Encore 2550 rebuild... start to finish

[jharkin]

Got some packing done, so managed to find a bit of time this evening to work. Still hoping to get the doors reinstalled before I leave Saturday at o-dark-thirty.

Did the window glass tonight. This took about 45 minutes, I was working slow and careful.


First we lay out our weapons of choice...



Another thanks here to Defiant for sending me some extra gasket. The woodman's kit included window gasket but just barely enough - I would have had to stretch it out a bit to make enough. Its nice to have extra.

A little effort and we are done.



The tape is to remind me that I need to adjust/trim the screws by the center gasket channel before I install the main door gasket. the socket head screws are a lot easier to work with and I gooped them up good with copper anti-seize so the next guy to have to take this beast apart wont have a hard time.

 

[jharkin]

Alright, doors gasketed, handle polished and reinstalled. That's it till I get back from my trip.

 

[begreen]

Looking good. Have a safe trip!

 

[jharkin]

Looking good. Have a safe trip!

Thanks. Seeing the freshly painted door is tempting me to repaint the entire stove.... Im trying to resist however, dont want to put up with the stink when I fire it up.

 

[begreen]

Had the same thought. I would paint it and fire it up a few times outdoors with a temp flue.

 

[jharkin]

Call me lazy, but I don't want to get into moving this beast outside. Bunch of steps and narrow doorways to get through with minimal help.

I will probably just do the top and doors, rest of the paint is very good.How bad is the smell the first time new paint is fired? Would I be ok if I fire it once in mild weather with the windows open/window fan going?

-Jeremy
[sent from 7000 miles and 12 hours away]

 

[begreen]

Yes, you can fire it off inside on a mild day. You should do a couple smaller break in fires first. Then a medium fire getting the stove to about 500F on the stovetop. It may take on more hot fire, stove top at 550-600F to fully bake it. Having windows open and a fan going will help a lot. The biggest stink will be that first 500F fire.

 

[jharkin]

Ok, back from China and the mrs had a surprise waiting for me...



And a list of fall honey do's that include repainting the upstairs bedroom so we can move the twins out of the nursery and up to the second floor! Better get cracking!

 

[begreen]

Aw, that's pretty darn nice. She's a winner.

 

[jharkin]

So, we are into the home stretch here. Last big job is to cleanout the interior so I can pop in the new refractory and cement the upper fireback back into place. That's going to be a messy, noisy, royal pain of a job so its going to wait for a weekend when my wife is willing to take the kids out for a while and let me make a mess of the living room.

In the meantime I figured since I was doing so much work might as well give the entire stove a once over. This evening I took the griddle out to the garage and gave it a good wire brush polish. A lite wipe down with vegetable oil and it looks better than new. For good measure I polished up the handle and removed/reinstalled all the bolts with anti-sieze to make sure nothing was frozen up. Yes I am anal.



Hmmm. Looks so good now I have to repaint the stove top to hide those rust stains.

 

[begreen]

Paint the whole thing to show off your good work. You know you want to and it won't take that much more time.

 

[jharkin]

Paint the whole thing to show off your good work. You know you want to and it won't take that much more time.

Yeah i was heading that way. It will take all of 10 minutes with the brush on stuff.

 

[Reckless]

Having a real hard time getting the doors adjusted. I can see into the stove on the bottom left door where the glass screw mount passes the right door. Any suggestions? I can post pics if needed.

 

[Reckless]

whelp got it up and running Nice video of the secondaries in action and my friend gasping in amazement LOL

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[begreen]

It's great that you guys are keeping these beautiful stoves alive.

 

[jharkin]

Alright BeGreen, I did it. Painted the stove.

Well actually not the entire stove, just the most visible and beat up areas, hoping to minimize the fumes when I burn in. I put a big box fan in the window blowing out for a couple hours and didn't really smell up the place at all.

I painted the top, front, sides and flue collar. Not bothering with the back, nor the ashlip, legs and ash door that never stay clean anyway.

 

[jharkin]

whelp got it up and running Nice video of the secondaries in action and my friend gasping in amazement LOL

Lookin good reckless!!

 

[begreen]

Alright BeGreen, I did it. Painted the stove.

Well actually not the entire stove, just the most visible and beat up areas, hoping to minimize the fumes when I burn in. I put a big box fan in the window blowing out for a couple hours and didn't really smell up the place at all.

I painted the top, front, sides and flue collar. Not bothering with the back, nor the ashlip, legs and ash door that never stay clean anyway.

View attachment 112219

Yowsa, lookin' sharp there Jeremy.

 

[jharkin]

Thanks BG. Its a shame VCs are so finicky, cause they do look so nice... And as great as the various enamels look I do love how easy it is to keep flat black looking new.... No worry about chipping.

 

[Reckless]

Lookin good reckless!!

Thanks! Everything sealed up tight and no smoke in the house at all (I was worried about the flue collar). I kept the block off plate off for the first burn but now its stuffed and back in place ready for the cold weather to come (70's for the next week here )

Alright BeGreen, I did it. Painted the stove.

Well actually not the entire stove, just the most visible and beat up areas, hoping to minimize the fumes when I burn in. I put a big box fan in the window blowing out for a couple hours and didn't really smell up the place at all.

I painted the top, front, sides and flue collar. Not bothering with the back, nor the ashlip, legs and ash door that never stay clean anyway.

Looks good! What paint did you use? Rutland? I used Rutland high temp on my stove pipe and got NO smell what so ever. Also I see your stove is as close as mine is to your wood floor, I know my floor gets pretty hot, hows yours?

 

[jharkin]

Rutland hi temp in the brush on can. Used a throwaway foam brush to apply, no mess and dries in minutes.

Yes, the floor is only a few inches in front of the ash lip. We have a felt backed metal hearth pad that I store in the summer and put out before I light it up, its actually noted on the fire department inspection report from the original install.

 

[Reckless]

Rutland hi temp in the brush on can. Used a throwaway foam brush to apply, no mess and dries in minutes.

Yes, the floor is only a few inches in front of the ash lip. We have a felt backed metal hearth pad that I store in the summer and put out before I light it up, its actually noted on the fire department inspection report from the original install.

I used the spray can variety. Interesting point on the hearth pad... maybe I should look into one of those, there are some burn marks in the wood (previous owner) and these are reclaimed wide plank pine . Do they make one you can roll out?

 

[jharkin]

I painted the top, front, sides and flue collar. Not bothering with the back, nor the ashlip, legs and ash door that never stay clean anyway.

As usual, I cant leave well enough alone. All week I walk past the stove and I can see where I didn't paint. So of course today I decided to go all the way and paint the rest.


So make that 15 minutes total time painting, not 10 It took less than 1/4 of a pint can to paint the whole thing.

 

[jharkin]

It looks better in person, the flash reveals brush marks and imperfections you can't even see in normal light.

 

[jharkin]

Better view