Observations and Pictures of new PE Summit insert "B" model

[Hogwildz]

I will post pictured as soon as Craig fixes me up like the last time the forum was upgraded. Hopefully he can this time too.

Firebrick & floor protrusions:

Okay, so I installed the firebrick today.
Summit owners take note, the bottom floor has 3 obstacles...
2 EBT bolt heads near rear on newer B model, near front on previous model, and one weld where the air intake lever post is mounted, towards the front in front of the boost chamber.
If you set the bricks in on top of these, they will crack and break at those 3 points at some time. Not a real big deal, but although my name is not Scotty Overkill, I am of the same frame of mind.
I set the bricks in place and moved them around on top of the protrusions to leave a mark on each brick, then used a Dremmel to grind the bottom surface of the bricks so that they would rest flat on the insert floor.
One brick was broken in half, but fit together tight enough that I used it on the floor.

 

[Hogwildz]

The baffle design has changed also. Although I do not see if any stiffeners were mounted inside to help with the sagging.
There is a new what I am calling winged plate welded onto the bottom of the stove ceiling heat shield. That is something new. Looks like it will slow the exhaust gases exit down some. The ceiling heat shield is also much narrower now. Not sure why, but it does not cover a majority of the insert ceiling as the old one used to. Just from feeling around up top, it seems like the front upper edge & lip of the baffle has been modified. I am not pulling the baffle out, as I do not want to disturb the gasket yet. A new hog style gasket design may be in the works in the future.
The rear baffle lower wrap around lip has also changed. It appears thicker and more stout, and now has 4 welds or so connecting it to the main upper bottom body of the baffle.
I was able to finally get some shots of the rear baffle secondary holes as I have been advising everyone of for some time now. I could see them clearly in the new baffle and did get a decent photo showing them. They are inside the rear wrap at bottom of the baffle in the back.

So those of you thinking a flame fan spread back there is not right, it is in fact supposed to be that way. I am guessing it is to burn the gases trapped in the back of the stove and help with a more even burn & temp back there. I would say if your not having the secondary waves of flame back there, then you might have an issue.
When I removed the old insert, I found that I did not cover the back vertical channel outlet that enters the baffle bottom well enough, and chimney sweepings had built up on the bottom, covering the air channel down there.
It is IMPORTANT to cover the channel good, before sweeping, or you will not achieve your secondary burn as you should. Since fresh, it did vacuum out easily and I did not have to shove anything down in there, the powder was sucked out by the shop vac hose just at the opening. Not sure how long it would take to cake up and harden, so if you think you have an issue there, pull the baffle and get a lighted inspection mirror and see if you can see the air slot down there. If it is covered, your not getting secondary air.

I will post some more things, but have to go get ready for dinner, so I will add more later.
Photos will hopefully come, IF, I can upload them in the new forum.

 

[Hogwildz]

The boost manifold cover is slightly narrower now. About 1/4" to 3/8" (guess). Don't know if this means the inner corner posts are larger, the box smaller, thicker post materials? Who know. Not a major difference.
The tabs that hold the boost manifold cover in place are replaced with pins now.
It does not appear that the knife edge on the front for the door has been changed. There are still only welded on the inside corners, and I hope the face cracking and cracks in those corners does not happen on this one.
I hope they changed something up in there, but don't see anything obviously different.
And a shot of the inner top and air wash.

