VC Aspen C3 Door Handle Fix

[wjohn]

I reloaded my Aspen C3 at 3am today, and when I went to push the door handle downwards to close it, it wouldn't go. I worked it up and down as much as I could to try to get it to pop to the closed position but it wouldn't do it. Obviously I was trying to get the door shut ASAP on what was a fairly hot reload. I eventually got the handle to go down but I could feel something giving. It latched securely and I figured I'd deal with it later.

Turns out the giving I felt was the bending of the retention bracket holding the little ball/spring detent below the handle. Something must have seized up or gotten out of position so I was fighting the entire thing instead of just the little metal ball on the spring. I removed it when I got home today and the fire had burned down, and it appears to only be there to hold the handle in the up/open position so you don't just smash it into the striker when you close the door. The latch/handle is profiled underneath to ramp up and lock into place with the handle open, using that detent ball.

I removed the screw, retention bracket, and detent and the latch still holds and locks in like it did back when the detent was working. So, at least the profile of the door latch itself seems to have been designed well. I just have to be sure to lift up on the handle while closing the door so the latch reaches under the striker first. If this causes any other issues I will follow up, but hopefully this is helpful to someone else in the future if they encounter the same issue and have to address this while they are under fire.

Kind of a chintzy design so assuming it can be done without, it's nice to be able to remove it when it does cause problems.

 

[MiguelSP]

I had problems with mine last year. After no support from VC and being blown off by my dealer I decided to fix it myself. I flattened the detent retainer plate and reinstalled it. It promptly bent again so I just removed it. I assumed the plate steel they used just can’t handle the heat.

 

[wjohn]

I had problems with mine last year. After no support from VC and being blown off by my dealer I decided to fix it myself. I flattened the detent retainer plate and reinstalled it. It promptly bent again so I just removed it. I assumed the plate steel they used just can’t handle the heat.

Good to see it's not just me. I briefly had the same thought about trying to bend it back to flat but figured it would just bend again.

I am 4 months outside of the 1 year warranty period that applies to parts like these, but I may drop by my dealer next time I'm in town and take the parts with me to show him what happened.

 

[student2016]

Any suggestions if the door is stuck closed? Thought cooling it down will help but no luck so far.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Can the door be compressed against the stove to give a little more latch play? Maybe a ratchet strap would pull it closed enough for the latch to work?

 

[wjohn]

Any suggestions if the door is stuck closed? Thought cooling it down will help but no luck so far.

Not having had to do this myself, I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not... but if pushing in on the door while pulling up on the handle like EatenByLimestone suggested doesn't work, I wonder if removing the Allen head screw from the side of the door might do the trick (you can see it very clearly in my last photo above). I think it is the pivot point for the handle/latch, and what holds the handle/latch in place.

There may be some risk of dinging a thread by removing the screw with the latch pulling on it still. It's an idea, though... If nothing else works.

I'm happy to report I have been using the stove without the little detent parts since this post and am very used to holding the door handle up as I close the door. It's just how I close the door now - hold handle slightly up, close door, and push handle down to latch all in one motion.

 

[student2016]

Can the door be compressed against the stove to give a little more latch play? Maybe a ratchet strap would pull it closed enough for the latch to work?

I don't think so, it's pretty tight, I used a screwdriver to get a little more play but it did not help

Not having had to do this myself, I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not... but if pushing in on the door while pulling up on the handle like EatenByLimestone suggested doesn't work, I wonder if removing the Allen head screw from the side of the door might do the trick (you can see it very clearly in my last photo above). I think it is the pivot point for the handle/latch, and what holds the handle/latch in place.

There may be some risk of dinging a thread by removing the screw with the latch pulling on it still. It's an idea, though... If nothing else works.

I'm happy to report I have been using the stove without the little detent parts since this post and am very used to holding the door handle up as I close the door. It's just how I close the door now - hold handle slightly up, close door, and push handle down to latch all in one motion.

Yeah, I'm thinking about removing the pins to remove the door since pushing too hard on the handle may break something. Weird it happened a week since I started to use the stove.

Appreciate you provided a procedure for closing the door. I think I did the same but not 100% confident, next time will be careful when closing the door.

Hopefully the dealer will be able to handle this.

 

[student2016]

Had to remove the door myself since no available appointments for the next 3 weeks.

Here is what's going on, pictures attached.

wjohn,​

Is it the same as your issue showed in the first post?

 

[smartakita]

Any suggestions if the door is stuck closed? Thought cooling it down will help but no luck so far.

My Aspen door is now stuck closed also. I am glad there is not an emergency need for heat at this time! I had some issues with the handle a few other times. I should not have closed it, it works better just cracked a little. The installer left only 1 inch clearance behind it too in my masonry fireplace. I always run it in the zone of less than 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[student2016]

sounds like a pretty common issue...

 

[30WCF]

I’m gonna have to start peeking at mine every so often and watch for movement.

 

[smartakita]

My Aspen door is now stuck closed also. I am glad there is not an emergency need for heat at this time! I had some issues with the handle a few other times. I should not have closed it, it works better just cracked a little. The installer left only 1 inch clearance behind it too in my masonry fireplace. I always run it in the zone of less than 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

After cooling the stove I stood over the top of the stove and really pulled the handle up hard and it released the latch, I might try the fix in the other post or just not close it any more.

 

[skitten]

I noticed my door was starting to get hard to open and yes, that little plate was bent. Unscrewed it and straigtened it as much as I could. Tricky to get it back on with the ball mechanism in place, and I presumably did it wrong since the ball no longer does it's job, but I least I can open and close the door more easily.

 

[wjohn]

Had to remove the door myself since no available appointments for the next 3 weeks.

Here is what's going on, pictures attached.

wjohn,​

Is it the same as your issue showed in the first post?

View attachment 318825 View attachment 318826

Yes, sorry - never got a notification for this. Interesting to see that several others are also having this issue now and that mine was not just a one off.

I am not sure if:
1. The metal tab that holds the little ball/spring detent is too thin and slowly bends more and more with each opening/closing, and eventually gets to the point where it lets the detent move to a point where it just kind of hangs up on the latch lever
2. The ball/spring detent carbons up or otherwise won't allow the ball to move freely anymore
3. The ball or latch surfaces wear to a point where they grab on each other and eventually hang up

Whatever the case is, the most concerning thing to me is being unable to latch the door shut after reloading on coals. I got lucky and smacked the handle hard enough to get the latch to close - which I'm sure happened by bending that tab out. After things cool down it's easy enough to remove.

 

[30WCF]

Mine is still fine. I just look at it a little closer from time to time. 👍