Baffle Glowing Red Hot

[blizzard]

Hey important question. I have a country insert and have had it at about 575 stove top temp with fan going for about the past hour and a half. The metal inside the top of the stove near the fire brick was glowing red. I believe it is called the baffel. It is the little metal strip below the metal with the holes in it. It was glowing in the middle of that piece but not on the outside. It also seems as if the middle section that was glowing red was sagging a little bit compared to the metal that was not glowing red. Is this normal?
Here is a link to the newer model of our stove http://www.lennoxhearthproducts.com/products/overview.asp?pid=456

 

[laynes69]

Well if its an epa stove, then I could see that. The baffles and such are made of stainless on most newer stoves, or inserts. Its common for them to glow due to the high temperatures of the secondary burn. I wouldn't worry too much about it. The sagging is normal from the heat over the years. Stoves, or inserts require maintence periodically. I rebuilt my wood furnace after about 20 years of constant use.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

It kind of sounds normal, to a point. I dont own one so YMMV.

From their WebSite:

Uniquely designed refractory baffle assists in igniting fuel-rich gases, increasing efficiency and reducing emissions

It has to get pretty hot in there to finish cracking the smoke to easily burnable gasses before mixing with heated air in the secondary chamber.

Steel begins to glow at temperatures above 750* which is about what is needed to finish the cracking process of wood 'smoke'.

If the top isnt getting to that point it doesnt sound unsafe as long as minimum combustion clearances are maintained.

 

[Rich M]

I have the same stove. At around 550 the front secondary burn tube will glow red in the middle (the baffle is the flat piece that holds up the bricks in the top rear). I've been running it this way for 3 years without a problem (not every load but when I want a lot of heat). No sagging or damage to the tube or it's holder at all.

If you don't want the tube to glow, damp the air more/sooner to make it cruise around 500. You can get a slightly longer burn this way too. The factory told me I can run up to 650 on the stove top but I've never run it above 575.

 

[blizzard]

Rich: Thanks a lot for the info. Your the first person on this site that I have seen with this stove besides myself and its good to know that I am not the only one. I was actually going to call the factory and see what the max temp they said you could run on stove. Was 650 degrees max temp with the insert fan on or not? I am also assuming that the location to take the temp. is in the middle of the stove away from (or between) the air outlets where the air from the fan blows out.?

 

[Rich M]

They just said 650 regardless of the blower. And yes, temp taken in the top center between the air outlets.

Let me add that I don't endorse running your stove up to that temp because if it gets away from you at max temp then you will be over firing. Running around 500 the secondaries burn well, plenty of heat and also a margin for error.

 

[bore_pig]

My tubes glow like that too. No sag, but I bent one by hitting it with a log when red hot from end to end!