Wearable parts questions

I bought the Englander NC30 a few weeks back and bought a factory blower at the same time. Today I found another blower on clearance for $99 Canadian pesos. I figured what the heck...the first one will die sooner or later, and I sure wont get that price when it does. I also plan on buying some spare ceramic baffle board. Sooner or later, thats going to go too.

Has anybody had the secondary burn tubes disintigrate in their stove just due to age/wear ? Any piece of metal that's exposed to direct fire is going to lose mass over time. Is this something Id be wise to keep on hand ? If I need them, theyre a 2 week mail order away. Nobody here stocks them. I could make them myself, but the material cost and labor just wouldnt make it worth while.

 

Oops.. Canadian spelling and Im sticking to the story.

As far as having stuff on hand for future use....Im a mechanic/millwright and I reload all my own ammo for target shooting. When you need it is not the time to go looking for it. Sure as all heck nobody will have stock.

 

There's a guy on eBay that makes tubes for different stoves, sells them in steel or stainless steel.
He has some that are made for my stove, what are other stoves he makes them for exactly, I don't know you would have to search

 

Do these burner tubes make my a$$ look fat? Rolling secondaries? Naw, that's my Buddha belly!

As far as the fan, yeah, they need to be cleaned and lubed from time to time. An old toothbrush and a shop vac will clean out the blades and keep the hamster wheel in balance. 3 in 1 oil will quiet noisy blower motors.

If you don't clean them out, the fans will let you know very distinctly that they need to be cleaned and lubed.

 

Tubes in the 30 are stainless steel. Probably gonna be a long time before they disintegrate. Long time. Keep 'em cleaned out.
If it makes you feel better to have a spare set on hand, get 'em while you can.
Baffles will absolutely need to be replaced in a few years, especially if you have a tendency to hit them with a split or a poker. You can buy that material a bit cheaper than factory and cut them to fit better as well.

 

Those SS tubes will last a long time...wouldn't worry about 'em too much for a few years...and you'll know when they are getting roached way ahead of actual "failure"...get all warped and whatnot...pretty rare though, like I said, last a long time.
Which blower did you get a spare of, the "hair dryer" that comes with it, or the optional larger (quieter) one?

 

What Dave said, tubes prolly not needed, ceramic fiber board baffles yes, factory ones don't fit as tight as they could, you can buy the material here Ceramic Fiber Board and cut your own

 

^^^^^
I got the B12T12C 1 piece. It's been a while, but I cut two pieces from that and had enough for one more.

 

The tubes won't wear out on you. We've seen some hammered NC30 stoves over the years and the tubes always seem to be in great shape. They're air cooled!

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Ill hold off on the tubes then.

The blower is the quiter double squirrel cage one with the adjustable speed. Some people have said theyre noisy too, but mine is great. Its the quietest stove fan Ive ever heard in the 40 years that the family has been burning wood using stoves. It puts the one in my last woodstove to shame. I forgot to plug in the spare last night to see if its ok. I'll test it when I get home.

 

The tubes won't wear out for a long time but they could get damaged if you smack them with a piece of firewood, especially when red hot- so there is I guess a reason to have spares on-hand. Of course by that logic you'd want to pick up a spare porcelain window too. And some glass for the back window on the truck and...

 

I thought about doing this and I wanna thank the OP for bringing this to light as its always a good idea to have a replacement part in the event something happens. Thing is not knowing when to replace it is the question. We all know that its time and how hard you run the stove and either if this is daily or you burn with the week being half warm half cool sorta mentality and light only when you really need to. I hope not to get into a situation like this now but the fiberboard is probably the number one thing I find myself concerned with. Its fragile and mine comes in two pieces but I believe most everyone else's does too?? Anyways i just have to wonder if it must be the exact size from manufacturer or if there is breathing room?

 

Yeeeeeep !!! Is it just me, or is that place kind of pricy for the 1/2" stuff ? Even from Englander, theyre only around $120/pair, and I dont think you'll get more than 4 out of that sheet. Im thinking it might be time to look at cutting myself a 1/2" steel plate and making some kind of support for it inside the stove. There...fixed for life. Lol. I know about heat transfer through steel vs ceramic, but man....is it really worth the cost ?

 

I think with a bit of know how and experience, fabrication shouldn't be hard if the equipment is at hand... we certainly cant make it PERFECT but if the function gets the job done, why not?

 

Let's see.....$90 for 3 pieces, or 120 for 2. Hmmmmmm

There's almost 1/4" gap between the stock boards, which is why I mentioned using this other stuff cut to eliminate that gap.

 

Doh !!!! I was looking at the price for an 8 piece box. Disssssssregard.

 

Yeah, thought so.
Saw that myself and about croaked.

 

You don't really have a choice...a steel plate will decrease stove performance dramatically. Don't like the price of 1/2"...price out the 1" stuff!

 

Just buy a spare stove.