NC-30 Damper getting stuck

[Cj3waker]

A few months ago I posted a thread asking for wood stove purchasing advice, and was steered towards the NC-30.

I finished the hearth and installed the stove

Ran into a few issues, previous owners of the house had no draft on their duratech system, so I added 6ft and it pulls pretty well now. I would like to add the outside air kit though

My main problem is with the damper, it has started getting stuck and will not easily slide forward and backward. When it is stuck I can pull as hard as I can and it doesn't move, I have to wiggle side to side and push it in (close it) several times before it will allow itself to be pulled back out (opened)

Any ideas? Is it accessible from underneath or the ash tray? My stove is too hot right now to check

 

[Enplater]

Same stove, never had that issue. I'd call Englander or Home Depot and get a replacement, seems dangerous to me. I seem to remember reading about this same issue once somewhere so it might be a common problem. I'd say to tear into it and smooth out whatever is making it bind up with a die grinder or something but that would probably void the warranty. Good luck

 

[Highbeam]

Know that you can cover the opening of the round 3” pipe nipple on the back rear to block the draft even better than pushing in the rod. This is an emergency trick.

Work the draft rod back and forth until it smooths out. You must have a chunk of something stuck in the slide mechanism. I would be shooting air in there, some wd40, etc and working it. If you can’t get it to smooth out then you’ll need to get serious.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not sure if this would help with the NC-30 or not, but on the Oslo air control occasionally ash works its way into the air control mechanism and it starts to bind up. I've found that either an occasional cleaning of this area and/or liberal application of graphite powder helps keep the metal air control mechanism sliding easily without binding.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Graphite powder will work well in high temp areas.