So I found this here clinker in my stove tonight and it reminded me of an interesting and perhaps a useful story for some of you. I'm assuming you all know what a clinker is right? I'm not sure exactly what the science is behind them, but they are crusty mineral like cookies and a byproduct of burning wood at extremely high temps. Well for me they seem to be a sign the wood I burned was not optimally seasoned. I'm sure some wood species produce more clinkers than others, but I can almost predict when I will see a few in the cooled down ashes because the wood I recently burned was not the driest, maybe it was even wet from rain. So forgive me fellow firewood hoarders for I have sinned...What? You're all perfect??? Anyway just so you understand my stove, I have an Enviro Boston 17oo insert and it uses a set of ceramic baffles with a lap joint to overlay the two sides together making one large baffle. The baffles that came with the stove 6 years ago were so incredibly light and brittle it was green floral foam and a graham cracker had a baby together. So I instantly went on-line to see if there was something wrong like maybe I got a faulty product? However, the testimonies on sites like this were all complaining about hyper fragile ceramic baffles, so it is what it is. Funny, because these baffles felt nothing like ceramic at all. As a result I was always very careful with them trying not to hit them with a log or split of wood when loading and also when handling them to remove and replace during a flu cleaning. They only got a few little nicks and scrapes for the first 2 years, but by the 3rd year I started noticing the lap jointed section starting to wear down. On season 4 I started getting small gaps between the boards and those little gaps were growing. I went on-line again to see what it would cost to replace these unremarkable looking boards and I was shocked to find it would cost me $8o plus taxes and shipping ...Ouch! Well back in the stove they went as I was now going to use them for as long as I could get away with. So all during the burning season of year 4 I stared noticing more worn off lap joints and the gaps were starting to look like elongated holes. I wondered how much longer they would last, but pushed them to year 5. After the first month of shoulder season burning in year 5 I was noticing something a bit off. I was getting less heat from the stove and less secondary burn. Everything I read pointed to having those holes as the problem. I was thinking, if only I can find a way to stretch the life of these leaky, yet otherwise fine baffles? Is there a light fireproof material, a flat rock that wont explode or piece of metal I can plug the holes with??? One morning while cleaning out the ashes from the stove I pulled out a clinker and couldn't help but notice how similar the weight, thickness and texture it had to the baffle, hell even the color! It was also the perfect size and actually I needed two clinkers. Well, where there is one clinker there's usually another. So I covered the two holes with the clinkers figuring it couldn't hurt to try, but also wondering how long they will last will they actually improve the burn? What I discovered was they actually did fix the burn issue and they lasted the whole year! I was going to continue with it this year, but the the holes were still growing wider under the clinkers and the wafer boards were continuing to grow more flaky and fragile. When I pulled them out carefully to clean the flu in August I snapped the corner off one of them and so I bit the bullet and ordered new baffles that I am burning with now. Incidentally these new baffles that came direct from Enviro seem to be a bit more dense and less fragile so maybe they improved the design. Anyway that is my story of how a kindly clinker helped me stretch my dollar. I hope this story can help someone here with a similar problem of being a cheap azz who also might burn some questionable wood from time to time. This is the clinker I found tonight that reminded me of the one that fixed my problem Here is the actual worn baffles that I replaced. I'm saving them in case I need to cut a small piece off for a future repair. This story was made possible by a generous grant from "The Save a Clinker Foundation".
Classic fix Have you researched anybody substituting other available material for these baffles? Some have done it successfully. Not certain what they are using. Vermiculite rings a bell (maybe?). Something to look into. This is the stuff. Maybe twice the amount for nearly the same price as OEM? SBI Vermiculite Board - Pack of Two
Thanks moresnow, I have looked into vermiculite boards before and have heard mixed things with some saying they work fine and others saying just don't fool with anything the manufacturer didn't design or sanction. Actually I must've done some stupid searches when shopping around because the problem I came across was the boards were far too large and though cost effective, I really didn't want to store the stuff after cutting what I needed. The boards I found were more for the construction trade, not from a fireplace site that would have given me more confidence as to their functionality. This is the first time Im seeing boards more closer to wood stove dimension and will definitely consider this option next time around. That said, my point was only that I discovered a natural fix if you need a small repair or to stretch the life of the baffle.
My Napoleon insert has those fragile baffles also, they are in ok condition still. Other people with my exact stove have replaced them with fire brick for a few bucks and say that it works fine. I’m definitely going to give that a go when it’s time to replace them.
Yes I thought of that too, but other stoves, (maybe your Napoleon model included) have a baffle design component where a firebrick seems to fit real nicely. Mine doesn't look firebrick friendly, but I'm sure I could investigate doing some brick cutting and coupling, (Maybe even a little furnace cement?) if I put my mind too it. The only thing I worry about is the considerable weight difference of the bricks to the much lighter ceramic baffle. With my baffle design the secondary burn tubes are also the support beams for the baffle to rest on. I would fear that if I ever over fired the stove, the weight of the brick would sag the red hot tubes. Plus they claim this ceramic vermiculite baffle is somehow technologically superior than ordinary firebrick for insulating and reflecting the heat back into the chamber, but Im not buying that one, light? yes.
Yes, the way my stove is designed is custom made for a 4/1/2 by 9 fire brick to fit. They fit perfectly, no cutting necessary. Almost wonder if that’s how it was designed to work originally and then someone figured they could make a ton of money by selling(aka screwing) “space age baffles” to us the consumer.
