Fisher Performance.

Last night around 9:30 I loaded up the Baby Bear. 82f inside, 32f in garage (insulated, attached, factory insulated garage door, no window). This morning at 6:15 -10f outside, inside 74f, garage 41f. I warmed up the garage over night by leaving the house door that goes into cracked open about 1 inch. Had a good bed of hot coals to restart a fire this morning too. I think this is impressive.

 

It’s a Fisher would u expect anything less!

 

Very nice! So from what I'm hearing, you are getting 8hr burn times no problem out of the little Guy? .....and a boat load of heat I guess!

I have every last piece to install mine, just waiting for time. Off a few days this week - might be able to get it in and done. Once I do, I'll report my performance.

 

I didn't mean to mislead anyone...I was talking about temps. As for burn time I can get a solid 6 hours and have a good coal bed after loading it up with hardwood. I agree with what Dave said, learning to dial in the draft is key, I have found that once I have a good fire established I only need to open the draft nob about 2/3 to 3/4 of a turn and 3/4 seems to be a bit much. I also have a damper in the stove pipe. When the fire burns down I pull the coals forward and open up the draft nob to burn them down, then load up again.

The big thing I really need to do is put in a baffle. I have some rusted 5/16 diamond plate for it...that piece is 12 inches wide and about 8 feet long, been tripping around it for almost 50 years, time to put it to good use. I have to figure out how to support in the fire box...my outgoing pipe is flush on the inside and I haven't quite come up with a plan to place the plate in there so it will be secure when I load wood and bang it. Looks like it will cut down how much wood I can load, but I think the benefits will out weight that issues. Not sure if I will figure it out before this season is over...might/probably be a spring project...I am sure I will be asking for advice.

 

Hey Dave...I know it's the right material...just not sure how to anchor/secure it...I have a couple of ideas...it is a work in progress. Will definitely cut down the space in the fire box, but might end up burning less wood.

 

It's super easy. I had a plate cut 9x13 and angle cut some firebrick to hold it up. Believe it or not, it was sturdy enough to dolly around the garage without falling.

Might be hard to tell but the plate is angled down towards the front of the burner at maybe 15 or 20 degrees.

 

That is a Baby Bear? Top vent I think. Mine is a rear vent, no matter though, the principal is the same.

The plate should angle Up or Down? Approximately what degree should the angle be?

Thanks!

 

Sweet man..
I've got a dovre insert 2500 . Ur right. I've learned how to fill and load her right
Damper right.. a good bed of coals awaits the sunrise. U fall asleep, not tending before bed and ur cold in the morn.

 

Yes, this is a Baby Bear. It was a rear exit but there was no way I would be able to use it in my application so I was forced to have the exit moved to the top.

I referred to Coaly's information here: Simple Baffle Solution for your old FISHER ! More Heat Less Smoke under $25

I honestly just guessed on the angle, it's between 15 or 20 degrees. If I read Coaly's writeup right, it is to face down towards the from of the stove.

Again, it took me me all of about 10 minutes to cut those bricks with the diamond blade and install this setup. It would be easy to experiment with.

 

...got ya...I am guessing 9x13 inches is close...I measured mine and it's a little different since the stoves were welded at different fabricators...I will just go with what I need for my set up. Looks like there is a pretty good 'gap' between the end of the baffle and the step of the stove top, is there any science to the gap? or...as long as I stick with that 9x13 I will be close enough for good results?

 

...WHAT?!?!?...Maybe I am secretly making it into a space shuttle or a satellite...Stay tuned...I hear it's cold in space, sounds like a great place to have a Fisher!

 

Make yourself a cardboard template first. You will be changing the size until you get it right.
Support changes for different Baby Bear models. If you only have one course of brick, set bricks on their edges on each side to support plate at front. Do this with cardboard first. Angle will change due to chimney. You're adjusting it for the chimney, not the stove. Sliding bricks forward and back will adjust plate height at front or clip brick corners if you need it lower. Point towards lower bend in top and measure smoke space to it.
Start with flue square inch area. The "smoke space" which is the area exhaust travels through to get over baffle can not be smaller than square inch area of flue. Depending on chimney efficiency, you may need to lower the front of baffle slightly for a larger area opening. This allows more heat up if the flue is anything less than 6 inch insulated indoor chimney with no bends.
This will increase lower stove top temp and decrease upper as well as rear around outlet.
You don't want it flat horizontal or tilted forward. The more the plate is angled upward, the more increase in velocity up stack which decreases firebox resistance. That is what closing a flue damper does, adds resistance to the system to slow velocity. So adding any baffle adds resistance in the firebox so damper operation will be used a bit less. A horizontal plate or leaning forward increases flame impingement which is the flame tips giving up too much of their heat to the plate. This lowers burn zone temperature increasing particulate.

This was called a "Smoke Shelf Baffle" designed for the later double door stoves. Fisher Research and Development designed it for smoke reduction. EPA regs were passed in stages of particulate size and could not pass the final stage in 1988. They could have simply made the outlet larger wasting more heat, but decided to shut down than make a less efficient stove.

If you tend to knock the support bricks out on the sides, you can weld or bolt angle iron on the baffle so the vertical steel holds the brick in place as shown on baffle upside down below;





No Dave, that's not my welding. That was a buddy of mine that actually welded the hand holds, racks, ladders and robotic arms on the Space Shuttle.