Secondary Combustion Chamber baffle damage - repair or replace?

Hi All,

My fireplace is only 5 years old and one part looks ready for repair or replacement. I think it is a "baffle" plate hanging just below the secondary combustion chamber. I suspect it is designed to prevent wood being loaded up to the secondary combustion chamber sa as to have some actual combustion space in the primary chamber. Or, it could just be a way of protecting some centre holes in the secondary combustion chamber being blocked. Heck it might even be a sacrificial anode type of plate - I really don't know what it does!

Here are some pics:





As you can see, it appears the plate or strip of steel is attached via 4 attachment points (presume welded?) and has separated on 3 of them, and partly separated on the 4th as well. My question is about fixing it, and if it's worth fixing - which of course depends on the function of the plate in the first place.

The thickness of the plate is down to about a quarter of the original thickness, is this "normal" wear for 5 winters? Can I get a neighbour or local welder to weld a new plate across with some new attachment points? (I can't weld - have tried to learn and failed, just one more thing I suck at) If so, what sort of grade of steel should I purchase? Can I get some scrap steel for this? Should I buy a whole new secondary combustion chamber (if for example the thing was originally cast - maybe welds don't last in fireplaces very long?)?

All suggestions and explanations welcome.

FWIW it's a Jindara Duo and I'm Down Under about 10 minutes from the coast very with mild salt air.

BeGreeen,

It's definitely the hottest part of the primary combustion chamber - I've seen it glowing orange a few times. Does that mean the steel burns faster than expected? Does that mean I can't weld in that location?

Those holes are "secondary" entry points to the secondary combustion chamber, the significant majority of airflow goes up around the edge, then through the chamber and up the flu.

Because it gets so hot, I was wondering if it was a way of pre-heating air that does go via those central holes into the secondary chamber.

Any suggestions for fixing?

Maybe stainless steel would last longer in there, but it would be a lot more expensive wouldn't it? Can you weld S/S to normal steel or would you have to anchor them another way? Would S/S contacting normal steel lead to galvanic corrosion? (I think that's what you call 2 different metals causing faster corrosion isn't it?)

I've sent Jindara an email with the pics but they haven't been good in responding before, hence my calling in here for some expert advice . . .

Well I got a reply from the manufacturer, Jindara - the plate is a baffle designed to tubulate the air entering the secondary combustion chamber. I would also suspect as others have stated that it would do a good job pre-heating this air as well, as it gets very hot, orange glowing sometimes.

The replacement part is $195 in Aussie dollars, so a bit over $200 in US dollars. That's a bit rich in my opinion so I might find / buy some scrap metal of similar size and bolt it through after angle grinding away the remaining plate connections.

I've heard old car sprung suspension is a good cheap source of such scrap metal, dunno if I can obtain any stainless steel from around here (cheap enough). Would the bolts have to be a high grade or something to last a few years or standard bolts from the local hardware shop shelf be OK do you think?

Any advice on that idea?

I ended up getting a mate to weld it back together for me, should get a few more years yet out of it before putting a new baffle in. Wish I could weld, gonna learn one day, such a useful skill.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions everyone