 

[Hogwildz]

Other observations:
The cast iron top cover and ash lip are much heavier & nicer than the originals. The ash lip wraps farther around the insert and back near the surround.
The smaller blowers, one on each side, will be evaluated when put in use. The turbines appear to be plastic, hope these things last.
I still have the old larger single side ones, and it does not look like too much effort to put one back in on the right side if need be.
The side grilles are now easier to remove, and the ash lip no longer has to be removed to removed these. They also have what looks like window gasket type gasket on the side that rests in the surround, and I imagine this is to stop surround vibration. I wedged kawool fiber blanket pcs behind mine while on the old insert, as at a certain sped &/or temp, it would vibrate and rattle.
They still mount the tab on the outside of the outlet at the edge, and I still don't know why they do that. To leave it in place means having to notch the liner and collar around it. This I don't like.
The casing at back has two hand holes for lifting/mowing the insert. Before sliding into place, they need to be slid over the holes and screwed in place. Holes & screws are already there.
No knock out for inside air anymore. The front cover is pulled out with the metal box attached, the box is removed, and the cover put back in place.
The surround mounts slightly differently. The brackets are removed from the stove, mounted to the surround, then the assy is mounted to the insert.
The bracket has slots and can be slid up or down as needed. It is recommended to slide the assy up as far as possible to close off the gap between the surround and the upper casing of the insert.
The wiring for the fans could be color coded better/properly. black to black, white to white etc. There was a black to black, and a white to black, on the left side, on the right was 4 sets of wires all black.
The top case air deflectors have been changed to curved shapes, and are prepainted black now, along with any casing that shows after install complete.
On the prior version, this was all left gray, and I painted mine black. The gray stuck out like a sore thumb.
Some major and minor changes, not sure about the actual fire box design itself.
Excited to burn and see how she runs & heats.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the detailed report and pics. I see the baffle has more secondary air outlets. The left and right columns are new. Where does the boost manifold get it's air now? Is it a smaller hole where the EBT was located?

 

[BrotherBart]

The cast iron top cover

??

Don't worry about those plastic fans. The plastic ones in the Sierra insert concerned me. For 21 years and they never missed a beat. Convection air pulled through keeps them plenty cool without the blower running. Took me ten years and a long power failure to believe it or trust it.

 

[BrotherBart]

They still need to radius that dang door opening but oh well...

 

[Hogwildz]

Thanks for the detailed report and pics. I see the baffle has more secondary air outlets. The left and right columns are new. Where does the boost manifold get it's air now? Is it a smaller hole where the EBT was located?

Yes there are two new rows of holes, and looks like more holes everywhere(closer spaced). Hope this does not burn the wood faster. Hmmm Not sure I'll be liking this. They bore into the wood pretty quickly.
I am not sure with the boost air. I think it still pulls from the same spot in front bottom of the insert. The old EBT had it's own intake hole and then fed through the flapper. Now the EBT is in back and pulls from back there I think, and sends to the secondaries.

 

[Shadow&Flame]

Very nice job on showing the new stove...Kudos. I would say keep us updated on how it works...but I would say you are going to do
that anyway...

 

[Hogwildz]

They still need to radius that dang door opening but oh well...

Radius?? Huh?

 

[Hogwildz]

Very nice job on showing the new stove...Kudos. I would say keep us updated on how it works...but I would say you are going to do
that anyway...

Well, if she don't perform, she will be swapped back out for the old one. Or maybe hybrid the two into one.
I'll see how it performs once the weather cools down.

 

[BrotherBart]

Square openings in steel are where cracks happen. Why the rest of the stove building world has those (radiused) round corners in the door openings (open the door on your 30). PE tries to tackle it with that frame and apparently now a thicker weld at the joint in the frame.

But that is exactly where their cracks have been occurring. I hope they have defied metallurgical physics this time. My old Sierra did it like they do and it didn't crack.

 

[begreen]

Yes there are two new rows of holes, and looks like more holes everywhere(closer spaced). Hope this does not burn the wood faster. Hmmm Not sure I'll be liking this. They bore into the wood pretty quickly.
I am not sure with the boost air. I think it still pulls from the same spot in front bottom of the insert. The old EBT had it's own intake hole and then fed through the flapper. Not the EBT is in back and pulls from back there I think, and sends to the secondaries.

I'm hoping the additional holes will even secondary distribution and reduce the center burn groove. The new EBT definitely is on the secondary manifold now. Can't wait until you can start burning to get some good field reports on these changes.