Drolet Sahara - Broken Handle / Latch

[fuse98]

Hello,

First time posting. I have a broken latch and handle on my Drolet Sahara wood stove. Has anyone else here ever experienced this on this model, or any stove for that matter?

We just bought the cottage and started our first fire in the woodstove. Everything worked fine prior. In the morning when everything had cooled off, it was extremely difficult to move the handle. I got it to open, but when trying to loosen it up it snapped the handle clean off. Sprayed it with WD40 and tried to loosen it up using the latch. After spraying WD40 into the threads for a couple hours, it still wasn't moving freely like it should. Eventually the latch part snapped off as well. So, do these handles thread through the door face?

I'm probably looking at having to drill the bolt out, and use an extractor, but might be pretty tough seeing as it seems to be very stubborn prior to it breaking. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Hardrockmaple]

Welcome.

This is the parts list and schematic for your stove, hope it helps.
(broken link removed to http://www.drolet.ca/en/products/wood/sahara-epa-brushed-nickel-wood-stove/parts)

 

[FyreBug]

Your plan is the best... drill it out and rethread might be the way to go. When you re-install use graphite lubricant on the threads. It could be moisture got in the threading and allowed to rust.

 

[fuse98]

Thanks for the replies!

Hardrockmaple: Thanks, I had already found the dealers website and parts exploded plan.

FyreBug: Ya, that's what I've read so far, have you had any experience in replacing a door handle / latch mechanism? It seems odd to me that I could get about a 1/4 turn out of the latch prior to it snapping. Might have just been a build up over the years of it having cleaned the threads on that particular section of the glorified "bolt" that is used in the latching systems. I'll have to pick up some of the graphite lubricant prior to extracting the snapped off portion. Is that available at Canadian Tire or do I need to go to a specialized woodstove dealer?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[FyreBug]

Graphite lubricant should be available at most hardware store. Either rust or some crud got in the thread. Even a portion of the thread could have broken.

Once I was able to remove the handle by using a pipe as leverage and kept working it. But typically, if it gets to that better to put a new one on. If the stove will be left alone for long period of time in a damp environment (ie a cottage) make sure that as part of your maintenance to put some lubricant.