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I have provided a picture of one of my first "hard lessons" with owning a Hardy OWB. This mistake on my part cost me $50 to fix and I am confident I have sufficiently learned from this incident and I am capable of not letting this happen again. The problem was one of my grates getting too hot and breaking in half because of excessive heat. The excessive heat was caused by me allowing the ashes to build up too high underneath the grates.
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Not all OWB's are created the same...some have grates that the ash falls thru and collects in the ash bin...and others don't have grates where the wood simply sets on top of the ash. Either system works just fine but the bottom line is, you have to keep up with the ash and remove it every now and then. The reason this is important with the Hardy is the ash brings the coals, which sit on top of the ash, up closer to the bottom of the grates, and as your OWB burns, the fire along with the coals, put more heat into the grates than they can handle. Eventually, something has to give, and in my case, the center grate gave...breaking in two...causing me to spend my way out of this problem by laying down $50 to the Hardy store.
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Here is a picture of my broken grate. This grate is cast iron and 1 1/4 inch thick. Heavy stuff but not immune to excessive heat. If I only knew then what I know now, this would have never happened. I hope you heed my advice. I put a baseball in the picture to help you understand its size...and I can't wait for February 12th when pitchers and catchers report to the Indian's spring training. Wintertime in Ohio means burning wood and waiting for baseball season to start.
My Hardy H2 has three of these grates...all the same...in a row at the bottom of the firebox. The logs sit on these grates. What's important to know about your Hardy is the ash must be "maintained." You just can't take out too much...and you can't leave in too much. If you constantly shovel out all your ash, you run the risk of your fire going out...especially in warmer months when there is more time in between burn cycles. If you have no ash, the coals/embers that you rely on stoking your fire will be too far away from the grates to light the wood up. When the blower kicks on you run the chance of your fire petering out because the coals are nowhere near the smoldering wood. So, you may be thinking...as I did...if you leave more ash in the bottom and let the coals rest just beneath the grates, you will have all your coals right next to your wood and your fire won't risk going out late one night when you're in bed. Well...this worked for a while, until one day when I witnessed my center grate broken in two and resting down in the ash bin with most of my logs.
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I had to pull out all my logs, fish out the two pieces of grate, install the new one, put all my wood back in and start the fire up once more. I have since learned that most grate failures in Hardy's are the center grate and these failures are most always caused by allowing your ash to build up too high.
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Now, I always keep my ash at a consistent level. I shovel out about 1 1/2 buckets a week and dump the ash in my garden...wood ash kills slugs by the way. Thru trail and error I have found my ash level "sweet spot" by getting to know my furnace's personality...every OWB owner will tell you that their woodburner has its own, distinct personality... as many of you may already know. If it is cold out, I will go with less ash because there is less time between burn cycles...if the weather is warmer, I will go with more ash to help the fire relight...but not too much that my grates may heat up and melt.
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Whenever I add wood I always make a point to smooth down the ash with a long stick. This keeps the ash low enough from the grates that I can see the blower inlet. Once in a while, you have to get down on your hands and knees and take a look in your ash door and peak up underneath your grates to see if all your grates look level. If you see a grate sagging lower than the others, this is your furnace telling you that particular grate is about to fail. You have to take that grate out and flip it over and reduce your ash level. I also rotate my grates so that they all have a chance to be in the middle. The middle grate seems to take the most abuse from the heat. I give the grates all a chance to be in the middle. Its just like rotating tires...you go for even wear.
Smokin
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I have provided a picture of one of my first "hard lessons" with owning a Hardy OWB. This mistake on my part cost me $50 to fix and I am confident I have sufficiently learned from this incident and I am capable of not letting this happen again. The problem was one of my grates getting too hot and breaking in half because of excessive heat. The excessive heat was caused by me allowing the ashes to build up too high underneath the grates.
*
Not all OWB's are created the same...some have grates that the ash falls thru and collects in the ash bin...and others don't have grates where the wood simply sets on top of the ash. Either system works just fine but the bottom line is, you have to keep up with the ash and remove it every now and then. The reason this is important with the Hardy is the ash brings the coals, which sit on top of the ash, up closer to the bottom of the grates, and as your OWB burns, the fire along with the coals, put more heat into the grates than they can handle. Eventually, something has to give, and in my case, the center grate gave...breaking in two...causing me to spend my way out of this problem by laying down $50 to the Hardy store.
*
Here is a picture of my broken grate. This grate is cast iron and 1 1/4 inch thick. Heavy stuff but not immune to excessive heat. If I only knew then what I know now, this would have never happened. I hope you heed my advice. I put a baseball in the picture to help you understand its size...and I can't wait for February 12th when pitchers and catchers report to the Indian's spring training. Wintertime in Ohio means burning wood and waiting for baseball season to start.
My Hardy H2 has three of these grates...all the same...in a row at the bottom of the firebox. The logs sit on these grates. What's important to know about your Hardy is the ash must be "maintained." You just can't take out too much...and you can't leave in too much. If you constantly shovel out all your ash, you run the risk of your fire going out...especially in warmer months when there is more time in between burn cycles. If you have no ash, the coals/embers that you rely on stoking your fire will be too far away from the grates to light the wood up. When the blower kicks on you run the chance of your fire petering out because the coals are nowhere near the smoldering wood. So, you may be thinking...as I did...if you leave more ash in the bottom and let the coals rest just beneath the grates, you will have all your coals right next to your wood and your fire won't risk going out late one night when you're in bed. Well...this worked for a while, until one day when I witnessed my center grate broken in two and resting down in the ash bin with most of my logs.*
I had to pull out all my logs, fish out the two pieces of grate, install the new one, put all my wood back in and start the fire up once more. I have since learned that most grate failures in Hardy's are the center grate and these failures are most always caused by allowing your ash to build up too high.
*
Now, I always keep my ash at a consistent level. I shovel out about 1 1/2 buckets a week and dump the ash in my garden...wood ash kills slugs by the way. Thru trail and error I have found my ash level "sweet spot" by getting to know my furnace's personality...every OWB owner will tell you that their woodburner has its own, distinct personality... as many of you may already know. If it is cold out, I will go with less ash because there is less time between burn cycles...if the weather is warmer, I will go with more ash to help the fire relight...but not too much that my grates may heat up and melt.
*
Whenever I add wood I always make a point to smooth down the ash with a long stick. This keeps the ash low enough from the grates that I can see the blower inlet. Once in a while, you have to get down on your hands and knees and take a look in your ash door and peak up underneath your grates to see if all your grates look level. If you see a grate sagging lower than the others, this is your furnace telling you that particular grate is about to fail. You have to take that grate out and flip it over and reduce your ash level. I also rotate my grates so that they all have a chance to be in the middle. The middle grate seems to take the most abuse from the heat. I give the grates all a chance to be in the middle. Its just like rotating tires...you go for even wear.
Smokin
Great information on the Hardy grates, I have heard of them warping from the heat, but never breaking or burning like yours did. Seems like a good concept of keeping the coals below the bottom of the grate, and rotating them. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI replaced them with steel grating a few times but that is no cheaper than the Hardy grates...
ReplyDeleteI am considering replacing mine with 2" black pipe spaced 1/2 inch apart. Maybe next summer...