DS COMFORTMAX 75 First Review

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Tue. Apr. 14, 2020 10:39 pm

I like that cast iron baffle plate where the heat exchanger tubes are in the exhaust path.... That must be something new to the Comfort Max. I see older pictures without it. Or is that cast iron baffle an option?

One thing I will say; D. S. has been very aggressive in design changes.... Other stove manufacturers are taking notice, I'm sure....


 
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11ultra103
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 7:35 pm

oliver power wrote:
Tue. Apr. 14, 2020 10:39 pm
I like that cast iron baffle plate where the heat exchanger tubes are in the exhaust path.... That must be something new to the Comfort Max. I see older pictures without it. Or is that cast iron baffle an option?

One thing I will say; D. S. has been very aggressive in design changes.... Other stove manufacturers are taking notice, I'm sure....
I wouldn't think the plate is optional. I'm still burning coal here. The stove has been burning nonstop since I lit the coal fire even on 70+ degree days. Very impressed. I did however just have my first puff back. That woke me up hahaha

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 7:41 pm

Stove is still burning well. I am getting low on coal, I think after this week I'll let it go out.

Also just had my first puff back, that was exciting lol. Guess I loaded too much coal in. I did leave the door open for a bit but then closed it. I really figured with the over fire air turned up a puff back would not happen, but now I know it can still happen!

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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 8:36 pm

11ultra103 wrote:
Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 7:35 pm
I wouldn't think the plate is optional. I'm still burning coal here. The stove has been burning nonstop since I lit the coal fire even on 70+ degree days. Very impressed. I did however just have my first puff back. That woke me up hahaha
Did your stove come with the cast iron plate in the back? Other pictures I see show only firebrick, no cast iron baffle plate. Or, do they all have the cast iron baffle plate behind the fire brick...?

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 8:44 pm

oliver power wrote:
Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 8:36 pm
Did your stove come with the cast iron plate in the back? Other pictures I see show only firebrick, no cast iron baffle plate. Or, do they all have the cast iron baffle plate behind the fire brick...?
It came with the baffle behind the brick. It's pretty much part of the stove. I dont think you can remove it

 
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Post by oliver power » Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 10:25 pm

11ultra103 wrote:
Wed. Apr. 15, 2020 8:44 pm
It came with the baffle behind the brick. It's pretty much part of the stove. I dont think you can remove it
That makes more sense now... Thanks

 
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Post by Hoytman » Sun. Sep. 20, 2020 1:29 pm

Almost time to resume this thread.

Almost time to fire up that Comfortmax.
Thought I’d post this video link to illustrate the secondary burn in these DS stoves... even though this one isn’t a Comfortmax.



Just read through this thread again. Anyone interested should likely do the same, so when this thread gets going again you’ll have the background information fresh in mind.

One thing I noticed...
There was the question of reversing draft and also mention of opening the ash pan door to ramp the stove when reloading.

With the Hitzer 354 I said I usually don’t open the ash pan door and ramp the stove.

I have found that when I’m ready to reload (especially in the mornings and half asleep...why I don’t like opening the ash pan door for fear of forgetting and walking away) all I do is open the internal damper (by-pass on the Comfortmax). I usually slide it open and leave all else alone. Go turn o. The coffee pot, go to the bathroom, gather my clothes and get dressed, and then do my shaking. The stove in those 5-15 minutes will usually ramp up on it’s own and is ready for shaking.

Same for reversed draft...and you need to fix the problem quick. Open the by-pass and either open the ash pan door or turn the bi-metallic up to increase air intake.

Cooling a stove too hot...close all the air intakes and open the by-pass with coal.

Cooling the stove with wood open the by-pass, and close the air intakes.

On some occasions with wood and a stove too hot you may find opening the by-pass and the stove door for a few seconds or a few minutes (watch temp gauges) will allow a rush of cooler air in the stove all at once. You could then close the loading door as well as the air intakes now to further drop the stove temp should things get out of hand.

I am anxious to see how you can get the wood burning dialed in. Take plenty of notes, pictures and video. Looking forward to it all.


 
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Post by freetown fred » Sun. Sep. 20, 2020 2:00 pm

Oh good Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Mon. Sep. 21, 2020 11:25 am

Hoytman wrote:
Sun. Sep. 20, 2020 1:29 pm
Almost time to resume this thread.

Almost time to fire up that Comfortmax.
Thought I’d post this video link to illustrate the secondary burn in these DS stoves... even though this one isn’t a Comfortmax.



Just read through this thread again. Anyone interested should likely do the same, so when this thread gets going again you’ll have the background information fresh in mind.

One thing I noticed...
There was the question of reversing draft and also mention of opening the ash pan door to ramp the stove when reloading.

With the Hitzer 354 I said I usually don’t open the ash pan door and ramp the stove.

I have found that when I’m ready to reload (especially in the mornings and half asleep...why I don’t like opening the ash pan door for fear of forgetting and walking away) all I do is open the internal damper (by-pass on the Comfortmax). I usually slide it open and leave all else alone. Go turn o. The coffee pot, go to the bathroom, gather my clothes and get dressed, and then do my shaking. The stove in those 5-15 minutes will usually ramp up on it’s own and is ready for shaking.

