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

[Jamm]

I was a little dismayed when I realized my Heritage was not burning to specs this fall. The beginning of my third winter using this stove. Telling signs were the faster speed at which logs were being consumed and difficulty getting the good, low recirculating burn from low settings. I had been through this once before at the end of my first season with the Heritage. I got a light and looked up at the baffle. A one inch hole was visible in the ceramic plate.

There ya go, thousands of dollars upgrading my stove to this real beauty and it broke down already, after one winter! Oh sure, it was probably my fault. I probably 'shanked' the baffle with my poker or 'rammed' in too much wood. Maybe it was all those times I started the stove by leaving the ash door open that weakened the baffle? So off to the hardware to get a tub of furnace cement. A temporary solution at best. Don't bother is my advice, because this ceramic baffle is a 1/4 inch of, to put it politely, pith and nonsense. To top it off, I found out that it costs $65+ to get a new baffle. Typical, really great, expensive stove, that requires a replacement part every season or two. The ridiculous thing is that Hearthstone would bother with a baffle made of this ceramic stuff because it is too delicate for service in a stove. Of course you're going to 'prang' your stove baffle every so often. I don't care for 'feline-footing' around delicate parts that I need to put to daily use. I read about a fella that got three years out of his Heritage baffle. When I remove mine, it fell apart like pie crust. Oh! oh! Winters comin'!

It is obvious that the part makes sense for the service techs at the stove shop because sooner or later your gonna need baffle replacement and that means $$$$ for them. Go look in your Hearthstone right now, I bet you got a hole in your stock baffle. I wasn't going to roll over for these guys down at the shop so easily and they are probably wondering why I haven't been in yet to get a new baffle? I tried a few materials such as heavy ceramic tiles and a piece of asbestos board. Don't bother. Then I found these fire bricks in my old stove that I hadn't taken in for the scrape money yet. They are 4 1/2 x 9 x 1/2 inches and can be purchased at the Home Depot, inexpensively if you don't have any in an old stove. They are durable to heat but a little brittle so careful not to ding or torsion them when handling. The bricks form my old stove are 18 years old.

(broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/buy/building-materials-heating-venting-cooling-hvac-parts-accessories/6-pack-firebrick-154421.htmlk)

For the modification I used a cannister filter mask, safety glasses, a pencil, square and a grinder with a small metal / diamond, cutting / grinding wheel for masonry work available, at the hardware store. Just do a good job smoothing the sides of the bricks that you'll have to cut. After you fit the bricks in, you get a nice row of 1 1/2 inch thick firebrick for a baffle that is much more durable then the 'wafer' that the Heritage comes with. Stove works well again and I not so worried about paying for a stock, junk, baffle material that doesn't appear to be up to the job.

I'd be interested in details of other effective solutions to this Heritage baffle problem but, so far, the stove works well again. Also be interested in reasons why I shouldn't do this type of mod.

 

[begreen]

I'm not a big fan of baffle boards either. As long as there is sufficient clearance above the bricks for a good smoke path, I like the retrofit idea. One change I would make is to use pumice brick instead. They will be more costly but will insulate better for a cleaner, hotter fire. The cost about twice as much, but will last as long with a little care.

One suggestion for folks that have a baffle board. Be careful when cleaning the flue. Often that odd 1" hole is where the flue brush hit the baffle.

 

[Jamm]

My first thought was, will I be impeding the functions of the stove but, apparently not, since I have observed the smoke leaving the burn box in orderly fashion from looking through the open side door on the Heritage. Seems plenty of space in the re-circulation chamber to accommodate the thicker firebrick. I'd be interested in a one piece firebrick or pumice brick 8 1/2 x 17 1/2 inch.

 

[Todd]

Are these bricks resting on top of the burn tubes? I wonder if the extra weight would cause some warpage? What about Skamole or some harder vermiculite board?

 

[Jamm]

So far I have been burning for a month this way, every day, with no sign of gas pipe warp. The firebricks are up top the pipes resting on the back pipe. The front of the firebricks rest on an iron insert ledge that can be removed to allow replacement of baffles. So, the firebricks don't actually put too much weight on the gas burner pipe. The Hearthstone Heritage Non-Cat model seems pretty stout when one disregards the stock ceramic baffle plate. But, I shall keep an eye out for pipe warp and anthing else that might come up. All good for the month thus far. No worries mate!

The non-cat Hearthstone Heritage is now back in excellent working order and I have a big bed of coals each morning. I know I have less chance of rendering my stove less efficient from perforating the baffle by accident, and that was the goal. The wood is too precious and baffles made of ceramic are too far away and difficult to get. I think I burn almost double the wood when the baffle has a hole. Mission accomplished.

