New Osburn Matrix Product Line

[Jon1270]

Oh and the burn times question: not being an experienced woodburner, I'm not sure I know how to answer that question since there are so many variables. It's also not all that cold yet here, so I've only fully loaded the insert once or twice. I can say that I've been able to load it up before going to bed, choke of most of the air and by morning heat output will have fallen off considerably but there will still be enough coals to ignite a fresh load of wood.

 

[jeffesonm]

I haven't found the fan to be super loud, but this is my first stove too so not sure what to expect.

I really wish there was a flange on the back of the stove so I could put an inline blower in the basement and run a duct up through the ash shoot and into the back of the stove. People do this with kitchen exhaust hoods and I think it would be a big improvement, however I'm not willing to risk my new stove or the insurance debacle that would result god forbid anything bad happened to a stove I modified.

I too have been able to get all night burns and end up with enough coals in the morning to start a fire. No real heat output by morning, but enough to get it going again. Still getting used to operating the stove... in the beginning I was scared of overfiring and was not letting it get hot enough. I've since got more comfortable and right now it's cooking along at 650

 

[FyreBug]

Have our guys been able to get back to you about the noise issue? Blower fan noise is a subjective issue depending on the user.

Because the Matrix insert was designed for those who really like the minimalist and 'clean' look'. In order to achieve this design parameters regarding the blower have to be modified. I have not personally heard the new blower so cant comment.

The one thing I will mention is similar units on the market either do not have a blower or offer it as an option. So it seems the buyers for this type of units go mainly for the look which is not necessarily the case in your situation.

Finally, efficiencies and certifications have to be performed with the blower. Therefore, more cfm will not necessarily make the unit perform better since everything have to be balanced. But I'll try to find out more in your behalf.

 

[Jon1270]

FyreBug, I expect I'll hear something from Osburn tomorrow or soon thereafter. I don't think the engineers / tech guys were in the office today.

I do understand that noise sensitivities vary, and I'm probably more sensitive than average. I wasn't able to see or hear one of these before buying, as it's a new model and the local Osburn dealer hadn't even heard of it; nobody had one in a showroom near me. When I searched this site for general information about insert fan noise, many commenters suggested that their stoves' fans were almost inaudible except at higher speeds, and quiet even then. I made the illogical leap that since Osburn's products had a good reputation, the Matrix fan would probably be as quiet as any. Not the clearest thinking on my part. Without having actual experience with other inserts to refer to, my guess is that the Matrix is relatively noisy. I think it's partly due to vibrations resonating in the outer steel cabinet, but mostly it's just air rushing through the blower itself, because it pulls a lot of air into a very small intake opening. It's something like the air nozzles above airplane seats, or the exhaust of my woodshop dust collector (for which mufflers are available. Hmmm.....); it's not loud the way your neighbor's party might be loud; it's just obvious and unrelenting.

Jeff, I think we've been going through very similar learning curves. I even indulged in the same musings about a remote fan pushing air though the ash pit. My first few burns were on the cool, smoky side, too. I don't own an appropriate thermometer, but now that I've had some practice tonight's fire is throwing off a lot of heat.

 

[timrcarter]

an off subject question. I have a osburn 45, and there use to be a white gasket like material in the tube in the firepot where the ignitor tube connects. This material is gone now from my firepot. The parts manual does not show this, can i use something else or can i get a part number?

thanks.

 

[jeffesonm]

Hear anything from Osburn? I actually noticed the sound I think you were referring to a few days back... it was like a hum/vibration from the bottom panel of the outer stove box. When I reached through the bottom vent and put my hand on the bottom of the stove it would stop, and then begin again when I removed my hand. Went away after a while. Maybe it has something to do with the speed at which the fan turns? Seems strange though as I thought it was just fixed speed.

