Hearthstone Clydesdale broken handle

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Clyde S. Dale

Feeling the Heat
Dec 17, 2010
413
SE PA
I've only had my insert now for just over a year - 12/28/10 install. Believe it or not, in that time today is the first day the wife was home without me there to load/operate. Knowing this, I went over everything with her last night and had her load her up last night for the overnight burn. I loaded it this morning when I left for work. So, just got a call from her that there is a problem with the stove... Turns out she somehow muscled the handle and sheared it off completely. I'm not there, but it sounds like the screw attaching the handle to the door snapped in half. I've heard of issues Hearthstone has had with their handles, but when I left this morning, everything was fine. If anyone was going to break it, I figured it would have been me, not my wife. So no burning until it gets fixed and tonight into tomorrow are going to be the coldest thus far this season. I even have seasoned red oak that I had set aside for a time like this ready to go. Burned some last night and it was awesome. I'm so bummed. Anyway, she is calling the dealer and I hope they can get this fixed ASAP. Any advice/suggestions from other Hearthstone users? I'm assuming this issue is not limited to the Clydesale Model. Ugh :-(
 
Can't comment on the issue with the stove as I don't run one of those and can't visualize the exact problem, but just wanted to say I'm sorry for the Mrs. She must feel terrible. Accidents happen. I'm sure the dealer will get you fixed up. Let us know how you make out. If there is a way to fix it in the meantime we might be able to help if you post a picture of the problem.

pen
 
I got home and checked it out. There is no way to fix. it needs a new handle - bolt attaching it is sheared in half. Dealer coming Friday morning.
 
Clyde S. Dale said:
I got home and checked it out. There is no way to fix. it needs a new handle - bolt attaching it is sheared in half. Dealer coming Friday morning.

Dang that stinks! Hope you have some backup source of heat, I would be in big trouble if the handle on my stove broke in fact I would probably be running to Walmart for some electric space heaters. Good Luck!
 
Take the door to them! I wouldn't wait until Fri to order parts. Just saying hat I would do. My Morgan comes right off, just pull two pins.
 
So the herathstone latch system sucks but the part you touch isn't the worst part, at least it is replaceable. On my heritage (will have to assume the clyd is similar) there is an operating shaft running through the door and the handle part on the outside is slid onto the shaft and held in place with an allen headed set screw. What I'm getting at, is that it is possible to pull off the outside door handle and be left with a stub of a shaft that looks like a broken bolt.

Can you loosen the set screw and shove the handle back on?
 
@IPLUMB I hear ya, but with a full time job and 2 small children, not so easy. The dealer is about 45 minutes from me. They agreed to take the handle off of the floor model for mine and replace the floor model handle when the order comes in. Saved a few days waiting - they'll be here tomorrow morning (Friday) to fix. Although I consider the insert my primary source of heating, we do have a forced hot air furnace (Propane) so we're not freezing or anything. I don't mind letting that run because it has not run much at all thus far this season.

@Highbeam not sure if the set up is the same as yours, but since that bolt is sheared, there is no way the handle will stay on without a new one. Believe me, I tried everything I could. There's also a spring in there that makes it impossible to try a makeshift fix. Welding the bolt might work, not a welder, but since this is covered under warranty just waiting for the new part.

I hope this is not a once a year occurance because I will have to consider replacing it if that's the case. Loved the insert until now, but agree with firecracker_77 - for what I paid for this, I would have expected better quality with the handle.

Thank you all for the input.
 
I would consider looking into replacing the bolt on the new handle with a stronger bolt to help prevent this issue in the future. If you get a chance you should snap a picture of what broke and post it on here maybe we could suggest a modification to help. I wonder what type of steel bolt they are using currently.
 
Sorry for the delay in posting a picture of the broken handle. Obviously the handle is far right in the picture, and just next to it is the other half of the bolt that attaches it to the door that sheared. It was fixed on the day the dealer promised and I've been back up and running ever since. I just hope this does not happen again.

I like other Clydesdale owners experienced the rattling metal within the fan housing. I had the dealer out just before this year's burning season started to install the silicone shim. However, it did not fix the rattling issue. What I did was put it underneath my unit rather than where the dealer placed it and it has not made a noise since. I did this because upon inspection with it running and rattling, I could see the rattling was happening with the metal housing underneath the unit. It turned out that the shim was an exact fit between my hearth and the bottom of the metal housing and problem solved. I hope this info helps any other Clydesdale owners that have had the shim installed but are still experiencing the annoying rattle. I'll gladly post pics of that as well upon request in case my description does not paint the picture.
 

