Drolet Tundra vs DS Machine #300-09

[69mustang]

Here is what SBI said..

"Yes, the earlier versions of the Tundra/Heatmax has some cracking issues despite the fact that they used the same firebox as the Caddy. We investigated almost 100% of the cases. You know, sometimes people tend to think they are smarter than they really are. Or they think that heating has no “science” and is fairly simple. So many bought the Tundra/Heatmax instead of a Caddy to save a few$$, but really, they wanted a rectangular plenum. So in many cases, they came up with makeshift installations in which they built steel boxes on top of their unit and created an overheat on the unit. The fact the unit was almost never hooked-up to a thermostat didn’t help.


So we modified the firebox so that is now able to take more expansion in case of an overheat"

 

[Highbeam]

That was almost rude of them eh?

 

[DoubleB]

Here is what SBI said..

@69mustang, no offense but can you confirm you're not pulling our leg on that one? If true, it's not just rude, but so childish I'm quite surprised SBI would reply in that manner.

Admittedly, I didn't review all of their investigations so I don't know what happened "in many cases" or "almost never", but their suggestion is totally different than that vast majority of results in these 14 pages:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/everything-drolet-tundra-heatmax.140788/

Not only that, but most all of the cracking our members have reported were with installs that (according to pictures and discussion) were installed with the round outlet ducts and a thermostat. I can produce SBI's email in which they said my installation was done properly.

So I don't appreciate or find it accurate for them to imply they had to change their design because most of their customers were dumb. By definition, those of us who manufacture products for consumer use already know to design things to survive the lowest common denominator, so that's SBI's fault if they didn't.

If in fact they designed the firebox to accommodate more expansion, I'll be curious to see how (as opposed to just adding firebrick to the unshielded front of the firebox which is where the worst expansion was.) Hopefully they have a solution figured out.

 

[69mustang]

I am not pulling any legs. This is what they wrote back..........

 

[DoubleB]

I totally believe you. Just surprising to me. I suppose, too, that maybe going from francais to english might have some bumps and misunderstood meaning. But even that only explains a small part to me I guess. Anyways I don't want to overreact on that so I'll wrap up.

 

[brenndatomu]

I feel like I remember someone posting an email response from SBI in one of the tundra threads in the last year or so that I thought was at least a bit less than completely professional. May be like you say, lost in translation. Does seem to have a defensive tone though, must have touched a nerve...

 

[69mustang]

One thing I don't understand on the Kozy King is that the draft blower supplies the firebox with both primary combustion air and the secondary air. This is different from what I am used to seeing. Most stoves have an automatic damper for the primary combustion, while the secondaries have their own system that pulls air from the room at will. Does any one have any insight on this? Also without a glass door, how does one know you are getting the secondary burn?

Thanks!

 

[brenndatomu]

The main difference is in the fact that under high fire (blower on) both the primary and secondary air passages are under a slight pressure from the blower...during low fire (blower off) the draft of the chimney is pulling air (a negative pressure) through both the pri and sec passages. I would guess they have the sizes of the passages and air holes optimized for a "best" performance either way.
They probably have to feed both sides with the blower, or the secondarys wouldn't fire properly since the firebox is no longer under negative pressure, at least not to the same degree as when the blower is off.
Without a glass door the only way you'll know if everything is working is in temps measured in strategic places, and/or color and quantity of soot/creosote in the firebox/stovepipe/chimney. And maybe over time, your experience will allow you to just get a feel for things