 

[Mike A]

Jeffesonm,
I also live in central-ish NJ. How do you like your Osburn? I think it's a great design, but not much info on the web as it's fairly new.
Mike

 

[jeffesonm]

So far I've been happy with it. It's my first stove so I have no basis of comparison, but it has been working well. I have a 1800 sq ft ranch and the Matrix is in an interior masonry fireplace right in the middle of the house. The warm air circulates pretty well with just one fan blowing cold air from the bedrooms towards the stove. When the temps drop down into the 20s as has happened during the past week, the stove struggles to keep the house warm. I suspect this is more a function of the house than the stove though as it was built in 1957, has almost no insulation in the attic, all the windows are original single pane, vented uninsulated crawlspace under half the house, etc. I was going to do blown cellulose in the attic at some point here but I also plan to put in central AC and was thinking I should get the ducting up in the attic first.

 

[Jon1270]

When Osburn got back to me, they had me check to make sure some screws were tight and some gaskets were present. All was as it was supposed to be, but to check I had to remove the blower from the stove (easy and quick), which gave me the opportunity to play around with and examine it.

The first thing I noticed was that the blower itself is very quiet when operated outside the stove's air jacket, but becomes quite noisy when any obstruction is brought near the outlet. It seems that the rushing air part of the noise of the blower is mostly from turbulence within the blower itself, not in the insert's air jacket.

The next thing I noticed was that one end of the blower wheel was visibly off center, an obvious source of vibration. I did my best to measure the runout with rather primitive tools, relayed my findings to Osburn and was told it was at the limits of tolerance. The next day they shipped me a replacement blower. The replacement is noticeably better, but still vibrates a bit and creates some resonance in the bottom of the air jacket.

I suspect that the blower's manufacturing tolerances would be perfectly reasonable if it weren't being fastened to a big, flexible piece of sheet steel, but this design is especially unforgiving. The floor of my fireplace, on which the insert sits, is neither perfectly flat nor perfectly level. Leveling the insert using the supplied leveling screws lifts the back of the insert a bit off the hearth floor. The bottom of the air jacket has no stiffeners of any kind, so it's basically a drum head, with a subtly vibrating blower sitting on it. I'm not sure any affordable blower could run smoothly enough to avoid resonating that. I'm mulling over some ideas about how to dampen the drum. (Also, open to suggestions)

I want to give props to Osburn's customer service, which was extremely responsive and took my concerns very seriously. Even though my issues weren't fully resolved, this was one of the best CS experiences I've had in a long time.

 

[jeffesonm]

Thanks for the update... glad to hear Osburn was at least helpful and responsive.

Maybe you could try slipping a thinlayer of Roxul between the stove and the floor of your fireplace? It would involve maybe jacking up the stove or getting a few extra pairs of hands, but might fill up the space and provide some dampening.

 

[Jon1270]

Thanks, Jeff. One of my ideas was similar; jack up the stove and goober a bunch of high-temp silicone underneath it. Your material suggestion is distinctly less messy.

 

[Swedishchef]

Glad to hear Osburn responded in a proper fashion. Props to a local company!

I second the motion of installing some roxul underneath. I think it's much better than silicone: if it does not work you can easily remove it.

Let us know how you make out

Andrew

 

[Heatsource]

just installed our first Matrix insert- will post pics soon.

used 1/4" stove screws instead of the philips heads they supplied to mount the surround backer. Which is hard if you try to do it with the stove in the firebox like the instructions say....

overall quite impressed with fit and feel.
wish the blower was variable speed
wish it had longer leg levelers
removable flue collar that can connect from inside the stove would be nice as well

 

[Mackj]

I am surprised no one has brought up a variable speed switch to adjust the fan speed, possibly making the noise more tolerable. The blowers on my Brentwood are also annoying. I was at the dealership the other day buying a new gasket, thats what he reccomended to me. He offered to order one for me for about 80 bucks or he said I could take my chances on a cheaper one. That price seems crazy to me. My blowers have a heat sensor that will kick them on at 100, I also have a switch which I typically leave off because of the noise. I turn them on occasionally to blow more heat into the room. Any opinions welcome, maybe could help with the Osburn also.