Same for reversed draft...and you need to fix the problem quick. Open the by-pass and either open the ash pan door or turn the bi-metallic up to increase air intake.

Cooling a stove too hot...close all the air intakes and open the by-pass with coal.

Cooling the stove with wood open the by-pass, and close the air intakes.

On some occasions with wood and a stove too hot you may find opening the by-pass and the stove door for a few seconds or a few minutes (watch temp gauges) will allow a rush of cooler air in the stove all at once. You could then close the loading door as well as the air intakes now to further drop the stove temp should things get out of hand.

I am anxious to see how you can get the wood burning dialed in. Take plenty of notes, pictures and video. Looking forward to it all.
Thanks for the reply. I'll be cleaning my chimney and stove next sunday. I actually just ordered an ash vacuum to clean out the second pass on the comfortmax. I'm also going to be working on making a new plate for the wood burning. Its going to cover the whole bottom. I think there is just way too much air that comes up through the grates for wood burning. There are cast iron air deflectors in the front of the stove which bring the air up from the ash pan to feed the wood fire. You don't need the grates open at all for wood.

It will surely be a learning experience all over again. Over summer I'm sure I forgot everything I knew about running the stove haha. I still need to figure out what I'm doing for a coal bin. Working on splitting the last of the firewood pile also, I almost got it done yesterday but will finish this week. If you know anyone interested in wood let me know, that's all my future coal money sitting there and I cant wait to get it all out of the yard!

 
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Post by Hoytman » Mon. Sep. 21, 2020 12:01 pm

I will eventually make a plate for mine as well. For now I have cut fire bricks to use and they will work for likely longer than I intend to burn wood. Which isn’t much. Still going to keep a few cord on a rotating plan. After about 2-3 years I’ll sell a cord or two off as good dry wood.

You might try elevating that plate several inches also. I will eventually try that as well. Most wood stove manufacturers these days keep a sort fire box. They must feel it keeps the tubes hotter. If I try raising and lowering the plate I may or may not find it makes any difference. That video I put up on the 110/160 seems to indicate it won’t matter. Just wanting to tinker with it some.

 
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Post by franco b » Tue. Sep. 22, 2020 7:24 pm

Wood is about half gas. If air is mixed before ignition the flame will be blue. If air is mixed after ignition the flame is yellow and is actually small bits of carbon burning that have been precipitated from the gas.

The welder lights his acetylene torch and gets a long yellow flame. He then turns on the oxygen which premixes with the gas and the flame goes blue.


Adjusting a gas stove, if air is turned down too much, the flame goes yellow.

The old rotary oil burners threw oil droplets onto a red hot steel ring which vaporized it, mixing air at the same time, resulting in a rolling blue flame that filled the combustion area, if properly adjusted. Until the advent of the shell head, no other burner could match it for efficiency.

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Sep. 23, 2020 12:42 pm

Hoytman wrote:
Mon. Sep. 21, 2020 12:01 pm
I will eventually make a plate for mine as well. For now I have cut fire bricks to use and they will work for likely longer than I intend to burn wood. Which isn’t much. Still going to keep a few cord on a rotating plan. After about 2-3 years I’ll sell a cord or two off as good dry wood.

You might try elevating that plate several inches also. I will eventually try that as well. Most wood stove manufacturers these days keep a sort fire box. They must feel it keeps the tubes hotter. If I try raising and lowering the plate I may or may not find it makes any difference. That video I put up on the 110/160 seems to indicate it won’t matter. Just wanting to tinker with it some.
You got me thinking now. Maybe I can use some fire brick to raise the plate. I can tell you, the closer you get the wood to the burn tubes, the better they work.

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Sep. 23, 2020 12:44 pm

franco b wrote:
Tue. Sep. 22, 2020 7:24 pm
Wood is about half gas. If air is mixed before ignition the flame will be blue. If air is mixed after ignition the flame is yellow and is actually small bits of carbon burning that have been precipitated from the gas.

The welder lights his acetylene torch and gets a long yellow flame. He then turns on the oxygen which premixes with the gas and the flame goes blue.



Adjusting a gas stove, if air is turned down too much, the flame goes yellow.

The old rotary oil burners threw oil droplets onto a red hot steel ring which vaporized it, mixing air at the same time, resulting in a rolling blue flame that filled the combustion area, if properly adjusted. Until the advent of the shell head, no other burner could match it for efficiency.
Never heard of those rotary burners but now I'm going to have to look them up!

 
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Post by 11ultra103 » Wed. Sep. 23, 2020 12:45 pm

Made my plate for the bottom. The metal is a little thinner than I would have liked but its what I had so it will work for the time being

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Post by franco b » Wed. Sep. 23, 2020 12:59 pm

11ultra103 wrote:
Wed. Sep. 23, 2020 12:44 pm
Never heard of those rotary burners but now I'm going to have to look them up!
Timken and Torridheat are the ones I am familiar with. On cold start they would smoke though, until the ring heated up.


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