Smoke or steam during curing?

[mtalone]

I finished my dome approximately a week and a half ago. I have started the curingprocess and have noticed very small areas of smoke or steam exiting the outside of the dome. Is this normal? What should I do if its smoke? Thanks. Mike

[chidding]

Pretty simple solution, if it smells like smoke.. it is..

Most likely you will have to patch up the gaps with mortar if you have leaks.. and give it time before curing again.

Steam is very common when curing, as there is lots of water in your mortar, it has to come out sometime.

[cynon767]

Mine steamed for days, all through the curing process. Little wisps from all over the dome. It's probably normal... the water coming out of the mortar.

[mtalone]

If it is smoke is that a concern? People mention it is normal to get cracks and not to worry about them. I would assume if there is a crack in the oven then smoke can escape. Am I safe to not worry about it in either case? Thanks for your help. Mike

[david s]

If steam is visible, back off with the fire, you risk damaging the refractory.
If it's smoke then the best you can do is to plug the gaps with mortar.

[SCChris]

The smoke will leave soot and the steam will not.

Chris

[mtalone]

Ok, I need some help deciding what to do next. Today I lit another curing fire. The steam or smoke came out of the same area. There is no blackening of the area like in the dome. Probably steam??? My biggest concern is this, I took tomorrow off of work because I wanted to insulate the oven and close up the enclosure and face it with stone. I think I can get that done over the weekend since I have my steel studs up for the dome enclosure. Is it safe to close everything up or should I wait until the curing process is done. Thanks, Mike

[Lburou]

Pictures would improve the advice you get about this

I patched my cracks and insulated it. I'm sure the dome is not air tight even now but it doesn't affect the operation of the oven. You may be in the same boat.

Originally Posted by mtalone

Ok, I need some help deciding what to do next. Today I lit another curing fire. The steam or smoke came out of the same area. There is no blackening of the area like in the dome. Probably steam??? My biggest concern is this, I took tomorrow off of work because I wanted to insulate the oven and close up the enclosure and face it with stone. I think I can get that done over the weekend since I have my steel studs up for the dome enclosure. Is it safe to close everything up or should I wait until the curing process is done. Thanks, Mike

[mtalone]

I will try to post some pictures of the smoke if I can get a good enough image. In the meantime, here are some pictures of my oven so far.... Thanks for all your help. Mike

[mtalone]

For some reason I am having trouble posting more than one picture at a time.