Magnum BabyCountrySide Cleaning Rake sticks?

[Don2222]

Hello

I am working on this baby. The cleaning rake warbles from side to side as the rod is being pulled out. Then it gets stuck! Does anyone know the fix for this? See pics

 

[smwilliamson]

Aint no replacing it if that's what you mean...least I don't think so. You may have a bent tube or bent rake. Lovely stoves.....lovely.

 

[Don2222]

Aint no replacing it if that's what you mean...least I don't think so. You may have a bent tube or bent rake. Lovely stoves.....lovely.

The rod seems to unscrew from the rake so I think it is replaceable. However it make have got bent from it being sticky. To me, this is a very similar problem to the Enviro EF-2 and they are good stoves. I do like the double row of heat tubes this baby has, not all stoves have 2 rows.
Remember the fix I found with the Enviro?.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...son-and-fix-for-0-14-cents.73036/#post-922024

After further examination, It is not the same as the Enviro rake because there is a metal boot (what I call it) in the rake that the cleaning rod screws into. If the base of the rod that connects the rake needs more perpendicular rigidity like the Enviro, then a metal sleeve would have to be placed over the boot and the a nut on the rod to hold it all in place. I did also find that the nut to screw on the Enviro rod is a common 1/4 x 20. The Baby takes a not as common 1/4 x 28 nut. So since the rod is bent and in this case the hole in the front really helps to guide the rod, then the rod should be replaced to start. Just adding a nut on the end of the rod here helps but is not a cure.

 

[Don2222]

Hello Again

Good news, I still was not completely confident that a new straighter rod is a total cure to this rake with too much warble! The closest analogy I can think of is a wide Janitor's broom with the long pole for the handle. Without the 2 diagonal side supports, the brush would warble back and forth making the pole very loose at the bottom and much more quickly break.

Diagonal side supports to the cleaning rod is out of the question here. A simple nut has only some improvement but is not good enough due to the rake boot.

Here is what I tried:
At the local Hillsman display:
1. Purchased the 1/4-28 Stainless Steel nut
2. Purchased a very hard Stainless steel sleeve almost 1" long and 1/2" wide
Too long for the boot on the rake but wide enough to slip over it and fit between the heat exchanger tubes.
3. Cut the sleeve to 1/2" with the hack saw or power jig.
Care must be taken not to make the cut crooked and to file or grind flat, so the nut will sit flush and even. Then the rod will pull straight..

The results are Very Good. Far less play when pulling out the rod. I can see the slope of the rake is far less and pulls out much more evenly.
I still need a new straight rod to screw in here but I feel much more confident that this is the cure!

Pic 1 - Orig rod with threads screwed into rake boot.
Pic 2 - Cutting 1/2" wide SS sleeve to 1/2" long
Pic 3 - 1/4-28 SS nut on cleaning rod pushing sleeve into rake for more stability

Click pics to Enlarge