Harman PF100 Inner Door warped

[Duffman]

Good evening!

Just replaced the inner door gasket (which the manual and diagram are useless for) and I noticed that after I had replaced the door that it is warped on the hinge side. I can feel a slight suction while the machine is in operation, and I am sure that it would fail the paper test

A replacement inner door is like $500 (which seems to be the norm for any weldment on this machine) and I was thinking of fabricating a new one. Its not rocket science as it is just 1/8th mild steel with a cutout for the flapper at the bottom and a cutout for the window.

or I could remove the door, heat the backside (outside) and quench repeatedly until it is more flat, or weld some sort of strip to it after clamping to make it flat

The parts diagram stated that the inner plate that is fixed to the inner door assy used pop rivets, but mine has threaded studs.

Any thoughts on going doing studs or pop rivets?

Personally I like the studs but that would mean taking the inner inner plate, marking the new piece of steel and drilling 8 or so holes to plug weld bolts into it, but i really dislike pop rivets.

Also, the hinges need to be remade, as mine are rusty as hell and the holes where the self tappers were installed have broken and my drill refuses to drill out the existing broken self tappers without diving off into the softer plate of the burn chamber materiel.

What could I do to make this machine safe to weld on? In automotive applications I simply disconnect the battery to reduce the likelihood of any stray current from frying an ecu. How can I isolate the control board from the machine to accomplish the same goal?

Thanks guys! Any input would be great.

 

[Ssyko]

Unplug the board from power then unplug from the stove harness and put it out of the way in a safe place. Ch with your local weld shops they do make a resistance welded stud no drilling required

 

[Washed-Up]

Would a thicker rope gasket make a difference?

 

[Duffman]

Unplug the board from power then unplug from the stove harness and put it out of the way in a safe place. Ch with your local weld shops they do make a resistance welded stud no drilling required

Fair enough, what do you think about the sensors? Think they would be damaged at all? I don't think so but

Would a thicker rope gasket make a difference?

I did just replace the gasket, so if anything I thought it would have sealed up. My question is though, does it matter?
There’s a flapper door at the bottom that pulls in allowing some amount of air in based on the draft being pulled. So, do I even need to fix it?

the hinges do need to be taken care of, that’s for sure

 

[Washed-Up]

Just a thought

 

[Ssyko]

Sensors are all metal/ceramic or high heat polymers, so you are safe as long as your not welding right near ine.

 

[Duffman]

Just a thought

No worries!

Sensors are all metal/ceramic or high heat polymers, so you are safe as long as your not welding right near ine.

it’s not the heat I’dbe worried about, it’s the stray current that can damage them

 

[Ssyko]

They should take any amperage the circuit is set up for, usually 15a breakers for residential

 

[SidecarFlip]

When welding on ANY stove, always isolate the control board and ALWAYS put the welding machine ground as close to the 'to be welded' area as possible to mitigate any stray current. The shorter the current path (from the weld point to the ground point) is SOP in any welding scenario.

That applies to any welding, not just a stove.

 

[zrock]

With the rope gasket you can bunch it up tighter on the hinge side and stretch it out on the rest of the door to get a good tight seal

 

[ididarod]

I'm about to attempt to replace the door gasket. Any hints on how to go about doing it? It looks like I will need to remove the panel on the inside of the door. Do I need to do anything special with the glass? Is it the same gasket used there?

 

[Duffman]

I'm about to attempt to replace the door gasket. Any hints on how to go about doing it? It looks like I will need to remove the panel on the inside of the door. Do I need to do anything special with the glass? Is it the same gasket used there?

Hey, sorry I just saw this. not that I can remember, I think they have some rope style gasket that is premade for the window but I reused mine. I just took out all the nuts from the studs and pulled the inner plate off. wasnt too bad a job.

In response to what I ended up doing about the gap is I used a liberal amount of percussive maintenance to straighten out the door, and then used weldable hinges onto the burn box and frame of the door. easy breazy