Defiant Encore 2550 "air tube cover plate issues"

[storyhill]

When looking at the middle picture. There is the "primary air tube cover plate". You can see the phillips head bolt that is holding that area down. I actually broke that one getting it out. It didn't strip but my hammer drill just broke it about half way down. It looks like there is two bolts holding this. I got both off and thought I could get this part off. It is semi loose but is still firmly in. Is there cement that is holding this down still? I have both side plates off and the fire back lower/upper. The refractory is out also. I've tried hitting it with a hammer a few times if it was just cement holding it but that didn't help. Any help to get that piece out? THanks.

 

[storyhill]

So after looking at it and reading the instructions thoroughly it looks like the back section of this part is actually under another part of the stove which requires you to take the front and sides off before getting this part off. So unless you want to recement a bunch of pieces just leave that phillips head bolt alone. I know it's not ideal but I am planning on just cementing the head of that broken bolt down in the hole just to cover up the hole. It looks like it's still stable even without that bolt there. If it ends up being a problem I will have to do something but I didn't want to take the chance of breaking anymore bolts or not being able to recement everything back together. Hope this helps someone.

 

[begreen]

It'd be better to drill it out, then retap with a bottoming tap bit. Use a stop or tape on the drill bit to set the depth.

 

[storyhill]

Yes I tried to drill it out with a reversed thread bit after I already broke the top off but with the head off the material I had to work with was a bit too small and the reverse bit just kept on turning through the material and breaking it off. Maybe it would have been a good idea right off the bat but I actually did get one out without an issue.

Now that I re read your post. Do you mean just drill through and destroy the bolt and also the threaded bottom but retap the bottom? I've actually never retapped anything. That means to put threads in a material correct? What makes this area hard for me is that the female threads don't start until a 1-2 inches below the head of the bolt and I have no access to it except that little hole in the air tube cover.

 

[storyhill]

It'd be better to drill it out, then retap with a bottoming tap bit. Use a stop or tape on the drill bit to set the depth.

WHen you say 'drill it out', do you mean literally to take a drill bit and drill through the whole bolt and to stop before I hit bottom? If I do this won't there still be some metal left from the bolt in the threaded portion? If I tap it, i've never done that but can probably figure it out, will that clean out the remain bolt fragments? Another thing, will this tapping tool work when I have to be working about 1.5-2 inches away from the threaded portion as the cover plate does block access.

 

[storyhill]

It'd be better to drill it out, then retap with a bottoming tap bit. Use a stop or tape on the drill bit to set the depth.

So i looked at a video explaining how to tap a hole. The guy drilled out a hole in the metal and then had a tapping bit with a rather long handle, maybe 12 inches, 6 inches on either side of the tapping bit with a hole in the middle for the tapping bit. My concern is with the space constraints of the stove, not being able to move the tapping bit as I'll hit the sides of the stove. Is there a different way to turn the tapping bit?

 

[begreen]

They make smaller tap handles. My tap handle is more like 3.5" across.

 

[storyhill]

They make smaller tap handles. My tap handle is more like 3.5" across.

ok, great. I'll look into that. THanks

 

[storyhill]

update: I found out that the portion that is threaded in the bottom of the stove actually goes all the way through. I just have to tip the stove on its side, with the handle removed obviously, and I can access it from the bottom without having to deal with the space issues of working from inside the stove. THat should make it much easier.

 

[storyhill]

I successfully got the broken bolt off by tipping it on it's side to expose th bottom. The hole for the bolt is accessable from there and I was able to drill it out and then retap it for the same size. I will be replacing it with a hex head on the next one. Hopefully now I can just replace the combustion throad hood, a few bolts and regasket everything. Hopefully I don't hit any other big snags.