I have a small airtight woodstove in my camp that came new with a small blower fan which I've never installed, meant to help circulate the warmed air between the wall of the stove and rear heatshield, up and over the surface of the stove itself.
The blower fan bolts to the heatshield over a small port in it - all in all, a fairly standard type of arrangement from what I have seen sold.
Many have stated that blowers on similar stoves died after a fairly short time, probably due to the heat transferred directly to the blower since it mounts fairly close to the heat and transfer through the steel itself..
I was planning on trying to make an isolation mount or spacer that would position the blower off the heat shield a bit more so the entire deal remains cooler - and hopefully living longer..
To that end, I had some fireproof gasket material saved up - but I can't see that just by itself it would be thick enough do the trick.
I need some suggestions as to what I could use to make a spacer, in order to position the blower and motor 1" to 2" back and away from the heat, yet remain fireproof..
Being fairly cheap I'd like to get some ideas others may have as to what they consider might work well, be reasonably inexpensive, and easily available!
Thanks for any suggestions - Randy
I am only guessing, I suppose the blower is rectangle in shape?
Could put some sheet metal to extend the blower. Or would that hold up the weight of the blower. Maybe some 1/8 metal? Would need a lip I would think on each end to mount the blower too. Could make it 6 inches long to move the blower away from the stove.
I like @thecfarm (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=436) idea. I think if you could get gasket material thick enough to make a thermal break, it would help. If you add a thermostat so the fan always comes on when the stove is hot, it would cool itself a bit. but then you are paying for electricity. they make little snap thermal switches that you buy with a temp preset. might check with the manufacturer, and see if they have a fix, if it is a real problem. or install as is and see how long it goes. good luck.
Looks much like this one (not mine) - not exactly identical, but generally having the same spacing distance from the mounting point flange to the motor/blower as the one pictured here:
(https://scontent.fyyz2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/c0.212.526.526a/p526x296/141019293_10164684141980072_3098623158646101983_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=2&_nc_sid=3b2858&_nc_ohc=PNGmdedinlkAX_GLWwJ&_nc_ht=scontent.fyyz2-1.fna&tp=27&oh=29e6adc90f91d74129a399d573da5123&oe=60348AD9)
Maybe a short pipe nipple with 2 flanges? It looks like maybe 2" or 2-1/2" pipe. If you wanted to be perfect you could get stainless pipe (stainless has a lower thermal conductivity than other metals) but with the fan blowing cooler air and if you use the gasket material for a thermal break moving the fan back I'd use regular black iron pipe.
consider the rope type fiberglass woodstove door seal, available most hardware stores.
I was going to try and make something out of a thermoplastic type of material - but too hard to come by these days with our virus restrictions and shopping limitations..
May have to fire up the Mig welder and make a steel concoction with my or other type of gasket material at each mounting flange point!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
Quote from: realzed on January 26, 2021, 09:25:05 AM
Looks much like this one (not mine) - not exactly identical, but generally having the same spacing distance from the mounting point flange to the motor/blower as the one pictured here:
(https://scontent.fyyz2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/c0.212.526.526a/p526x296/141019293_10164684141980072_3098623158646101983_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=2&_nc_sid=3b2858&_nc_ohc=PNGmdedinlkAX_GLWwJ&_nc_ht=scontent.fyyz2-1.fna&tp=27&oh=29e6adc90f91d74129a399d573da5123&oe=60348AD9)
I had enough of changing those motor at every 3 years max. They were so noisy at the end of their life. I had put a bathroom ventilator with a very low sound. I've put it at a certain distance of the stove and connect it with aluminum flexible pipe that are use for dryers
Yup I too heard all of the stories regarding the noise and low life spans.. I figured moving the entire deal back off the shield and mounting it on somewhat sound dampening material at the same time might help cure both of the known issues.
Other than having the flex ducting obvious behind the stove - I will keep your suggestion as a back-up situation if my plan to remount mine doesn't pan out!
Thanks!
I do not use on mounted. we have ceiling fans in the living room. i did install a fan in the wall behind it the draws into the basement, as we are in a tri-level home. the heat tries to go to the upstairs, and the fan puts some in the basement.
Any chance you could bring in outside (cooler) air? I did this years ago in an old leaky, poorly-insulated farm house with both the combustion air and the blower. The results were surprising. Doing this mitigated the drafts and colder spots by 'pressurizing' the house.
I do/did have some issues with the chimney drawing properly when the temperatures are moderate and I do intend on adding an outside air duct as there is also a port into the back of the stove to allow a fresh air inlet pipe.
I have heard from others that adding fresh air, even though a building may not be super airtight, can still make an amazing difference on how a stove operates and chimney drafts - so that will be one of the first additions I get to this Spring when I get set to start using the stove in 3 or 4 months..
This is a seasonal camp and I mainly just run the woodstove for a month or so off and on - Spring and Fall when we stay there and the weather turns cool (late April/May and Late Sept/October).
Hopefully between a good chimney cleaning - adding a dedicated fresh air inlet source - and the additional fan spreading around the heat running in conjunction with my Eco-fan, this will turn out to be an even better 'heating period' for us (my wife loves the warmth and dryness a wood fired appliance brings - and so do my old and arthritic joints now these days)..
I'm due for a previously replaced knee revision procedure (would that be a RTKR or TKRR?) in another 10 days, virus related issues notwithstanding - although that is not looking particularly good right now, and I look forward afterwards to being warm and comfy again parked beside the stove and watching the ice on the lake go out for another year after that comes hopefully, and goes!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and comments.. they are much appreciated!
make your fresh air pipe so it can be coved to keep out cold air and critters when you are not using it. I ran mine in the floor and it was cold there, even with the stove running. if the stove is near an outside wall no biggie. this stove was 12 feet in and the pipe ran under the floor of the dining area with ceramic tile. If the stove is in a big room, a ceiling fan works good, if you do not want the forced air: fan on the stove. noisy/clunky. If this is a part time camp, then many of the aesthetic issues may not matter as much.
If your fan runs off of electricity and you don't find a solution to your shield problem, consider getting a different fan. I saw one recently that doesn't run off electricity, it runs off of the temperature differential between the stove and ?, the question mark, I guess, being the ambient air. I found that very interesting that it creates enough current to run a (low volume) fan. Here it is... Ecofan (https://www.northlineexpress.com/ecofan-original-800-heat-powered-wood-stove-fan-gold-colored-blades-800ca-bbx-663.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=&gclid=CjwKCAiAu8SABhAxEiwAsodSZMmR4lKEUEdh1gTM8HaApBHQ38yHm9P-tG1_6x1Fp6eqUY9hzF14TxoCo2gQAvD_BwE)
I do - or at least did have an exact copy of the one you pictured on the stove over the past couple of years and it did work good until the module that powers it crapped out..
Gotta try and get the parts needed to get it working again before Spring - I was hopeful that I could run both at the same time..