Hearthstone Heritage won't latch tight

[Riff]

I have a Hearthstone Heritage wood stove, purchased summer of 2012 and used as a fairly regular wood burner. The front latch will not latch tight. When I turn it, I can feel it engage with the frame but if you give it a light tug it will pop free from the frame. It does not latch anywhere near as tightly as the side door does, which was rarely used. This is a fairly recent development, it's always latched fine but started to feel loose last night so we let the fire die out and this morning it will not stay latched.

I can't find anything on adjusting the latch to tighten it.

ETA: While I was surfing previous threads to find an answer I noticed that the gasket for Hearthstone stoves is very particular. We had replaced the gasket with one from a hardware store over this summer and when I looked at the stove the gasket seems rather compressed compared to the side door gasket which was from the factory. We'll replace the gasket and wondering if anything thinks replacing the latch is a good idea at the same time?

 

[Highbeam]

I have a Hearthstone Heritage wood stove, purchased summer of 2012 and used as a fairly regular wood burner. The front latch will not latch tight. When I turn it, I can feel it engage with the frame but if you give it a light tug it will pop free from the frame. It does not latch anywhere near as tightly as the side door does, which was rarely used. This is a fairly recent development, it's always latched fine but started to feel loose last night so we let the fire die out and this morning it will not stay latched.

I can't find anything on adjusting the latch to tighten it.

ETA: While I was surfing previous threads to find an answer I noticed that the gasket for Hearthstone stoves is very particular. We had replaced the gasket with one from a hardware store over this summer and when I looked at the stove the gasket seems rather compressed compared to the side door gasket which was from the factory. We'll replace the gasket and wondering if anything thinks replacing the latch is a good idea at the same time?

Regardless of the crapiness of your gasket, you should NOT be able to pull open a fully latched door. If you can, your latch mechanism is broken. Hearthstones are famous for chinsy, dainty, and undersized latch mechanisms prone to wear and failure. Luckily, the front door frame is removable and replaceable without a full stove rebuild.

 

[Riff]

Regardless of the crapiness of your gasket, you should NOT be able to pull open a fully latched door. If you can, your latch mechanism is broken. Hearthstones are famous for chinsy, dainty, and undersized latch mechanisms prone to wear and failure. Luckily, the front door frame is removable and replaceable without a full stove rebuild.

Yeah I just got the latch out of the door and it's clearly ground down. Door frame as well.

Funny enough I had researched the heck out of this before we bought it and somehow never ended on this forum. Wish I had then, we wouldn't have bought this stove.

 

[Scoutin Wyo]

Yep my homestead model would eat the door latches. Home owner before us replaced the latch twice and we did it once. I forget how much our stove shop charged for them but I do remember he had dozens of them in stock due to their popularity. Pain in the butt, but at least it's easy to fix.

 

[Highbeam]

Yeah I just got the latch out of the door and it's clearly ground down. I'm going to pull the side door latch and check that against the door frame to see if that needs to be replaced as well.

Funny enough I had researched the heck out of this before we bought it and somehow never ended on this forum. Wish I had then, we wouldn't have bought this stove.

I had a heritage as well and pushed about 30 cords through the side door. That was the new model from about 10 years ago and the side door latch was not replaceable without a stove tear down. I could see that the latch was wearing (the stove side) along with hinge wear and I sold it before the inevitable expensive failure. It was a good stove but not one designed for long term use.

 

[Riff]

I had a heritage as well and pushed about 30 cords through the side door. That was the new model from about 10 years ago and the side door latch was not replaceable without a stove tear down. I could see that the latch was wearing (the stove side) along with hinge wear and I sold it before the inevitable expensive failure. It was a good stove but not one designed for long term use.

Side door latch is fine due to lack of use. In theory the door latch is still covered as it's been less than 5 years so I'm going to see if Hearthstone will honor the warranty and how much the dealer with charge. Agreed, nice stove but obviously not designed for full time use.

Dealer is going to put in a claim. Was not surprised at all and said it usually takes them 2 weeks from the day they file the claim to get the parts. Fun, fun...

 

[Woody Stover]

I had researched the heck out of this before we bought it and somehow never ended on this forum. Wish I had then, we wouldn't have bought this stove.

at least it's easy to fix.

Yeah, since you are already invested, I would deal with the issue, take precautions to minimize wear (such as lubrication,) and go with it. There's a lot to like about those stoves...

 

[Smoked]

While it is under warranty, make sure the door frame casting does not need to be replace too. I am using hi-temp caliper grease on both of mine just in case. On my old stove (10 seasons) the handle side looks like it has taken most of the wear. If you lose the cast iron frame side, that is the expensive part!

 

[Riff]

Thought I'd update since I just had the door frame casting and the latch replaced. Looks like Hearthstone is starting to address the issue, where the frame casting meets the latch there is now a replaceable piece of stainless steel, two screws and it can be swapped out. Photo of it below.

 

[Smoked]

Interesting! This weekend I drove about an hour to get some project wood from a guy who was giving it away. While walking through his house he showed me his Heritage that he bought in 97. It looked like the same hinge pins and latches as mine. So he has been burning this thing for almost 20 years and never replaced anything. He also had an older Hearthstone 1 or 2. It had some sort of thermal damper that controlled the inlet where my OAK inlet is. He said he burned the tubes out in that one but maybe that thermal switch did not throttle things back so good? the durability of his old one an mine makes me wonder again if they just had some week castings for some reason.

Of note, the stone on both of his older stoves was very interesting. The 97 had many different colors in it with even some reddish flakes. I know my 05 is much prettier than the 11 model. the stone in my 11 is really just boring compared to these other stoves. The brown enamel does make up for it though. I guess we have used up the nicer soapstone in the world???

Glad they took care of you!

 

[Highbeam]

Seems that the stone color changes with age. Mine got more orange/brown streaks and darker as the years went by.