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Wow.. that stinks.. I'm on my second burn season with my clyde and I haven't had issues with the handle but I often experience the rattle / vibration noise from that thin plate between the fans that runs under the fan control. I was not aware of the fix.. Can you post a pic showing how you installed it? Think I will drop into my dealer and ask them about that :)

Thanks,,
 
I've only had my insert now for just over a year - 12/28/10 install. Believe it or not, in that time today is the first day the wife was home without me there to load/operate. Knowing this, I went over everything with her last night and had her load her up last night for the overnight burn. I loaded it this morning when I left for work. So, just got a call from her that there is a problem with the stove... Turns out she somehow muscled the handle and sheared it off completely. I'm not there, but it sounds like the screw attaching the handle to the door snapped in half. I've heard of issues Hearthstone has had with their handles, but when I left this morning, everything was fine. If anyone was going to break it, I figured it would have been me, not my wife. So no burning until it gets fixed and tonight into tomorrow are going to be the coldest thus far this season. I even have seasoned red oak that I had set aside for a time like this ready to go. Burned some last night and it was awesome. I'm so bummed. Anyway, she is calling the dealer and I hope they can get this fixed ASAP. Any advice/suggestions from other Hearthstone users? I'm assuming this issue is not limited to the Clydesale Model. Ugh :-(
The same happened to me this morning my girlfriend woke me up and said the handle of Clydesdale broke off while closing door (see photo). The stove is about 6-7 years old and burned about 40 cords of wood, over the years I have had the blower replaced and new rope sealer put in, most of the bricks have cracked and the metal bracket that hold bricks in is deformed. All that being said the stove still heats the house- I hope I can get the broken bolt out of the door. I am heading to dealer as soon as they open.

Went to dealer with broken handle in hand they were not sure about how to repair (mine is the older model Clydesdale 8490) Called the manufacturer they were not sure either I emailed the tech photos and am waiting for response. In the meantime I dismantled the door and tried to back the broken screw out of the door with reverse thread bit. No luck I think the bolt may have been welded to the outer door frame? Not sure of what part to order?

Turns out that the bolt is welded to outer door frame. I was told by hearthstone rep that they will cover under warranty once I go back to dealer and explain issue. The replacement part or fix from hearthsone should be door frame with handle. I am still waiting for it to come in the mail.

I am glad that I brought the stove new from local dealer to help with these issues. As I was told if I was not the original owner it would not be covered under warranty.
 

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The bolt on my Equinox broke in exactly the same place. The bolt is softer metal that has been machined and you can't replace it with a regular bolt at all. Mine broke when I grabbed the side door handle while muscling the stove into the house so it was my mistake entirely, however it's pretty obvious how easily they can break due to the metal used.

I have one on order but all the US dealers said it was 4 to 6 weeks delivery. !!!!!! In Canada, you have to order the assembly instead of just the bolt, which is just under a hundred bucks. :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
 
The same happened to me this morning my girlfriend woke me up and said the handle of Clydesdale broke off while closing door (see photo). The stove is about 6-7 years old and burned about 40 cords of wood, over the years I have had the blower replaced and new rope sealer put in, most of the bricks have cracked and the metal bracket that hold bricks in is deformed. All that being said the stove still heats the house- I hope I can get the broken bolt out of the door. I am heading to dealer as soon as they open.

Went to dealer with broken handle in hand they were not sure about how to repair (mine is the older model Clydesdale 8490) Called the manufacturer they were not sure either I emailed the tech photos and am waiting for response. In the meantime I dismantled the door and tried to back the broken screw out of the door with reverse thread bit. No luck I think the bolt may have been welded to the outer door frame? Not sure of what part to order?

Turns out that the bolt is welded to outer door frame. I was told by hearthstone rep that they will cover under warranty once I go back to dealer and explain issue. The replacement part or fix from hearthsone should be door frame with handle. I am still waiting for it to come in the mail.

I am glad that I brought the stove new from local dealer to help with these issues. As I was told if I was not the original owner it would not be covered under warranty.
The door frame (inner and outer) came along with new handle and screws (thank you hearthstone). All I really needed was outer door frame with bolt welded on. I needed to buy a new window gasket (make sure you buy enough as the glass perimeter is large). It was a tight fit but I was able to put it together with new outer frame, old glass, new window gasket, new screws and old inner frame (could not make it work with new inner frame).
On a side note I was at sears hardware and saw a bolt that looked like it could work to fix the handle -if you have some welding skills

Thanks again to hearthstone for standing behind your product and thanks to Salters fireplace (the dealership)
 
I might have 25-30 cords through my Clyde. Just went to load up and the handle sheared right off. I tried to cut a slot in the bolt and back it out but can only get a 1/4 turn. Hoping the dealer will sell me one off a floor model tomorrow.
 

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Wow - an obvious weak point on a really nice stove. Welding would be simple. Getting it to line back up, work correctly and not be a weaker point than before would be the challenge. If it were me I would get the dealer replaced part and a second for back up. Actually, I would get the dealer replaced part and take the original to the shop and fab up a bomb proof back up but not everyone has access to the machining, welding and forging tools I have. Sorry for the days off from fire.
 
I don't think this can be repaired with welding due to the location. I thought about having something made locally but the cost is prohibitive. A normal heavy bolt just own't work since the end of it is part of the latch. I think Hearthstone needs to replace these for free until they come up with a better solution.
 
Check with your dealer to see if they have a beefier replacement latch. They upgraded some of their stove latches in the past year.
 
Bent some threaded rod until the new parts arrive.
 

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You guys married some strong women ;lol
 
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Knock on wood but the handle the dealer replaced for me back when I originally posted this is still going strong. Sorry to hear this is happening to other Hearthstone owners.
 
Just snapped the handle off on my Clydesdale after loading up for the night. Hopefully one of the local dealers has the part in stock or can get it quickly. Unbelievable.
 
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