I think Todd is right to be cautious about the weight of firebrick on gas re-burn tubes.

After researching Skamol and Vermiculite it seems as though the stuff might make excellent baffle material too. You can check it out at this interesting site :

http://www.matweb.com/search/GetMatlsByManufacturer.aspx?navletter=S&manID=270
http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=5bce4c0e9bff4e5c933f31fb15f567e3

Firebrick surpases Skamol for temperature resisitence by quite a bit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_brick

I have not found the data on pumice stone yet, but, remain interested.

My suggestion is, don't do anything to your stove that can't be undone to return it to stock should you be disatisfied with performance.

Remeber, warping pipes offten happens due to eccessive burn temp. That is why the manual for the HH 8021 says not to exceed temps. of 500F.

 

[Lawrence Click]

I just bought a used heritage 12 years old and like you say the baffle is junk flimsy and it seems like a good idea after reading your retro fit and replies , I did it with a few modifications myself 1st the full measurement is 17 1/2 x 8 1/2 .. home depot sells the 9 x 41/2 x 11/2 but like most things that home depot sells these were 27 dollars and they didn't carry them except in the warehouse . I went to my local hardware and picked up 4 at $2.50 a pc .. then cutting them .. most people can get hole of a tile saw some ones brothers friend well it works perfect .. Now its July 2 and I have to wait to see if it works .. which the good people who have already done it says it does .. btw the support bracket on the top and bottom and the tubes welded on the side holding that little weight will do nothing

 

[Highbeam]

I always thought that the baflle board in my heritage was pretty stout. It is a healthy 1/2" thick and heavy. It won't be damaged unless YOU damage it. Mine lasted for the full 25 cords with the biggest damage being from me dinging it with splits. I would try and fill these dings with cement but then the cement would fall off and take baffle board material with it. How hard would it be to encapsulate the baffle board with a layer of SS sheet metal? The baffle would still provide function but be protected from abuse.

 

[Lawrence Click]

I always thought that the baflle board in my heritage was pretty stout. It is a healthy 1/2" thick and heavy. It won't be damaged unless YOU damage it. Mine lasted for the full 25 cords with the biggest damage being from me dinging it with splits. I would try and fill these dings with cement but then the cement would fall off and take baffle board material with it. How hard would it be to encapsulate the baffle board with a layer of SS sheet metal? The baffle would still provide function but be protected from abuse.

Like I said I just bought a used one and all that I see wrong was a 80 dollar ceramic board that I think I replaced for 10 dollars , the bricks are a lot more solid and from what I see it will do the same thing , but it will be much too hot here to prove it for some time here so I will have to get back to you on that .. the baffle I took out was junk and it was pretty easy to put the bricks in after I cut them with the tile cutter .. if I'm wrong I wasted 10 bucks if not I saved 60 this year and 70 the years I would have to replace the baffle because I really don't see anything breaking the bricks and they are very tight because the saw cut them so flat

 

[begreen]

The smoke flow around the baffle will be different with the additional 1" thickness. How that will affect performance is unknown. Keep the bricks tightly together. Leakage between the bricks is undesirable.

 

[Highbeam]

You can just dry fit the bricks. My EPA Lopi freedom insert used bricks for the baffle and they were just sitting up there.

My biggest problem with the brick solution is the weight. The weight is being supported by thin walled SS tubes that glow red when you are burning. They aren't easily replaced on a heritage if they were to sag from the weight. So saving money on a baffle might cost you in tubes.

 

[firecracker_77]

I need a new baffle as well. I ruined mine through scraping it with splits. Not a design flaw, but it is delicate.

 

[Lawrence Click]

The smoke flow around the baffle will be different with the additional 1" thickness. How that will affect performance is unknown. Keep the bricks tightly together. Leakage between the bricks is undesirable.

well , the smoke flow will be the same because it sits on the support bracket and the back pipe which makes the angle the same, this is the same things the baffle sits on and is tied to ( there is a video on youtube ) showing how to change the baffle . the extra inch shows up on the back side where it is dead air space before it goes to your chimney and of course if there are spaces between the bricks you are doing things wrong that's why you cut them with a tile cutting saw , mine looks like one pc 17 1/2 x 8 1/2 . like I said if I'm wrong I wasted 10 bucks , if it works I won't ever have this problem again , we will find out this winter . Reading some of your other comments if you look at the Heritage the choke point is in the front just above the door at the support bracket and it is internal . the bricks are well below that and angle about 4 inches down to the back of the stove that is the dead air space

 

[begreen]

Do the burn tubes have manifolds on the sides that create a ledge? If there are I was wondering if one could use 1" angle iron, resting on the side manifolds, to create supports for the bricks, taking the weight off the tubes.

