Trouble!!

Lab testing would not show a defect like this since they do not do this kind of destructive testing (over many cycles)....
But common sense would.
I always prefer structural components held from BELOW rather than from above. Certainly you can do it from above (bridges and elevators), but you have to be very careful to "overbuild". Perhaps the solution is as easy as a couple angle irons under the box that go across and are full welded to the shroud.

I looked, but didn't find detailed diagrams of the shroud. Kind of a moot point now that we have the "collapsed view" posted here.

The closest to an exploded view is a side view cut-away drawing in the manal having to do with flue connection. It does not show anything under the firebox and there is no mention of anything for leveling or anything else in the manual. One of the things in play here may be weight. The whole unit, including the surround, only weighs 235 pounds so by the time you subtract the surround and the shroud the firebricks are the heaviest part of the firebox.

Wrong!

By paying five to six hundred more to buy these inserts from the dealerthan what a Century version sells for these fellows paid for the dealerto handle these kinds of things with the factory and it will be interesting to see if and how they do it. Some are talking about VC coming here and addressing the issue but I don't see it. That is what they have dealers for and they have nothing to gain by end running the dealers and going straight to the consumer. That is one of the things that got them in a bind back in the day.

Now ya finally know what the three sheet metal screws are for.

Been through it on lots of different thing in my life. You and the dealer have a handle on it. Grin where you can. I do sometimes even when the forecast is for rain.

The situation is not to be made light of and I am by no means doing that. Please keep us posted. People shopping for stoves need to know that if they buy a particular product and there is a problem how it will be handled. I am sure there are issues with every stove line out there. The mark of the good ones is how they take care of it. Come to think of it, the mark of the bad ones is how they do/don't take care of it.

Thank goodness Tendencies did post on this website. I hear tell it got somebody to check their stove when they got home. And I hope a bunch of other people have checked theirs also.

What I see looking back at the posts are a lot of people advising what to do if worse came to worse. Which the response to him on the 22nd of March indicated could have/may yet happen.

I hope CFM and your dealers come through like a champ for both of you. And that CFM does something about that design. It ain't an installation error given that yours, his, the one I saw last summer and the one Todd went and looked at are made the same.

Yeah, I think they were very responsive - as mentioned this happened over a weekend.

The initial response was bad - but that often happens because you really are usually not talking to the right person! I have to admit that I've said some stupid stuff to customer myself- like the gasoline comment! The rep and dealer often try to insulate and protect the manufacturer which is a good thing in general... and sometimes it is tough to weed out the REAL problems from the general gripes.

I would hope that we helped not only in confirming the problem, but perhaps in VC making improvements to this otherwise satisfactory model. No one is perfect, but if we each listen and learn we'll get smarter much faster!

As to the car analogy - Wow, I have to say those (made in USA) Hondas are pretty amazing for the $$. The new Civic is like a luxury car inside and they have stripped models at a really low price! If folks get a chance, they should stop by a dealer and see 'em just to know what bang for the buck is!

The kicker is that you can usually sell your Honda for a great price after driving it 10 years or more.....what a deal. We ended up with a used one for my son....one year old and 16,000 miles.....but if he doesn't crash it, I think he will be long married and with kids before he needs another vehicle.

One of my stupidest responses to a customer was to the guy who brought in an empty can of stove paint and told me that he wanted a refund. When I asked why, he pointed to the side of the can where it said "use to paint stove and stove pipe" and told me that the one can had not been enough to paint his (substantial) stove and all his pipe. At first, I tried to explain that he was taking those instructions too literally....it meant that the "use" for the paint was for stoves and pipe, not that ONE CAN would paint any stove and pipe in the universe.....

well, he didn't get it - and the shop was crowded......so I finally said:
"This is like bringing an empty cake dish back to the bakery and telling them you didn't like the cake and wanted another"....

Well, it didn't go over so well....... (excuse- this was 25+ years ago)...

Then there was the guy who came in with the cast iron liners which were completely turned to dust...
"What are you burning, Particleboard?" I asked him.
The answer - "Yes, I'm burning the round particle centers from textile rolls I get at the factory where I work".

Well, I was right that time......

Oh, well....Yeah, I didn't time it and I was probably still out of town when it occurred. Even a week or two is still a good time frame...at least compared to others in this industry.

I do hope that the problem would have been taken care of without our interference, but who knows? It does always boil down to getting the right message to the right person.

My local stove dealer had the best come-back I have ever heard. I bought my stove from his daddy twenty-two years ago. I also bought a Stove-Stat to use with it. Three or four years ago the Stove-Stat crapped out from the heat and I just never got around to looking for another one.

The father died six years ago and the "boys" now run the store. While I was picking up pipe I spotted a new Stove-Stat on the shelf and grabbed it. On the way to the register I ran into the oldest son and told him that I had a warranty issue with a Stove-Stat I bought there. It quit working and after only 18 years I think it is a warranty issue. Instant super response:

"BB there is no warranty on items you bought from dead relatives."

Cracked me up.