My stove, a Country Model 260 T-Top came new in '96 with the upper tubes, fire bricks above them, and a two piece baffle blanket above that. I do not understand the purpose of that blanket, but am told that later they made this same stove with baffle board above the bricks. (??) I know when I get in there the blanket will be nothing but clumps of material left, so I want to get something ready. Should I: 1. Get another 2 piece blanket which will last, oh, about 2 seasons. 2. Get a 1" thick baffle board and place it above the bricks? 3. Just go without any baffle? 4. Replace the bricks with fiber cement board? 5. Or????? Thanks everybody!
The blanket is supposed to help keep the baffle tubes a little bit hotter so they work better. I don't know if I would start playing around with dimensions in the attic of the stove as it needs a certain amount of airflow and a certain amount of heat retention. You have had to replace that blanket every two years or just because you disturb it every two years and it then needs to get replaced ? I'm guessing you mess with it to clean/inspect the chimney ?
Hi Bill. Agree with everything you said. Yeah, it gets messed with and after the first season they get brittle but it has to be moved in order to clean the chimney. I've ordered enough material for the next two replacements, and so I'll just keep my gripes to myself. But I would like to switch over to the 1/2" fiberboard eventually - it just seems like it would do a better job without changing any geometry. Thanks for your suggestions, this is such a great group to belong to.
I had a Lopi with the brick baffle. Worked pretty good and much easier to deal with than the ceramic boards. That Lopi didn't have the blanket on top though. I've dealt with a few country stoves that had that blanket feature. Some hearthstones too, but those guys actually had little weights you put on top of the blanket so it wouldn't get sucked up and block the flue. You used to be able to buy the blanket bulk off of a roll at hardware stores. In your shoes, I would replace the blanket with an equal size and thickness board or go without if you can't find the board or new blanket. The purpose is to insulate the firebox and make that firebrick roof as hot as possible to support secondary combustion.
Thanks Highbeam! I see you have some specific insights and experience that I had not considered when I purchased a replacement baffle blanket last week. Will take your advice in a couple years when the blanket has once again burned into a useless rag. For the record I bought an inexpensive large blanket on Amazon that I should be able to make two out of: Here's the schematic for my particular stove should anyone be interested. I sure appreciate the time people took to help me and make suggestions - thanks!
Here she is all cleaned up and ready for winter. Out with the old... yeah, they just don't seem to last. New blanket - cut to size - and now I have an extra. Here's the new baffle blanket, I found it easier to install it first, then re-install the firebricks (not shown) which sit between the secondary air tubes and the blanket. I sure want to thank everyone for the input and suggestions!
