Jotul C550 Rockland Door Handle Stuck

[Brookwood]

My Jotul C550 Rockland door handle is stuck!
Once or twice a year we get a hard rain that makes it past the stove cap. A small amount of water enters the stove and trickles out the front. In the off season I clean out the ashes completely so that it doesn’t make a mess and it usually isn’t that big of a problem. However this time the moisture has caused the door handle to stick.

I believe that I can put more force on the handle to get it to turn up but I don’t want to ruin it. This could be done by removing the wooden knob, sliding a short pipe over the handle and leveraging it.

Has anyone had this trouble with this stove?
If I remove the 2 hinge pins from the right side would the door come off to the right?
Is a handle cheaper than new glass? That is if I have to break it in order to turn the pin up from the inside.

I did spray penetrant into the outs handle mechanism with no luck. I did heat the handle and surround to about 200 degrees with no luck.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Sean

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I would think that removing the hinge pins would alllow some movement of the door overall. But if the door handle is still stuck you’d figure you could mess things up.
I have the same stove and have not had this happen.
Wish I had more ideas for you. Someone here will give you good advice that will help though.
Most definitely I’d fix the issue causing the water to enter the stove. Bigger rain cap or whatever.