Furnace cement / gasket question

[Robertm]

I have an Empire 15,000 BTU direct vent heater. The gasket at the inspection window lasts only a short time and then fumes are vented to the room instead of outside. Would furnace cement work just as well? How difficult would it be to get it apart if the pilot needed to be relighted? The heater has one of those piezo ignitors but due to faulty design or manufacture, it never worked so the inspection window must be opened to relight the pilot with a match. Is there a longer lasting material that I could cut for a gasket?

Bob

[Edwin Pawlowski]

What are you using for gasket? They should last a very long time.

No, don't use furnace cement.

[Robertm]

I'm using the gasket supplied by Empire, their part number 712098. The local serviceman who is an Empire dealer said, "Oh those things don't last" and he threw it away. I asked him if it would be ok without the gasket and he said yes, but of course, it isn't ok because it leaves a space of about 1/16 of an inch between the inspection window and the firebox.

Bob

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I've not seen what you have so I can't give a perfect answer, but there are many types of insulation that may work. For wood burning stoves there is a braided rope that fits in a groove. For boilers and heaters there is stuff on a roll, about 1 inch wide that you can configure as needed. Worth checking into.

[Robertm]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check on it at the hardware store tomorrow. Here's a link to the gasket:

Bob

[Don Young]

[Robertm]

No service people in this area qualified to do that. I've had three different propane service companies here in two years and finally had to hire a plumber to come in and redo the gas lines because none of the gas people knew how to run gas lines correctly. This morning I e-mailed another Empire dealer in a city near here asking if they had the gasket. No reply. Rural southeast part of the country, maybe 6th grade education? Maybe the guy who can read wasn't in today.

Bob

[Robertm]

The only thing the hardware store has is high temperature gasket material for automotive use such as oil pan gasket. Do you think it'll work on a furnace firebox? Lacking a thermocouple I can't tell how hot the firebox gets at that point.

Bob