Stanley Stove problem

Springsteen

Hi all,
We have a Stanley Aoife stove nearly 2 months. It has a metal coil handle with plastic washers/parts. We had to get a replacement handle as the first handle kept falling off when the stove heated up. Replacement handle fitted. It too fell off as soon as the unit heated up. This time the plastic washer in the handle melted!

Has anyone heard of this problem?
Is it usual to have plastic parts for a stove?
Any ideas?

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Any suggestions appreciated.

S.

shedweller

Thats very surprising to hear of plastic parts on a stove. They are probably going to replace it with more plastic parts too unless they issue a redesigned part.
Can you thread a nut on the end of the handle to hold things together?

Springsteen

Thanks for the reply Shedweller, you can tread a nut. But it would need a washer to hold the coil ( handle ) in place. Currently a designed plastic screw able cap treads on cold, but when hot slips off and is showing signs of melting. I'll call Stanley tomorrow and see if I can get an all metal handle.

shedweller

You could cut a piece off the end of a sweeping brush handle and drill a hole in the centre of it so that it could be screwed onto the handle without the need for tapping threads. Could keep you going while waiting for a suitable replacement. Or just stay there forever...!!

bbavel

Hi I also have the same problem which developed after 18 months on an Aoife . I rang Waterford Stanley this morning. They advised even though advertised as a 5 year warranty the handle has only a 12 month warranty. The replacement cost €29 which is a bit cheeky. The lady I was talking talking was very nice and she advised this is a problem they have encountered before. Bit of a design fault. I would expect for the amount of money I spent on it that it would last longer.

Springsteen

bbavel wrote: »

Hi I also have the same problem which developed after 18 months on an Aoife . I rang Waterford Stanley this morning. They advised even though advertised as a 5 year warranty the handle has only a 12 month warranty. The replacement cost €29 which is a bit cheeky. The lady I was talking talking was very nice and she advised this is a problem they have encountered before. Bit of a design fault. I would expect for the amount of money I spent on it that it would last longer.

Hi Bbavel,

We have gone through 2 handles already in 3 months. The problem as I see it is plastic parts on a stove! Lunacy. We're waiting for an engineer from Stanley to arrive before we get a third handle. An obvious solution would be all metal parts/ or a wooden handle.

Good to know you're in a similar situation. They told me on the phone they'd never heard of such a problem on an Aoife stove.

I'll keep you posted as to what the engineer says.

Very disappointing.

S.

Springsteen

So, Waterford Stanley engineer arrived. He fitted a new handle ( the exact same as two previous ). He inspected the stove and its installation. He wrote a report and said he or the company would be in touch. He agreed it was ridiculous having plastic parts on a stove. The new handles plastic parts melted within 3 hours of the stove burning standard briquettes!

I'll keep the thread informed with the next update when Waterford Stanley contact me.

An obvious solution to me would be an all metal handle.

Regards,

S.

shedweller

Wow! You should have lit the stove while he was there and he could have replaced it again! Maybe then he might get peed off enough to make them change it!
Honestly, if it were me i would simply make up my own and never have to deal with it again.
You might be able to get a domed nut with a flange/washer built into it. I'll have a look on ebay...

Ok theres loads of flange nuts there (fancy titanium ones too!!) but the washer size is standard enough, maybe 20mm diameter. Might or might not do the job. Most motor factors will have these if you decide to go that way.

Ridiculous situation eh!!?

prf

The best thing to do in this case is to bring them to the small claims court.That will focus their mind.It will cost you 25€.
The warranty period will not matter as the stove is not fit for purpose.
You have rights as a consumer which exceed your rights under the warranty.

Springsteen

Shedweller, you're dead right. Any machine shop worth its salt would solve the problem for little cost. In fact I have contacts in such areas who are more than willing to solve my problem for free. If I have to, I will take them up on their kind offer, but, for the moment I think Waterford Stanley should stand up and be counted. I intend to let them try to resolve the situation. If they fall short I'll do two things, firstly, I'll dedicate myself to a campaign of making Waterford Stanley do the right thing through social media and as Prf suggests, the small claims court. Meanwhile, I'll fix it myself by getting an all metal handle made for the price of a pint locally. Big picture, if Waterford Stanley don't deliver or do the right thing I'll frustrate their efforts for sport.

I'll keep you posted.

S.

Springsteen

Update and Solution. 2 more handles fitted and melted! I'm losing count now, but I think I've gone through 5 handles.

Yesterday the engineer arrived with a new handle design, and in fairness to Waterford Stanley, it'll work. Essentially it's the same handle ( plastic parts too! ) but it's portable/ detachable. The only time the handle will be near the heat of the stove will be for loading fuel, therefore the plastic parts won't melt.

In fairness to Waterford Stanley, they were good to deal with. A little slow but they got there in the end. My only criticism would be directed at their design / R and D department. How can a design engineer stand over plastic parts for a stove?

Good luck,
S

shedweller

They seriously went and redesigned a detachable handle rather than make a metal nut/cap for the end of the original handle??!!
Spectacular.
Best of luck with it op. And dont forget to remove the handle after you use it or you'll be back to square one!

Sanchez83

I'd imagine they have used a handle off another stove as some of their stoves already have detachable handles.
The Aoife stove is designed and manufactured in China so changing the design of the handle will not happen fast.

delmonte4

I got a Stanley Aoife installed before the winter and have noticed that the secondary air control is not allowing any air into the stove. The primary spindle works as normal but when you go to refuel, it allows smoke out into the room. The secondary air knob pulls out with difficulty but once out nothing happens. Has anybody else had this problem?