 

[webby3650]

Typical, really great, expensive stove, that requires a replacement part every season or two. The ridiculous thing is that Hearthstone would bother with a baffle made of this ceramic stuff because it is too delicate for service in a stove.

Hearthstone isn't the problem here! Many, Many stove manufacturers use the same materiel for their baffle and offer years of faithful service. Unless you are constantly abusing it.

 

[rudysmallfry]

My stove is 10 years old and I have no holes in my baffle. I do however suffer from fast burning wood. I thought it was due to draft and lack of damper, but maybe I have been looking in the wrong direction. Other than obvious wear, such as a hole, what would constitute a worn baffle?

 

[webby3650]

obvious wear, such as a hole,

That's about it. They either just break down over many,many years, from constant overfiring, or knocking a hole it in with the end of a cleaning brush. The brush end being the most common reason for failure.

Have you checked all your gaskets? Especially the ashpan?

 

[stovelark]

Guys- there are thousands of Heritages out there- the baffle is not the problem. A little care will ensure it lasts. The same can be said about the sec air tubes, treat them right and they will last. Ceramic baffles have been used for years, and are durable. Not many brick top baffles are left, I think Country when Lennox bought them even went to ceramic baffles. Enviro is still using them in the 2100FS, but that stove is (hopefully) in re-design, the others use ceramic baffles (Kodiak and Boston, both with lifetime warranty on the cer baffle). As a guy who has had to cut many bricks over the years (For the old Napoleon, Energy Kings, SeeFires, and the others) and notch them appropriately, I like the ceramic baffles. Of course, the best design probably out there is the P/E "floating top baffle", nice design and patented too. I have had to replace a few Hearthstone baffles, but nothing extreme. The Phoenix is my favorite HS, great heater. Modifying your stove is officially never a good idea, but if it works...
Stay warm.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Honestly, I don't think I have even opened the ash pan door in about 6 years. Front door too. I keep the grate shut, keep firebricks on the floor of the stove and just sweep it out from the side door. I figure, if I don't open doors, the gaskets won't wear out. Maybe I'll take a few pics and let you guys weigh in on it's condition.

 

[stovelark]

Hi Rudy, like webby said, check all the gaskets. When you say short burn times, maybe its because of an air leak, or good draft. If too much draft, find the air leak or maybe add an in-line damper, altho most new generation stoves have ample air control with the stove air adjustment. Maybe a lighter test around the stove when its running and pulling hard will narrow down the leak, if there is one. Good luck.

 

[Lawrence Click]

Do the burn tubes have manifolds on the sides that create a ledge? If there are I was wondering if one could use 1" angle iron, resting on the side manifolds, to create supports for the bricks, taking the weight off the tubes.

go to
http://www.hearthstoneparts.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=8021
the baffle sits on 28 29 30 and 32 you could probably support 200lbs with this your supporting maybe 10 . do you have a heritage ? if so it sounds like your going to spend much more money and time . You should just watch the video

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

replace the baffle with the original part and set your mind at ease

 

[rudysmallfry]

Thanks for posting that video. My baffle doesn't have any pins holding it in place. I guess is should, huh?

 

[Lawrence Click]

it probably should have something holding it down its really light , the fire probably lifts it up and defeats the purpose

 

[rudysmallfry]

Well that solves my short burn time mystery. Figures, I check seals, draft, wood moisture, type and age, and it comes down to a single $1 pin. Yep, that's my luck alright.

 

[Highbeam]

it probably should have something holding it down its really light , the fire probably lifts it up and defeats the purpose

No, it is not that light. The fire will not lift it. The pins are there more for transport than for holding the baffle down but I always replaced them when I had the baffle out for sweeping. The new baffles do not have pins but use a little loop of SS safety wire to hold them down. Probably too many people poking holes in the baffle while trying to unbend the cotter pins with needlenose pliers, I know I did.

 

[Audio1]

Hi Jamm,

I have followed your advice. I have replaced my broken baffle board in my Hearthstone Heritage 8021 stove with fire bricks (refracting bricks). I bought mine at Rona for about 4$/each and needed four of them. I assume they are the same than the ones at Home Depot. They fit perfectly in length (I used the longer ones as there were two sizes [short and long]). The bricks rest on the lip edge of the stove at the back and on the tube part for the front. They cover the same space than the baffle board did. One of the bricks needed a short trim to adjust the final width. I am excited to fire my stove now. Just waiting for the cold weather to start.

Thanks!! !