Could This Be Bent!?

Hey guys. Does anyone have this same stove to tell me if this brick retainer is bent. Its a Gibraltar SCR It sits tight to the sides so if it was straight it wouldn't fit.
But it doesn't hold the center bricks in. Is it warped? Will it be ok if it is?

Yes it is warped. That part is called the rear brick retainer.It won't hurt to burn with it that way but when you go to shake your'e grates the bricks may wiggle a little and possibly fall front if there isn't enough coal in front of them.The part is still available I believe from stove parts plus(expensive though)I made one myself from Angle iron,wasn't to hard to make if I remenber correctly.

Oh great. BTW. Is the banking plate supposed to be straight or does that have a bow to it normally? Mine has an inward bow. Like a dam would be.

If I replace these parts, are they going to just warp again?
Can I cut pieces of fire brick to fit in that bow area to hold them in tight?

My banking plate is straigh,no bow.I bought my banking plate new, the stove didn't have one when I got it.I think these parts get bowed from the stove being overfired.If you do get new cast parts make sure you season them before use,I did mine in the kitchen oven as per the instructions that came with them.Coal berner know's alot about these gibralter stove's maybe he'll chime in when he get's online,good luck.
Forgot to answer the other ? I guess you could cut brick to fit the bow but you would need higher brick,the bricks are standard size brick and I believe they don't come longer than what you need to do that,you would have to make peices to fit in the bow and then put a steel spline betwwen them ,not worth the effort imo.

Couldn't those piece just wedge in there to hold pressure. Then once they get baked they will stay?

If you don't want to replace that piece with new angle iron you could try packing in some stove cement to hold things together.

Will I be able to get that out if I ever needed to?

I would think so, usually just a little tap with a hammer will loosen things up.

So trimming some firebrick to fit won't work to good?

You could cement the pieces in place.

I vote for removing the brick, vaccuming it clean & glopping appropriately with furnace cement. It'll fill the voids & keep the bricks in. Yes, it'll easily break out if needed.

Can it be brought somewhere and bent back?

What do you have to lose trying to bend it back yourself? heat it to dull red and put it in a vice and try to straighten it, or put it between two blocks and try to straighten best you can. Or a blacksmith or welding shop could straighten, In an earlier post (now gone into cyberspave) I suggested it might be a tad too long, thus when it heats up and expands it has no place to go but to warp upward. Check the length.

hyway61.........

I think the overfireing has baked the carbon out of the cast iron. It won't be worth what it would cost to straighten. It would have to be heated evenly all over in order not to crack, unlike steel. I have replaced two cast heatshields in my wood stove with plate steel, and that is holding up better than the cast did. Go figure! Not all steel is created equal, so ask for steel to resist warping in high heat applications. A good weld shop can get the right steel and fabricate what you need. Otherwise I vote for the furnace (stove) cement.

I emailed the guy I bought it from and told him how I felt. He hasnt responded. I told him he should offer to pay for the new parts.
Do you think I should have even bothered? or should he be held responsible.