DIY iron wood stove repair--advice please!

[cimarron]

my s.o. is a Do It Yourselfer and has made a repair to an antique wood stove that I am not so sure about...here's the deal. he heats a small workship with what looks to be an antique REX brand little cast iron stove. it's less than two feet tall. i think the back of the main compartment is pretty much shot. the iron in the back is thin and was worn through with many small holes. so he patched it about a week ago with a piece of stove pipe metal (aluminum?). the patch takes up the whole back. the stove pipe piece is about 12" 5". he used what i think are metal screws. the stove pipe patch is discoloring now and i think it might be unsafe. there are also small gaps between the other iron plates and you can see the flame through them. i have concerns about how hot the stove pipe is meant to get. the patch is right where the hotter part of the fire is. he is standing by the repair and doesn't worry about the gaps either. we both love taking stuff that's beat up and worn out and doing useful or beautiful things with it. but i'm of a mind that this stove is not safe. if you have any advice or experience with this kind of thing i'd be much obliged.

thanks!

 

[NanaKat]

Stove pipe metal is a heat treated tin. Usually it handles the smoke not the direct heat.
Have your SO review using a sheet of iron the same thickness of the original metal. Does he do any welding or does he have a friend who welds?

We had a crack in the seam of our old wood burning stove that hubby mended during the summer by welding a piece of angle iron. That worked nicely.

Asbestos cording is usually stuffed in the door to help hold the heat and protect heat loss. Don't know if that would help in the seam areas.

Good luck.

 

[hermiesbirdies]

your two biggest problems with the repair, if it leaks will be CO or carbon monoxide (get a CO detector you can get one for less than $40.00 bucks. install it low, like on the floor as CO is heavier than air.) second is the chance for little sparks to escape if there is gaps. a hot little spark in the right place can take the whole place down.

If it were me I would get some plate steel the size of the back and have it welded. welding cast iron can be tough but it can be done.

 

[RocketDad]

I had a crummy old cast iron stove in my shop for several years. I had to open the shop doors and run a fan to get smoke out from time to time. Horrid.

I bought a new stove that seals and it uses MUCH LESS wood to heat the shop. It doesn't over-run and over-heat from all the air leaks. The smoke doesn't leak out of the edges. I don't have to caulk it with stove cement every fall. And, bonus, it's approved to burn in my county. The other one was totally against the law to re-install. We have smog days in the winter here, but if you have an approved stove you can burn it. The law applies to fireplaces and other unsealed combustion chamber heaters.