Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...

[brenndatomu]

The ash pan update is basically a steel box that fits snugly inside the existing ash pan area, and then they give you a new slightly smaller ash pan. I have the update for mine that has never been installed...no issues here. If they don't want to send you one then you can have mine for the cost of shipping.
As far as the fan control/limit switches, they moved them up top from the controls box in the rear. They just work "better" up top...nothing unsafe about it...I think it was done partially in response to the cracking issue. They had been sending people the update if you ask for it.
Going back to the ash/hot coal/spark issue, is it possible that you bumped the top of the ash dump plug when loading or raking coals and it unseated it enough to dump a hot one in the pan? That can cause issues too...make sure that plug stays seated or it can cause an air leak = fire too hot/runaway firebox. I have meant to cut the top of the ash dump plug handle off of mine for a long time now, but I keep forgetting when the firebox is cold. I guess it really doesn't matter much, I keep a couple inches of ash in the firebox all the time anyways, never even see the plug very often. I guess that is it, out of sight/ out of mind

 

[Teglovinvtec]

Guys I added the timer honestly the best thing I could have done.

 

[TDD11]

@brenndatomu I don't think I bumped it. It was my first load of firewood and the box hadn't been touched or disturbed.

I don't plan to use the ash pan either, so I am going to look into plugging that hole.

 

[brenndatomu]

Well update on the crack in my heatmax. I herd back from them today.
Have to take three pics of the inside of the firebox.
Take pics of the install with measurements.
Fill out a three page inspection packet.
And more pics of the crack and area surrounding it.
And proof of purchase even though I have sent it to them once already when I found that they wired the entire furnace backwards.


Sent from my VS880PP using Tapatalk

Any news here?

 

[Guy988G]

Well not much at this point. Their saying they have to have proff of purchase....which has magically disapeared. As far as all the changes to the smoke pipe and chimney well you all hit the nail on the head. Stove could suck start a Harley now. Only running small fires as I havnt yet installed a baro.

 

[DoubleB]

Their saying they have to have proff of purchase....which has magically disapeared.

Where did you buy it? About a month after I bought mine from Menards, I hadn't touched it or registered it or done anything, and SBI contacted me out of the blue to say they had a faulty snap disc and sent me a new one. They already had all of the proof of purchase they needed. I'd press back and see what they actually need from you, and what the store where your purchased has on file.

 

[Guy988G]

I got it from family farm and home in 2014. They are being difficult and saying they can't find something that far back so I'm bickering with them all.

 

[Guy988G]

And I also got the new snap disk. And had a two day phone chat with one of their techs trying to make the thing work in the first place. Found it to be wired completely backwards.

 

[MNman]

ok you all have me scared here...yes im new and i got my heatmax this fall along with an external thermostat (which i love).

all this talk about cracks and stuff has me all worried now. did i make a mistake getting this product? i can always go back to my upright compressor tank converted into a fireplace. i never had a fear of cracks in that beast....

i do have one question tho which has nothing to do with cracks. i have a lot of smoke coming out of the door when i throw wood in even when i have the damper open. my chimney pipe comes out about a foot and then i have a 90 and goes straight up through the roof. should i go with two 45's instead?

 

[Guy988G]

I had a lot of that issue before I redid my smoke pipe set up. From what I have learned here is that any horizontal is bad. But as far as smoke out the door, these guys say get a hot fire going and don't dink,with it. And it's true, but if I have to mess with mine before it's ready, I will crack the door a little and wait for it to get going nice then slowly open the door. It usually works as long as your quick about doing what you need to.

 

[DoubleB]

Welcome aboard, @MNman !

As for cracks, you've already used it so I doubt you'll get your money back unless you get cracking, so you might as well keep using it. I'd keep an eye out for cracks (might need a flashlight). If you find them, then cross that bridge when you get there, hopefully you can get a refund. If you're up to it, add over-temperature control as has been described in this thread. See the link in my signature to help find those details.

As for smoke, how tall is your chimney, what is it made of, and how cold and windy was it when you were getting smoke? If your chimney is too short, too large a diameter, unlined, and warm and calm outside, the chances of smoke in the house are greater. One thing I found is when I put a large chunk in the firebox, the same volume of smoke has to go somewhere. I try not to put a chunk in faster than the same volume of smoke can go up the chimney, otherwise that smoke comes into my basement.

 

[brenndatomu]

ok you all have me scared here...yes im new and i got my heatmax this fall along with an external thermostat (which i love).

all this talk about cracks and stuff has me all worried now. did i make a mistake getting this product? i can always go back to my upright compressor tank converted into a fireplace. i never had a fear of cracks in that beast....

