Defiant Encore 2550 primary air issues

[storyhill]

I have purchase a cabin and this stove came with it. The primary air mechanism was not functioning. I removed the 2 screws holding in the primary air frame on the rear bottom of the stove. The first picture is what came out. As you can see the wire was not connected to the thermostat assembly as it should. I also took off the thermostat handle on the outside and the thermostat assembly on the inside. That is the second picture. The third picture is just a close up of the thermostat assembly. I am having trouble figuring out how this should go back in properly and what went wrong. I was expecting to see a broken wire and I would just get a new wire. I don't see that it broke. The end of the wire that connects to the primary air frame door has a stiff metal part that is similar to what is on the thermostat assembly but I'm not sure. The end of the wire that is connected to the thermostat assembly is just a flexible wire cord that shows no signs of being broken.

-- Do these two parts connect somehow? Any direction or tips for me?

-- I also realized that my thermostat assembly does not have a spring that I think should be there. I am wondering if the spring fell down in the stove at one point by a previous owner? There is a space on the side that I can't access but if I took up the "Primary air tube cover plate" I think I could see if it is under that. I took out both of the bolts on the part but it is not coming out easy. Is that cemented in ? When I removed the phillips head bolts one of them broke in half so I think I need to remove this to replace that bolt. Anyone have any tips on how I can remove this?

-- I do have the manual for this stove and that does help but I still don't get the whole story. I wonder if I have all the correct parts for this thermostat assembly. Currently I just have these parts. Thermostat handle (not pictured), thermostat assembly (pictured), and the primary air frame/door (pictured). I think I am missing a spring and maybe a washer? anybody know and if so, what order does it go in? I am guessing you put a spring on the end of the thermostat assembly that contacts the inside of the stove and the hand connects to the assembly on the outside of the stove. Is there a washer somewhere in there?

Thanks for any help. This forum has already helped me this far from older posts. I appreciate it.

 

[storyhill]

I did mostly figure this one out now. The middle picture with the primary air valve attached to a cable was long enough to reach up to the handle on the stove. It looks like someone had 2 cables on the inside for some reason. I don't get why but only one was needed. I just took off the heavy metal end on the middle picture that I think was part of the primary thermostat handle from a previous part?