How can I prevent grate burn out and warpage of cast iron parts?
All grates are constructed of cast iron which can “burn out” or oxidize rapidly – or warp so severely the grate becomes immobile. The only way to prevent such problems is really quite basic: 1) never over fire your furnace or stove, either accidentally or deliberately, by leaving the feed or (more importantly) the ash door open during operation. A lot of folks will be tempted to do this if they have a weak flue and/or chimney – or, are overly anxious to heat the home. Its very easy to open the ash door to provide a lot of combustion air to kick off the process and really get things moving. The danger lies in leaving it open for more than a few minutes, because the phone may ring or the home owner just plain forgets. When this happens temperatures in excess of 1300_ are common, resulting in scorched cabinet paint, thermal shock and breakage, and warpage of cast iron parts – even the splitting of welded seams; 2) failure to empty the ash pan and allowing ashes/cinders to accumulate to th
