Thermal Expansion Crack in Arch

[jjenkins74]

Hi. I have a thermal expansion crack in my arxh. If I wiggle by hand there is a tiny bit of give. Not much. Should I take any action at this point? I've done about 6 cooks since finished construction a few weeks ago.

[david s]

I’ve seen a lot of ovens with similar cracks in the outer decorative arches. I think the failure is due to the hotter inner oven parts expanding against the cooler outer arch. My solution to this problem is to leave an 8 to 10 mm expansion joint between the oven floor, gallery and the outer arch. That way all the inner oven parts can expand and contract freely inside the outer arch and outer oven shell. Seems to work very well with no arch cracking. This would probably be way too much trouble for you to go to with your build. The arch will not collapse so repair is up to you. They say that there are two kinds of oven owners, those who say their ovens have a crack and those who lie about their ovens having no cracks.