Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...

[maple1]

Slight derail: one of the other forums I'm on has a section 'stuff by ____ members'. (Let's say). People can post up stuff they have made themselves to improve their 'things', and they put a price on them & sell them to other forum members. There might be some liability worries given what this forum deals with (playing with fire, often inside your house), but it would be pretty neat if something like that could be done in this place. On topic example - I would really like to have a simple, long lasting SS grate for my unit, and something simple like that could fit a wide range of units & applications. Making something like that would be a peice of cake for some just with stuff they have laying around and tools they have at hand - I'm no metal working guy.

 

[KARB2014]

Slight derail: one of the other forums I'm on has a section 'stuff by ____ members'. (Let's say). People can post up stuff they have made themselves to improve their 'things', and they put a price on them & sell them to other forum members. There might be some liability worries given what this forum deals with (playing with fire, often inside your house), but it would be pretty neat if something like that could be done in this place. On topic example - I would really like to have a simple, long lasting SS grate for my unit, and something simple like that could fit a wide range of units & applications. Making something like that would be a peice of cake for some just with stuff they have laying around and tools they have at hand - I'm no metal working guy.

I don't have an issue with lasering anything out. If you have an idea I can draw it up and laser it. It's cheap if I have the material on hand. I make chainsaw bucking spikes for Nate at Performance Outdoor Equipment. Between the two of use we designed the dogs for the Dolmar 6100. So if you have an idea don't be afraid to shoot me a PM.

 

[maple1]

Just checked out your PDF. Something like that would almost work for me, as-is. No legs needed. I would need it a couple inches narrower though, to fit it thru my firedoor - would have to measure to be sure & have a fire going right now.

I think you said that's 3/8" thick? How does that hold up?

Right now, I'm using up a set of old cooking grids off my Broil King BBQ. I put new ones in the BBQ in the spring. They're cast, and seem to last about as good as the regular off-the-shelf fireplace grates I was getting. Which isn't that great, overall. I cut one grid in half, and I have chewed through over half of that half in a couple months of not steady burning. There's a lot of heat in the bottom of my coal bed - with that gasification chamber right below it. A real test of high-temp metal durability.

 

[lexybird]

On a day like today (mid 30s) I don't know if the Tundra is even capable of bringing the house temp up 3-5* with a stuffed to the gills load...maybe 3, not 5, no way

I'm surprised being I heated 2,000 sq ft with the same unit in that last frigid winter we had , yeah when it's near zero you gotta feed it a lot but we never froze that's for sure . Must be something with the ducting layout

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm surprised being I heated 2,000 sq ft with the same unit in that last frigid winter we had , yeah when it's near zero you gotta feed it a lot but we never froze that's for sure . Must be something with the ducting layout

Well, it could be, but I kinda doubt it. Most of the duct is insulated outside of the furnace room, and the furnace room is the warmest one in the house by far so it's not getting cooled there. The duct is pretty good size, not humongous though, the house had a coal furnace originally, and the Yukon works fine with it.
The real issue, in my mind anyways, is the low temps coming off the furnace. You can set the fan temp switch up, but the temp drops right back down within a couple minutes once the fan starts, pretty much the same spot as it always runs. 100*-110* at the most, unless the damper door is open. This temp is taken in the 8" duct ~2' above the furnace. Once the good hot part of the secondary burn is done, duct temp is under 100*, and dropping. That's not tons of heat when its real cold out, it does OK when its warmer out, like here lately.
I'll get this worked out...just ain't there yet

 

[Craig9702]

I'm new to the Tundra and just trying to figure out how hot I can get the firebox before I NEED to shut the damper. Or can you safely just leave the damper open ( if needed ) without worrying about over heating the firebox? I currently have a magnetic thermometer on the heat exchanger door and get it to 350-400 Fahrenheit before shutting the damper. Seems to heat good for a while but also seems to cool off after about 2-3 hours and doesent give me as much heat as I would like

 

[brenndatomu]

Hi Craig, welcome to hearth!
If you are leaving the damper open for extended periods of time your "burn time" will be pretty short as you have found. There is a ton of heat going right up the chimney. Use of the damper is pretty much meant to bring the firebox up to "heating" temp, then close down. Damper closed is by far the most efficient way to run as long as the firebox is staying hot. "EPA" fireboxes, like the Tundra can run as hot, or hotter, when in cruise mode (damper shut) as long as you are burning good dry wood.
I'm not sure about the temps you are seeing from the HE door, sounds kinda high to me but I'll let one of the guys that actually use this method to monitor temps chime in here. I would say you are running 'er pretty hard but the high limit switch should close the damper down if the factory "uh oh" temp is reached, assuming it is working. Have you ever seen the damper close down on it own, like the high limit switch did its job?
Do you have a manometer on your chimney? I would expect with the amount of heat that is going up the chimney with the damper open, the draft is pretty high, which draws more heat up the chimney, which makes the draft higher...on and on. Not good!
Also, sounds like it is not hooked up to a tstat?
Maybe the best thing would be for you to detail your system for us (pics are good ) Hows it ducted, what is your chimney specs, do you have a baro or key damper, what is your wood like (kind, how long CSS) etc, etc.

