So just be very, very careful when you're replacing the gasket and be absolutely sure you have the right thickness for your stove.

I wonder if it wouldn't make more sense to just reglue the stuff you've got in there already that's coming loose.

Even with a door leak, unlikely you've overfired your stove (hard to do with a Hearthstone because the soapstone sucks up so much heat) unless you stuffed it with super-hot pallet wood or kiln-dried kindling and left the primary air wide open.

If I were you, I'd take it a bit easy and live with a colder house until the weekend when you can literally spend a day sitting by the stove and seeing how it behaves (You do have a stovetop thermo, yes?) so you can tell whether you're in danger of overfiring or not.

Yes, you can replace the gasket without taking the door off, but it's much, much harder to do.  Did you lift the door a bit on its hinges? I can't think of any reason why the hinge bolts would get stuck.  Certainly there's no rust there unless you've been pouring water over them!  But you do have to relieve the pressure of the weight by lifting the door a bit in order for it to come out of the hinges (just like a house door).

No, you don't need to wait after replacing the gasket before firing up the stove.  The cement won't even harden until you do, most likely.  Yes, works better to put the cement in the door grove rather than on the gasket material.

Why do you want to take the baffle out?

Yes, the universe is trying to tell you you're WAY too anxious.  Calm down.  Have some decaf.  Odds are overwhelming that everything is fine.

Stove guy did the right thing and cut you a few inches extra gasket just in case.  DO NOT try to stuff it all in.  You won't be able to anyway, and it would make the gasket way too thick (see above).

If you really are too stressed about dealing with this, call your dealer or chimney sweep/installer for help.  He/she can also reassure you that you didn't dangerously overfire the stove.

If it were me, I'd reglue the gasket you already have, then do a "dollar bill" test on the door to see if it's reasonably tight, before replacing the gasket.

Be calm.   Take a deep breath.  It's actually quite hard to damage a stove.  You and it will be fine.  Just do be careful with replacing the damn gasket material.


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## soupy1957 (Jan 20, 2011)

Here's a video that I found some time ago..........perhaps it will be helpful??????

-Soupy1957


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## snowleopard (Jan 20, 2011)

gyrfalcon said:
			
		

> Sorry to hear of your troubles, and I don't want to add to your stress, but be careful about replacing the gasket.  You don't say what model of Hearthstone Heritageyou have, but I came to serious grief replacing the gasket on mine.  DO NOT stuff the gasket material in there.  Stretch it out and test it by trying to close the door.  I followed the instructions of the dealer and the manufacturer in replacing mine, even had the installer/chimney sweep do it for me to be sure it was done right, and it ended up requiring terrific force to close the door on it.  Long story short, not only did the latch break from the pressure, but the cast iron "catch" on the frame wore away and cannot be fixed.  I still don't understand why this happened, frankly, but the stove was out of warranty by the time this happened, so I now have to wedge the door closed with my ash can.  This works OK, but obviously far from ideal.
> 
> Thank you for your kind words, for taking the time to post, and for sharing your experience.  I didn't have time last night to reply--hit the ground running when I read this--but it was truly helpful.  Please accept my condolences for the damage to your stove--I can imagine how disappointing that must have been.  Have you spoken to a good welder about this?
> 
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 I had searched this topic before I posted, and saw your posts on this topic.  Wondered how that had worked out for you, and am genuinely grateful for your reply.  It's supposed to warm up some--to lows of -20 to - 35.  This isn't just about ambiance and comfort for me.  It's what's keeping out there from being in here.  Thus the heightened sense of awareness, if you will. Best to you, and thank you again for your support and information.


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## snowleopard (Jan 20, 2011)

soupy1957 said:
			
		

> Here's a video that I found some time ago..........perhaps it will be helpful??????
> 
> -Soupy1957



THanks, Soupy.  I took a look at this video.  

