A Hearthstone Heritage D.I.Y. Ceramic Baffle Modification Replacement

[rudysmallfry]

I forgot all about this thread. I've been having the lower stove temps this year and was wondering what was wrong. My stove is 12 years old. I'm still on the original baffle. I read a few posts back, that the older baffles were thicker. Is a 2004 stove considered older and the better baffle? I might try this brick thing just for kicks so see if it changes the performance.

 

[Handsonautotech]

I forgot all about this thread. I've been having the lower stove temps this year and was wondering what was wrong. My stove is 12 years old. I'm still on the original baffle. I read a few posts back, that the older baffles were thicker. Is a 2004 stove considered older and the better baffle? I might try this brick thing just for kicks so see if it changes the performance.

Did you take a look to see if it is broken, or if the whole assembly slid back? Mine slides back making the front gap bigger. If it is secure, not slid back, and not broken, it should not matter how thick it is. It is supposed to reflect heat, not insulate form it.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Can expanded metal be used in stainless steel with a half-inch three-quarter or 1 inch ceramic blanket on top of the air tubes?

Maybe $150 total for one or two decades?

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchan...320000014690&gclid=CKv_w7Sv_9ECFctMDQod-SsOQQ


http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281251...7290-0%26rvr_id%3D1164875498697&ul_noapp=true

 

[mstoelton]

What about a stainless plate similar to what PE uses in their stoves. Wouldn't this work?

It may need a blanket on top, but that would be near bullet-proof!

How thick are the PE stainless steel baffles?

 

[begreen]

How thick are the PE stainless steel baffles?

It's pretty heavy gauge metal and strengthened by being bent into a box shape. Maybe 16 ga?

 

[Handsonautotech]

What about a stainless plate similar to what PE uses in their stoves. Wouldn't this work?

It may need a blanket on top, but that would be near bullet-proof!

How thick are the PE stainless steel baffles?

Keep in mind the ceramic is designed to reflect the heat down into the firebox and air tubes. If you put metal that can absorb and radiate the heat you might over heat the cast frame holding the soapstone on top.

 

[jwveysey]

Hi, folks -

I was inspired by this thread to replace the baffle in my Hearthstone Homestead (2007 vintage) with concrete firebricks from Lowes. I'd gotten really tired of the fragility and expense of the stock baffle, plus the replacements I'd purchased always left gaps at the top of the firebox, reducing the stove's efficiency.

It took four bricks to make a new baffle, and I had to make an angled cut on each to allow the baffle support (the small steel plate on top of the secondary air manifold) to lie down on the bricks without unduly occluding the passage of exhaust above the baffle. I took the small pieces of brick I cut off and put them behind the bricks to prevent them from sliding toward the rear of the stove (i.e., keeping them exactly where needed to cover the top of the firebox).

I'm about 10 days into the experiment, and the stove is running better than it ever has before. Very clean burns and good secondary combustion even soon after lighting a fire.

I don't yet know how durable the bricks will be through many heating and cooling cycles, but they show no sign of wear right now. I'll try to remember to come back here and update this post when I have more data.

Thanks to all of the contributors here for good thoughts and advice!

 

[Highbeam]

Hi, folks -

I was inspired by this thread to replace the baffle in my Hearthstone Homestead (2007 vintage) with concrete firebricks from Lowes. I'd gotten really tired of the fragility and expense of the stock baffle, plus the replacements I'd purchased always left gaps at the top of the firebox, reducing the stove's efficiency.

It took four bricks to make a new baffle, and I had to make an angled cut on each to allow the baffle support (the small steel plate on top of the secondary air manifold) to lie down on the bricks without unduly occluding the passage of exhaust above the baffle. I took the small pieces of brick I cut off and put them behind the bricks to prevent them from sliding toward the rear of the stove (i.e., keeping them exactly where needed to cover the top of the firebox).

I'm about 10 days into the experiment, and the stove is running better than it ever has before. Very clean burns and good secondary combustion even soon after lighting a fire.

I don't yet know how durable the bricks will be through many heating and cooling cycles, but they show no sign of wear right now. I'll try to remember to come back here and update this post when I have more data.

Thanks to all of the contributors here for good thoughts and advice!

Cool! Pictures?!

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

I went to online metals.com and ordered a cut piece of 304 stainless perforated steel. It is cut slightly smaller than my baffle. The holes are .093 in diameter and it is .093 thick. I then grond a slot in the steel sheet to accommodate the stainless stell plate that comes with the factory baffle. Now I simply put the stainless steel on the burn tubes the the ceramic baffle on top of it. This protects the baffle from damage from logs. The burn tubes and perforated steel are both 304 stainless. Seems to work fine for me. It protects that expensive, brittle, baffle.

 

[ispinwool]

**Thanks for bumping this thread!
Excellent reading.
My baffle is currently patched (by the very helpful chimney sweep)
so I'm here looking for ideas. I tried to order a baffle from the store where we
bought our woodburner and it was $200!! I'm really glad they couldn't seem to
get one for me. I'm going with the fire bricks as an earlier poster suggested.

 

[Jersey Woodsman]

Hello All, I'm new here, but was happy to find this thread and thought I might share what I used to replace the problematic ceramic baffle (more like a piece of fiberboard/cardboard to me).. I cut out the 8 1/2" x 17 1/2" piece I needed from a 12" terra cotta flue liner I had laying around. Its one piece, very durable, and works like a charm... Used a diamond blade on a high speed mini grinder to cut it out. This was on my Hearthstone Heritage 8023

 

[VirginiaIron]

Pictures?

 

[chanda]

i'm thinking of making my own baffle out of stoneware clay fired to cone 10 (2345 F) in my kiln. anyone have any thoughts on why this wouldn't work?

 

[bundy150]

There are companies like Lynn Manufacturing making ceramic baffles for less than $100. Check out Amazon etc.