US 5660 / Ashley 5660 Stove owners - Seized self tapping screws !

[CladMaster]

OK, as per title ........ see picture below....

Just putting this up so that others with this stove will be aware of the issue.

The two area's in red inside the stove there is a screw that holds the brick panels (marked with a black X) in place, both screws seized up tight, both heads sheered off when I tried to unscrew them so that I could remove the metal panels behind that's held in place by one screw in each.

I've fixed the problem, had to drill two new holes, one in each metal panel and put two new self tapping screws in to hold the brick panels in place.

These metal panels are cleanout panels, they need to be removed for access to clean out ash from the V channel that leads to the exhaust blower.

I will be making a call to US Stove on Tuesday (can not do it Monday as I am at work) about this as I damaged one of the brick panels because of this issue.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

Ya know. I pulled down the brick panels on this stove yesterday for the first time and damn near had the same issue. I ended up getting them offbut it was a fight. I emailed us stove and got the district manager extension if your intrested. Cause when i opened the stove the where screw heads sheared off in the box. I had to trim the rear jacket to allow exhaust and intake to fit, and the hopper is no where close to 55lbs. I have some words for them

 

[SidecarFlip]

Ya know. I pulled down the brick panels on this stove yesterday for the first time and damn near had the same issue. I ended up getting them offbut it was a fight. I emailed us stove and got the district manager extension if your intrested. Cause when i opened the stove the where screw heads sheared off in the box. I had to trim the rear jacket to allow exhaust and intake to fit, and the hopper is no where close to 55lbs. I have some words for them

Maybe they meant 55 pounds of corn instead????

 

[Doug Doty]

I got one too, they are a DIY type of stove at best !!.

This thing represents the least studyied and most imprompto decision I have ever made but my wife was set on go the day I took her to look at them and she rarely wants anything so I failed myself in not researching. Second worst might end up being my pellets by taking the word of a couple of stove dealers and not doing my own testing. !! I am usually double anal about studying stuff so I am happy afterward but not so in pellet stoves. oh well, it still heats like crazy but just takes a little TLC to keep her happy. I am working on a scraper that gives me a better and easier scraper for daily in and out without getting a hot hand. Want to avoid the daily shut downs to clean the pot out.

 

[CladMaster]

I've not had a problem with ash / clinkers so far in the burn pot. I did have a small air leak around the front of the pot, but after reading some threads here I have solved that issue by increasing the hole where the igniter is. The pot now sits flush on the front with the igniter just in the hole of the pot.

I also found that the rear panel was out, I've removed it for now.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Doug:

There is a cheap and easy cure for the 'hot hand' syndrome... Get yourself a pair of hide welding gloves, they can be cheapies from TSC (note, I use Millers at 80 bucks a pair but I weld almost everyday in the shop) but you can get a pair of hide ones at TSC or Harbor Freight for about 12 bucks that will serve you well. Great for rearranging coals in your BBQ too.

 

[SidecarFlip]

OK, as per title ........ see picture below....

Just putting this up so that others with this stove will be aware of the issue.

The two area's in red inside the stove there is a screw that holds the brick panels (marked with a black X) in place, both screws seized up tight, both heads sheered off when I tried to unscrew them so that I could remove the metal panels behind that's held in place by one screw in each.

I've fixed the problem, had to drill two new holes, one in each metal panel and put two new self tapping screws in to hold the brick panels in place.

These metal panels are cleanout panels, they need to be removed for access to clean out ash from the V channel that leads to the exhaust blower.

I will be making a call to US Stove on Tuesday (can not do it Monday as I am at work) about this as I damaged one of the brick panels because of this issue.

Been looking at that all evening and I must say thats a pisser and no excuse for shoddy workmanship. Of course if you stand over my 6039HF and look straight down, lining up the top lip with the overhang below the door, it's quite evident something is crooked. Not sure if it's the top or the overhang, but it don't line up. Never did. Been that way for 10+ years and it works fine..... Quality American craftsmanship. I wonder if USSC is a union shop or they hire anyone with a pulse that can operate a glue gun (GMAW)...lol

 

[CladMaster]

Problem is that they used self tappers --- heat and self tappers don't mix well. They should of used a metal slip brace over the top of the brick panel and the metal panel that's behind.

 

[Doug Doty]

Gloves are a fix and I got good ones but I am a a amature welder and I love my TIG projects

Union shop my ass these newer 5660's are made in China

 

[SidecarFlip]

Another Thoraited Tung person....... I do a lot of pulsed mig myself. TIG quality at 5 times the speed. I do TIG on aluminum ocassionally, just enough to stay in practice and keep the dust out of my Lincoln and the coolant flowing in the Bernard. My love is pulsed MIG, but then it's all production weldments in 100x low carbon laser cut sheet. Don't use your good ones, get a cheapo pair (probablyChinese water buffalo) branded Hobart of HF. Neither my Millers or my doeskin TIG gloves would go anywhere near a pellet stove burn pot...

I had no idea they were made in China. My 6039HF was made in, I think, Tenessee. Do we make anything (other than babies) here anymore?

 

[pell it]

my "fiber brick" panels have been sitting on a shelf in the shed since the first time I had to remove them

 

[JDenyer236]

After getting the screws out dip the new screws in high temp never seize. Makes future disassembly a breeze.

 

[LordmetalZ28]

After getting the screws out dip the new screws in high temp never seize. Makes future disassembly a breeze.

I just put them in finger tight.

 

[SidecarFlip]

The panels serve 2 purposes. One, they give the inside a 'ambience look' which is worthless and 2, the composition refletcs radiant heat out into the room....not worthless.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Problem is that they used self tappers --- heat and self tappers don't mix well. They should of used a metal slip brace over the top of the brick panel and the metal panel that's behind.

Self tapping screws are the cheap way out and require zero alignment (the first time in). Tinnerman nuts or 'Keps' (U shaped sheet metal nuts) are more expensive and require a pre drilled or pre punched hole for insertion and are more expensive. It's all about doing it as cheaply as possible and getting the maximum return (profit) and heck with the end user who has to disassemble it.

Made in China, wow, I'm amazed....

 

[Doug Doty]

I have had my back panel off 4 times in the first 10 days working on and trying to refine this thing. I keep wondering how long the threads will last. I need to switch to magnets I think to speed up stove maint.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have had my back panel off 4 times in the first 10 days working on and trying to refine this thing. I keep wondering how long the threads will last. I need to switch to magnets I think to speed up stove maint.

Nah, go to push in bayonet male/female fasteners (automotive). One, they are quiet and two, they last indefinitely.

 

[Doug Doty]

That is a good idea, I can picture rattles, I had left one screw loose once and it was like I created some sort of unpleasant instrument every time the auger came on.