The door isn't closed yet, and I'm not gonna kick it in just yet. No good will come of poking the proverbial bear. It'll still be under warranty next year, when he said he wants to see it again.
That baffle is a good in use data collection for the stove manufacturer. You can see where the heat tends to concentrate. So the correct response for the stove manufacturer is to take that baffle and learn where they need to make it stronger. Instead you get a response that you over fired the unit.
Could be with the secondary air leaking out the top, less air was blowing out the holes and the stove wasn't burning as clean?
"No, I did not over fire the stove, I have stove top and flue thermometers and I monitor the stove regularly, in my opinion, this was a defect in the baffle." Push, but in a nice way. Plus, you mention how the winter heating season is starting and you and your family depend on the stove for heating the house. If they continue to resist, without mentioning FHC, just say that you are on a wood burning forum with many users and how the company's reputation may suffer when others on the forum sees the post about the baffle and the resistance of the company to service their product under warranty. Push, but in a nice way.
I would give them a link to this thread. You have not bad mouthed them in anyway. Yet! Problems for companies are just opportunities that haven't been handled right. Gary
Man that's odd about that baffle. Mine still looks fine and I'm going on my fifth season with it. The way that baffle is designed it shouldn't be a problem running it like that but I would still politely push to have it replaced. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
A lot of good ideas here about being polite and friendly and still letting a company know that you are serious and dedicated to pursuing and resolving an issue. Remember that you can be both: friendly and firm!!!!!!! I have had my Pacific Energy Super 27 stove as my main heat source for approx. 18 yrs now. Its heating 2000 sq. ft. and doing it very well with no quality issues or troubles. I am not a PE fan boy and am sure there are other stoves out there that will do the same for me, but I really like the heat and low wood usage. I clean out the baffle and stove occasionally and have had no problems with baffle or other components. I do run my stove pretty hot at times when its below zero and windy and my baffle still looks normal. I would guess that a weld or welds may have been forgotten and has allowed some flex and warping. Cant imagine it hurting anything to use it that way, may allow a little more air than normal to flow through.
I know I'm behind the 8ball on this thread and I hope it is working out, but understand it doesn't make any differance whether something was done right or wrong, metal will warp and fatigue, That's life! I've build a few baffles in my stoves and seen ones do things I just look and say ... If it's under warranty then your fine. If not, Put it on something hard and "SMACK" it back into place and re-weld it if you can. Our steel comes from all over the world and when I do a mil spec job here, 3 companies can call something an apple pie, but some of them "sure" don't look like apple pie! " just using example"... Steel specs anymore are all over the place so, Best of luck, not to worry in my humble opinion.
The red is normal.. Mine looks like yours and I haven't over fired it.. The metal is still OK on my stove.. I like the baffle scopes had made! That should last a long time!
I guess there is one good reason for my stove not coming up to temp, my baffle looks fine on my piece of furniture Summit.
I hear you and respect your knowledge on the subject but under normal operating conditions that should not happen and if I had issues with the metal not up to standards I would up the thickness of the baffle.
Agree, "but you can't control "pinpoint" heat sometimes. I have tested metals that were supposed to be a certain grade and come out "minimal" at best. "should you have a problem"? No, but even new car engines come apart. We have been sold a lot of junk from over sea's and when metal is purchased and sold "sometimes" you can't guarantee what your getting. The way they see it is; your not building the space shuttle.
I should have added mine definitely has the same red cast to it and it's just from the temp the metal has been subjected to. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I work in the aerospace industry and we have all kinds of problems with metals from over seas not being what they say they are. We even specify many times it that it must be domestic even if it comes with certs. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I'm going with a stove fairy did it........ I just wish I could get my stove fairy to reload for me Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Well it does look like it got too hot and warped. But if you got a crap piece of steel it may not have taken much. We had a minor defect in a true north stove. Dealer took care of it. It was a fluke and it happens. Not like they're building submarines and doing all manner of expensive testing.