Removing squirrel stove air intake bolts

[James Dyson]

Hi all,

I'm replacing the front and back plates on my Moros 1430. I need to remove the air intake from the top plate to get at the bolts which secure the top plate to the side plates.

The bolts are completely frozen in place. Tips on removing them?

Cheers,

James

[rusty69]

Soak them in plus gas, or diesel.

 

 

Usually doesn't work, but also worth trying the old tightening it up before trying to undo it trick.

 

You could also try heating the area with a blow torch.

 

Oh, and make sure you use a good screwdriver that fits. Preferably one with a handle that fits your hand well.

 

If all else fails, drill them out. Or grind the heads off then drill out the stub from the threaded casting, or use a bolt extractor.

 

I changed the glass in our squirrel the other day. The screws were totally seized. I ended up just moving the tabs in the end that secure the glass in place.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by rusty69

[Tracy D'arth]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Soak them in plus gas, or diesel.

 

If all else fails, drill them out.

 

I changed the glass in our squirrel the other day. The screws were totals seized. I ended up just moving the tabs in the end that secure the glass in place.

 

 

I do the same, its not worth trying to get them out.

 

Gas Axe?

[BEngo]

Dont bother with plus gas.  Go straight to  grind the heads off with an angle grinder.  Usually this frees the screw too, so you can grab the stub with mole grips and unscrew it.

 

Replace all the bolts  with A4 stainless hex socket  cap head screws and put them in with plenty of copper grease.  Do not over tighten them 'cos the various bits need to move as the stove warms up.

 

N

[fretman]

Have replaced a lot of glass in the Morso stove's and the screws are always drilled out and re-tapped 2ba or 1ba if bad,, never get them out in one go

[BEngo]

I find the best thing to do with any new Squirrel stove is to take the screws out  and refit with copper grease.  Even the standard cr@p mild steel fasteners will then  come undone when needed, even years after.  For a ritzy job, or on an  already well used stove then, as above, replace the screws with stainless cap heads after grinding the heads off the originals.

 

N

[ditchcrawler]

Strange thing is that I changed the glass on my woodburner at home just before we came away and they screwed out quite easily, I wasn't expecting that.

[James Dyson]

Thank you very much everyone for useful comments!