secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight
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So there's one bent and one missing?
Don't run without the tubes, they are what regulate the secondary air, highly likely you'll get a runaway fire if you run without.
Osburn has a great online store for parts, they drop ship from the factory. Unless a local dealer has one in stock.
Don't run without the tubes, they are what regulate the secondary air, highly likely you'll get a runaway fire if you run without.
Osburn has a great online store for parts, they drop ship from the factory. Unless a local dealer has one in stock.
ugh-the temperature is dropping rapidly in NY and I have an hour commute home. The news is recommending that you not go out this afternoon so I was hoping I didn't have to have all in the insert. I hope the heat doesn't go out-I only have electric
![[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/306/306011-fff511da611fbc67496f6ae0ec336d32.jpg?hash=ExGlQSFPke "[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight")
Any chance to just bend it back and re-install? Though I'd also be curious about why it bent in the first place. If you hit it with a log or something, then that would just be mechanical damage. But if the stove got so hot it bent, then you likely have other issues beyond just the bent tube. If it is an old carbon steel tube which is 'burnt out' then straightening it may just break it in two, anyway.
I can't speak for all stoves, but in my set-up it's not the tubes which regulate air, but the air inlet size. Or to look at it another way, 4 tubes x 20+ holes per tube x 5/32 hole diameter = a lot more square inches than my ~3/4" diameter air intake. If I had to do it, I'd probably make the blank/open tube the very deepest one in the firebox and keep actual tubes in the other three slots leading out to the door.
I can't speak for all stoves, but in my set-up it's not the tubes which regulate air, but the air inlet size. Or to look at it another way, 4 tubes x 20+ holes per tube x 5/32 hole diameter = a lot more square inches than my ~3/4" diameter air intake. If I had to do it, I'd probably make the blank/open tube the very deepest one in the firebox and keep actual tubes in the other three slots leading out to the door.
Do not operate an SBI (Osburn) stove with one or more secondary air tubes missing. The air is regulated at the holes in the tubes, every part of the secondary air system upstream of the tubes is significantly larger in size. Operating without the secondary tubes will almost certainly cause an overfire.
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In my days of experimenting with massive overdraft, I made a secondary tube. I wanted less secondary air at the front of the stove.
Used 1/2" ID black pipe. Cut to length. Drilled a few holes and made a notch. I removed all the coating on the outside of the pipe. Worked fine. It is up to you, but might work in a pinch.
![[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/306/306012-c9921a5007096892bd227b588f7f11ea.jpg?hash=2tp0Co5u0o "[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight")
![[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/306/306013-ed3d5f5dfcf684c6e492155af4d33eaf.jpg?hash=UF8F7-LjBJ "[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight")
![[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/306/306014-69deb98e03d9fea1a5846253992e44cc.jpg?hash=1DUlGow2E0 "[Hearth.com] secondary air tube bent and out Help-freezing temperatures tonight")
Used 1/2" ID black pipe. Cut to length. Drilled a few holes and made a notch. I removed all the coating on the outside of the pipe. Worked fine. It is up to you, but might work in a pinch.
Clamp a short 6" section of 1" pipe in a vice. Insert one end of the tube into it. Slip another 18" section of 1" pipe (1") around it. Gently persuade it to a flatter shape. PVC pipe would probably work for this.
If you have steel or iron 1" pipe then heating up the tube to red hot may help. Go gently to avoid kinking the tube.
I have my doubts about whether a missing tube would cause a runaway. If it was emergency I would try a small fire and go from there, the excess secondary air may not even reach the actual fire.
First step, get that bend straightened out and replace the tube.
First step, get that bend straightened out and replace the tube.
It might or might not depending on the size of the fire, but it would dump all the unregulated secondary air into the firebox from the large open holes. That could make any fire uncontrollable.
My first attempt would be to straighten the tube. The next would be to safely block the open tube holes.
At a minimum I would stuff the open holes on each side with a ball of aluminum foil, knowing that the foil would be very temporary. And I would still burn only small fires and watch it like a hawk.
A third option would be to block off the secondary air intake. The stove would run poorly, but at least it would respond to the air control. Meanwhile, I'd head to the hardware store to get some iron pipe per Woodcutter Tom's suggestion.
Those pipes are unregulated anyway and what if that preheated overfire air just shoots up the flue? I like your idea of blocking off the secondary intake if you can find it.
I have these metal electrical knockout plugs that would snap into the empty tube holes. They’re available at Home Depot.
Hopefully the baffle boards that normally rest on these tubes are stable and not crunched too by whatever the heck took out that tube.
They are unregulated, but restricted by the small holes in the tube and the friction of airflow in the tubes.
Good thought about the knockout plugs if they are a snug fit, though if I made it to the hardware store for them I would get the iron pipe or even a hunk of conduit if it was the proper OD. We did the iron pipe secondary tube replacement on a friend's Heartstone H1 stove and it worked pretty well.
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