Chubby Warped Grate

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 10:59 am

McGiever wrote:Might just shake less and let some ash behind on grate

I do tend to shake and poke the fire quite a bit during tending. I was trying to get as much ash out as possible. I usually shake down then run my poker under the grates until the whole bottom is glowing. I see your point about leaving some ash on the grates to protect them from the fire. I will try this out, hopefully it helps. Thanks for the advice.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 11:03 am

Wet coal ?? water hits hot cast iron grate ,bing !! ????

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 11:20 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:Wet coal ?? water hits hot cast iron grate ,bing !! ????

Another great point. I have my bags stacked outside. The water does get through the bags and makes the coal wet. I try to dump a bag or 2 into buckets and leave them by my stove to dry out.

coalder · Post by **coalder** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 11:29 am

Any chance the heat gauge on the chubby is defective??? Two grates in two years? Maybe you could borrow an IR gun, of figure someway to determine it's accuracy. I have had some that have been off by quite a bit. Give it some thought.
Good luck

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 11:33 am

J F Graham wrote:Any chance the heat gauge on the chubby is defective??? Two grates in two years? Maybe you could borrow an IR gun, of figure someway to determine it's accuracy. I have had some that have been off by quite a bit. Give it some thought.
Good luck

I do use an IR gun. I have a temp gauge on the side of my stove and find it to be off a bit. Thanks for the advice. I think it boils down to over tending and wet coal.

Carbon12 · Post by **Carbon12** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 12:20 pm

When I had my Hitzer 983 insert, I warped one of the steel clips that held the fire brick in place at the top back of the fire box. I know for a fact I never piled the coal high enough to make contact with that clip. I did burn the stove hard in really cold weather but never over fired it. Never more than 500 degrees on any measurable surface via multiple stick on magnetic stove thermometers, IR temperature gun and a thermocouple temperature sensing cable hung in the flu damper area above the stove outlet. No worries, the damper plate was removed.

Post by **dcrane** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 1:15 pm

Carbon12 wrote:When I had my Hitzer 983 insert, I warped one of the steel clips that held the fire brick in place at the top back of the fire box. I know for a fact I never piled the coal high enough to make contact with that clip. I did burn the stove hard in really cold weather but never over fired it. Never more than 500 degrees on any measurable surface via multiple stick on magnetic stove thermometers, IR temperature gun and a thermocouple temperature sensing cable hung in the flu damper area above the stove outlet. No worries, the damper plate was removed.

never liked thin clips to hold firebrick in place (stupid, cheapo way to do it... I wont say what other companys do it but im sure you know)... creates air space (however minimal between firebrick and steel plate... we all know that deters radiant heat!), the upper clips by virtue of being in the most hostile area of the stove are destined to fail at some point (folks don't notice it and never replace them as the brick "swims" a little creating more insulating air spaces). The dilemma could be grate removal, the dilemma could be labor costs, the dilemma could be laziness to improve... whatever the reasons its stupid

nothing to do with a Chubby but you all know love "2 cents"

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 3:39 pm

tcalo wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:Wet coal ?? water hits hot cast iron grate ,bing !! ????
Another great point. I have my bags stacked outside. The water does get through the bags and makes the coal wet. I try to dump a bag or 2 into buckets and leave them by my stove to dry out.

Is maybe there two things going on here?
Was not the grate sagged? Besides the crack or break?

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 4:44 pm

McGiever wrote:Is maybe there two things going on here?
Was not the grate sagged? Besides the crack or break?

Your are correct. The grate is warped and cracked. Am I missing something?

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 4:51 pm

tcalo wrote:
McGiever wrote:Is maybe there two things going on here?
Was not the grate sagged? Besides the crack or break?
Your are correct. The grate is warped and cracked. Am I missing something?

No, but adding wet coal doesn't sag or warp a grate.

Only excess heat does.

tcalo · Post by **tcalo** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 4:57 pm

McGiever wrote:No, but adding wet coal doesn't sag or warp a grate. Only excess heat does.

I assume the wet coal attributed to the crack. So what causes warping, excessive heat? So I am either over firing the stove, letting the ash in the pan get to close to the grate or shaking too much. Seeing how I don't overfire the stove and keep the ash from building up too much in the pan, I think it's a safe bet that I may be Over tending the stove! Glad I have it narrowed down! Thanks for all the help!

carlherrnstein · Post by **carlherrnstein** » Thu. Feb. 06, 2014 6:12 pm

I am impressed with the quality of that casting.

I seriously doubt that water is making it all the way through the hot coals but, anything is possible. However usually when water hits hot cast iron it breaks allover and kind of "spalls".

I'm not a metallurgist or pattern maker however I question if you are causing the problem. You might call the maker of the stove and see what he thinks is going on, if many people are having similar problems perhaps they had a problem with that pour.