The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Care And Repair Of The House
This compound may be purchased in small quantities from a dealer in heating supplies. It may be found easier to pack the nut if it is removed from the stem. To do this, remove the handle, held in place by. a screw, and lift the nut from the stem.
After the nut has been well packed, screw it down tightly and refill the system, as described in section 1 of this chapter.
6. CLEANING A CLOGGED GRATE
A fire should be shaken down at least twice a day to remove ashes and to provide a better draft through the grates. The ash pit should be cleaned out daily, for if it is allowed to fill up to the grate bars there is danger of warping or burning out the grates.
In most stoves and furnaces, just above the grate surface, there are clean-out doors through which a poker may be inserted to break up and pull out clinkers. If an unusually large, hard clinker lodges between the plates in such a way that the grate can not be shaken or turned over and the obstruction can not be readily broken up or removed with a poker, it will be necessary to clean out the fire pot to get free access to the obstruction. When the fire pot is empty, the poker can again be used to better advantage. Do not try to turn the grate by force to dislodge or break up such an obstruction, as this action may break the grate.
7. HOW TO MEND A CRACK IN A STOVE
A crack in the iron casing of a stove can be fixed by filling the crack with stove putty or iron-repair cement made by mixing iron filings and water glass (silicate of soda), using enough of the filings to form a thick paste. Force the paste well into the crack with the aid of a trowel or old table knife, and plaster over the surface of the crack with the same material. The heat from the stove will harden the cement almost like iron and make a tight joint.
Another iron mender is made of iron filings, flowers of sulfur, and water, mixed to a stiff paste and applied to the crack in the manner described above. The mixture burns when heated and turns into iron sulfide, which fuses and welds into one mass with the iron of the stove.
8. REPLACING AND CLEANING MICA IN STOVES
Broken mica in a stove door is not only unsightly but it is a menace, in that it may permit dust, smoke, and coal gas to escape into the house, besides allowing cool air to pass over the fire, thus decreasing its efficiency.
