PE baffle mod discussion

[madison]

Curious if any tinkers ever considered drilling extra holes in stove baffle to tinker with the thing. If I had the #alls, I have been entertaining the thought of drilling a couple holes in the rear corners to promote the burning in this area of the stove as well as a couple on the front sides of the manifold boost. the secondary torch does a great job of incinerating the wood in the center & front prior to the rear corners... probably a design advantage i can not figure out.

any engineers , or any others care to opine. Luckily I do not possess a decent drill bit to penetrate the steel haha

If I get motivated later I'll try to take some pictures to elucidate.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I'm not an engineer (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night). I say go for it! Scratch that itch, satisfy your curiosity. Drill those holes and if you don't like it, plug 'em up with a sheet metal screw. Heck, my stove is only a month old and I'm already modifying the air- wash.

 

[BrotherBart]

The "life" in the lifetime warranty on that three hundred dollar baffle probably ends right about the time the drill touches it.

 

[Creature]

The "life" in the lifetime warranty on that three hundred dollar baffle probably ends right about the time the drill touches it.

Wow, I thought the baffle wouldn't be covered under the lifetime warranty, but it is (After July 1, 2004, according to http://www.pacificenergy.net/warranty.php). Thanks for pointing that out BB.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Buzzkill.

 

[madison]

The "life" in the lifetime warranty on that three hundred dollar baffle probably ends right about the time the drill touches it.

No doubt, and yes, major buzzkill, well maybe when the "life" in lifetime is successfully tested i'll have some material to experiment with

just curious if i could enhance the air getting to the rear corners to help even out the burn, drier wood has helped and a bit of learning with loading orientations,

 

[savageactor7]

madison is your stove smoking longer than just after reloading?

 

[Stump_Branch]

the baffle is put there from my understanding to keep heat in the box as well as make smoke travel circuitously allowing for it to get burned. adding holes would circumvent this, by allowing smoke to vent freely, or free'er to the flue.

My guess to get the corners....adding SLIGHTLY smaller hole in a more downward angle in the burn tubes. this provides air at..something like 1000 deg. better for burning then trying to add any sort of amibent air.
just my guess.

 

[madison]

madison is your stove smoking longer than just after reloading?

Not exactly sure of your question, but i guess the answer is no ,

t is pretty much burning fine. but i typically have to rake once or twice near the end of the cycle to move the larger coals in the rear corners to the front to burn them down and was thinking by opening a couple of holes in the rear corners of the baffle that it would improve the air circulation in those corners...

only a thought, but no action taken

 

[BrotherBart]

the baffle is put there from my understanding to keep heat in the box as well as make smoke travel circuitously allowing for it to get burned. adding holes would circumvent this, by allowing smoke to vent freely, or free'er to the flue.

My guess to get the corners....adding SLIGHTLY smaller hole in a more downward angle in the burn tubes. this provides air at..something like 1000 deg. better for burning then trying to add any sort of amibent air.
just my guess.

The PE stoves do not have burn tubes. The secondary air comes into the firebox through holes in the baffle which handles the air distribution.

 

[madison]

the baffle is put there from my understanding to keep heat in the box as well as make smoke travel circuitously allowing for it to get burned. adding holes would circumvent this, by allowing smoke to vent freely, or free'er to the flue.

My guess to get the corners....adding SLIGHTLY smaller hole in a more downward angle in the burn tubes. this provides air at..something like 1000 deg. better for burning then trying to add any sort of amibent air.
just my guess.

The PE stoves do not have burn tubes. The secondary air comes into the firebox through holes in the baffle which handles the air distribution.

Exactly BB, and the pattern design promotes the burn in the front center when the air control is restricted, and being the type that used to muck around with my VW beetle was pondering what mucking with the baffle(s) would do to tweak the burn pattern.

 

[Hogwildz]

Ok, I finally got up on the roof and cleaned my liner out last weekend when it was high 30's as compared to now with wind chills at 5 and lower. Yuck.
While I had the baffle out, I inspected it as usual. My Hogmade gasket still like new going on 3rd burning season.
Now to my point, the baffle in the rear has a channel on the bottom. Many see a firestorm of secondary combustion coming out of there, thinking their baffle gasket is not sealing good. Wrong, I felt sound inside the baffle hole that sits over the rear channel. and wallah, felt at least 4 holes that dump secondary burn air into the rear bottom channel, which runs horizontally along the entire bottom rear of the baffle. Hence, it appears to me, there is supposed to be that secondary burn back there, which I never minded cause it helps burn the gases and wood in the back. So it is already set up for secondary in the back. And no need to obsess about there not being a tight enough seal on the baffle gasket, cause it appears to suppose to achieve secondary back there.

 

[Dix]

I can see secondaries going in the back of the stove if I load it N/S. Sometimes, I think it depends on how it's loaded. If I pack it for an over night E/W with around or two, then no secondaries in the back.

I can get excessive coaling in the back corners as well, but, like most of us, I attribute that to the less than perfect wood that I will load at times. Like tonight, it's going down to 5 with the wind chill here...both stoves are working right now to get the house ready for the night. We're taking no prisoners :coolsmirk:

 

[Hogwildz]

Hows that 30 treating you Dixie. Although the Summit can still hold the house from 64 to near 70 in single digits & wind, I can't wait to hook my 30 up and get both heating the house. Are you running both constant, or just firing one up to supplement here and there or once a day etc?

 

[Dix]

Hows that 30 treating you Dixie. Although the Summit can still hold the house from 64 to near 70 in single digits & wind, I can't wait to hook my 30 up and get both heating the house. Are you running both constant, or just firing one up to supplement here and there or once a day etc?

The 30 is working out great, Hogs. I think my layout is kinda reverse from yours (I've a long ranch, splits in the middle, 6 steps down through a 36" doorway that keeps 2 open floor plans from flowing). The PE is on the upper level, so we're good to go for1200 SF, then we hit the doorway, and moving air down sucked big time.

The 30 is doing the job until about 30-35F, with slight wind.It will be 70 on the main level. After that, I need to kick in the PE. That damned doorway again !!

The Dixette is running pine mostly during the day in the 30, as it was free, and she's home. Hardwoods when the temp is like it is now.

All things considered a good move. Added an electric hot water heater this summer, and we're now off of oil completely.

***edit*** I have a 13 as a second stove. Thought I bought a 30. That sure explains the difference in burn times in the 2 stoves. Duh.

 

[krex1010]

I'm thinking that if having a few more holes where you are talking about was advantageous the the engineers at pe would have put them there.

 

[BrotherBart]

The 30 is doing the job...

Stove model check on aisle three.

 

[Dix]

Clean up complete.

:red: