Summers Heat 2400-sq ft 50-SHSSW02 Door Problems.

[kyguylal]

I lucked out with a straight door and frame.

I'm burning pretty light in mine right now. Wind chill of 17 out and my house is maintaining 76 in the stove room with 17' ceilings and 68 in the farthest rooms. Nearly 3,500sf of total heating area.

The stove is enormous and I can really stack it full. I have 18" splits with plenty of room left over on the sides

The blower does pretty much nothing but that's fine.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My bowed door is getting steadily worse but since its warmer outside and the draft is weaker the stove dont over heat. Ill be trying to get them to replace it sometime soon. While i can still test the new ones.

 

[Chas0218]

I've been following this and can't believe they didn't check the one they sent you. When I had my issue there wasn't as much of a gap, the total gap in mine was 3/16" on top and bottom. It seems that yours are only on the bottom. I would imagine a bottle jack and piece of 2x4 should correct the stove no problem but the cast door is another story. I'm not saying that you should try in anyway fixing their screw up but there is the possibility. The cast door is going to have imperfections no matter what manufacturer that is the reason for the stove gasket. Most castings will have +/- 1/16" tolerance that's just the nature of the beast. That is also the reason that many manufacturers will grind/machine the back of the castings flat (which englander obviously doesn't do). One added step in their building/forming process and they will never have anymore issues.

 

[Hogwildz]

I've been following this and can't believe they didn't check the one they sent you. When I had my issue there wasn't as much of a gap, the total gap in mine was 3/16" on top and bottom. It seems that yours are only on the bottom. I would imagine a bottle jack and piece of 2x4 should correct the stove no problem but the cast door is another story. I'm not saying that you should try in anyway fixing their screw up but there is the possibility. The cast door is going to have imperfections no matter what manufacturer that is the reason for the stove gasket. Most castings will have +/- 1/16" tolerance that's just the nature of the beast. That is also the reason that many manufacturers will grind/machine the back of the castings flat (which englander obviously doesn't do). One added step in their building/forming process and they will never have anymore issues.

The back side of the cast door on the PE stoves is not machined. It is as is from the mold, and has no issues with straightness. Most manufacturers don't machine the back of cast doors, no need to, and it takes away from product thickness and strength. Not sure how you came up with most do?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I've been following this and can't believe they didn't check the one they sent you. When I had my issue there wasn't as much of a gap, the total gap in mine was 3/16" on top and bottom. It seems that yours are only on the bottom. I would imagine a bottle jack and piece of 2x4 should correct the stove no problem but the cast door is another

3/16 is quite a gap for a gasket to make up ,but mine is closer to 1/4"at the bottom and 3/16 at the top. Also with this new stove the door latch side (right side) is bowed out at the latch to make it worse. I did not have that issue with the original stove, so in that sense the replacement stove is worse than the original. Failed the dollar bill test right out of the packaging. They told me they were testing the replacement stove before shipping, but i dont think anyone botherer to even look at the replacement. I had to burn off the mfg oils so for sure no one did a test burn.

 

[edyit]

Seasoned Oak, you are much calmer and easier going individual than I am.

 

[kyguylal]

I was very nervous after reading this thread. I must have lucked out big time. It's a shame about your doors too. The stove burns very well. I'm burning pine and I'm left with only a very fine powder ash after a big burn. Secondaries kicking as they should and the stove looks great with the large glass front.

I've burnt hot and I checked out my door after each burn and it's completely fine. Maybe they thickened up the mold?

 

[Chas0218]

View attachment 242754
3/16 is quite a gap for a gasket to make up ,but mine is closer to 1/4"at the bottom and 3/16 at the top. Also with this new stove the door latch side (right side) is bowed out at the latch to make it worse. I did not have that issue with the original stove, so in that sense the replacement stove is worse than the original. Failed the dollar bill test right out of the packaging. They told me they were testing the replacement stove before shipping, but i dont think anyone botherer to even look at the replacement. I had to burn off the mfg oils so for sure no one did a test burn.

They "tested" mine too but I don't think they actually burn in it. My guess is they do a vacuum test. Also I think they just check the stove and door with a straight edge or at least hope they do. I mean in their QC they should be checking that anyway being this is a known issue.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

They "tested" mine too but I don't think they actually burn in it. My guess is they do a vacuum test. Also I think they just check the stove and door with a straight edge or at least hope they do. I mean in their QC they should be checking that anyway being this is a known issue.

IF they did it certainly failed a vacuum test. It failed the dollar bill test right out of the packaging. now after about 10 fires, air is coming in everywhere around the door. Mostly the bottom and the latch side which is way worse than my original stove as it protrudes outward. Ill be contacting them this week for a possible solution.

 

[moresnow]

Ill be contacting them this week for a possible solution.

Refund and run would be my next step Plenty of decent stoves out there. Best of luck.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Refund and run would be my next step Plenty of decent stoves out there. Best of luck.

