Tips for maintaining your stove

Cleaning of your stovepipe should be done once a month at first in order to get an idea of how quickly creosote builds up. Failure to maintain a clean stovepipe can result in a chimney fire.

To clean the stovepipe a stovepipe brush is needed, brushes can be bought from most hardware stores. If your stove takes 3” stovepipe, you’ll need a 3” brush. If it takes 4” stovepipe, you’ll need a 4” brush.

Stove paint does not prevent rust so it’s important to keep stoves in a dry environment as much as possible. Stoves that have not had their paint heat cured yet are especially susceptible to rust. The only exception are sauna stoves that are painted with outdoor high temp primer as they are almost always used in a humid environment.

The best way to keep your glass clean is to only burn seasoned dry wood and prevent it from touching the glass when burning. To clean the glass, a good method is to use crinkled up damp newspaper, dip it in ash and wipe down the glass using the ash as an abrasive to wipe dirt away.

Ashes should be scooped out once the fire has been out for a while and you can be sure there are no embers or hot ash left. It can be hard to tell sometimes so it’s best to have a metal bucket to put the ashes in after they are scooped out to be certain they are no longer hot.

Door gasket should be checked regularly for deterioration and replaced once every few years under normal operation. 

To replace door gasket, it is recommended to use Imperial’s flat gasket tape (1/8” x 5/8”). The gasket has a self adhesive backing but requires Imperial’s gasket cement to adhere properly. 

Replacing door gasket involves removing the old gasket and any cement left behind, and cleaning the area where the new gasket is being installed. Wetting the area with a damp cloth where the gasket cement is going to be applied to helps the cement make a strong bond and should be done right before applying a 1/8” bead of cement along the edge of the door and applying the gasket. 

Gasket should then be pressed along the edge of the inside of the door and trimmed to fit.

Once the gasket is installed, the door should be shut for a few minutes to firmly press the gasket into the cement and then left open for at least 24 hours until the cement has hardened. 

Any cement that has seeped through onto the stove should be wiped up before hardening.