I dunno, maybe it is just me, but I since I bought mine used, and "pre-cracked", it obviously doesn't bother me much at all. I have not welded the crack(s), although I did drill the tip of the crack to stop it from growing further, it does not affect the operation one bit. I also know that anytime I choose I can grind out and weld it to as good as or better than new. For me I guess it is kinda like owning an older Harley...they leak oil, get used to it. The guys that I ride with say they just like to "mark their spot"
Would it be preferred that they don't crack, yes. Is it the end of the world if it does, no, not at all. If you go through this thread and follow the proper set up and operation techniques along with some doing some of the "preventative" things, you likely will not have an issue. I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of these things out there that are fine. @3fordasho has one that has been run hard (as far as what it heats, not hard as in abused) for 3-4 years now with no problem.

As for the smoke issue, anytime you have smoke rollout, you have either opened the door very quickly, or more likely it is indicative of a marginal chimney system.

 

[maple1]

As for the smoke issue, anytime you have smoke rollout, you have either opened the door very quickly *, or more likely it is indicative of a marginal chimney system.

* Or/and at the wrong time.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

dunno, maybe it is just me, but I since I bought mine used, and "pre-cracked", it obviously doesn't bother me much at all. I have not welded the crack(s), although I did drill the tip of the crack to stop it from growing further, it does not affect the operation one bit.

How do you know Mr., you got yours post cracked. Maybe it ran magically before that...

 

[Gibbo1979]

Sorry guys, still haven't figured out how to post pics. Starting to figure out the tundra. I find that I have to open the damper a 2-3 time after ignition and bring temps back up to get good flames for hours. No condensation either. Maybe my wood is too large or too wet. Anyone else burn ash? Gonna install a bd next warm day also. Still uncertain if I want to install temp controls or not. Not sure I like the idea of the damper opening and closing when I'm not around. My flue temps hang around 150-200 inside temp with a good secondary burn. My heat exchanger access panel hangs around 250-300 on a magnetic thermo. Which tells me the exchange of heat is good within the furnace.

 

[brenndatomu]

Maybe my wood is too large or too wet

Sure sounds like it...they love smaller dry wood...and least some smaller stuff on top to kick things off.
Thats why I really like the temp controller, if the flue temp drops too far after the controller closes the damper then (like with too wet or too big wood) it will open it back up again until it hits the programmed high temp (as long as the timer or tstat is still calling for heat)

 

[DoubleB]

Not sure I like the idea of the damper opening and closing when I'm not around.

I hear ya. Just to clarify, the temp controller can be configured only to close the damper if things get too hot. Like if your thermostat is calling for heat for too long, or if we forget and leave the damper switch to open. So technically yes, it would close and possibly re-open while you're not around, but it's on the safe side compared to leaving it wide open while you're not around.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Not sure I like the idea of the damper opening and closing when I'm not around.

Why, its the best thing ever in wood burning. I would never go back no auto air feeding.

 

[brenndatomu]

Just FYI for any of you that use the Sooteater to clean your chimney, it works great to clean the heat exchangers on Tundras too

 

[TDD11]

Ordered my Omega temperature controller, box and timer today. I cannot wait!! 2 friends have installed new wood furnaces within the past week, and so far they both think that their Hotblast furnaces are better than the Tundra. I need to do some tuning and get this thing dialed in to show them up.

Stove is running pretty good so far. I am not seeing quite the results that you guys are, BUT I don't have the electronics installed, let alone the 6" chimney liner. Regardless, with 3 5-6" DRY ash rounds, the house is 75 degrees right now. Really, short burn time and the deposits building on the glass of the door are the issues so far. My chimney was clean, so I will check it after a week or 2 of running.

I still have to set/adjust my BD, set up the temp controller and install the TC probe and magnehelic gauge.. and most likely the chimney liner. I will post a picture soon of my roof and the entire reasoning why I thought it best to do the installation and see if I could gamble and get by without a liner..... I have a very steep roof pitch. After some of the tuning this week, I will post results and see what you guys think. I think IF I have to line the chimney, I better take advantage of the 25% coupon that Drolet is offering.

 

[Digger79]

ok you all have me scared here...yes im new and i got my heatmax this fall along with an external thermostat (which i love).

all this talk about cracks and stuff has me all worried now. did i make a mistake getting this product? i can always go back to my upright compressor tank converted into a fireplace. i never had a fear of cracks in that beast....

i do have one question tho which has nothing to do with cracks. i have a lot of smoke coming out of the door when i throw wood in even when i have the damper open. my chimney pipe comes out about a foot and then i have a 90 and goes straight up through the roof. should i go with two 45's instead?