The part I'm having trouble with is that the gasketing material is simply to large to allow me to easily close the stove again after I've put it in.  I've stretched it out as far as I can, and at least it shuts, but not easily.  I went ahead and used what I had so that I could have a fire, and will replace it today with something that fits better.  Using the other stove door until this problem is resolved.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2011)

Sorry, didn't mean to make light of your concerns.  Your post sort of came off like you were a little panicky.

What i meant by "live with a colder house" is to build smaller fires for when you're not able to sit there and monitor it until you get this figured out and can reassure yourself there's no overfire danger there.

Going from my experience, I would suggest when you tackle the gasket, you stretch it out as much as you can so it's as thin as possible.  I'd also recommend getting several times as much gasket in case you have to rip it out and start over.

One other caution-- be sure you have the gasket thickness that's recommended for your particular stove model.  If it were me in your situation, I'd also get lengths of both the next smaller and next bigger thicknesses just in case.  What Hearthstone recommends for my stove was simply too big, so I don't entirely trust them.

Good luck, and please keep us posted on how it's going for you.


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## Wood Heat Stoves (Jan 20, 2011)

snowleopard said:
			
		

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typically i recommend the factory gasket kit for these stoves.
hard to find the proper density at most shops


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2011)

snowleopard said:
			
		

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This is the very thing that led to the destruction of my door latch.  If it's possible to get the dealer to do this for you-- and therefore take the responsibility for it-- it'd be worth paying one of their repair people to come do it.  The only way to fix my problem now is to replace both the door and frame, at a cost of around $500.  If I'd paid one of the dealer repair guys to come out and do it for me, I'd have an intact stove now, one way or the other-- either he'd have known whatever the trick is for doing it right, or the busted latch would have been on them, not me.


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## Dakotas Dad (Jan 20, 2011)

Just something to add, as I was raised by Mormon Farmers from WWII Europe who sponsored a boy scout troop in northern Minnesota.. 

Pick up a DuraHeat Kerosene heater and put back 20 gallons or so of fuel. Saved our butt when an ice storm took out our power for 7 days. Pre wood stove. Living where the temps are literally "killer" like you do, it might be a good idea to have a second back up. We do now.

Also, my understanding is that Hearthstones are "sensitive" about gaskets..


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 20, 2011)

Dakotas Dad said:
			
		

> Also, my understanding is that Hearthstones are "sensitive" about gaskets..



HA!!  That's one way of putting it nicely.   They're otherwise such fabulous stoves, it completely baffles me that they don't have this gasket business figured out.

I'm really quite bitter about it.  Although I've worked out a cumbersome but doable way of keeping the door closed, the stove is now basically worthless since the cost of having it fixed would be about the same as what I could have gotten for it to help pay for the larger stove I need.


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## phenolic (Jan 21, 2011)

i had a gasket sticking issue on my clydesdale....the dealer said it's a common issue because hearthstone paints over the gasket which causes it to stick to the door which then pulls the gasket off the stove when you open the door.  my dealer gave me some rutland gasket cement that i used to glue it back down and it's been working fine since.  

hope you get yours sorted out.


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## snowleopard (Jan 22, 2011)

Thank you, gentlemen, for your replies.  I feel like I've been through Gaskets 101 at this point.  I was able to get the gasket stretched out enough to close the door.  Had to lever down the handle more than I would have liked, but not as bad as at first go-round.   It was 2 a.m. by the time I'd fixed it, cleaned up my project mess, got a fire going and watched it until I felt safe to go to sleep (then up at five to check the fire--talk about running on empty).   Ironic, I'd gone home tired and was looking forward to a peaceable evening in front of a warm stove, not a frazzled one with the temperature dropping.  Best laid plans and all.  I was pretty fraught, so I thank you for your kindness.  It turns out, in fact, that everything did turn out just fine.  

