DS Machine Quality Control

 
rberq
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Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 10:21 am

OK, first let me say I like my new DS 1300. It's easy to care for and burns well. Secondary air inlet seems well-designed and I have had no explosions yet. :)

But now I have to crab just a little about quality control. As delivered, the ash pit door was very hard to close and did not seal right. The reason was, someone was very sloppy installing the gasket so it was thick at the hinge end but stretched thin at the handle end. I had to remove it and wire-brush the "generous" amount of rock-hard cement and install new gasket.

Second problem was air leakage around the ash pit door frame, enough so the thermostat would not properly limit stove temperature. The door frame bolts onto the stove body, and at places you could easily slip a piece of newspaper between body and frame. At one spot where the door frame meets the bottom plate, a light puff of compressed air from the outside would blow the ashes around inside. Fixed it by running a bead of high-temperature silicone all the way around the frame.

Third problem was the air inlet door bound up and would not close. The little hinge ears at the top of the door were rubbing on the inlet frame. I had to loosen the hinge bolt a little and pry the ear with a screwdriver to bend it and make more clearance.

Not major problems, but not what I was led to expect about Amish craftsmanship. Things must have gone all to hell in Amish-land when they let a telephone into the factory. :P


 
hman
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: D.S.Machine 1400 (sold) looking for another stove
Coal Size/Type: Lump/Bituminous

Post by hman » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 11:54 am

rberg,I wondered if you ever bought a DS Machine stove or not.I wish I could've got the 1300 instead of the 1400.They said at the factory could not install the flue out the top.I had to put new rope gasket around the feed door and the ash pan door.Also the knobs on the feed door would not close up against the door.The knobs was going up against a jam nut.I ground down the jam nut were it would let the knobs close tight against the door.Good luck with your new stove.

 
Bruce M
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1627 basement stove

Post by Bruce M » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 11:56 am

I'm sorry to hear that about your stove. When I buy something of this nature I to do not expect to be having to fiddle with it and especially not have to tweak so much just to get it to work properly. I hope, and suspect, that yours is not the norm coming out of their shop, mine certainly had none of these or any other defects and I am very pleased with its construction. Maybe the worker who built your stove got cut off by another horse and buggy on the way to the shop that morning, one never knows. :lol:
Last edited by Bruce M on Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Poconoeagle
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Post by Poconoeagle » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 12:00 pm

maybe they were in a beard cutting wrestling match and couldnt see where to weld.... :o

 
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LDPosse
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Post by LDPosse » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 12:03 pm

I'm surprised to hear about these issues! My brand new DS1500 circulator seems to be very well put together, luckily.

Have either of you talked to DS about your issues, and gotten any response? I guess living quite a distance away makes repair parts more of an issue to get. I'm only 30 miles from DS. If I'd have had those issues, I would have driven back to the shop and asked for a replacement!! :mad:

 
rberq
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Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 3:28 pm

LDPosse wrote:Have either of you talked to DS about your issues, and gotten any response?
I'm going to write to them as soon as I can remember where to buy postage stamps. Just to gently chide them.

Like I said, these were not major issues, just irritations. I did call about the door gasket, to find out what diameter gasket to get. They were apologetic and offered to mail me new gasket rope, but for the few dollars involved I just went to the local stove store and bought it.

 
rberq
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Posts: 6445
Joined: Mon. Apr. 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 3:38 pm

hman wrote:I wish I could've got the 1300 instead of the 1400
:lol: I wish I could've got the 1400 instead of the 1300. But I was kind of tight on space and it's amazing how much difference a few inches can make. My interior decorator aka my better half was already upset about replacing the "cute little Harman" with something slightly bigger.


 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 4:32 pm

Did you buy the stove directly from DS Machines or one of their dealers?

If you bought it from a dealer maybe the issue is in how long the dealer had it and where it was stored. If it was from DSM themselves and it was one from the warehouse again, it could've sat there for a while before you bought it, and they do run fork lifts through the warehouse.

 
rberq
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Posts: 6445
Joined: Mon. Apr. 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 4:49 pm

I'm On Fire wrote:Did you buy the stove directly from DS Machines or one of their dealers?
If you bought it from a dealer maybe the issue is in how long the dealer had it and where it was stored. If it was from DSM themselves and it was one from the warehouse again, it could've sat there for a while before you bought it, and they do run fork lifts through the warehouse.
Not only telephones, but forklifts too :!: :?: They might as well be Mennonites like my grandparents!
I bought directly from DS Machines.

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 5:17 pm

These are true concerns, I am planning on a DS Circulator or 300-9 hot air furnace for next season. Hopefully they become aware of the issues and work hard to resolve them. I'm sure David and Amos would be willing to address anyone's stove issues immediately to the best of their abilities.

 
hman
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Location: Chillicothe,Ohio
Hand Fed Coal Stove: D.S.Machine 1400 (sold) looking for another stove
Coal Size/Type: Lump/Bituminous

Post by hman » Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 8:35 pm

I got mine from a dealer,R&T Stoves,and I called Bob about the door gaskets and he sent new ones at no charge.The gasket was hard were they had put to much gasket cement on the door,and it soaked the gasket.I haven't had any other issues with my stove at all.I would buy another DS Machine product without any hesitation.
Bob at R&T Stoves is great to deal with,and will take the time to answer any question's or problems a person might have.

 
rberq
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Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 11:13 am

14 months since the original post, and I'm going to crab again about my DS 1300. For an air-tight stove, it is not very air-tight.

I wiped down the glass with a dry paper towel and tossed the towel into the stove. When I closed the door, I could see towel flames between the body of the stove and the door frame. It's obvious there is an air leak. So I tried snugging the bolts a bit -- they are self-tapping screws, and three of the six are stripped. :mad:

I think I can wait until spring shutdown to take off the door frame and replace the screws with bolts with real nuts on them. I called DSM and they are sending me a tube of stove cement to use when the time comes. Whoopie. I'd rather they send me the guy who originally assembled the stove, and let HIM do the work -- right, this time.

 
JohnB
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Post by JohnB » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 11:52 am

rberq wrote:Not major problems, but not what I was led to expect about Amish craftsmanship. Things must have gone all to hell in Amish-land when they let a telephone into the factory. :P
I think it's more of a DS Machine problem since the Amish folks at Hitzer are still turning out high quality products. Zero QC issues with the 50-93 I bought a few months ago.

 
oldsch
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Post by oldsch » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 12:05 pm

It almost sounds like the front sheet metal that the door frames bolt to is not flat. I could see having a casting problem in one door frame but both seems unlikely.
I just got a 1400 this year and one of the main reasons I picked it over the Hitzer was the excellent fit and finish and heavy-duty construction.

 
rberq
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Posts: 6445
Joined: Mon. Apr. 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 1:17 pm

oldsch wrote:It almost sounds like the front sheet metal that the door frames bolt to is not flat. I could see having a casting problem in one door frame but both seems unlikely.
Are the door frames cast iron, or are they steel? My metallurgy skills are such that all I know is they are black. :lol:
A straight-edge shows the stove body to be flat.


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