25-pdvc warped / baffle plate not sitting flat

[BrianW]

Greetings All,

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I've been heating with an Englander 25-PDVC for 8 winters now. My subjective impression was that the stove was not heating well this season.... no where near the heat level I remember from all of the past winters. I gave it one heck of a cleaining, replaced gaskets, etc... and it seems to have improved a tad. I then ran into a bug in the control board, which was fixed with a call to Mike and ESW. Seems that a surge or something took my board out of the proper mode "("D" mode), which it needs to be in on a 25-pdvc. A call to Mike was all it took to fix that; however, the stove's heat output was still not where it used to be (again, just my subjective impression).

I stumbled accross the recent post about making sure that the baffle plate is seated flat against the back of the stove, as this could be a cause for less than ideal heat exchange. Upon examining mine, I've discovered that the area at the top, on the back of my stove, where the baffle plate's rear lip catchs, has a "goose egg",- obviously warped from high heat exposure. The warp is situatuted an inch or so left of center, which results in a 1/2" gap between the baffle plate and the rear of the stove on the left hand side (from top to bottom of the plate... along the entire side). I read another recent thread about toasted vacuum line's being indicative of high heat exposure. It just so happens that at the end of last season I discovered that the line to my vacuum switch was char-broiled, - burnt in two. I'm guessing that I had some sort of overfire at one point last winter that warped the stove and subsequently fried the vacuum line. Note: The vacuum line's failure DID NOT stop my stove from running. There was a control board jumper installed at the factory that bypassed the vacuum switch. Mike was quick to recognize this problem when I spoke with him, and now I have my vacuum switch working as it should. I would recommend that any owners of older 25-pdvc's test there vacuum switches. This is an important safety feature!

Anyway, last evening I took a hammer to the goose egg in a futile attempt to flatten it. When that didn't work, - my redneck ancestry came out in me, and I tried a bigger hammer.... but that didn't work either. How hot will I need to get the back metal to make it malleable? Can I do it with a mapp gas / oxygen torch? Oxy-Acetylene?

I did an experiment last evening and I affixed a section of stove door gasket to the back of the baffle plate to fill the void. The stove seemed to heat up much faster and produce significantly more heat. Could it just in my head? I'm trying to figure out the design of the 25-PDVC.... Is the baffle plate in place to retard the the flue gases and "hold" the heat inside the stove body longer? Is the 1/2" gap on the left side of the baffle plate causing me to lose heating efficiency?

Any suggestions on a longterm (affordable) fix for my stove, if I need one?

I have no complaints about my little Englander, and Mike has helped me out A TON when I've called. I would like to get it back in shape.

- Brian

 

[sydney1963]

Why don't you just buy a new one?

$55.79

Plate is half way down the page.

Link

http://www.englanderstoves.com/store/25-PDVC_Parts.html

 

[orangecrushcj7]

when steel gets distorted from heat it is nearly impossible to get back to it's original shape. Everytime steel heats up and cools, the cycle hardens the steel. It is likely a lost cause. I would bet paychecks that is the source of your heat loss. I would also want to know the cause of the problem, why it got distorted in the first place. I know Mike will chime in with the answers.

 

[BrianW]

S-1963,

I don't think your following me.... it's not the baffle plate, - its the stove body itself thats warped.... and that ain't $55.79 to replace.

Brian

 

[donbryce]

A picture would help a lot to finding a remedy, but if I'm reading correctly, you need to flatten out a section of the stove back-wall where the impingment plate (baffle plate) rests, right? My 25-PDVC is running right now, so I can't check, but I think that steel plate is about 1/8" thick. I have quite a bit of experience with metal working and welding, so I'll tell you what I would try, if the 'goose egg' you describe is not that large, say under 2" X 2". If you can get behind the 'egg' with a steel dolly, it might be possible to heat an area about the size of a quarter cherry red with oxy/acetelyene, then quickly quench with a cold water soaked rag, and /or hammer the red hot area down with the dolly behind. Also optional is to grind a slot(s) into the bulge, to allow somewhere for the stretched metal to go, then heat and hammer it flat, then weld up the slot and grind flat. These tricks work fine on car frames and body metal, obviously easier on thinner steel, but you'd be surprised how malleable steel can be. Of course, too much heating and cooling will 'work harden' the steel, and make it brittle, but this is a stove, not a car frame, so I'd concentrate on getting it flat by whatever means works.

 

[BrianW]

donbryce,

You have read correctly; it is the stove back just behind the baffle plate that has the goose egg. I'll work on posting a picture sometime today. The stove is running right now.... I'm conducting an experiment with several rows of rope gasket affixed to the left side of the baffle plate to seal off the gap the goose egg creates. The stove is without a doubt running hotter, - so I'm on to something.


thanks for the info and reply,

Brian

 

[pelletizer]

If you can not flatten it like donbryce has mentioned could you actually cut the goose egg out and have a new section of steel welded in and grind the weld flat?

 

[cntbill]

BrianW - Just curious here because I don't see it mentioned and no photo so I can only guess. What if you just contour the baffle plate to the goose egg?

And defiantly how well that baffle plate fits tight will make a difference on heat output.

But I think what pelletizer suggested would be a fairly good solution as well.

 

[Highbeam]

Fill the goose egg with something. JBweld, furnace cement, etc. Second choice would be to cut out the goosegg and patch the hole with a small plate.

I love working with metal. There is nothing that can't be repaired when working with a cuttable, bendable, and weldable material. I'm not so good with wood.