 Called the stove store the next day and was told that the tight fit at first is typical--that the stove that I received had its door ut for months (years in my case) and that's why it was crushed down enough to open and close easily.   And he was right--it did open and close more easily that evening.  More importantly, the following morning (this morning) I got up and went downstairs to a warm room and  found a warm stove with enough coals to start the fire.  Felt like I'd made it when I got to that point.   I would describe it as a success now--stove door shuts as easily as it did before.  Wanted to follow up in the even that someone else is 

gryfalcon, thanks for sharing your experience.  It can be uncomfortable bringing up something that has gone down like that--so I really appreciate your sharing your experience and saving me from the same.  

Have you talked to a welder about a repair?  Do you still have the part that broke off?  I've seen welders do some pretty amazing things, 

Have you tried contacting Hearthstone about this?  I've heard of situations where they honored a repair even past warranty, and in this case, since you acted on their advice, so they may feel some responsibility.   At the least, they might give you break on the price of a replacement piece, or credit the cost of repairs towards that new, larger stove you were talking about.  and you are eloquent and able to state your case persuasively.  Might be a `catch more flies with honey' situation, but I would think that they above all would understand how disappointed an owner would be to see it go down.   Might be a `catch more flies with honey' situation, but I would think that they above all would understand how disappointed an owner would be to see it go down. I'd take it to the top, though, not to a middleman.  Someone with the `the buck stops here' sign on the desk, who is proud of the company.  I'd like to see a happy ending on this one.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 22, 2011)

snowleopard said:
			
		

> Called the stove store the next day and was told that the tight fit at first is typical--that the stove that I received had its door ut for months (years in my case) and that's why it was crushed down enough to open and close easily.   And he was right--it did open and close more easily that evening.  More importantly, the following morning (this morning) I got up and went downstairs to a warm room and  found a warm stove with enough coals to start the fire.  Felt like I'd made it when I got to that point.   I would describe it as a success now--stove door shuts as easily as it did before.  Wanted to follow up in the even that someone else is
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> gryfalcon, thanks for sharing your experience.  It can be uncomfortable bringing up something that has gone down like that--so I really appreciate your sharing your experience and saving me from the same.
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I'm so glad to hear you got your problem solved.  What a relief for you!  A tight fit after replacing the gasket is indeed typical, but it's a matter of just how tight the fit is.  Unless you've had a fair amount of experience with a particular stove, it's hard to know what's too much.   My installer, who replaced the gasket for me, didn't know that it was far worse than it should have been.

Re Hearthstone and the dealer and my door latch problem, it's a long story.  But my out-of-warranty situation was made worse by the fact that I had bought the stove second hand, so technically never was within warranty since I acquired it.  I've also heard and read, frankly, far too many stories about Hearthstone owners being blamed for their problems for "over-firing" the stove, thus voiding any warranty, of course.  Seems like a well used tactic and one I really, really don't want to encounter for the sake of my blood pressure.

And really, who can get anywhere by telling a manufacturer that the gasket they say should be used in a stove they've been making for years is the wrong size?  Hearthstone is STILL to this day saying in the manual for this stove that it takes 16-inch logs.  Sure, it does, but only one or two small ones on the bottom because while the box measures 16 inches, the door opening, which is in the front, is 12 by 8 and you can't get a 16-inch anything in there on anything other than the very bottom layer.  I'm just very fortunate that I tried some pieces in the cold stove before I bought a couple cords of 16-inch splits based on what the manual said.  There's a "couldn't care less" attitude in both those things that doesn't speak well of the company's interest in its customers, frankly.  And it's a damn shame because they make absolutely gorgeous and wonderful stoves.

It's not that a part broke off (or the latch tip did, but that was easily fixed with a replacement for not too much money), but that the lip in (note in, not on) the cast iron frame was worn through by the constant scraping back and forth of the too-tight latch after a few months.  As far as I've been told, welders can't do much with cast.  Another forum member recently PM'd me some suggestions I may look into, but since I now have a functioning stove and no money for a new one thanks to the hits from the recesssion, I'm super-reluctant to try anything that has the faintest chance of making things worse and the stove potentially unusable at all.

