Primary air slide too hot hot hot on Jotul F3CB!

[wahoowad]

The primary air slide on my F3CB gets scalding hot once the stove is up to temp. It only has a small piece that you touch and slide with a finger when you need to make an adjustment. When I'm smart I grab my stove glove to keep it from burning me, but generally I am lazy and try to get by with touching it with a fingernail or something. And invariably I burn my fingertip (you'd think I'd learn after about 1,500 fingertip burns). I'd like to mod it somehow to give me a slightly larger surface to touch and do it in a way that makes it cooler too. Anybody done this?

The piece that sticks out is about the size of a dime. I would drill and tap it and put a small bolt in it but do not think I can get my drill close enough to drill a straight hole. It doesn't look like the air control will come out very easy either. Quickest fix might be a small pair of vice grips but I'm looking for a more elegant solution... Any ideas?

 

[begreen]

Agreed. It's not the best design. I used leather gloves or moved it with a split of wood.

 

[LLigetfa]

Can you post a closeup pic of it? If you're talking about the slider on the top-right front of the stove, it looks like you could put a small coil spring over it. The coils should help to cool it.

 

[wahoowad]

This is the best pic I have, but yes, it is the the slide in the area you mention. Where does one get a coil? Only one I have is on my slag chipping hammer.

I'm wondering if I could coil up a piece of coat hanger wire or something like that and JB Weld it to the slide?

 

[LLigetfa]

Most hardware stores have a variety of coil springs. If you cannot find a perfect fit, you might be able to make up the difference in size by pressing some soft copper tubing onto the end of the slider. What is the diameter of it and could you thread a hex nut onto it? By a hex nut, I mean those long couplers used on allthread rods. You could then put a flat washer and bolt into the other end.

(broken link removed to http://www.idealtruevalue.com/catalog/MH591578.jpg)

 

[LLigetfa]

OK, if you have a slag chipping hammer, you must have a welder. You could weld a fender washer to a regular nut and bend the washer into a U. The friction fit would probably hold with or without a dab of JB Weld.

 

[madrone]

I'm not sure how much heat JB weld can take.

 

[LLigetfa]

I'm not sure how much heat JB weld can take.

From their FAQs.

Q: How much heat can J-B Weld withstand?
A: J-B Weld (Part # 8265-S, 8265, and 8280) can withstand a constant temperature of 500 degrees F. The maximum temperature threshold is approximately 600 degrees F for a short term (10 minutes).

 

[f3cbboy]

Yep mine gets burning hot also. I wear a glove when i move it, or do it with wood like begreen said.

 

[madrone]

I'm not sure how much heat JB weld can take.

From their FAQs.

Q: How much heat can J-B Weld withstand?
A: J-B Weld (Part # 8265-S, 8265, and 8280) can withstand a constant temperature of 500 degrees F. The maximum temperature threshold is approximately 600 degrees F for a short term (10 minutes).

Wow. I'm kind of surprised. My experience with epoxies is that they become brittle over time from heat or uv exposure. Maybe I haven't given JB enough credit.

 

[argus66]

i use the t v remote,

 

[BrotherBart]

The thing is too darned small to attach anything to it. I keep a piece of metal next to the stove for moving the PITA.

 

[Fins59]

Maybe use a hardwood knob or use a piece of round hardwood stock with a little slot hole cut in end to fit over tab on slider and use knob each time to slide slider. Maybe if it didn't get too hot you could leave it on tab. I have wooden handle on my Johnson wood stove door and a wooden knob to control damper on door. They get hot/warm but not that hot to ignite.

 

[firefighterjake]

I don't know how elegant it is, but with the Oslo the air control lever gets mighty hot so I have a small piece of cut left-over slate from the hearth (approximately 2 x 4 inches) that I leave right on the hearth to move the air control around. It works well and is pretty unobtrusive as it is the same color and material as the hearth.

 

[wahoowad]

Do you guys think I could whittle an indentation into a small block of wood, then use some hi-temp sealant to attach the wood to the slide protrusion?

 

[Skier76]

The slider on our Castine gets hot as well.

I'd see if you could fabricate something to aid in moving it...something that's not attached to it. That way, you can keep the tool away from the stove and you'll be 100% sure it's not hot.

 

[ChipTam]

My box of kindling is always fairly close to the stove so I just pick up a piece of kindling to push the lever. Yes, agreed, the lever gets very hot.

ChipTam