Introducing... My Glenwood No. 6 Base Heater

lobsterman wrote:Another place where my stove may need some attention is on the ash door. The springs on the air vents are nice and tight but on the left edge of the door where the handle is, it looks like the seal is not perfect (pretty tight, though). I tried to capture this in a picture. Part of this may be corrected with new pins. Part of it is due to a tiny chip in the ridge of the removable plate for grate access. DJ and William I am curious how perfectly tight your ash door fits.

Lobsterman,

Here's a photo of my bottom door, similar to the one you posted. I'd say my bottom door has pretty much an air tight fit...

dj

Thanks for the photo, yours is cleaner than mine, I have a tight fit like a glove on the hinge side but not on the other. I think I can fix it with new pins

Hi Lobsterman, I'm currious, is that ashpan door closed as tight as it will go? can you push on it with finger, and close it more?? Have you checked at the hinge end of the door to see if there is some piece of casting that is keeping the door from closing??
If the hinge pin mounts on the stove body are bolted to the stove body, you could shim them out from the stove to move the pivot/centerline of the hinge pin so that the door wil close.. If they are not bolted on, then you will have some more 'fun' fitting that door to seal tight.. but it will be worth the work..

First thing of course, will be to remove the hinge pin ? and see if the door and the base are perfectly flat and mate with a tight fit like the above photo shows.. Some filing /grinding may be needed to get an 'airtight' fit.

That was a heck of a find.. congratulations.. looking forward to hearing about it in operation..

Greg L

Lobsterman,

One more thing you may wish to check. If you pick the bottom door up while closing, you might get it to seat up against the stove base.

I have to pick my bottom door up when I'm closing it, the top left corner hits the tab that holds the grate plate if I don't. That will leave a gap similar to what you've shown. I left one day with the fire going and hadn't done that. Came home 6 hours later and my wife had all the windows in the house open... It was 80 + degrees in here....

dj

Greg, thanks for responding, I appreciate it... the pin sockets are not adjustable being part of the cast. I can't get the pins out, they are frozen tight broke one off with vice grips so will have to drill them out. I believe the door will mate flat.
DJ I don't have an up-down problem my door needs to slide every so slightly to the left and the pins which look kind of deformed wont allow that. I have to drill out the frozen pins and check how the door mates and then get some new pins.

lobsterman wrote:Greg, thanks for responding, I appreciate it... the pin sockets are not adjustable being part of the cast. I can't get the pins out, they are frozen tight broke one off with vice grips so will have to drill them out. I believe the door will mate flat.
DJ I don't have an up-down problem my door needs to slide every so slightly to the left and the pins which look kind of deformed wont allow that. I have to drill out the frozen pins and check how the door mates and then get some new pins.

Sounds like you have it pretty well under control. Although, don't you just hate it when you break things along the way?

If you need pictures or anything that may help, just let me know.

dj

The french was flying... I was concerned about busting the hinge tabs on the door if I got careless. Then Murphy's Law both batteries are dead for my cordless drill and I can;t find the chuck for my other drill. Oh well, time for a break (LOL). You might take a quick look at the pins on your door, are they the same? Mine had a thinner longer pin on the bottom.

Gently warm the cast with a propane torch,, not an oxy-acetylene.. then use regular motor oil on the pin,, let it cool,, do it again, let it cool.. each time the cast cools some of the oil will be drawn in as it cools.. I've used this technique many times..

Drilling cast is a bit tricky.. you MUST be on the center of the steel pin.. if your drill wanders, the cast is soft and will cut and drill easier than the pin.. BE carefull, you've got an antique there, you don't want to mess it up..
Since you have to or should take it all apart for resealing with furnace cement anyway, can you get the base separated so you can use a drill press to carefully control the drilling operation??

Wait.. here's an idea.. maybe you don't need to remove the door and do battle with the pins.. first.. is the door flat, that is, is it tight all along the hinge side, or on just one corner? it's possible the cast had some internal stresses that finally 'worked out' from years and from heat/cool cycles.. you may consider useing a belt sander or a hand held grinder, or a Dremel tool, on the hinge side of the door to slowly remove metal at the tight fitting spots, to allow the door to fit at the latch side..

You may not like that idea.. but if the pins are going to be a real pain,, this 'hand fitting' of the door in situ may be the best way.. only a .020" [cardboard thickness] will net you 1/8-1/4" at the latch..

Just something to ponder...

Hope this helps..

Greg L

dlj wrote:

lobsterman wrote: I am sure you are correct, I was thinking this was logical before you mentioned it. Also on the inside of my small flap to access the the grates I have the lettering GBH 1909 47, I wonder if it is the 47th casting of that series.

I don't think so, I have the exact some number inside my flap. We couldn't both have the 47th casting LOL

I hate to be the skeptic here, but I'm not so sure about the dating thing. I think it might be a mold ID number. I'm not convinced it's actually tied to a date...

dj

You could be right, the number after the date could be a part number. But I disagree on the importance of the secondary air ring. Even though the stove will work ok without it. It is a feature that greatly enhances the efficiency and performance of the stove. To me the main point of these stoves is their superior performance.

lobsterman wrote:The french was flying... I was concerned about busting the hinge tabs on the door if I got careless. Then Murphy's Law both batteries are dead for my cordless drill and I can;t find the chuck for my other drill. Oh well, time for a break (LOL). You might take a quick look at the pins on your door, are they the same? Mine had a thinner longer pin on the bottom.

Both pins in mine are the same. About 3/4" long and running about 0.210" diameter. Holes they go into on the stove run a bit over .310". Here's a pic. Dang door is hot - stove is running..

dj

If the door is not warped then the other item to look at is the pawl that holds the door against the opening. The pawl is probably worn. It is cold peened (I guess that is the right term) to the latch. The pawl is simply a small wedge that pulls the door tight. Check to see if it is worn or not. If you can push the door tightly closed with your finger then a new pawl filed to the correct size will fix it.

Thanks. I drilled out both of the pins undersize 1/16 or so (broke two drills). I pinned the door with a couple of nails temporarily and now I can slide it slightly to the left and see that the fit of the whole door is tight (hurrah!). However, I discovered a second problem in that the piece on the back of the handle is rounded instead of flat and this pulls the door slightly out and to the right when it is latched. Probably this caused a deformation of the pins over the years. I think the handle needs to be redone. I will take a photo when my camera battery is charged and you can compare with yours.

Here are the pics... the door mates very well to the stove body after I drilled out the mismatching pins. In the second pic I think you can see that the inside "business" edge of the door latch is rounded and therefore does not latch properly.

lobsterman wrote:Thanks. I drilled out both of the pins undersize 1/16 or so (broke two drills). I pinned the door with a couple of nails temporarily and now I can slide it slightly to the left and see that the fit of the whole door is tight (hurrah!). However, I discovered a second problem in that the piece on the back of the handle is rounded instead of flat and this pulls the door slightly out and to the right when it is latched. Probably this caused a deformation of the pins over the years. I think the handle needs to be redone. I will take a photo when my camera battery is charged and you can compare with yours.

The pawl acts as a cam to pull the door tight as you close the latch handle. It is simply a piece of steel shaped like a triangle with the narrow part on the bottom and the wide end on the top.

Yes, thank you, that is what I was trying to say, my pawl is worn. I could not notice this until I fixed the first problem of the door not hanging on center. At least the inside casting where the pawl grabs is in good shape.