How to move an Encore away from the chimney

[SonOfEru]

I have an Encore 0028. I bought it last year from someone who only used it 5 years then got central heat, so it's not really "30 years old".

But I am running into a problem with the damper handle - a short way into the swing to close it, something binds up so I have to push past that point and then it slips free and closes the rest of the way easily. It got so I worried about forcing something. I posted about it a while back and was advised to grease the metal contact points with anti-seize lubricant. So I did that and it would swing smooth as butter. For a while. Then it slowly got worse again and I had to grease it again. That has happened 5 or 6 times now, so I'm getting good at greasing it but tired of it too. The grease point is where the torsion bar [I think that's the part name] slides up the back of the damper to push it closed, running between two nubs with a small steel bar across to hold it in place.

So if anyone has an idea on that, please do.

But the main question -- I am at the point that I will need to get back in there and see what's going on. I hope there's somewhere I can just undo the torsion bar and clean it real good and maybe smooth things with some sandpaper or whatever, I will have to see.

But I need to move the stove away from the chimney. All I have is a one-foot oval-to-round stovepipe that goes straight horizontal out the back, into the flue. No elbows or anything like that.

I brought it in and set it up with some help lugging it and positioning it. But now I want to be able to move it by myself if possible. I dont want to invite a friend over to move it out and then come over again once I'm done and ready to put it back.

Is there some technique, like jack it up just a bit and put it on something to roll it a couple of feet out? I'm strong enough to lift one side a few inches, but not the whole thing to get a dolly under. I've thought of some kind of small wheels or casters mounted to some plywood. Various ideas. I just thought I would ask if any of you folks have come up with a good way to do it. A magic wand would be great.

I could just skoonch it away from the chimney a bit on one side then on the other, with care. But the hearth is bricks, old bricks so we got a classic look, but it's not a smooth surface for skoonching. And unfortunately the little threaded legs that you use for leveling it are out about as far as I can get them. I need them out because of the height of the stove relative to the bottom of the flue. already the oval adapter is tipped downward about as much as it can while still inserted into the flue at the top. I wanted to raise the stove up on 4 blocks of some kind but the Boss would have none of that. She is "particular" as they say, about how things look. I care about how things work, but I lost that one. Anyway, with the threaded legs out that far I am very cautious about stressing them by trying to slide them over uneven brick.

One last question, regarding jacking points. Under the stove, the very bottom casting, if you take off the heat shield you can see the bottom has 4 small round flat spots, about the size of a quarter, that the bottom would sit on if you took the legs off the stove and laid it on the floor, like 4 very short stubby "legs", so to speak. They are part of the casting itself. Are they meant to be strong enough to bear the weight of the stove, and therefore could serve as jacking points?

Thanks

SonOfEru

 

[defiant3]

1st: the clip which holds the torsion bar flat against the upper fireback is the problem. I use a hammer and long 1" dowel to knock it back down flush. If it doesn't hold the bar down TIGHT then the damper behaves as you describe.

 

[defiant3]

2nd: The base of 2140's and 0028's are VERY fragile where the legs bolt on!! Be VERY careful when jacking, lifting, or skooching Replacing the base is a horrible job even if you COULD find a replacement.

 

[SonOfEru]

1st: the clip which holds the torsion bar flat against the upper fireback is the problem. I use a hammer and long 1" dowel to knock it back down flush. If it doesn't hold the bar down TIGHT then the damper behaves as you describe.

You mean at the left side as you face the stove, where the bar has turned 90* and goes over to the middle of the damper where it then turns 90* up to slide along the damper to close it.

I hadnt thought of that contact point. All along, every time I greased it as described, at the lift point in the middle of the damper, it got free and easy so I presumed that was where the problem was.

I have a friend who has a pair of "refrigerator rollers" that I am going to borrow. See the photo here. I can lift the stove legs onto them, and put a piece of 1/4" plywood out in front to let them roll smoothly, and I think that will work to move it out. Once I get back there I hope it will all be clear what I need to do.

As for knocking, though, you mean bop it in the middle of the clip? you think it is bent so it is no longer tight against the surface of the torsion bar? Or is it maybe migrated away from the casting where it's bolted down, in which case it would need to be tightened down?

In any case, with free access I should find the problem, as I will be able to work the handle and hopefully see the bind point rather than try to deduce it, as I have done till now. And I can grease everything while I am there.

Thanks much

 

[SonOfEru]

2nd: The base of 2140's and 0028's are VERY fragile where the legs bolt on!! Be VERY careful when jacking, lifting, or skooching Replacing the base is a horrible job even if you COULD find a replacement.

So noted. Thanks. I am generally accused of being overcautious so this will be a good case of that

 

[SonOfEru]

Well thank you thank you.

I managed to carefully skooch the stove out enough to remove the pipe and then the flue collar. I could see that several places things were loosey-goosey - there was slop in the damper action. So I gently tapped on the tabs to tighten them down, and especially the curved clip down at the bottom of the damper. that one was bent up so I could see lots of wiggle there.

After tightening things, the whole action went back to feeling the way it did when it was new - smooth and solid, and without any greasing. In fact I removed a bunch of the Permatex anti-seize lubricant that had dried and baked on. I doubt it was adding to the problem but I can see that after a while it just had to dry out.

So it feels nice and new. Thanks again and again. This has been a pain and now it's a pleasure

SonOfEru

 

[SonOfEru]

But can I add another question? Does anyone know of some kind of nice looking cast iron "coasters" - for want of a better word - to put under the legs to raise them?

My previous stove was the one I chose to locate the chimney thimble for. The Encore is a little bit lower, and it's really tricky to get the pipe to fit into it - being lower, the pipe is tipped down a bit, so even with the bottom of the round end as far in as it goes, the upper side barely gets in. There's no fear of fire and smoke escaping, the draw in my chimney is really good, but it's a real challenge to carefully skooch the stove while aiming the pipe, and having to stick a thin screwdriver blade it at the top, like a shoe horn, to get the top to get in even an eighth of an inch.

When I first installed it, I blocked it up on small squares of slate floor tile, stacked on top of each other, 4 to each leg, and that was enough of raising it to work ok. But the Boss didnt like the look and complained about cleaning around them, so I screwed the leg extenders out as far as I dared and barely, barely got enough up so the pipe barely barely gets in. But I dont like it, I worry about the screws out that far. So I've been thinking of something else to block them up and thought some kind of decorative iron coasters maybe an inch thick. But googling for cast iron coaster doesnt get me much.

Ideas?

 

[defiant3]

Keep in mind, it doesn't get very hot at the bottom of the legs, so wood or some types of plastic might be fine.