 

[lexybird]

I would not let that damper stay open long . Yeah it'll hit the high limit sensor and close but that's really hard on a furnace it's not a good practice and you could risk over firing the unit .

 

[lexybird]

Well, it could be, but I kinda doubt it. Most of the duct is insulated outside of the furnace room, and the furnace room is the warmest one in the house by far so it's not getting cooled there. The duct is pretty good size, not humongous though, the house had a coal furnace originally, and the Yukon works fine with it.
The real issue, in my mind anyways, is the low temps coming off the furnace. You can set the fan temp switch up, but the temp drops right back down within a couple minutes once the fan starts, pretty much the same spot as it always runs. 100*-110* at the most, unless the damper door is open. This temp is taken in the 8" duct ~2' above the furnace. Once the good hot part of the secondary burn is done, duct temp is under 100*, and dropping. That's not tons of heat when its real cold out, it does OK when its warmer out, like here lately.
I'll get this worked out...just ain't there yet

Do you think your sisters would do better based off her heat output estimation and do you think you have a high level of heat loss in the home . Dumb question -are you certain that baffle is pushed back all the way in the firebox ?

 

[brenndatomu]

Do you think your sisters would do better based off her heat output estimation and do you think you have a high level of heat loss in the home . Dumb question -are you certain that baffle is pushed back all the way in the firebox ?

Not a high heat loss place..I used to use ~7-750 gallons of oil per year, and that is with an old coal-converted-to-oil furnace, and before insulation and window upgrades. I would guess that my sisters place has a slightly higher heat load. It is a very long ranch style home. Our place is a 30x40(ish) capecod style and we are not even heating the upstairs right now.
Yes, the baffle is definitely in place. I have been over this thing down to the last detail inside and out, I have had almost every part in my hand at one point or another. Everything seems to be as Drolet intended...
I was at my sisters place yesterday, she wanted me to show her how to clean the HEs. I noticed that her HEs were a bit glazed looking anywhere that the blower can blow cool air directly on them. Mine has only a very light dry soot layer everywhere. I think my wood is dryer than theirs though, so this observation may mean nothing at all.
I did install the same auto temp control on theirs (they love it) as I have on mine, so the two furnaces are being run the same way. The main difference is the plenum on theirs...

 

[brenndatomu]

do you think you have a high level of heat loss in the home .

And as another example (that I've made here before) in demonstrating how little it takes to heat this joint, in milder weather (30-35* and up) I can easily heat the ground floor with 1-3 loads per day in the lil 1.2 CF Defender stove (which I know you are familiar with) So far this year, I have run mainly only 1-2 loads per day in 'er, mostly due to wanting to play with the Tundra when it gets colder out.
FYI, I started out this fall burning Poplar in the lil stove, then I moved to a mixture of Pine and Ash here lately, maybe a small piece of Oak here n there. Not stuffing the firebox either. It was ~40* here this morning, I threw in a 3/4 load of pine n silver maple...that took us up to 76* in the house, (was 69* when I woke up) and it is still 73* right now, still from just that one fire. I will wait until bed time for another 2/3 to 3/4 load of Ash and Pine in the stove...Tundra will hafta wait until at least next week for another fire in 'er belly

 

[STIHLY DAN]

The main difference is the plenum on theirs...

Time to get off your holiday tookus and build yourself a plenum of your own!!

 

[brenndatomu]

Time to get off your holiday tookus and build yourself a plenum of your own!!

Nah, I ain't done with mah holiday treats yet! Besides, I haven't established a good baseline for running with 3 duct connections yet...this darn "winter", I have never started so many new fires!
I may try a couple other things yet before I do the plenum...

 

[lexybird]

I hear ya it's a Hard year to heat with wood . Starting a fire left and right to deal with the temperature swings . One day it's 60 next day 35 . Cool nights warm days and then vise versa -Up and down

 

[Builderml]

Brenn, you must have some thin blood. 76*?? I think at that temp this house would become a nudist colony.
Craig, as far as the temp on the H.E. door at 350-400* I personally don't think that's high at first during the burn stage. I am getting those temps on my single wall pipe about 2' above the T connection. I may be running mine a little hotter compared to others on here.

 

[trx250r87]

I average @ 250°-300° at the center of my heat exchanger door, just below the wingnut. This is measured with a magnetic gauge as well as cheap IR gun. Anything above 300° really starts to pour out the heat!

 

[brenndatomu]

76*?? I think at that temp this house would become a nudist colony.

Who said that we aren't?
That's not a temp that I generally try to maintain...just a peak on that particular load in the stove. 73-74, 75 at the most is about as warm as things get normally. 72 is a good target temp for us.
I didn't reload the stove until bedtime that night, ~10# (yeah, I weighed it) for the overnight. Overnight low temps were 40 ish and that 10# of wood held the house temp to a low of 71* until the next load at 10 AM yesterday morning...

