Heritage Air Control Lever Sticking

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Lewiston

Lewiston

Burning Hunk
Jun 17, 2012
160
South Central, WI
We purchased a used Hearthstone Heritage in excellent condition with one exception. The primary air control lever catches when moving from the closed to open position (approximately 1/2” from the closed position). If I jiggle the lever it will move to the open position. The lever moves from open to closed with no resistance.

Is this normal? If not, what is the fix? Is an exploded diagram of the stove available for me to see what mechanism is controlled by this lever?

Thanks

Wood Stove 4.jpg
 
Lewiston said:
We purchased a used Hearthstone Heritage in excellent condition with one exception. The primary air control lever catches when moving from the closed to open position (approximately 1/2” from the closed position). If I jiggle the lever it will move to the open position. The lever moves from open to closed with no resistance.

Is this normal? If not, what is the fix? Is an exploded diagram of the stove available for me to see what mechanism is controlled by this lever?

Thanks

View attachment 70193
Click to expand...

Don't think I've ever had that issue on mine. See if Hearthstone will help. Wish I could have been a better resource.
 
Lewiston said:
We purchased a used Hearthstone Heritage in excellent condition with one exception. The primary air control lever catches when moving from the closed to open position (approximately 1/2” from the closed position). If I jiggle the lever it will move to the open position. The lever moves from open to closed with no resistance.

Is this normal? If not, what is the fix? Is an exploded diagram of the stove available for me to see what mechanism is controlled by this lever?

Thanks

View attachment 70193
Click to expand...

She sure is purdy!!!;)
 
Just found a parts diagram on another site. Hope it will be a simple fix.
 
Great looking Heritage!
 
Do share the solution. I have very much had a sticky draft lever since the stove was new. I have fought it and gotten used to it over the years but it does not get better by itself. Even the kids have learned how to jiggle the lever when sliding it. It appears that the only way to access the mechanism is to drop the entire bottom of the stove out.

While you're in there, it might be a nice time to modify the stove to provide a lower low setting.
 
Highbeam said:
Do share the solution. I have very much had a sticky draft lever since the stove was new. I have fought it and gotten used to it over the years but it does not get better by itself. Even the kids have learned how to jiggle the lever when sliding it. It appears that the only way to access the mechanism is to drop the entire bottom of the stove out.

While you're in there, it might be a nice time to modify the stove to provide a lower low setting.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you posted. I read an earlier thread where you had the same issue and was wondering if you found a solution. If dropping the base is the only option, we'll adapt to jiggling the lever. I'm meeting with a local dealer later this week.
 
It feels to me like the adjustement lever attaches to a plate (via linkage) that slides in a slot to cover/expose a hole which allows air into the stove. The plate sliding in the slot seems to get crooked and bound up which is why the jiggling allows for the plate to fall back into the proper place. The other thing is perhaps there is some weld spatter in there that prevents the plate from smoothly sliding in the slot.

Dropping the whole bottom of the stove looks easy enough. There are several hex bolts holding the casting up to the stove body and a rope gasket. The casting is big though and includes the ash pan. Putting it back in place could be difficult due to weight and position. Even then, you still need to be able to fix it which is why your experience will be so helpful.
 
OK. A local rep contacted support and confirmed the bottom of the air supply shutter and linkage can be accessed by dropping the bottom. Basically it enables access to what you see when you look in the air supply opening by the rear leg. If the issue is on top of the opening then the primary air plenum would need to be removed.

I had everything shimmed ready to remove the bottom bolts when I stumbled upon the solution: WD-40

Sprayed the linkage from the air supply opening. Result: smooth as butter operation.
 
So you shot oil up the stove's butt?

I have the outside air connection made to that hole using the Hearthstone nipple. What is in there? Can you see the entire mechanism with the sliding plate? I would love to shoot some lube up there and fix it. Can it be shot through the smallish opening where the air control level exits the front of the stove?
 
Highbeam said:
Dropping the whole bottom of the stove looks easy enough. There are several hex bolts holding the casting up to the stove body and a rope gasket. The casting is big though and includes the ash pan. Putting it back in place could be difficult due to weight and position. Even then, you still need to be able to fix it which is why your experience will be so helpful.
Click to expand...


It really isn't too hard to do. Getting it back on is more difficult since the damn casting is so freakin' heavy.
 
Highbeam said:
So you shot oil up the stove's butt?

I have the outside air connection made to that hole using the Hearthstone nipple. What is in there? Can you see the entire mechanism with the sliding plate? I would love to shoot some lube up there and fix it. Can it be shot through the smallish opening where the air control level exits the front of the stove?
Click to expand...


LOL, I guess I did. We all have to have our yearly physical.

You can see the bottom of the air control plate, the rod that is attached to the plate, and the linkage coming from the front. The plate itself rides in a channel on top of the bottom casting. Spraying from the hole in the air plenum might work if you have grunge in the channel. It would appear in my case the issue was with the linkage getting hung up. The spray stick on the WD-40 can did a good job of sending out a focused stream. I also have the advantage of being able to swing out the stove since it is still on the rolling base.

If I didn't have the base then I would have dropped the bottom providing better access. I didn't use the following but I cut 2x material to 1.75" thick to support the base when the bolts were removed. I think it would make removal and re-installation easier since it would allow you to position the base and simply screw in the bolts.

This will be part of my spring maintenance of the stove. Using a mirror it shouldn't be too difficult to hit the linkage.
 
I just found this thread after posting on a similar issue with an Osburn. Couple dumb questions - wouldn't the oil spray burn up somewhat (does anything in / around the damper mechanism get hot enough)? and what about the weld splatter that Highbeam mentioned? would the oil spray do anything to help? Annoying problem, especially when I'm trying to load the stove without waking up the house (which I can otherwise do)....
 
I sprayed the linkage before the burning season. It's still moves very freely.
 
I think I made another thread about this but I was able to shoot the lube into the intake and douche the heck out of the control mechanism. This lube job made the control work perfectly. Much better than new. I'll never know how long it lasted because I sold the stove. In fact, I fixed the problem so that the buyer wouldn't find it.
 
Highbeam - glad that worked. I"m told today that I can access the damper mechanism on my stove by removing a small cover plate. I'll give that a try and see what I can see, and hopefully can get some lube on there without much trouble. Appreciate the info....
 
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