I would be open to having them replace it with smaller 2000 model which does not seem to have these problems but i doubt they would go for that.Ill make that suggestion though.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

After about a Dozen burns with the replacement stove i noticed the glass gasket is falling out from around the latch side of the door. Possibly from the door warping more. I sent some pics to englander clearly showing the air coming in all along the bottom and on the latch side and as usual they are asking for more pictures as if this is a rare thing. So ill take more pictures, im thinking by the time the resolve this it will be too warm out to make a fire and ill be resuming in the fall but at this point i hope they send me the smaller stove. Iv lost all confidence in this model.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

So now it looks like ENGLANDER is officially washing its hands of this particular stove warranty. They are giving me the royal run around at this point. Keep asking for more pictures,now telling me the pictures dont show the stove warpage. Ill post an example and illustrate what i mean.

 

[begreen]

Looks to be almost a 1/8" gap there.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Looks to be almost a 1/8" gap there.

More than 1/8th, when pictured from above you can see the 1/8 marks on the straight edge and the gap is larger. The frustrating part is, this is the replacement stove that i had to get help to load the original stove ,drive 60 miles to pick up and get help to unload and install this one. I did have a plan to reengineer the other stove if i got stuck with it but this one is worse with the latch end of the door protruding outward, not sure that can be fixed. Now the glass gasket is falling out from around the glass after just 10 fires in the stove. That is letting in lots of additional air as well. I also sent them pictures of the flame all around the door gasket and they claim that doesnt prove anything.

 

[billb3]

Maybe have someone from the fire dept. come and condemn it.

Course, then they won't want you to use it.

 

[begreen]

I stopped suggesting this stove to people this last season due to these issues. It's quite a letdown compared to their other stoves.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I was going to try to have them replace it with the smaller stove stove but the fire box size and burn times are so much less with the 01 stove. I may end up having to fix this myself. Not sure how to fix the latch side protruding out ,heat it up with a torch and pound and hope for the best? The door will be a challenge as its cast iron. The stove performs great when the door seals which is only in the first few fires, not long after initial fire. As the gasket flattens and the door warps a little more the temp quickly go up past the recommended 600. I don quite understand why they are doubting me as they have my first stove as proof of all these issues ,but the tech im dealing with thanked me for jumping through all of these hoops which is just what they are making me do.

 

[Z33]

What really concerning is that @stoveguy2esw hasn't even made an appearance in this thread. He has been a valuable member when it comes to all things ESW.

The poor quality control, customer service run around, and his absence from this forum would definitely dissuade me from buying another ESW product to replace my NC-30.

 

[begreen]

Take a common 1/8" thick item and slide it into the gap between the face of the stove and the straight edge, then take a picture that shows how seriously warped the face is. Maybe use a stack of 4 credit cards slightly spread apart so that you can see there are 4?

 

[Highbeam]

Maybe three quarters

 

[Seasoned Oak]

At least im not needing to use the stove with the warm weather. Should certainly be resolved by the time the cold wind blows again.

 

[dj99]

Wow, am I late to this party! I have posted before about my tribulations with this stove. I too had not so much warpage as door fitment problems. They first sent me a new gasket and hinges for the Madison. So wrong! My hinge side was so far off that it would not seal and you could see fire between the stove and gasket. I went so far as to send pictures and videos. They finally called suggested a replacement stove sent out across the country at the cost of sending the old door and EPA label back. I too was surprised that the new stove had the exact same defect! It's no fun moving these big stoves around. I left my mark at Lowes in the form of a review that suggests you use a 1" gasket (not even 7/8" will work, trust me). Since then the stove works pretty much like it should. The larger gasket may fill your gap also. Sorry it took this long to respond!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Iv sent everything they have asked me to.(Twice)

Wow, am I late to this party! I have posted before about my tribulations with this . I too was surprised that the new stove had the exact same defect! It's no fun moving these big !

Now they are telling me me to try take the stove back to lowes , but after 3+ yrs i doubt if lowes will do anything. Their return policy only spans 90 days. But ill try that route anyway. I think the reason they dont want to do another replacement is because all the stoves of this model have the same defect, which they try to mitigate with the ridiculously thick door gasket. On the worst stoves the thick gasket just isnt enough. The main problem with my current stove is, i can only burn 3 or 4 pcs of wood at a time, before the stove top temps start climbing over the recommended 600F due to all the excess air coming in around the door. Same exact situation as the first stove. So im constantly loading the stove with one or 2 pcs of wood. Forget overnight burns.

 

[dj99]

Have you tried a 1" gasket? It does seal our door pretty well. The dollar bill test finally passes with this gasket. It doesn't seem to affect anything but to make the stove work correctly. We also have a rear mounted fan running constantly, so that may be what is keeping it within safe operating range. I also modified the interior with extra bricks to entirely cover the exposed steel on the inside of the firebox.