Introducing Brand New Wood Furnace to Market - The Drolet Tundra!

[stihly dan]

Hopefully nobody has died while being pateint as they worked out the bugs. Still don't know how they could continue to sell them in stores AFTER they realized they had a FATAL flaw. Bussinus ethics? Actually moral eyhics. That speaks volumes for the whole SBI company.

 

[djkost]

Yes got the same message. I was told Monday and if it was working then ship this Friday. I also told them about the snap switch and if they were going to change that since I think it should be like on at 140 and off at 110. Haven't heard about that yet. I justjust got in Dec and don't use the ash pan thanks to the guys on this forum. I do like it and when they get these fixed they will have a good furnace. Mine is under warranty so I don'tdo anything to it unless they tell me tto. Tech service is good and they have always got back to me except on the snap switch but iim sure they will.

 

[flotek]

I just use a shovel to take the ashes out. .i pull up my steel trash can that's almost same height as firebox floor and use the included long reach shovel .. The way I do it is slick it's no big deal for my routine takes less than a minute

 

[spadjen]

I just use a shovel to take the ashes out. .i pull up my steel trash can that's almost same height as firebox floor and use the included long reach shovel .. The way I do it is slick it's no big deal for my routine takes less than a minute

yep....that is the way most of us prob do it now. that is not the issue. if it did not have an ash draw at all i would still have bought it. but it not know about this issue caused a safety problem. if you were lucky enough to catch it before you used that ash pan that is great. but if not now you have ash in your air jacket.

I do have one question. when emptying ash via shovel and bucket do you get ash dust all over the place. it seems like the draft it causing it to blow around every where. It may be that i have the basement door open too? or do i need to let the box cool down more? this is the fist time for me using this method. it seems to be working good or even better then using a pan other then the dust issue.

 

[flotek]

I do it when I got home after work after the wood is down to a coal bed and I just unplug the unit to shut the blower off . Pull up my steel can and shovel several scoops out and slap the lid back on and hang up shovel and plug the unit back in . This way dust is kept down I also keep a dust mask right handy to wear while doing it . I realize your point about the safety of the drawer for me I don't see a need for a ash drawer anyways besides it's more convienant to dump a steel pail once than handle and dump out a hot ash drawer 5 times over same period of time . It's a no brainer for me. Furnace is working great and saving me a train load of firewood over my Englander so far

 

[djkost]

I just cleaned mine. Takes a minute and into the pail. No ash unless I go to fast with the shovel, then some get stirred up. Darn shovel they send with works great. Nice flat and works. We have a full blown blizzard going on now and I don't have a barometric damper on. The wind is 35 to 40 outside. Anyone have to much draft with winds this speed. Normal on my manometer was .05 but now probably .08. Anyone burn on windy days?

 

[NSMaple1]

My 30' chimney normally runs 0.08 - 0.10" when burning with no wind. If I hold my BD closed when burning and the wind is gusting, it can pull 0.3".

 

[brenndatomu]

I do have one question. when emptying ash via shovel and bucket do you get ash dust all over the place.

Do it when the firebox is still warm, open the door wide, hold the bucket close up to the opening, slide the ash off the shovel slowly instead of just dumping it. The warm firebox/warm chimney will have enough draft to suck most of the dust up the flue. Or you could get a

format=500w http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG...nc/EXP=1390813439/**http://www.ashdragon.com/

 

[Steve NW WI]

That thing looks like a great way to burn the back of my hand on the top of the door opening.

I'm gonna get all Spidey on you and call that a useless gadget.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yeah, I was thinking about making one of my own, handle on the back...guess it depends on how deep your firebox is though, as far as how much of an issue the handle is.

 

[Nick]

Does anyone have information as to the nature of the "fix"? It sounds like it might be worth buying one even without the ash-pan fix. Does it really use that much less wood than a conventional wood furnace?

 

[Cloud IT]

I've been quite busy and haven't had time to check in here for awhile but wanted to really quick to let you guys know something. I've confirmed that a small amount of air does find it's way past the plug for the ashpan and will stoke the fire when the blower is on.

You can confirm by putting ashes around the plug while the fan is running. You will see the air blow the ashes around.

