A few questions about Dovre DV 400

[Sea Kay]

I'm staying in a cabin with a Dovre DV 400 propane stove. I'm not really that handy so a week ago I had a guy come out to inspect it and service it if necessary. It had been making a "whooshing" sound when it came on that I didn't like, plus the thermostat was not responsive. He cleaned it (quickly, he was in a big hurry it seemed), repositioned the logs matching the way the manual shows, I later discovered, so, good. That cured the whooshing sound. But the original gasket was kind of dangling inside the glass so he replaced that, but he used a tape style gasket. After installing it, he failed to mention that the adhesive needed to cure for 24 hrs, so I fired up the stove while I was outside for about 45 minutes and came in to a house full of a nasty smell. I called the guy and he said it was fine, to just burn it with the windows open a few times and it would dissipate. I've done this a few times and it still stinks, slightly less, but what I wonder is if I messed up the curing process by firing it up immediately. Also, not real stoked to be breathing this with regularity as I don't know if it's a health hazard. Any insights into this? My second question: the manual says the flames should be blue at the base with orange tips and I just want to make sure this thing is safe so here's a pic of how they look. This thing is from the early 90s (?). It's probably only had about 4 years of continuous use in its lifetime, since this is a guest cabin. Anyway, sorry for the long post. This thing is the only heat source when the power goes out and we're having a stormy season here . Thank you!

 

[DAKSY]

Those flames look fine, although some rockwool ember material would help to make them look a little more realistic. I would say they are more yellow than orange, & that’s what you want. Yellow at the top is cleaner flame than orange.

 

[Sea Kay]

Well, that's good. Thanks.

Any insight about the gasket smell issue? I'm a total newbie but I'm tempted to just order the original gasket part for this heater and either have the guy put it in or do it myself. Hopefully I can find some instructions. Meanwhile, I just want to make sure it's safe.

 

[Sea Kay]

Those flames look fine, although some rockwool ember material would help to make them look a little more realistic. I would say they are more yellow than orange, & that’s what you want. Yellow at the top is cleaner flame than orange.

Any insight into the smelly gasket issue? It seems to start stinking after half an hour or so.

 

[DAKSY]

Do what the tech said. Burn it. It might take 4-5 hours to cure the adhesive…

 

[Sea Kay]

Do what the tech said. Burn it. It might take 4-5 hours to cure the adhesive…

Do what the tech said. Burn it. It might take 4-5 hours to cure the adhesive…

Thanks. I'll do that. I did read somewhere that it's best to use the gasket specifically for your particular model, and it's available, so I might end up putting that on.

 

[Sea Kay]

I'm staying in a cabin with a Dovre DV 400 propane stove. I'm not really that handy so a week ago I had a guy come out to inspect it and service it if necessary. It had been making a "whooshing" sound when it came on that I didn't like, plus the thermostat was not responsive. He cleaned it (quickly, he was in a big hurry it seemed), repositioned the logs matching the way the manual shows, I later discovered, so, good. That cured the whooshing sound. But the original gasket was kind of dangling inside the glass so he replaced that, but he used a tape style gasket. After installing it, he failed to mention that the adhesive needed to cure for 24 hrs, so I fired up the stove while I was outside for about 45 minutes and came in to a house full of a nasty smell. I called the guy and he said it was fine, to just burn it with the windows open a few times and it would dissipate. I've done this a few times and it still stinks, slightly less, but what I wonder is if I messed up the curing process by firing it up immediately. Also, not real stoked to be breathing this with regularity as I don't know if it's a health hazard. Any insights into this? My second question: the manual says the flames should be blue at the base with orange tips and I just want to make sure this thing is safe so here's a pic of how they look. This thing is from the early 90s (?). It's probably only had about 4 years of continuous use in its lifetime, since this is a guest cabin. Anyway, sorry for the long post. This thing is the only heat source when the power goes out and we're having a stormy season here . Thank you!

Update:

I had a *real* tech come out and replace the gasket with the manufacturer's glass gasket that I ordered and Voilá, it stopped stinking in one day. Despite the multiple times I got the advice: "It's probably fine, just leave it, " well, it never stopped stinking, even after burning it for many hours. Also the smell made my head hurt. So, a few braincells crisped, NBD. I realized when I looked at the new, properly installed gasket, that not only was the one the first guy put in the wrong one, it was also not in the right position. Anyway, the lesson here, is get a technician with lots of experience and if you think something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

I doubt anyone has these anymore, mine's an anomaly that was actually from 2002 and hardly has been used. But my advice is to use the manufacturer's gasket (which is still available), have the unit cleaned really well (my guy took a little tool and got in those burner holes), then baby it a bit (I turn the gas knob up all the way, turn it on at the thermostat, then after it's gotten going with nice looking flames, I turn that gas knob down again). Unfortunately, unless someone tells me otherwise, there's no replacement burner for this so when it finally goes, it's the end of the road for this little cranker. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.