gyrfalcon said:raybonz said:That's really a shame for a company to let their name get tarnished when there clearly is a problem.. The gasket kit I got at Lowes is the low density stuff similar to the original.. While I agree a larger stove door will get less use I feel the design should allow for the use the stove will receive in normal use.. My stove is over 20 yrs. old and the latch surface is not worn that I can see.. I can't even imagine how many times it's been opened.. Is it possible to add a steel plate to the worn area and bolt it in with maybe some stove cement to ensure an airtight seal? This would give a replaceable wear surface that essentially would be sacrificial.. For what it costs for a nice stove like that I would expect it to last for generations with no major part replacements needed due to normal usage.. I did go to the stove shop for some 1/4" rope for the cooktop seal above the cat and they had the coil stuff and sold it by the foot.. Maybe if you post some detailed pics we can try to come up with some ideas?
Good Luck,
Ray
Thanks, Ray. I'll see about taking some pix at some point, but I'm dubious the detail would show up well enough to be very useful. You're right that a 6-yo stove shouldn't have this happen, but my assumption is that it wouldn't have if it weren't for the gasket replacement debacle. So I was being a good doobie, doing the dollar bill test and replaced the gasket when it failed the test. From now on, I'm minding my own business and not trying to fix something that wasn't actually broken!
I'm not sure there's room between the frame and the door to add the steel brace you suggest, but I'll go look carefully in the morning when the stove is cool. But who would I go to to get such a thing done? It's way beyond my capabilities, that's for sure.
When you say "coil stuff"-- is that the low-density gasket?
The rope gasket on the coil was the same density as the packaged kit from lowes.. I would think that it comes in coil form as long as it is able to be rolled.. That high density rope would be much harder ro compress and your door is pretty wide so you could get a bit of leverage there.. I am no metal working guru either but many here are pretty sharp people here that may have an answer to repair your stove, perhaps a local metal fabrication shop could assist you ? I took a look at the area that my door latches onto on my stove after reading your post and it tapers up to about 7/8" cast iron at the highest pressure area, very substantial and it shows no wear..
Ray