Stove baffle?

[Bobbyboe]

This is a topic I can't find a lot of information on. Does anyone use a baffle on their titanium stoves? If so, what pros/cons have you found?

Yesterday I purchased a SO 4 person and a 18" lite outdoors stove with baffle. I'm hoping that the baffle helps to transfer additional heat into the tent and reduce the Sparks going out the top. Side note, I like the new door design (very large door) and the venting system on their stoves.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

 

[Bubblehide]

Do you mean a Chimney Damper?

 

[Bobbyboe]

No, a baffle. You can do a search and see what they look like and what they are supposed to do. I'm just curious if they work as intended on stoves this small.

 

[sneaky]

I believe most of the stove manufacturers call them dampers on their stoves, not baffles.

 

[Derek0525]

You talking about the sheet of titanium that goes in the top of the stove kinda like a shelf? The picture of this one is in a stainless stove but I'm guessing this is what your talking about.

 

[Derek0525]

I think lite outdoors has a video of them putting one in one of there stoves.

 

[Bobbyboe]

Derek's pictures shows what I'm talking about. Baffle may not be the proper name, but that's what it's called in their web site. Anyways, what are your thoughts? Has anyone used a stove with one installed?

 

[GKPrice]

Derek's pictures shows what I'm talking about. Baffle may not be the proper name, but that's what it's called in their web site. Anyways, what are your thoughts? Has anyone used a stove with one installed?

basically, that is the general design of all woodstoves that are used, sold or manufactured in "greeny" areas like Oregon - part of the idea is that it slows combustion down so more heat is contained in stove - in the residential stoves (2) I've experienced it sorta works but can be a PIA to keep the fire going until it gets up to temp and then you've gotta keep it up, which should be less of an issue in a tent stove I'd think
The stove I have currently in a cabin has insulation atop that shelf (baffle) which maybe adds to the frustration of keeping it going while the fire gets going, I'm no stove designer and have always just played with a new stove to find the sweet spot
in your stove I would think a chimney damper would work nearly as well with more simplicity but please keep us posted on your results

 

[MontanaMarine]

I noticed Liteoutdoors is recently offering baffles in their 18" stoves.

I was kind of curious how much difference they made. Might help reduce ember holes some.

Our Lopi house woodstove has one and it seems to help concentrate heat into the stove, but it's a much larger heavier stove than a little Ti stove.

 

[sneaky]

Looks like a good way to take up volume inside your stove for a marginal return considering firebox size in general on those stoves. Woukd restrict the ability to load wood in as well it seems. Just not seeing the benefit on a stove that size.

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

Looks like a good way to take up volume inside your stove for a marginal return considering firebox size in general on those stoves. Woukd restrict the ability to load wood in as well it seems. Just not seeing the benefit on a stove that size.

Check out the baffle on a lite outdoors stove, it sits flush with the top of the door therefore it should not affect firebox size a whole lot. Should help to contain heat and prevent ember holes

 

[Cindy]

Looks to me like its about air flow.
Anyone who has run many tent stoves can tell you that the air rushes in the front and then up the pipe.
A damper is used to restrict the air flow until you have a desired flow of air, thus controlling burn rate.
But the air still moves across the stove from front to back.
This design seems to change the direction of air flow and would create an S curve to the air flow.

Many of us have had the stove pipe get hot and begin to glow when a damper slips open, we have all had off gassing send puffs of smoke out the vent holes.

The "baffle" seems to me to be another attempt to deal with some of the issues that we face with portable, tent stoves.

Its all about controlling the air flow.

The desire is maximum burn time.
The issues are pipe fires, smoke outs, sparks, and off gassing.

If the baffle gives you one and not the others, its a good thing.

 

[LBFowler]

A baffle is on my list of things to experiment with, but on a smaller stove I don't think it will do a whole lot, the distances involved are just so small I don't see it having a huge impact on heat output or spark mitigation. on a compact stove you are talking about the air having to travel an extra 12-18"? I'm sure it slows the air down a bit as well and I'm not studied up on my thermodynamics but I wouldn't expect much. Also I think most baffle designs are either going to add to packed size, assembly time or both.

on a larger wall-tent sized stove I'd expect the benefit to be much greater.

 

[sneaky]

Check out the baffle on a lite outdoors stove, it sits flush with the top of the door therefore it should not affect firebox size a whole lot. Should help to contain heat and prevent ember holes

I did look at it. Still not an option that I would personally consider. To each his own.

 

[colonel00]

Check out the baffle on a lite outdoors stove, it sits flush with the top of the door therefore it should not affect firebox size a whole lot. Should help to contain heat and prevent ember holes

Do you have a link to a picture? I checked their site but I can't seem to find mention of it.

Nevermind, I found a video of it. Yeah, it looks similar in concept to a reverse flow smoker. However, the main flaw I see is the intake should be on the same side as the exhaust/pipe. This cause the air to flow all the way down and then all the way back. In the video at least, it sure looks like it will be a struggle to get air all the way to the back as it will be fighting the flow of heat that is moving forward to get up over the baffle. Now, adding a second baffle on the bottom that funneled fresh air all the way to the back and then up to the fire to move forward and then back over the top baffle again.

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

Yeah, im not sure if it will function correctly or not. My hunting partner just bought one with a baffle. I'll report back once we try it out.

 

[colonel00]

The one thing I couldn't really see is how it inserts into the body and stays up top. However, if the LO stove is like most others, you should be able to reverse then end plates and put the "front" on the same end as the pipe. I'd give that a try and see how it compares to the stock setup.

 

[MontanaMarine]

Here's a video from LiteOutdoors that shows how their baffle is locked in place by the endplates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIc6Z3mR9jY

 

[LaGriz]

ss13,
I think if you go to 4-dog website they discribe a baffle in their Titanium stoves. The claim being that it helps the stove hold heat and also may increase burn time. I too agree that in a typical ultralight tent stove (with a tiny fire box) may have little to gain with this option. Attached is a picture of a HPG Sheppard stove. This size stove (or a simular unit with a larger fire box) just might benifit from a baffle with out eating up all the available interior space. View attachment 33970 It only makes sence if the fire has to follow a channel in the stove before the heat goes up the pipe, the result would be more retained heat. Cool thread! Something to think about if I ever choose to build my own stove. LaGriz

 

[camping1601]

Fwiw my wall tent stove has one and I don't think I'd buy one without it. If it was an option on a backpacking stove I'd be getting it.