 

[JRHAWK9]

yeah, I'm getting tired of the constant cold starts myself. We are around mid to low 30's during the day and 20's at night and with keeping a constant fire going for now 1.5 days; small reloads when just barely enough coals left to keep the fire going we are still sitting at 76° in here. Too damn warm.

My nephew and I are going ATV'ing up in N. WI/UP of Michigan (where they are forecasting 8-12" of fresh snow the night before we start our riding) the next few days, so the other half will be tending to the furnace. Will be interesting to see how this turns out....lol

 

[Dodgemrj08]

Hey guys new to the site. Anyways I've had my tundra for 1 heating season thus far and reading this thread about cracks. Well I found a crack behind handle on the firebox where the plate was folded. I contacted sbi and they want me to get quotes from a mobile welder is this normal? My wife and I honestly don't trust the dam thing now after one season and it cracks I haven't even ran it that hard I have a pellet stove upstairs witch heats well. Not sure if I should tell them they are nuts because a welder will charge them anywhere from 500-1000 dollars to put a bandaid on this thing. If this has bein brought up already my apologies and help redirecting me to the correct thread would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[Builderml]

Hey guys new to the site. Anyways I've had my tundra for 1 heating season thus far and reading this thread about cracks. Well I found a crack behind handle on the firebox where the plate was folded. I contacted sbi and they want me to get quotes from a mobile welder is this normal? My wife and I honestly don't trust the dam thing now after one season and it cracks I haven't even ran it that hard I have a pellet stove upstairs witch heats well. Not sure if I should tell them they are nuts because a welder will charge them anywhere from 500-1000 dollars to put a bandaid on this thing. If this has bein brought up already my apologies and help redirecting me to the correct thread would be great. Thanks in advance.

I have heard of several units cracking but that was in the corners of the door cut out. I would really give it a once over to make sure that was the only spot that has cracked. If you do find a welder that is comfortable doing the job I wouldn't be worried about the repair. Most people that have had cracks I believe we're credited the full purchase price via store credit. If you do get it welded I would make sure the ends of the crack get drilled out prior to welding. What serial number unit do you have? Keep us posted with updates if you would please.

 

[Dodgemrj08]

I have heard of several units cracking but that was in the corners of the door cut out. I would really give it a once over to make sure that was the only spot that has cracked. If you do find a welder that is comfortable doing the job I wouldn't be worried about the repair. Most people that have had cracks I believe we're credited the full purchase price via store credit. If you do get it welded I would make sure the ends of the crack get drilled out prior to welding. What serial number unit do you have? Keep us posted with updates if you would please.

My tundra model number is 1085. I also would like to say I'm not very happy with sbi service department at all I understand there just doing there job but when I'm doing there job by finding a welder for them to honor there warranty. No luck yet. I've emailed and told them this and I get the feeling that eather I find a welder that they want to pay or my stove is not going to be fixed or refunded. I don't have time to search for them. I just want heat in my house that dosnt cost me 400$ a month for electric. You pay 1700$ for a stove and its useless right now. So I'll update when I get more info but I'm not very happy right now. Thanks

 

[DoubleB]

quotes from a mobile welder is this normal?

Not yet that I've seen. Of the cracked units I've seen on this forum and another one, SBI has usually refunded the purchase price (for in-store credit). But I believe the warranty says that SBI can make things right at their discretion, which I reckon could also involve a mobile welder, so I think this is reasonable at least compare to the warranty.

But Buildermi is right, give it a thorough inspection to make sure you don't have more cracks, which could change the story if you do find some. I had trouble seeing mine until I really looked hard. They were easier to see when the furnace was cold (they opened up more).

Do you have a picture of your crack by the handle? That sounds like a new one. All the refunded furnaces I think I saw on here had cracks on the corners of the loading door, if that matters any for the severity.

 

[DoubleB]

Oh, and welcome to Hearth, @Dodgemrj08 !

 

[maple1]

Also curious to see a picture. Wondering if it can be used to keep the cold off until you find a welder? I don't think the other cracks were enough to stop people from using them but could be wrong.

 

[Dodgemrj08]

Not yet that I've seen. Of the cracked units I've seen on this forum and another one, SBI has usually refunded the purchase price (for in-store credit). But I believe the warranty says that SBI can make things right at their discretion, which I reckon could also involve a mobile welder, so I think this is reasonable at least compare to the warranty.

But Buildermi is right, give it a thorough inspection to make sure you don't have more cracks, which could change the story if you do find some. I had trouble seeing mine until I really looked hard. They were easier to see when the furnace was cold (they opened up more).

Also curious to see a picture. Wondering if it can be used to keep the cold off until you find a welder? I don't think the other cracks were enough to stop people from using them but could be wrong.

Also curious to see a picture. Wondering if it can be used to keep the cold off until you find a welder? I don't think the other cracks were enough to stop people from using them but could be wrong.

Do you have a picture of your crack by the handle? That sounds like a new one. All the refunded furnaces I think I saw on here had cracks on the corners of the loading door, if that matters any for the severity.

I will have to get a good flashlight and look closer tonight when I get home. But they sent me a list of 5 welders near me and told me to call them really? I'll have to wait till I get home to show picture.