I was just accepting an annoying metallic chirping noise coming from my hastings. I greased everything from the front to the back of the versa grate, but when the stove was hot, it still chirped. Yesterday I noticed the bracket on the front of the stove, holding the bar that the moves the grate, was adjustable. I lowered it 1/8 of an inch. Silence.
Nice fix. I've never had a chirp issue on my Prescott, maybe because its lubed up. However the burnpot motor sure is a noisy damm thing, curious if your's is similar. Mine sounds like it's got loose gears in gearbox. I've packed it with grease and it may have helped slightly but not much. I'm thinking the noise is from the high ratio of gear reduction.
I think the versa grate was just sitting too high, and dragging across the bottom of the burn pot. Since that fix, the stove is as quiet as it can be.
I get a similar noise, and agree it's all the gear reduction. I did notice that after I lubed both bushings for the VersaGrate rod, it got a lot quieter. Less strain on the gears, I think, so less noise. Mine is barely audible now.
I'm all about the grease. But if the grate is too tight against the burn pot, especially when it is hot, metal on metal sounds will be heard. a little space makes a huge difference.
