Major crack in Entry gallery. Fix yes or no?

[Pollux05]

Hey everybody,
I just finished the build of my first oven and have made a slightly bad choice about the chimney alley (which I obviously only realized after I started firing now. I have shoved two bricks in an opening and now the expanding of those bricks caused a major crack in my entry.

Should this be fixed? Is it really as bad as I think it is? How should I fix this?

Thanks in advance

[david s]

The combination of an expanding stainless flue pipe, heavy brick units joined with mortar joints, a low roofed gallery and thermal expansion is not a good combination to avoid cracks. You may have to just live with them. To remedy one possible cause won’t fix the rest. Remember that there are two kinds of oven owners, those who say their ovens have cracks and those who lie about their ovens having cracks.

[Pollux05]

Thanks David for your reply!

The flue is shoved into the opening with soft 3mm thick oven tape, so that should not be the problem. It is the big bricks that expanded I am assuming.

Would you say it's fine living with this as it's just a aesthetical problem?

Does it make sense to fill the gap with some mortar glue while it is expanded (hot)?

Lastly: what do you mean by low roofed gallery?

[david s]

Many ovens have cracks where they are relieving stresses as the oven expands then contracts. You have probably noticed that the cracks get bigger when the oven is hot, but close up as it cools. These cracks generally don’t get bigger as the oven ages. Filling them is rarely successful, but if it really bothers you then you could give it a go. If it were mine I’d be just living with it. Your oven develops its own character and small cracks don’t impede it’s performance.

Unfortunately I’m on the road and can’t attach drawings to posts on my mobile, but what I mean by a low gallery roof is what you have. An example of a high gallery roof, like an inverted funnel can be seen in the pic of my oven. Not only is it cooler at the top because it’s further from the heat, being higher, but it provides a volume to collect smoke and a far improved smoke flow.

[Toiletman]

Hey everybody,
I just finished the build of my first oven and have made a slightly bad choice about the chimney alley (which I obviously only realized after I started firing now. I have shoved two bricks in an opening and now the expanding of those bricks caused a major crack in my entry.

Should this be fixed? Is it really as bad as I think it is? How should I fix this?

Thanks in advance

Could you add some more info and pictures of the full oven, and how the gallery is attached to the dome?

[Pollux05]

Could you add some more info and pictures of the full oven, and how the gallery is attached to the dome?

Hey,

This is the connection of the gallery to the dome. I basically build an inner arch and then had some specifically cut bricks rest on top of the arch.

What do you think?

[Toiletman]

it looks like your gallery is still attached to the dome, so I wouldn't worry too much. It'd be good to fix something flexible between your steel pipe and the chimney though, so that it could expand without putting pressure on the rest of the construction.

[rasorface]

I’d definitely fix that crack, especially if it affects airflow. Try using heat-resistant mortar when everything's cool. It might not be as bad as you think