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Post by downunderdave on Jul 20, 2024 20:49:04 GMT
An oven will pick up moisture from the air, so after a prolonged period of drizzle even if no rain has penetrated the oven, the accompanying humidity will get into the porous materials including the insulation. If the oven is being used frequently this moisture does not get a chance to accumulate. A lot depends on where you live and the climate you experience. We live in the tropics and our wet season is accompanied by very high humidity. While a roof over the oven will prevent moisture accumulation via leaks from rain, it won’t stop it via humidity. A couple of long slow fires usually does the trick of restoring normal performance.In my ovens the top of the outside of the oven is stone cold after one hour of fire when it's completely dry. After an hour and a half there's som cozy warmth which spreads down the sides of the dome to the base. If the oven has picked up moisture the top will be warm after 1/2 hr, if it's quite wet the top will be hot to touch and fire progress should be slow for the safety of your refractory materials. The reason of course is that water is a good conductor of heat so its absence is desirable. Remember also that water expands some 1500 times when it turns to steam.
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