 

[Swedishchef]

Send those requests or comments to Osburn, I am certain they would appreciate the feedback!!

Andrew

 

[Heatsource]

^ they have staff here, i'm sure they will get the feedback

ps, SBI- the wiring going to the on-off blower switch was all tangled up and frayed. i had to paint them so they would be less visible

 

[bag of hammers]

There are lots of praises here for others (Woodstock comes to mind) for being quick to respond to the "bugs" in a "new release". I think SBI is a good company too, and perhaps they will chase that reputation, and fine tune this model in the next go round. It is a pretty cool looking unit - bet it appeals to a pretty large audience - those with a more contemporary taste. Lots of people come here for advice and opinions. Stories around customer service experiences can make or break...

 

[FyreBug]

Thanks guys, I copied your comments and suggestions and forwarded them to our design and Q&A team. I'll let you know if they make it in the 'opportunity' pipeline.

Of interest, we asked John Gulland to re-write the section on wood burning for our manuals. For those of you who may not know, John is an icon in the wood burning industry and a great resource. He is behind the http://woodheat.org/index.php web site.

The Matrix was the first manual to incorporate his thoughts on wood burning. What do you think?

 

[FyreBug]

an off subject question. I have a osburn 45, and there use to be a white gasket like material in the tube in the firepot where the ignitor tube connects. This material is gone now from my firepot. The parts manual does not show this, can i use something else or can i get a part number?

thanks.

Sorry been away from the site for a while. Those little white gaskets are to seal around the ignitor so air does not leak and slow down the ignition cycle. A maintenance kit which has a bunch of those gaskets plus a few other is AC09189. Hope this helps.

 

[Heatsource]

FyreBug,
when installing the side metal panels on the fs matrix:
pretty tight fit! are the soapstone panels a tight fit as well?
considering upgrading the display model to soapstone side panels...

thanks!
Dave

 

[Swedishchef]

Thanks guys, I copied your comments and suggestions and forwarded them to our design and Q&A team. I'll let you know if they make it in the 'opportunity' pipeline.

Of interest, we asked John Gulland to re-write the section on wood burning for our manuals. For those of you who may not know, John is an icon in the wood burning industry and a great resource. He is behind the http://woodheat.org/index.php web site.

The Matrix was the first manual to incorporate his thoughts on wood burning. What do you think?

Bert; I believe it Was BeGreen in another thread that mentioned he was impressed (as am I) with the Matrix manual. If I remember correctly, he stated that it was one of the best he had read (and I believe he reads quite a few of them!)

Andrew

 

[FyreBug]

FyreBug,
when installing the side metal panels on the fs matrix:
pretty tight fit! are the soapstone panels a tight fit as well?
considering upgrading the display model to soapstone side panels...

thanks!
Dave

No, the soapstone panels slide right in. Dont drop them on a concrete floor when installing them as I did on one of them...

 

[bag of hammers]

FyreBug - this is a bit off topic - do you travel around Ontario in the fall with the SBI "tour" (the guys who do the early season displays / demo's /etc of their stove line)...? Just wondering....

 

[FyreBug]

My territory is SW Ontario, PA, OH, MI and part of IN. I just gave up NY and some of the Midwest - got new people on board.

I used to live in New Liskeard area when I was younger so I miss Northern Ontario.

Yes, we go visit dealers but its throughout the year not just the fall. Why, you wanted to go for a beer?

 

[bag of hammers]

you wanted to go for a beer?

every opportunity (and there's just not enough opportunities these days)...

I was pestering an SBI rep this fall about their stoves at the shop where I got mine - asking about changes to baffles (from brick to vermiculite, I believe), etc. If I recall there was some confusion or missing details in the newer parts listing docs he had - he went to a lot of time and trouble, phone calls, etc to chase down the correct info and raise the issue with his contacts - before I left. Reading your posts, just thinking it could have been one of those "small world" things.