Woodburner issue

rustyboy21

Take a picture of it in situ, The fireplace/inglenook setting it is in. Also take a picture of up in the chamber, where the flue pipe disappears into. If you can give the size of the opening too, that would help.

Only possible reason could be that the opening is big, so the air cools quicker, so creates condensation. It will be condensation which causes rust. Do you have any drips down the side of the stove? That would indicate a small opening in the chamber void. But that really wouldnt happen as Aga say it must be installed with a liner anyway, so there is no way any rain could/should get down.

Edited, sorry, two Poppy posters on same page confused me for a minute.lol

Questions for PoppyOscar.... You are using the stove downstairs as a primary heat source for that room?

Therefore, do you have the radiator switched off in that room also?

In the Bedroom, you say it is not used often, so do you use the Radiators in there instead?

Most of the time, when Cast Iron Fireplaces/stoves arrive into us retailers, they have rust on them already. Most of the cast product is made over in China now. They pack them in Silca gel packs, but 9 out of 10 times, they have a bit of rust on them. They are on ships for 16 weeks in containers, open to all the humidity/temp variations on route. Cast Iron is an untreated Ferrous material, it is not stainless steel or Laquered. Any sniff of moisture and it will rust. But it is great for conducting heat and containing high temperature materials, that is why it has always been used.

Poppy9

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Most of the time, when Cast Iron Fireplaces/stoves arrive into us retailers, they have rust on them already. Most of the cast product is made over in China now.

Agas are made in UK though aren't they (I know soggy Britain!)

I've forgotten how to upload pics on here. Do I have to go to a hosting site?


We have a "normal" size opening. Took out original 50s fire place and the original bricks were good so were cleaned and repointed. No leaks and we paid extra for liner with 25 or 30 year life span. Think original spec was 15 years which we hope to outlive lol!!

We use seasoned wood - mostly bought this year as not all of OH wood store had dried out (he uses a meter to check ). We have used smokeless fuel a handful of times when I was laid up with broken leg and OH out and wanted to keep fire in to keep me warm!

One reason for moisture might be we had the chimney breast replastered along with a new ceiling .

Will try to get photos up tomorrow

rustyboy21

Poppy9 wrote: »

Agas are made in UK though aren't they (I know soggy Britain!)

I've forgotten how to upload pics on here. Do I have to go to a hosting site?


We have a "normal" size opening. Took out original 50s fire place and the original bricks were good so were cleaned and repointed. No leaks and we paid extra for liner with 25 or 30 year life span. Think original spec was 15 years which we hope to outlive lol!!

We use seasoned wood - mostly bought this year as not all of OH wood store had dried out (he uses a meter to check ). We have used smokeless fuel a handful of times when I was laid up with broken leg and OH out and wanted to keep fire in to keep me warm!

One reason for moisture might be we had the chimney breast replastered along with a new ceiling .

Will try to get photos up tomorrow

Don't know how to do the pics myself TBH with you.

I do think it is down to condensation, if you don't notice any drips on the side of the stove, from where rain has come though, then it can only be condensation. If the chimney breast is on an outside wall this makes it worse, as the cold air from outside, will always make the chamber cooler, than if it was an internal breast with the party wall from next door. But even here, you get the cold air from the chamber bringing down the inglenook temperature. If you are running the stove all the time and then it dies down overnight, the temp of the chamber will drop quite rapidly. If you don't have the radiators on in the room, then this will hasten the cooling effect, causing condensation. The Air vent doesn't help matters along really.

Aga state they are British built, but if you read their site, they say mostly British built. The Wenlock is their most popular model, I am sure it is made overseas. The factory in the UK makes the steel ones, as not a lot of manufacturers trust the Chinese with steel fabrication, they always make a mess of it, lol.

My Friend also owns a fireplace shop, he sells stoves, as I said, I can't abide them, been there and had issues like this in the past, that people won't take what I said as correct. I asked him why out of the 6 stoves he has live on display, only 3 of them look nice, the others are( To Me ) Tatty looking, rusty, glass blackened up etc. He said he leaves them like that, so anyone coming in to complain about black glass etc can see it is normal when having a stove, you have to either daily clean it, or get to live with it. He fits about 6 a week still. AND he still sells from the models that look awful.

I know it is your OH pride and joy, it will be like a new car getting polished every week, but Unfortunately this happens with stoves, It can be days, weeks Months or years, all depending on what it is used like, what it is fitted into and what are the conditions of the room.

Obviously, have a word with the retailer/installer, but they wont rush to sort it, it is cosmetic, not faulty. Have a word with Aga and see what they say. But it isn't a case of Fit for purpose, it is just the way things are. That's why I would never have one in my home.

Have a go at placing a small piece of moisture strip in the Chamber( The stuff you put on window sills)and see how that ends up. It would show you there is condensation in the Chamber, or even Silica gel pouches.

I am a Man, I like playing with fire, all men do. But I draw the line at having to clean it out. Give me a Remote control anyday, lol.

Smiley_Dan

The trouble is that the common-or-garden stove is a big compromise in the performance of your building. That flue is a big thermal bridge, and condensation is therefore a possibility.

Are you measuring humidity levels in the room?

Swipe

What has happened with your stove is the rust is likely appearing where the paint coating is thin, either by an inconsistent spray job by the manufacturer or possibly where it has rubbed against its box in transit. Just give it a rub with wire wool and touch it up as suggested.

oldandhappy

there must something different in France then from all the comments...perfectly normal to have woodburners for heating and when you drive around here there are stacked up around 1 metre lengths of wood like you never would believe...but because we have only been here a year its all new to us.... No rust on our wood burners that are 3 years old and possibly more...the little pot belly one in our conservatory we bought 2nd hand and fitted ourselves, needed painting back to black and we purchased the high heat paint which we thought was the right type but it stunk the place out for a day...going to try the paste next...putting that a side they work for us here...we have recently installed 3 dimplex new type storage heaters for early morning heat and late evenings when the woodburners are know longer stacked up. We have various electric heaters available also but found then really too expensive to run. Wood is the heating preference here as anywhere rural there is only 12kw available anyway...regards Dianne

Poppy9

So finally the installer came out today and agreed the fire should not be rusty. He said he could find no leaks from chimney or issues that might cause condensation damage and his opinion was that the rust was due to poor storage by supplier. He sanded right back and has painted it and left us the tin of pain and said if anymore appears he will come back and make good as he said we shouldn't expect this with a fire that's a few months old.

phil24_7

You can't get fairer than that.