Crack in Harman Mark I Baffle

I've got a mark I I was planning to sell to a fellow forum member this weekend. I bought it to refurb last year but never got to it. The buyer wanted it unrefurbed. Today while cleaning out the ash so he could transport it without alot of mess, I discovered there is a crack in the bottom of the baffle. So the questions are will this have any significant effect on it's performance? How can it be repaired? I am thinking that having a bead of weld across it would do the job. I'd appreciate any and all thoughts on this. Thanks!

if the buyer is in agreement,knock the price down & let him fix it--or fix it yourself--I mean,you are selling him,I suppose,a functioning used coal stove--I'm sure you'll get many responses to your question,but,principles is principles

Is it hard to remove? Can a new one be fabricated or bought?

I think the weld bead would be sufficient for now; but a more permanent fix may be in order maybe by spring/summer. I agree with Freetown though, maybe kick some back to the buyer as a, "future repair cost". In the meantime just to get the buyer up and running I still think a weld bead might work for the time being.

good call IOF

If it were mine I would clean it up around the crack ,down to bare metal, make sure the baffle still has some beef to it, IE; its not rusted away and just paper thin. If baffle is still good, then I would weld it up.
Can you see both sides of the crack?
Is it sagging any? If so, you may have to weld a plate of steel over the crack.

No big deal...

As mentioned previously, as long as the baffle is not warped and degraded to the point of flaking away a weld should do the trick.

I often thought that a better design would be to have the baffle as a separate plate that sits on a ledge high in the firebox instead of being welded to the sides. Then it would be easier to clean out the fly ash from on top of it and if it did degrade over time it could be replaced easily.

But we all know how responsive Harman is too customer satisfaction!!

How thin is the baffle at that point? Has it been worn or disintegrated from the heat? If so then just laying a plate of steel or better still cast iron over the baffle would be a better fix than welding and a lot easier. The sides where it is welded to the stove receive much less heat so remain strong. You could even consider fire brick or cast-able ceramic. It is just a baffle so things like air tightness are not a consideration. If that baffle had a hole the size of a baseball in it then laying cast or a firebrick over it would make it better than new, since it then can withstand the heat better than the original.

Thanks all. The baffle is not deteroirated or warped, just cracked. The metal is still thick everwhere. I appreciate all the responses. The baffle is welded in so replacing it is out of the question. I pm'd my potential buyer before I started this thread so he will be fully aware of the issue. I think the weld would be more than adequate myself. I don't have any welding tools or experience so I'd have to take it somewhere. I haven't heard back from him yet. Maybe he has a welder. If not what do you think it would cost to lay in that weld? $50.00?

coalkirk wrote: what do you think it would cost to lay in that weld? $50.00?

Bring it up here, and I'd do it for a bag or two of rice (coal)

Chris,Chris,Chris ---ck,call a local welder & ask what he would charge to do it

coalkirk wrote:Thanks all. The baffle is not deteroirated or warped, just cracked. The metal is still thick everwhere. I appreciate all the responses. The baffle is welded in so replacing it is out of the question. I pm'd my potential buyer before I started this thread so he will be fully aware of the issue. I think the weld would be more than adequate myself. I don't have any welding tools or experience so I'd have to take it somewhere. I haven't heard back from him yet. Maybe he has a welder. If not what do you think it would cost to lay in that weld? $50.00?

I think $50 is being generous to the high side. When I had my wood stove I ended up cutting the ash box off so it could fit in my fireplace. I took the stove down to RS Phillips in Vernon and had them weld up four feet and weld a plate in place of the ash hole and it only cost $75.

But again, it depends on how difficult it is to get at the baffle. I'm not familiar with the Mark 1. I know on the DS I have if you remove the hopper you can reach down inside of the stove to get at the baffle if needed.

Yea this is readily accessible. Should be any easy weld. The bigger pain in the butt is just lugging it around. Mark I isn't so bad. The mark II and III's will remind you of your age when you try to move those.

Jeeze .... I could do that weld in 30 seconds, then we could spend the rest of the time working on a bottle of top shelf whiskey. How's that for a charge?



Would probably cost me .30 cents in welding wire ...

For those who don't know, that's 1/4" steel right there.

Wish I lived close enough to take you up on that offer. Thanks for the tip on the Kroil by the way. It did the trick. That grate shaker shaft on my 507 was a real challenge.

coalkirk wrote:Yea this is readily accessible. Should be any easy weld. The bigger pain in the butt is just lugging it around.

You should see if someone that one of your friends knows, has a 120v mig welder..
You'll lug that to the stove, a lot easier than the stove to the welder!!

Dan