# Usable with hairline crack?



## demo-it (Feb 22, 2014)

Would it be ill advised to burn this if it has a hairline crack in the rear wall?

Thanks


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## GENECOP (Feb 22, 2014)

Probably not ok to use, but let one of the Stove pros chime in...


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## webbie (Feb 22, 2014)

Ah, an Ulefos! The first stove line we sold in 1978....a fine machine! Made in the Dovre foundry in Belgium, but for another company......

I'm going to differ and say it should be no problem to burn, Clean the area around the crack and put some furnace cement on it from the inside and burn away. The rear plate does not hold anything of the stove together - it could be removed and the stove would still hold together and stand up. It's pretty much unheard of for a hairline crack to result in total failure of a part.....

If you are really paranoid, make up a rear liner of a piece of thin SS and use two screws and nuts to mount it - one on either side of the crack (I assume crack is vertical)....etc.


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## bholler (Feb 22, 2014)

I have seen many old stoves burning fine with small cracks.  It might be ok I don't know the stove at all is there any shielding to protect the back panel?  I would patch it like webbie said and if there is no protection I would put  a fire brick in there to protect that area and hopefully keep the crack from spreading rather than a piece of ss but webbie obviously knows the stove more than I do.


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## valley ranch (Feb 22, 2014)

That's a nice little stove. With the proper rod, any thing can be Vcut welded, after grinding and finishing you won't be able to see where it was done. Cast is a little tricky but can be done also.

Richard


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## coaly (Feb 24, 2014)

To prevent the crack from going farther, you should drill a small hole about 1/8 " or smaller at the end of crack. It is already farther than you can see, so go another 3/4 to 1 inch in the same direction so it cracks as far as the hole and stops. The radius of the hole at the end of a crack is strong and will not allow it to continue. A little Rutland Stove and Gasket cement over it, and you're good to go. If you want to V grind and weld, use nickel rod or many times they crack along side the weld.


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## begreen (Feb 24, 2014)

I have a similar stove, the Jotul 602. It has no rear burn plate and thus the back gets hot. Some housesitters cracked its back side too. It's a hairline crack. I had fabricated and installed a rear interior burn plate out of 3/16" steel. It's held up very well and took the heat off the back of the stove. I rubbed furnace cement over the crack and it's been fine.


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