Far as cracking goes.. get a probe, temp controller and keep that flu under 800 all the time. You should be fine. You want the damper opening and shutting when you are not around. Other wise you will have creosote and a mess if you leave it closed 100% when gone or a house fire and destroyed furnace if you leave it open 100% when gone. Also look into the firebrick mods.. (line the front door with firebrick). I'll try to upload some pics later.

Smoke when loading? Well I have found this.. when I have a nice bed of coals that logs will light in seconds of being placed in.. I have learned to get a pile right in front of the stove and load it all in seconds. When we put 1 log on it starts to smoke rt away and the smoke rolls out all around and out the door due to no draft and the heat coming out the door instead of up the flu.. So this works.. as soon as I get the firebox full of wood the smoke immediately stops going out the door opening because its blocked by a full load of wood and starts to draw up the chimney. So I think the key is loading quickly. Prepare your load on the ground in front of the stove, then open slowly and load very fast. Helps me a ton.

 

[Digger79]

Ok so if you 3-4 hours and want to insulate you tundra here's the how to:
DEI high temp spray adhesive
Aluminum tape
Cool it 72x48 Thermal blanket can be had on Amazon. It's enough to insulate both sides and top. Cut it in half 36inches and then cut it to 38 inches. Save your left overs for the top. Don't forget to trim away from the damper control rod. I also removed the screws and heat shield before spraying and installing the blanket. I then reinstalled the heat shield and all the screws. I will post my temp differences once I start a fire.

Fire started: here's the data...

Fans kicked on in 8 minutes. I set the timer to 20 minutes. The top of the furnace was warm to the touch just prior to the fans kicking on. I grabbed my IR gun and took these measurements. The outside insulated case is measuring 84-86 degrees fan running on 2. The front face is at 450 degrees damper closed. The uninsulated section in the rear of the furnace is measuring about 114-118 degrees. So the insulation blanket is making a pretty big difference. It heated up pretty darn fast! Oh and draft was about .07. Duct outlet temp is about 120-125.

Im curious how that insulation is holding up on the top of that plenum. One thing I believe I noticed about the Caddy stoves that have insulted walls is Im pretty sure only the walls were insulated not the top. At time that top gets so hot I cannot touch it but with the updated furnace with new fan switch that is rare and never last very long unless Im cranking out a load of hickory or locust at top burn. Either way I would think the insulation blanket and celophane would need to withstand temps nearing 500-800 deg as it gets pretty damn hot right above the flu. Specially if you have the old models with the older fan switches and high limit switches. I would like to see that insulation you have on the top around the end of December into January to see how its holding up. Please update if you can an upload pics. Im interested in this process but highly concerned about two things.. num on the integrity of the insulation both actually working at high temps and not melting, secondly if there is any real advantage to this for 4 hours of work. You see my Tundra rarely gets hot on the outside as it is, specially the walls. The fan kicks on so soon it take the heat out before the metal gets a chance to heat up and likely the chamber as well.. the air is simply moved out to quick for insulation to help possibly. I am thinking the effects would be minimal. My fan kicks on in like 5-10 minutes as it is and stays on pretty much until the last few hours of a burn. I don't think insulation would help much but Im following what your doing cause I am interested in the results. Often I find what I think and what actually is can be two different things. lol.

 

[brenndatomu]

I think IF I have to line the chimney, I better take advantage of the 25% coupon that Drolet is offering.

I'm not sure what their liner prices are like, but the liner industry is very competitive, if you haven't shopped around much then you should...a liner kit can normally be bought pretty inexpensively really.

2 friends have installed new wood furnaces within the past week, and so far they both think that their Hotblast furnaces are better than the Tundra

Oh my. Well, some people have to learn the hard way...HB will make some heat for sure...here's one way to look at it, HB is like a sprinter, BANG and then go like heck for a bit. Tundra is more like a marathon runner...not as much fun to watch, but it will "git 'er dun" on less fuel and less chimney cleaning. There definitely is a learning curve to 'em though.

Really, short burn time and the deposits building on the glass of the door are the issues so far

Hmm, that's odd...those two symptoms together that is.

 

[brenndatomu]

I would like to see that insulation you have on the top around the end of December into January to see how its holding up.

I'd like to see it after the power goes out about 1/2 hr into a full load of dry wood some morning! That would be the test...I'm sure it will be fine in normal operating conditions. That's the thing with doing mods...gotta keep in mind the worst case scenario

 

[sloeffle]

Sure sounds like it...they love smaller dry wood...and least some smaller stuff on top to kick things off.
Thats why I really like the temp controller, if the flue temp drops too far after the controller closes the damper then (like with too wet or too big wood) it will open it back up again until it hits the programmed high temp (as long as the timer or tstat is still calling for heat)

@brenndatomu, since you have seen the Caddy up close. Do you think the temp controller would work on a Caddy too ?

Scott