Busted (and mostly missing) baffle in non-cat stove... now what?

[derecskey]

Last year was my first year burning. I had had a Buck21 noncat insert inserted with a liner. The firebox is only 1.6 cu feet. Ultimately, I think my stove was undersized. Nonetheless, in my ignorant attempts to cram as much wood as possible into the firebox, I managed to bash the surprisingly fragile baffle by poking a log between two of the secondary burn tubes. Now, most of my baffle is gone with only about 1/3 remaining in the very rear of the stove.

So... what now?

I've burned for 1/2 a season like that. I don't know how this is altering the behavior of my stove. Does it burn hotter? Not as hot? Not as completely? If so, how drastically? Are there any dangers to this setup? If so, how seriously?

Thanks for helping a still-sorta-rookie out.

 

[fossil]

You're burning as if you had little or no secondary burn capability. The firebox is basically vented straight to the flue, bypassing the secondaries. Yes, you can continue to burn that way, but you're wasting fuel and putting way more particulates into the atmosphere than you would be if the baffle were intact (and the way the stove was designed and certified to burn). Replace the baffle, simple as that. Rick

 

[DAKSY]

Not only are you altering the performance & clean-burning
qualities of your unit, You are now allowing the instense heat
of direct flames to hit the top of the firebox.
Your unit isn't designed to burn like that & you may cause the top of the unit to fail prematurely...
It's a WHOLE lot cheaper to replace the baffle than the entire unit.