The baffle just warped in our Pacific Energy wood stove

[CeeDee]

We bought our stove brand new about a year ago and used it for a few months last winter. We just had our first fire tonight, after thoroughly cleaning the chimney, all interior pipes and inside the stove. The baffle had a slight wobble when sitting on the floor. The instructions say if the warp is less than 1/4" not to worry about it. But tonight we heard a loud sound and discovered that the entire back half of the baffle is now concave. It's pretty significant. The fire is small but hot. I don't know the temperature, but the stove isn't red. The water in the cast iron kettle on top was doing a low boil. Do we need to replace the baffle? What happens if it's cracked? We had a few hot fires last year and nothing happened. Thanks for any feedback on this.

 

[ABMax24]

That baffle is made from stainless steel, stainless expands and contracts a lot with heat. See what the baffle looks like once it cools down, I bet it will return to its normal shape.

My parents PE stove did that a fair bit, the first baffle lasted 13 years of continuous winter burning.

 

[CeeDee]

That baffle is made from stainless steel, stainless expands and contracts a lot with heat. See what the baffle looks like once it cools down, I bet it will return to its normal shape.

My parents PE stove did that a fair bit, the first baffle lasted 13 years of continuous winter burning.

That's good to know. I'll take a look tomorrow and see if it flattens out again. In my opinion it shouldn't be doing that and making such a loud, disturbing sound. But hopefully it'll be okay. If the warp stays, I'm going to have PE replace it.

 

[Woody5506]

What stove is it? My T5 baffle bowed a bit but not anything I'm alarmed by, and it hasn't gotten worse over the years. You really have to make sure the baffle is back in place properly or it could move/fall down. If there is a significant issue though it will be covered under warranty.

 

[begreen]

Was a new gasket put in before the baffle was reinstalled?
When the stove cools down can you post a picture of the warp? If it is in the rear and significant then it may be leaking too much secondary air there due to the breaking of the gasket seal with the secondary tube.