VC WWL - flying off the handle

[saichele]

Just got a somewhat panicked, somewhat irate call from the dear wife regarding the new insert. It's actually been doing relatively well (nothing as spectacular as MO's experiences) but she reloaded the stove and managed to break the little removable handle they sent to plug into the door latch.

This piece in particular was clearly never more than an afterthought from an engineering standpoint, but I'm surprised she managed to break it. Apparently she was closing the door and the brass head sheared off from the wood body.

The door is safely closed, but good grief.

Another trip to the local stove shop... Maybe they replace enough of these that they have one in stock...

Steve

 

[Mo Heat]

Hey Steve,

Hmmm. Mine is made of plastic. It has a machine screw 'imbedded' into one end of the plastic that sticks out to allow the brass 'thingy' to screw onto it. I wonder if allowing the brass 'thingy' to unscrew a bit created undue shear stress on the screw which broke. I'll have to make sure I keep mine screwed on tight and cross my fingers.

I'd definitely get another one. If it takes a long time, you might be able to repair the broken one by drilling the screw out somehow. I guess you'd need a vice and a drill press to do it right. Got those laying around? If so, maybe you could get a screw that is self tapping on one end and machine thread on the other. I've seen these on ceiling hooks, but their might be something much better.

Good luck. Thanks for sharing that. I'll keep a closer eye on mine, now.

 

[saichele]

Take it as a warning, but it was mostly venting.

Went up to the stove shop, of course they didn't have one in stock, but they ordered one under warranty. I raised the issue of what to do about the insert for the next month until the truck comes in, and they managed to come up with a non-matching (right size, but wrong finish) one from the back somewhere. So, heat continues to flow, and the stove shop made a small step back up towards even.

Steve

 

[Mo Heat]

I think I'm going to use some lock tite on that brass thingy to keep it from working off all the time like it does. I'm constantly screwing that thing back on.