But all's well, apparently, with your stove and a super-cold weekend upcoming, so that's absolutely something to celebrate.  I'm glad we could all here help a little bit.  I would NEVER have gotten through my first year burning if it weren't for this forum and the incredibly generous and patient people who hang out here.


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## DanCorcoran (Jan 22, 2011)

Snowleopard,

It's not in your signature...where are you, with lows of 30-40 below zero?  And glad to hear your gasket problem is over.  I've learned a lot from this thread (that I hope I never have to use).


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## snowleopard (Jan 23, 2011)

Hi Dan, 

I'm in Interior AK.  It's warmed up to -20 at my house, and I'm grateful that it's not colder right now.  I think I'll take Dave's professional advice and keep a propriatary spare gasket kit on hand, along with the high-temp silicone mentioned on gyrfalcon's gasket thread (said to be much easier to remove than gasket cement if I have to change out again).   I've learned a lot here, too, and that's why I'm trying to summarize and notate everything I've learned from all the various sources, so that the next time someone comes looking for info on this, it'll be useful to them as well.  

I know it didn't need to take me anywhere near as long as it did to do this project, mostly just the learning curve.  Now I know how to swap a gasket, where the challenges are, and how to get my door off (and back on).   Living and learning.


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## Oldmainer (Jan 23, 2011)

Hi Folks...I'm risking beating this topic to death...but here goes. When I needed to replace the gasket on my Allnighter wood stove I took a piece of the old gasket to the stove shop to get an idea of the size I needed and how long...and also the type of cement I needed. They carried many different sizes. Worked great. If I replaced the gasket and I couldn't shut the door it would tell me that the gasket was too thick...wouldn't take a degree in stoves to figure that one out... Anyway...glad your back in business. Franklin


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 23, 2011)

Oldmainer said:
			
		

> Hi Folks...I'm risking beating this topic to death...but here goes. When I needed to replace the gasket on my Allnighter wood stove I took a piece of the old gasket to the stove shop to get an idea of the size I needed and how long...and also the type of cement I needed. They carried many different sizes. Worked great. If I replaced the gasket and I couldn't shut the door it would tell me that the gasket was too thick...wouldn't take a degree in stoves to figure that one out... Anyway...glad your back in business. Franklin



I'm glad you're so very much smarter than the rest of us.

Unfortunately, when the manufacturer and dealer both prescribe the same gasket thickness to use for your specific stove model, and tell you it will make the door hard to close for a while before it settles in, one does tend to take them at their word and follow instructions.


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## Milton Findley (Jan 23, 2011)

gyrfalcon said:
			
		

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I am just as smart as Oldmainer.  I got that way by breaking stuff.


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## adamscotera (Feb 7, 2011)

Hey everyone,
I've got a Fireview stove, new this season, and recently discovered how many gaskets there are inside it when they all failed. I'm not talking about the door gasket, or the combustor, lid, or bypass gaskets which are all fairly easy to get at and replace, but the gaskets between the internal parts like the airduct cover and combustor pan and the back, front, and sides. Didn't know these gaskets existed before- they're not shown in diagrams. Anybody else have a similar problem or know of someone who has? Thanks.


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## gyrfalcon (Feb 7, 2011)

Hi there, and welcome.  This is an old thread that's pretty well played out.  Go back to the main Hearth Room page and start a new topic and include "Fireview" and "gaskets" in the subject line and you'll get responses from some of the many Fireview owners here.

I'm not a Fireview owner so can't help you, but I guarantee one of the first things you'll be told is to contact the company, whose reputation for attentive customer service is legendary.


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## adamscotera (Feb 7, 2011)

Thanks for the advice! I'll do that. I am in contact with them and will soon see how the service is, and I am heartened by your confidence.


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## mhrischuk (Jul 8, 2011)

In my quest for wood stoves I'm trying to stay away from major gasketed stoves.


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