crack on outer shell of oven?

[1willisrobbins]

hello,
I am really trying hard to follow the curing guidelines, but seem to have produced a crack on the outer shell of the oven. I know hairline cracks are normal but reviewing the posts I didn't see anything on outer shell cracks. It is about as wide as the black line on a tape measure, so not very wide, but it is on the out side of the oven running from the base of the chimney down to the arch, under the arch and continues on the other side of the chimney inside up into the dome. The internal dome has some spiderweb like cracks that are tiny and from what I've read "normal"...I will get a photo of crack and post it.
thanks every body!

[1willisrobbins]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

pictures...hairlines on outside ok too?

[Les]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

Willis,

Is this a precast oven (FB?)?

[1willisrobbins]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

Les,
Yes it is a Primavera 70. The crack is barley visible on the out side, and slightly more pronounced inside. It is hairline, but it makes me nervous that it is on the out side....FB via their support team says it is normal, but I am still skeptical.
-w

[david s]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

The only purpose the outer shell serves is to hold the insulation in place and keep water from entering into the insulation layer. Any cracks in the outer shell will allow water to enter and should be sealed up IMO and you can accomplish this by coating the oven in an elastomeric paint, but don"t do it until you have fired the oven about 10 times, to make sure it is perfectly dry. Sealing the oven on the outside also traps moisture on the inside. Outside shell cracks are caused by water inside turning to steam and creating pressure.
You should talk to FB.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

No need to be skeptical. It is normal, especially the way you described it. Mine got a hairline on the outside and a slightly bigger inside. We wish it wasn't there but it is and since we all insulate our ovens on the outside, That keeps the oven working properly.

When I got my crack, I layed a piece of white insulation blanket over the hairline crack on the outside, made a small but very smokey fire just to see if any smoke escaped the crack and put any soot on the very white insulation blanket...and guess what...not a smudge of dark color appeared. That made me sooo happy. But even if it did a bit, I don't worry about it because I've got at least 2 layers of the insulation blanket around it & no heat or smoke escapes that and my oven performs as it should. I added some mortar to the outside but that was really just a waste of time IMO. As David said above, really let it dry out, finish your insulation and start cooking-smoking-baking something. That's when the fun starts.

[david s]

Re: crack on outer shell of oven?

".. finish your insulation and start cooking-smoking-baking something. That's when the fun starts."


Dino, this oven is already finished.