Hello'

The metal sides of our wood stove (long barrel shape which holds long logs) has changed to a light grey chalky color in areas where it stay's really hot,... it almost looks as if the metal has lost it's tempering. We burn Oak here in Georgia and burn the stove non-stop through the winter. There is not cracking or warpage, but should I be worried about this color and texture change? Does this indicated structural damage?

I would appreciate any input on this as we don't want to take a chance with this if it is a mager reason to worry.

Thanks

-- m. chambers (mailus@dellepro.com), September 24, 2001

Answers

W have a brarrel stove from from a "barrel" and the shine has gone from that. I believe it is just the heat contacting the metal. But another question for you !!! If you live in Georgia why do you need wood heat at all ???!!!! You guys stay warm all year round !!! (ha ha). Have A Great DAy !!!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), September 24, 2001.

you can buy some stove paint, and repaint it. Souonds as if its just the paint burning,/wearing off

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), September 24, 2001.

My shop stove gets that way every year and now it is sitting outside in the rain getting rusty but I will just paint it before I put it back on line this fall.

-- hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), September 25, 2001.

Be very careful with stove paint. All brands are not created equal and we simply can't find one that doesn't smell. We painted per directions, tempered the paint with small fires, and still the first really hot fires we need, you can smell the paint burning. In one case the paint actually burned and you could see the smoke/residue in the air. I just went to wiping my stove down with water and a little bit of oil added to it. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.

My chimney cleaning guy told me to use BBQ paint because its cheaper and does a better job (its a spray paint rather than a polish).

-- Alison in NS (aproteau@istar.ca), September 25, 2001.

We just leave ours alone and don't have any problem. I hate the smell of any of that stuff when you fire it up after treatment.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), September 25, 2001.

m.chambers, regarding your wood stove, are you sure it is not burning out the sides? They will, eventually burn right thru the metal. We burn Spruce here and it has a lot of sap, burns hot and good, but it is hard on the stoves. Please check yours. Maureen in Alaska

-- Maureen Stevenson (maureen@mtaonline.net), September 30, 2001.