Stove Maintenance Part 1: How to Change the Wood Stove Fire Rope

This is another Alternative Heating & Supplies episode and in this blog post we are going to talk about annual maintenance on an outdoor wood stove. All the stoves are fundamentally the same, so the maintenance shall be pretty similar, and a few modifications.

Wood Stove Maintenance Tips

The first thing that we're gonna do is when we come up to the stove, is we're gonna check the door gasket. Most outdoor wood boilers have the same kind of system, it's a 1-inch fire-braided rope, which easily just comes out.

Changing the Fire Rope of a Wood Stove

When Should You Replace the Fire Rope?

And even though the rope looks okay, it should be replaced yearly. If air comes in, it will start damaging the steel around the door, and also, be making your unit smoke constantly. For $12 to $14, it's not worth it. So to replace it, it's simply...you stick it in, pull it out. The seam is usually on the inside of the door.

Replacing the fire rope of a Wood Stove

Now, we at Alternative Heating, we sell the pre-cut rope based on the unit, so just tell us what unit you have, and we cut it, or take the measurement of the unit. Where this one is about 24 by 24, it's about an 8-foot rope.

Now, to keep the unit nice and sealed, what we'll do is clear out any of the loose material that's in there...with a wire brush, real simple.

Fixing the Rope. What Type of Silicone Is It Advisable to Use?

We use an industrial-grade black silicone. We're also gonna use this to seal around the chimney and any other areas where they might have moisture coming in.

Industrial Grade Silicon

Now, the silicone is just used to hold the rope temporarily, the creosote will build up around it, holding the rope in place. And this could be done while the unit is running. Obviously, you're not running real hot, but just enough so you could stand in front of the door.

Now, just like where the seam came out, we're gonna put the seam back in, right here on the inside. We're just gonna use our thumb to push it in nice and evenly. We don't wanna stretch the rope, we wanna keep it nice and fat, and not stretch it out.

Now, the reason I'm wearing gloves is to keep the silicone away from me, obviously, because it makes a mess. Keep the corners nice and fluffy...bring it up, bring it around.

Fixing the Fire Rope

Now in some cases, this is a perfectly cut rope. In some cases, you might need to trim off an inch or so because we give you a little extra. Then obviously, you just take your door. Now, it's gonna be a little snugger than before because it's a fresh rope. Compress it, leave it closed for six to eight hours, let that silicone harden up. And that's it for that aspect.

Our next video is going to be on how to replace a wood stove fan cover. Until then, check out our Yearly Maintainance Kits and if you need assistance or you have questions that we did not cover here, give us a call!