Morso 2110 draft reducer is cracked, looks burnt out

[maine_scott]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking around the forums for a while, but this is my first post. I'm relatively new to heating with wood -- just a couple winters of experience.

I've got a Morso 2110 that I bought new. It's almost two years old now and has had about nine cords of wood through it so far.

I took the baffle down to clean out all the accumulated ash and noticed that the part that the manual calls the "draft reducer" is covered with a reddish substance and has big cracks in it. There is a half-inch chunk of metal in the middle of the crack that wiggles around like a loose tooth.


Here is a view from outside the stove for some context. The baffle has been lowered and is resting on the log grate.


Does anyone else have experience with this stove and how often the draft reducer needs to be replaced? Do you think this one will still work for now?

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

9 cords through this small stove in two years is really working it. Sounds like you need a larger stove.

That said, the stove has a 10yr warranty. Have you spoken to the dealer about this?

 

[maine_scott]

Hmm...the dealer assured us that the 2110's larger brother would roast us out of our house.

The stove does keep us nice and comfortable without having to run it wide open or damp it way down. I agree that it is on the smaller side, though.

Regarding the warranty, the dealer has gone bankrupt (stove shops around here seem to change hands every few years or so) but another stove dealer who sells Morso has taken its place so it's possible that they might honor the warranty.

However, the Morso manual says, "This limited 10-year warranty covers repair or replacement of defective external body castings ONLY." "No warranty is extended to internal consumable parts. It is expected that such parts will be exposed to wear and tear and will require replacement from time to time."

I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[begreen]

I read that too. Interior burn plates are considered consumable, maybe this baffle is too?

The 2110 is a great, small stove and a willing heater. The problem is that it lacks capacity for longer burns. 9 cords of wood in less than 2 years for this little stove is amazing. That is a huge amount of btus which indicates to me that your dealer was incorrect. (maybe that is why they went bankrupt?) FWIW, I was told the same thing and the local dealer would not sell me the T6 (a 3 cu ft stove). He was wrong, I ended up getting much better advice from Tom Oyen and with that got the T6. It has never been too big for our house. When we want less heat, we burn smaller fires and let them go out.

Unfortunately, Morso does not sell a medium (~2 cu ft stove) so the jump to the 3610 is a big one. But given your wood consumption I'm led to think it would have worked. You are in a cold climate.

Tell us a bit about what you are heating. How large an area are you heating and how well insulated and sealed is it?

 

[maine_scott]

Tell us a bit about what you are heating. How large an area are you heating and how well insulated and sealed is it?

We have a small Cape, 30'x30' footprint, about 1200 square feet of living space. The first floor is very open and the living room has a cathedral ceiling. The second floor has two small bedrooms. We run the ceiling fan at the top of the cathedral ceiling in reverse, on low speed all winter to circulate the warm air that collects up there.

The house is only about 40 years old so we figured it would be fairly well-insulated and well-sealed, but that assumption turned out to be false. The energy auditor had to set his blower door insert for high volume because we "have the leaks of a 3-story colonial."

That being said, the 2110 keeps us comfortable, as long as we pay attention and refill it frequently. Longer burns are a little difficult to achieve. To last 7 or 8 hours overnight I let it get nice and hot and then load it with all oak before closing the air lever. Most of the time there are a few coals left in the morning to start a new fire, the stove is still warm to the touch and the temperature in the house has dropped 8 or 10 degrees.

 

[begreen]

Do you have a thermometer on the stove top? I'm curious about the temps the stove is running at when it's "nice and hot".

I would invest in sealing up those leaks. They could pay off big time in a very significant fuel consumption reduction. Then I would consider a bit larger stove that is noted for long burn times like the Woodstock Keystone. Otherwise, stock up on the sacrificial parts of the stove like the draft reducer and burn plates. The stove is being pushed to its limits.

 

[Highbeam]

It looks like the draft reducer turtle began to melt and bubbled out. The question for Morso is whether this casting is intended to fail in two years time, whether it is covered by the normal warranty (maybe it is not considered consumable), and whether they can help you out.

Feeding a stove constantly is a sure sign of an undersized stove.

 

[maine_scott]

Do you have a thermometer on the stove top? I'm curious about the temps the stove is running at when it's "nice and hot".

I don't have a thermometer on the stove, but I borrowed one of those laser-sighted infrared thermometers once. Its range only went up to about 700 F so when I moved the pointer around the stove top it would bounce around between 650 and "out of range". This was when the stove was running at its "normal" temperature -- sometimes I get it a little (maybe 10%) hotter.

(I'm not sure what a normal stove top temperature is for this stove. One thing to note is that the primary air is drawn up the back of the stove and passes under the stove top before washing down over the glass doors.)

I'm going to take some photos to the dealer and see what they think and if they can cover it under warranty. If not, do you think it's safe to operate for another year with the draft reducer in this condition? It seems to me that the only effect is that the exhaust will be slightly less restricted, causing the fire to draw more air, therefore shortening the burn time.

