Sticky damper on Morso insert

[Gazing in Wonder]

Hello,
I've been burning in a Morso 5660 insert for 2.5 years now, and although I'm generally happy with it, the air damper adjustment is becoming a serious problem. It's getting harder and harder to move. Sometimes I can only move it a little bit at a time, meaning that continuous pressure will not work, and it takes a long series of hard shoves that move it a tiny bit each shove. Other times, usually when I only want a small adjustment, it will move a lot with one hard shove. Then, I want to get it back to where it was and try for my small adjustment again, but there's no way to tell where it was. It seemed imprecise and clanky when I got it, and now it's all that plus really hard to move. The other day I forgot to turn it down before going out, so I called my wife and asked her to turn down the stove, but she wasn't able to move it at all.
Is there any maintenance I can do on this thing to make it move more easily? I can't see the business end of things, as the handle disappears into a small space under the firebox, reaching towards the back of the stove, so I can't even tell how it works.
Thanks

 

[firefighterjake]

Not sure about the Morso, but with the Oslo I typically take the doghouse apart before the start of the season and use some graphite powder to lubricate the air mechanism and it tends to do quite well.

 

[maverick06]

not familiar with the configuration of your stove. I suspect its not the issue, but my stove has had serious issues with the bypass. I have a thread about it here:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...r-elite-33-fpx-33-aka-lopi-declaration.39485/

If your damper has the same rod-into-cup design, it could be the case. guess its possible that something in the stove warped causing the problem. Be careful though, this could be a safety issue. (Thats what i though as i was using a log to tap my stuck bypass closed before i really fixed it).

 

[Nick Mystic]

I'd be careful trying to force the control arm if it doesn't want to move since it is apparent something is causing it to stick that needs to be fixed. Eventually, you will need to do some research and disassemble part of the stove to get to the part that is sticking. You might as well do that now rather than keep forcing the arm until it breaks since either way you probably have to go through the same steps to make the fix. By waiting until you break something you will then have the added hassle of having to find whatever new parts are needed to fix what broke as opposed to just doing some lubrication or adjustments.

 

[begreen]

Call the dealer. They may have a bulletin on this or have already worked out a fix in the field. If this is due to bending parts it could be a warranty issue.

PS: Is this happening in a unit with or without the blower?

 

[Gazing in Wonder]

Call the dealer. They may have a bulletin on this or have already worked out a fix in the field. If this is due to bending parts it could be a warranty issue.

PS: Is this happening in a unit with or without the blower?

I will call the dealer and see what they suggest. I have the unit without the blower. Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. I was thinking I'd wait until the offseason, but I'll see if I can't get into it next chance I get.

 

[Gazing in Wonder]

I have an update on this issue, and would like some advice about how to fix it. The dealer did not have any advice for me when I asked about it. They're generally helpful about getting me parts, but this one was beyond them. I tried contacting the Denmark office and the two U.S. importers, and got a response back from the eastern U.S. importer, who was helpful and encouraging.

To access the air intake, I had to take the cast iron firebox out of the outer shell. The intake valve is connected to the back of the firebox. To get it out I had to do the following:
1. remove the door (not technically required, but helpful)
2. remove the firebricks and baffle
3. remove the four bolts on the bottom plate
4. disconnect the flue collar
5. remove the four adjustment base bolts. These have feet welded on, so they have to go down through the bottom plate.
6. remove the front shell frame. There were 7 or 8 little bolts; their nuts are welded onto the frame.
7. slide the heavy firebox out of the shell (I slid it onto a hand truck with scrap wood shims to keep the stove level with the shell).

So there it is, the "secondary draft control." It slides back and forth kind of okay (not great) when I push from the back, but when I had my wife try with the handle, I could see that it tilts, and that make it harder to slide. It has about an eighth of an inch vertical play which it seems like shouldn't be there. I could try tightening those two screws, but they have springs on them which I think are supposed to keep them at a specific tightness so I don't know if that will help. You can see in the picture where the graphite powder is. It seems to be protecting the iron from rust. Anyhow, I reckon I'll get some of that tomorrow and try applying more and see if that helps.

At any rate, here are my questions:

1. Does anyone have any suggestions beyond applying more graphite powder and trying to adjust the screws?
2. The flue collar gasket falls apart when I tug on it. Any tips for how to get the old gasket out quickly and easily?

Thanks.

 

[JayD]

I don't have a Morso, But I would pull the two bolt-screws off and separate the secondary draft plate, And polish it up with fine emery cloth-paper, And clean any grit out off the plate and the rear of the stove, I would also check the edge's of the plate or the slots in the where the it slide's on the bolt screws for a Burr that could cause it to stick or bind. I would hit all the edge's on the draft plate with a small file or fine emery to make it burr free, Check the pivot on the control rod under the stove and make sure it's not binding and lube it all up with {graphite} or {drislide} and reassemble and see how she works! The springs are on the screws bolt to keep pressure on the plate during heating and cooling off of the stove- expansion and contraction. I use drislide on my linkage it works well for me, I use it because thats just what I happen to have, http://www.drislide.com/products/drislide-bike-aid-moly-lubricant-w-needle . I think ya have a Burr hanging up, or grit between the plate and stove body. pecor

 

[begreen]

Is that secondary or primary air that is being controlled? Looks more like primary air.

 

[Gazing in Wonder]

Is that secondary or primary air that is being controlled? Looks more like primary air.

You are correct. The parts list incorrectly identified this as the secondary draft control, but reading the descriptive text, I see the parts list is wrong. Thanks for pointing this out. I prefer to know the right names for things.

 

[Gazing in Wonder]

I don't have a Morso, But I would pull the two bolt-screws off and separate the secondary draft plate, And polish it up with fine emery cloth-paper....

Thanks for the suggestions. I was nervous about taking things further apart, but this was pretty easy. I picked up some powdered graphite and emery paper at the hardware store (they didn't know what emery cloth was). With the control off, I checked the handle action (thanks for the reminder, I would have forgotten), and it was fine. There were some parts of the control with more texture than others, and one part that had worn grooves. I rubbed these smooth, hit all the edges to take any burrs off, lubricated the area, put it back together, lubricated more. Now it works like a charm. Better than new, actually. I'd still prefer something with a gauge, or some way to know where it's at before and after I adjust it.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Now I just have to put it all back together and hope it works. I guess I'm lucky I didn't have to drill out any rivets.