I had a scratchy turning thermostat knob so I went in and applied the copper antiseize to the spring washers of the thermostat knob instead of my usual gun oil. The heavier lube should last longer and it certainly works at least as good in the short term. My fat fingers had a hard time fitting down there where the grease needed to go but it got done. While I had the thermostat cover off I thought I would take some pics of this often mysterious part of our stoves that is so very important. Pop the rear cover off after removing the screws with a #2 square drive bit and you see this throttle body. Air comes up from the sides and then drops down through the flapper into the primary intake manifold. The bimettalic spring is behind the throttle body so out of sight but when you adjust the knob you are just setting the preload on that bimettalic spring. The throttle blade reacts to the winding and unwinding of that spring in response to heat from the firebox. The little black set screw on that collar by the spring washers is what limits the stat knob travel to less than 360 degrees. The only somewhat sketchy thing is how the throttle blade is attached to the shaft. The welds look small and if they failed it would be real bad. I trust that this has never happened. My princess has that hole in the throttle plate so the air is never really shut off. You're not supposed to remove the cover and look at the stat, you're not supposed to run the stove with the stat cover off, and if you accidentally took that cover off be sure to fully close the stat (lowest setting) before replacing the cover since you can lodge the throttle blade in full open with the cover if you put it on without closing the throttle first. The stat cover has a max travel throttle blade stop screw in it that must remain in place, don't mess with it. Only the two lower screws in the back must be removed for access. I still lubed the throttle blade shaft with a tough of gun oil on each side. Gotta keep things moving smoothly.
Somehow we need to turn on China to the idea they need to copy this mechanism and produce add-on t-stats air control boxes for each stove manufacturer so we can order them direct off the internet and hook them on to our existing non-BK stoves. Of course the EPA would not allow this and some of us here would be forced to buy them illegally on the black market and enter a life of crime just to see how our stoves would behave with t-stat control. Oh yeah, I would do it!