Also, the sealing of the ash pan isn't the biggest issue to the lack of static pressure. That is caused by the fact that the blower isn't even connected to the furnace. It's just aimed at a hole they cut into the back. They are supposed to make a bracket that will allow the blower to actually bolt up to the furnace. It should be easier to build pressure in this config vs the caddy, not harder. The issues mentioned along with the fact that the body of the furnace is simply screwed together and leaks like a sieve is the reason. If the "fixes" SBI produces are satisfactory, I plan on disassembling the entire furnace and reassembling while adding high temperature silicone to seal up the furnace properly.

At this point if anyone is on the fence about this product I would say pass as there are much better options out there. Give SBI a few years to work out the issues unless you are comfortable paying $1800 for a fixer upper.

 

[ajr]

Cloud in your opinion what is a better option with a similar price point?

Sent from my XT1055 using Tapatalk

 

[trx250r87]

The problem I am having is that when the fire is nearly out, only a small pile of hot coals, I get a light smell of smoke in the house. This seems isolated to 1 area of the house and I swear that it seems like it comes from my forced air ducts. I wish I had a way to test my theory but this does not happen all the time. Another possibility is that the wind is carrying the smoke towards an outside vent, but I find that hard to believe seeing that all vents are on the West side of the house, the same direction that the wind comes from most of the time.

 

[bennersaw]

Hi guys, I am in the market for a wood furnace was almost set on the clayton 1602m from ts, and came across this thread. now I am considering this drolet. ts is selling the 1602 for 1599 plus tax, and I found the drolet for just over 2k delivered. Anybody have input/advice on either of these? Thanks

 

[brenndatomu]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/16/thumbnail/u8ujagym.jpg
Family Farm & Home sale...just FYI for anybody looking to buy one soon.
This was posted by a member over on Hearth, he said the tag reads sale price good until sometime in March '14! (Almont MI. store, just in case it is not a chain wide sale)

Just a repost FYI for anybody thinking about a Tundra/Heatmax that is near a FF&H.

Cloud in your opinion what is a better option with a similar price point?

The closest thing I can think of would be a PSG Mini Caddy at $1000 more.

 

[brenndatomu]

Hi guys, I am in the market for a wood furnace was almost set on the clayton 1602m from ts, and came across this thread. now I am considering this drolet. ts is selling the 1602 for 1599 plus tax, and I found the drolet for just over 2k delivered. Anybody have input/advice on either of these? Thanks

The Clayton is pretty much a wood guzzling fire-in-a-box smoke dragon type of heater, but it will heat your house. See my previous post for a better Drolet price. The Drolet, will use alot less wood, and not plug up your chimney with creosote as long as you have DRY wood.

 

[flotek]

Does anyone have information as to the nature of the "fix"? It sounds like it might be worth buying one even without the ash-pan fix. Does it really use that much less wood than a conventional wood furnace?

It's only been most of one winter but in my case I can easily see It uses much less wood than my Englander .i put hi temp foil tape around the blower cutout and took care of that I applied hi temp sealant around the seams for small jacket leaks which has worked great and my plug seats down fine in the floor of the firebox .my pressure and duct heating does just fine and it's very even after a few simple things were addressed . For my lifestyle and method I don't see a use for the ash pan personally but will put the retrofit kit in it anyways . I'd buy one again .. way longer cleaner burns and less wood seems like a no brainer compared to a smoke dragon of similar price. . But I'm a simple man who understands getting a savings can come at a compromise When I buy a cavalierGt. I don't expect a corvette

 

[Cloud IT]

Cloud in your opinion what is a better option with a similar price point?

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I would spend a little more and get a quality unit. If you can't afford it, keep whatever you have currently and save up.

The problem I am having is that when the fire is nearly out, only a small pile of hot coals, I get a light smell of smoke in the house. This seems isolated to 1 area of the house and I swear that it seems like it comes from my forced air ducts. I wish I had a way to test my theory but this does not happen all the time. Another possibility is that the wind is carrying the smoke towards an outside vent, but I find that hard to believe seeing that all vents are on the West side of the house, the same direction that the wind comes from most of the time.

You shouldn't have any smoke with only coals left.

 

[bennersaw]

See my previous post for a better Drolet price

will they ship? I can't find much about it from thier site