 

[begreen]

If you run this stove in it's current condition I'm concerned that the draft reducer will burn out very shortly and then you may find the stove self destructing. At that point I also think the flue pipe near the stove may start overheating with steady temps above its continuous rating. I would replace the part and get a stove top temperature gauge. Try to keep the stove top below 700F.

Find out the price from the dealer. I would not run the stove without it in place and fully intact. Or, is there a possibility of connecting the stove so that it's rear exit? The draft reducer appears to be to hold back draft when top exit connected only. Rear exit appears to be partially blocked by the baffle. It does not seem to need this piece.

 

[Heatsource]

looks like its been overheated,regularly.
are all the gaskets tight?

 

[begreen]

I was wondering if it was very strong draft. How tall is the flue system on the stove?

 

[laynes69]

That's alot of wood for a smaller home like that. Even if you can't insulate, some caulking and expanding foam can go a long way. We airsealed our attic, even before adding insulation we lowered the heating demand probably 20 percent with an instant increase in comfort. There also was a noticeable difference in wood consumption with increased burn times. Did they give you the location of trouble spots with audit?

 

[maine_scott]

looks like its been overheated,regularly.
are all the gaskets tight?

Do you mean the rope gaskets around the doors? The stove is a couple years old and it still has the original ones.

They have visibly compressed a little, but I'm not sure how much warrants replacing. I tried the "dollar bill in the door" test after the first winter using the stove and it pulled right out with only moderate force. I figured that maybe since the stove isn't airtight then the tightness of those seals isn't so critical.

 

[maine_scott]

I was wondering if it was very strong draft. How tall is the flue system on the stove?

The stove is top-venting, with about 4 feet of pipe going up to a 90-degree elbow and then a couple more feet of pipe taking it through the wall and into the chimney, which is external to the house.

The chimney is as tall as the house, so probably about 20 feet, but the stove connects to it about 8 feet off the ground.

 

[maine_scott]

That's alot of wood for a smaller home like that. Even if you can't insulate, some caulking and expanding foam can go a long way. We airsealed our attic, even before adding insulation we lowered the heating demand probably 20 percent with an instant increase in comfort. There also was a noticeable difference in wood consumption with increased burn times. Did they give you the location of trouble spots with audit?

They did give us a nice report with recommendations on where to seal and insulate. I just need some cold weather to motivate me to do something about it...

 

[begreen]

The stove is top-venting, with about 4 feet of pipe going up to a 90-degree elbow and then a couple more feet of pipe taking it through the wall and into the chimney, which is external to the house.

The chimney is as tall as the house, so probably about 20 feet, but the stove connects to it about 8 feet off the ground.

OK, it doesn't sound like strong draft is the issue.

 

[begreen]

They did give us a nice report with recommendations on where to seal and insulate. I just need some cold weather to motivate me to do something about it...

How many winters does it take to realize that there will be another one following? Getting this work done is one of the better investments you can make if you intend to stay in the house.

 

[maine_scott]

How many winters does it take to realize that there will be another one following? Getting this work done is one of the better investments you can make if you intend to stay in the house.

We just bought the house two years ago and have been making improvements as time and money allow.

 

[begreen]

I understand. You have to take things as you can afford them. That said, this one should be at the top of the list because it directly equates to savings for the life of the house.

 

[laynes69]

Not only do you feel a difference in wintertime after buttoning up a home, it's just as noticeable in the summertime. We didn't have the money to insulate the attic right away, but we did airseal for around 40.00 and some materials we had laying around. Before we couldn't get the home past 68 when it was in the mid 20's out, to heating the home at 72 when it was -5 outside. We added no insulation, just sealed those openings and cracks in the attic. Now later on in the spring we insulated the attic. Last year we seen a 10 degree increase in temp upstairs. Wasn't easy and took some time, but boy did it pay off! Since you had an audit, you at least know the trouble areas to tackle. I talk about this stuff at work, and sometimes they get sick of hearing it, but they have 600.00 a month heating bills. Since we spend alot of time in our home, I choose to put money into energy saving improvements. Year after year we reap the savings and comfort. Good luck with your projects, you'll be happy once things are done.

 

[begreen]

That's why I say it's the best investment you can make. It pays back year round!

 

[rideau]

looks like its been overheated,regularly.
are all the gaskets tight?

Sounds like this stove may have been burned at 800 and higher with some regularity (off the IR gun scale +10% some of the time), and over 700 on a routine basis. Hope you get the flue/chimney set up checked by someone good. You don't want failure and a fire.

 

[maine_scott]

So I finally heard back from the stove shop and ordered a new draft reducer. This part is not covered under warranty so I had to cover the ~$50 plus $15 shipping.

It's been getting a little chilly at night here so I can't wait to get the new one installed and be able to fire the stove back up.

 

[Woody Stover]

The 2110 manual recommends the use of a flue probe thermometer to assure that the stove is running within its limits...

 

[maine_scott]

I finally got the new draft reducer, though I need to also pick up some replacement bolts and rope gasket before I put it all back together.

I thought I would post some pictures of the old and new parts:





Unless they've significantly changed the shape of the casting, the center of the old piece must have gotten so hot that it melted and drooped into that bulb shape.