Hearthstone Homestead Bummer with Pics

[riverspots]

Someone suggested I start a new thread. Here's the original post:
I just had a major Heartstone bummer. My Homestead worked great its first season-though its performance is nowhere near specs. But a couple fires into its second season, it has had a major breakdown. The tubes and the pieces that hold them are all loose and the ceramic baffle has a hole in it. Hearthstone won’t deal directly with its stove owners (at least that’s what I’m finding)-all correspondence is through its dealers. So, I called the dealer and they contacted Hearthstone and Hearthstone gave them an email address that I could send pics of the stove. So I sent pics. No direct response from Hearthstone-not even a confirmation that they received the pics. After a couple of days, I did hear from the dealer that Hearthstone was not going to allow a warranty claim-without ever having the dealer inspect it. According to the dealer, Hearthstone claims the stove must have been dropped or severely abused. Which it was not. The stove has not been moved since it was installed by the dealer. The outside is in the same condition as it was when delivered and installed.

Complicating things, the person from the stove store admits to having little knowledge about woodstove so is unable to answer my questions and is more concerned about covering any possible liability from their end. When I asked about getting the stove repaired outside warranty, this stove person,, who has not seen the pics of the problems, had “written off” the stove as being non-repairable-actually did not know that replacement parts were available in many situations. So I’m stuck between a manufacturer who won’t communicate directly with me and a person from the store with little knowledge. I believe the owner of the store knows what he’s doing, but it may be next summer before he “finds the time” to look at my stove.

I liked the stove and hope this one can be repaired. But the total lack of customer service by Hearthstone would have me searching elsewhere if I need to buy another.


An update: I noticed that the dealer's BBB rating dropped from last year's A to F this summer. Doesn't make me hopeful that I'll be able to solve my issues through them. Next closest dealer is 45 miles away.

 

[Highbeam]

So you obviously have a broken baffle. The break is does not look fresh as the baffle material is white inside.

Then next issue is that the front SS bracket is no longer cotter pinned to the front air tube. Why not? I see the cotter pin.

The third issue is that the secondary manifold isn't setting on both tabs up front. The secondary baffle is supposed to set flat and on the heritage there is a single screw in the rear that provides the third point of support. Yes, a three legged horse which as you discovered can be tipped over. Reach in there and pull down the front right side of that assembly so that it sets level.

I expected to see something other than the baffle board damaged but everything looks fine except for the kind of damage that might occur if someone horsed in too much firewood. Not sure how it happened but there was some force exerted inside that stove.

 

[Todd]

What do you mean by loose? My old Homestead looked the same and I remember there were cotter pins on the left side of the tubes that held them in the brackets and that top plate above the baffle just laid up loose on top of the baffle and front tube. Removing the baffle is a real pita and I couldn't get it done because I couldn't figure out how to remove that plate that rested on it.

 

[begreen]

Nice eye Highbeam. The secondary manifold looks high in the rear as well. The bracket is not parallel. Hopefully this is an easy fix by getting the secondary tube rack down in place. Is there a patch repair for the baffle or does it need to be replaced?

 

[Highbeam]

I've patch repaired dents and gouges with stove cement but there is a missing chunk of baffle there oddly close to where something had to have pushed up into the firebox roof. You can almost see the rub mark on the casting. The board is about 1/2" thick and pretty tough. Maybe if you had the pieces you could give it a shot. From what I hear from owners like Todd, the baffle isn't as easy to remove on teh homestead as on other models so replacement may mean a service call.

Do you fill this stove pretty full sometimes? Do you ever have to shut the door real quick to hold the firewood from rolling back out?

If the closest dealer is 45 miles away then that's the guy to call. The phone call is free and you'll quickly get a sense of whether they can help you. Maybe one of their employees lives out your way or maybe you'll just need to pay for the tech's road time.

Start out by reaching your hand in there, grasp that burn tube close to the broken baffle, and pull it down towards the firebox floor. The whole assmebly should roll back into place. The SS bracket with the cotter pin needs to set in place too and the cotter pin should hold the SS bracket tight to the burn tube. The only really fragile thing in there is the baffle board and its already busted.

 

[jhousek1]

This sounds like a Dealer problem to me. My Ceramic board was broken last year. A small log must have went up between the baffles and hit it. My dealer ordered me a new one and told me to bring mine in. That board is guarnteed for 5yrs. As far as the baffle goes.....Why isn't it all the way in? Did you remove it for cleaning? Did too much wood get shoved in and knock it of the right rest? Something called "outside influence' does look apparent in these pics.

 

[riverspots]

I had noticed the cotter pin wasn't "pinning" anything-and that the ends weren't bent. Should they have been? I hadn't really paid attention to how it was all put together. The stove had been the store's floor model and arrived totally assembled. I know the stove was fine at the end of last season. I did have a chimney sweep clean the chimney before using it this season and wouldn't be surprised if they punched a hole in the baffle. It was the loose metal pieces that alarmed me. I was afraid that it could be a result of metal fatigue or warping. I haven't had a hot fire yet this season-only two small to average sized logs at a time-only 5 days total of use this fall. (It's been warm in eastern MD). The air tubes, etc. were in place at the start of the last fire-did not notice a hole in the baffle then. If the pictured cotter pin was not secure, would that cause the rest of the pieces to become loose, too?

My closest dealer, the one I bought the stove from, is 15 miles away. But the owner seems to be missing in action and the woman who runs the store doesn't know enough to order parts. Does any one have a diagram of how the stove should look when correctly assembled? If I can't get the dealer that's 45 miles away to look at the stove, maybe I can them to order the baffle and replace it myself.

 

[MikeP]

Removing the baffle is a real pita and I couldn't get it done because I couldn't figure out how to remove that plate that rested on it.

I know the stove was fine at the end of last season. I did have a chimney sweep clean the chimney before using it this season and wouldn't be surprised if they punched a hole in the baffle. It was the loose metal pieces that alarmed me.

Could be wrong, but when I read those 2 quotes together, I can kinda guess how the baffle boardboard was broken, and why the metal parts are not put back together correctly...

I would ask your sweep if he disasembled it to clean out his sweepings.

 

[riverspots]

My first concern is getting the stove working again-and for that I'll need a dealer's help. The local one doesn't seem interested in service.

If, through another dealer's help, I find that the sweep is at fault, I'll certainly go after them for repair costs.