Hole burned through coal stove

Hi. I need some advice here, and I don't know too much about coal stoves so pardon my lack of technical terms.

I have an Arrow coal stove. On the inside of the coal stove there is a rather large metal "shield." It is hinged on the back wall of the stove. In the up position it appears to deflect flames from going straight up the stove pipe. I don't no what it would do in the "down" position other than to allow you to dump out ash that had fallen down the stove pipe and collected inside it.

Anyway, I burned a fairly large hole through it tonight, probably 12" long and 3" wide.

So,

what is this shield for and....
do I need to stop burning and get this fixed ASAP and.....
is this an easily replaceable part?

I can probably post photos if this desription is not clear.

Sounds like a cheap tin baffle. Its likely safe to keep burning, but you should probably try to buy or build another similar baffle...keep more heat in the stove. Coal will melt iron...ask any blacksmith who absent mindedly left something in the coals only to pull it out and find it...gone. Just burned totally away. If you make up a baffle, use heavy plate, like 3/8's inch or so.
Maybe someone familiar with your stove model can help?

In the same vein - I broke the shaker handle on my furnace tonight. cheap castings.....
You can see the thinness where it broke out. I've got a spare somewhere out in the shed.

pictures are worth a thousand words in some cases.

Richard S. wrote:pictures are worht thousand word in some cases.

Richard, you've been drinking, too, haven't you?

.... what you talking about dulles

I too have snapped off the shaker rod. Had a local welder fashion in back together for me, he did a real nice job, but I probably could have bought a new one cheaper....

Back to topic. It's an Aarrow Dynamics SC100 stove. The baffle came out real easy, just pulled it off of the hinges. Here's what it look's like with hole:

OK, I got some help at the local stove store. The thing I burned the hole through is a baffle. Its fucntion is to keep the hot coal gases in the stove longer, instead of going straight up the stove pipe, and increasing the burn time by up to 30%. They have a finite live span, as is evident by the gaping hole in mine. Not loading the coal right up to this baffle will help prolong its life.

It cost me $65.