Manchester, front vent mechanism repeated failures. Options?

[byron47]

We've had our Manchester for 5 seasons now and our front air control/vent is about to need replacement for the 2nd time. The factory vent lasted 3 seasons, got a free replacement that was installed by our local dealer, and now at the start of our 6th season the mechanism is binding horribly and will need replacement yet again. So, has anybody figured out a way to correct this design flaw? Our previous stove gave us 20+ years of trouble-free service but this Manchester has been an absolute nightmare by comparison. I've found many old forum posts describing this very problem but the company has failed to improve their product, and I can't help but notice that the company now offers no way to contact them and instead forces customers to take their problems to the local dealers.

TL;DR Has anyone figured out a way to fix the defective air control/vent mechanism on a Manchester stove? We are about to be on the 3rd vent mechanism in 6 years!

 

[begreen]

Do you understand what is wearing out and causing the binding? Is this a part that could be lubricated annually with graphite powder?

 

[byron47]

Do you understand what is wearing out and causing the binding? Is this a part that could be lubricated annually with graphite powder?

To access the mechanism the stove needs to be 1/2 disassembled. If there was a way to lubricate the mechanism I would be ecstatic but there's no access. We're getting close to just moving on and buying a stove that, hopefully, won't need difficult to access parts replaced every 2-3 years. Even the stove technician who performed the last repair spent a few hours doing it.

Well Hearth-bonehead-stone agreed to warranty another vent control mechanism and of course we have to pay for the labor. Hopefully this 3rd vent mechanism will last at least another season or two and then we'll buy another stove. I think Hearthstone is absolutely one of the worst companies out there regardless of industry because they have a design that has been resulting in the exact same failures for more than a decade and they have managed to fix NOTHING. I vote with my dollars and Hearthstone will never receive another single vote from me--I would even go so far as to suggest they deserve to be sued out of existence since they clearly don't have any intention of fixing their design and/or manufacturing flaws and people like us are stuck with a very expensive boat anchor. I would recommend any stove as long as it's not a Hearthstone.

And the cherry on the cake arrived today--Hearthstone will warranty the defective part but we have to pay the shipping. Hearthstone really is garbage from top to bottom. I don't think I've ever dealt with a company that flatly refuses to stand behind their product and leave the customer with an expensive piece of garbage. I'm sure some people are happy with their hearthstone product but this has been one of the worst, if not the worst, purchase we've ever made. Caveat emptor!

 

[begreen]

Closing thread. Sorry for the bad experience but endless bashing of a product is against forum rules. It helps no one.