insulating the door???

[red maples]

I want to insulate the arch doors what is better blanket or arch board, it is wood fired, and will the arch board crumlble if I use that. I have a little left over from insulating the arch. Any thoughts.

[RileySugarbush]

I used blanket held on with stainless screws and fender washers. It is not super tough, but most wood will not come back and hit the door.

[red maples]

what I might do is try the arch board if it doesn't work then I will get some blanket insulation!!! if it get me thru a season then hey no money lost!!! not a big deal really just don't want the doors cherry red and too hot too handle. plus the way I see it the more insulated your arch the more heat will be directed to the pans, right.

[3rdgen.maple]

Red Maples just be careful any modifications to that arch might void Patricks warranty, Might want to give him a call and find out for sure. I never insulated my doors and yes they do get cherry red but had no ill effects from it.

[nymapleguy607]

Red Maples
Not sure of your exact setup but if you plan on forced draft I would save the trouble of insulating the old cast doors and see about building your own door that was air tight and insulated. I just finished building the new door for my arch. Just a thought
Jeff

[red maples]

3rdgen would I still have a warranty even though I bought it used?

and it really doesn't take much to insulate the doors.

and I don't plan on forced draft at least in the next few years anyway so I am not that worried about air tight at this point.

[Fred Henderson]

I wouldn't worry about any warrenty from Patrick because I can assure you that when you hand him the balance due check the warrenty was gone.Over time that cherry redness in the doors will cause the carbon to be burned out of the steel and that is when the cast will fall. But it may take 25 years or more.

[maple maniac65]

arch board will actually burn, blanket doesn't. I didn't believe it so I tried it.

[Bucket Head]

Go with the blanket. Thats what I used. No more cherry red door. I used 1/8" thick fender washers to hold it on. I'm very happy with it. I should have done it years ago.

Steve

[Fred Henderson]

I used 1" blanket and 1" pipe spacers with 1/4" SS plate and beleive me that SS does get very red hot. The SS plate just helps to keep the blanket from being torn with wood.

[mtnmeadowmplfarm]

what I might do is try the arch board if it doesn't work then I will get some blanket insulation!!! if it get me thru a season then hey no money lost!!! not a big deal really just don't want the doors cherry red and too hot too handle. plus the way I see it the more insulated your arch the more heat will be directed to the pans, right.

Cherry red doors are a sign of lost efficiency in an arch. Before you insulate(which is still a great idea) I would think about a couple other things:

Does your wood contact your doors when the evaporator is stoked? If you have a 2' fire pit I would cut your wood roughly 20" long so that one row can be centered in the fire pit.

The other thing to consider is stack height, or adding a blower. Red doors mean that more heat needs to be directed up and back. Think about adding stack height at the least although you would enjoy the benefits of a blower much more.

[vermaple]

Don't be afraid of the fire, I know it's hot, but put on a long sleeved wool shirt and a pair of good gloves and place the wood in the fire. Red doors are caused by the wood being to close to the door. If you ever push the wood in with the door your fire is to close. I try to always keep the wood 6" from the doors. The key to maintaining the distance is, and I repeat place the wood on the fire, not throw the wood o the fire.

[red maples]

believe me I am not afraid of heat or fire!!!!

This upcoming season will be my first with this evaporator. The last owner warned me that the doors will glow and he used a metal rod that he bent to open the doors. I don't know if he had draft or stack problems or if it was too short, my stack is 16 feet so there's plenty there.

Efficiency is one thing
there is alot of heat too close to the front, maybe fire position as vermaple stated could have been the issue, and as I read from other threads that there is possiblity of the doors warping as well.

I didn't know that the arch board burned thanks for that info!!
I still do plan on insulating the doors because I would want that heat to be reflected back to the flue pan.

Thanks for all the input guys.

its all still a learning curve for me the more info I get the better.

[swierczt]

I used 1" blanket on my door to insulate it as well as make it airtight for a forced draft system. I have a home built wood fired barrel arch with forced draft below and above the fire. Worked great all season, and will probibly get onre or more seasons out of it too!

[Fred Henderson]

Get yourself a piece if 5/8" rebar and make a poker. form a ring on one end and a 4 or 5" right angle at the other. This will allow you to open the doors without being to close and rattle the grates so to speak.