How to Remove a Baffle Plate From a Wood Heater

The bolts hold the plate horizontally in essentially the same way that shelf supports hold up shelves in a closet or bookcase. Removing the baffle plate may require a silicon-spray lubricant to loosen the bolts, which may be hardened from years of heating and cooling.

1. Open the door or doors of the wood heater to locate the baffle plate near the top of the heater interior.

2. Push up on the front edge of the plate.

3. Tap the underside of the baffle plate with a rubber mallet to loosen a stuck plate. The baffle may be wedged tightly in the back wall after prolonged periods of heating and cooling from the fire.

4. Spray lubricant on the bolts holding the baffle to the heater wall. Let the lubricant work for at least 10 minutes.

5. Loosen the bolt heads wirth a slotted screwdriver. Switch to pliers and grip the bolt heads to unscrew them if the screwdriver does not remove the bolts easily.

6. Lift the baffle plate up and out of the notches on the inside back wall to remove the plate from the wood heater.