Englander PDVC 25 Hopper hinge issue

[pelletizer]

Any one had any issues with a Englander PDVC 25 Hopper hinge?
Mine is 3 years old and I have discovered the screws on the back side of the hinge have pulled out and stripped out of the back of the stove!
I always keep the gasket clean and debris out of the hinge area.
there are about 15 screws holding the hopper hinge to the rear of the stove and I have found at least 10 of mine to be stripped out and I am unable to tighten then back up!
Any one else had this issue and what is the fix?

Thanks for reading, and yes we had snow flurries in southern NH Today 04/21/2011......

 

[Lorne41]

Hello, I have the same stove( same age too) and mine are still OK. Kind of odd that they are stripped out, it takes a lot of pressure to do that. The fix would be that you put bolts and nuts with lock washers in place of the self tapping bolts.

 

[pelletizer]

You know I am wondering if I had the latch's set to snug, and over time it stripped them out.
I don't set the latch's real tight though? well its gonna be a summer fix as its still cold out.
Just picked up 3 bags of MWP and 3 bags of Vermont peller co pellets.
i used to be a pellet pig but maybe next year.