Probably is, yeah. I guess it could happen, but I can't envision that coming unlinked in normal use. Shipping of the stove? Definitely. Southbalto nailed my problem right off, and I felt like a real dope when I hooked it back up and felt/heard how it actuated then. But, if you've never used the stove, you wouldn't know. (My last Dutch West stove had a "flapper" air control that really had very little resistance to it....) As a consequence, my first two "break in" fires really weren't. Luckily, they didn't get too hot, but they cerainly weren't the progressively warmer fires the manual recommends. So far, I haven't noticed that I did the stove any damage. I think that this was partially because the stove had been uncrated and standing in my house for five months before I installed it, so it had plenty of time to stabilize to the humidity and temps. The second part of it, I think, is that the manual is written to prevent a worst case failure and the for the vast majority of the Jotul stoves, it is not necessary. Still, I wouldn't recommend that anyone deliberately overlook that requirement. I was left to wonder, if the stove had cracked or warped if I would have had a valid warranty claim. BTW, you'll not see any mention of this possibility in the Jotul manual, as far as I could tell. I'm not sure, but maybe my dealer was the one to install the cover plate, possibly, or he could have swapped out the "European" plate for the "U.S." one. That might be where things went haywire, but I'm glad I never had to fight that fight.
Which leads me to a question I've wondered about: What the heck is the physical/practical difference between those two cover plates? I've never had them side by side.
The other question I have is: What the heck do you ever do with the one your stove doesn't require? Something in me just can't bring myself to pitch it. I mean, maybe I'll want to move to France some day, and take my stove with me? Sure. Could happen...