Accessing FIREPLACE 36" FLAT FRONT TITAN WF-36S

[JBill9694]

The other evening the heating element on our fireplace would not heat. Yesterday morning it worked, but later SWMBO said it stopped working. All the lights come on, just no heat. I suspect a loose wire making intermittent connection. Even though the manual said to have an electrician do any repairs, including changing the LED bulb, I thought I would try to take a look anyways and see if it is something obvious. Which brings me to the problem, how to access the fire place.

From the manual, it looks like the glass front should be removable by pulling on the top of the panel and then lifting it out at the bottom after it rotates. We've pulled on the top of the panel as hard as we dare with no success. I was able to lift panel up slightly and we pulled again with no success. Tried not lifting the panel all the way up and pulling, still no success.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get the glass panel off? Once it's off, it looks like the mounting screws can then be removed and the fireplace pulled out of it's opening. Is this correct?

[Jlawles2]

I think there are 2 screws that hold the glass frame down, lift and it comes off, then its a lot of screws that hold the FP in to the opening.

[Country Campers]

d2reid Has done a write up on how he removed his fireplace , maybe do a little search and you will find it. I am not sure if it is the same model and maybe he will be along to add a little insight.

Brian

[JBill9694]

I think there are 2 screws that hold the glass frame down, lift and it comes off, then its a lot of screws that hold the FP in to the opening.

Nope. No screws. From the the owner's manual installation instructions it looks like there should be two clips, one at each of the upper corners. Of course the manual doesn't show any details of these clips or discuss how to remove the glass panel, only how to rotate it up and snap into place.

I can pull/pry the top corners out a little before I get worried about breaking something, but not enough to get a peek at what's holding the panel in place.

[JBill9694]

d2reid Has done a write up on how he removed his fireplace , maybe do a little search and you will find it. I am not sure if it is the same model and maybe he will be along to add a little insight.

Brian

Thanks Brian, It looks like d2reid was fighting with a Twin Star fireplace. I'll hang in here and see if anyone else responds. I know my dealer pulled the panel under warranty to tighten a loose screw that was vibration so that is another source for me, but they've had a lot of turnover in techs in the last three years.

By the way, the heater element is now coming on with start up and then shutting down, not restarting based on thermostat control. Maybe a bad thermal fuse instead of loose connection?

[d2reid]

Thanks Brian, It looks like d2reid was fighting with a Twin Star fireplace.

Yup, it was a Twin Star. What make/model of fire place are you wrestling with? Edit: Duh, you have the make model in the thread header...

On mine the tabs at the top had set screws in them, hard to see. And the big factor for me was having to take some of the molding off the fireplace mantle.

Ok, that was weird, searching for that model led me to an SOB forum which led me to a different company that posted a manual. So this may not be relavent.



Hope that helped......

[JBill9694]

Circled back to this yesterday morning:

My build sheet lists Dave Carter & Associates as the manufacturer of the fireplace. After some effort I contacted their office in Indiana and learned that they are distributors for many RV related parts, not manufacturers. Did learn that the fireplace was manufactured by World Wide Fireplace. Internet search failed to find World Wide Fireplace, call David Carter & Associates back and was told that they do not have any contact information for World Wide Fireplace (How they can distribute fireplaces from someone without knowing how to contract them I don't know, but I have my suspicions that I'll explain later.) Dave Carter & Associates said that my dealer should have the information.

Called my dealer and as suspected they had no contact information for World Wide Fireplace (why would they?). I emailed GD and got a same day response from Brooke, that they also have no contact information for World Wide Fireplace.

Pondering my next step at this point. On the plus side, SWMBO has okayed scraping the fireplace for a plug in baseboard type electric heater and converting the rest of the empty space into storage. So if I end up breaking the glass panel while trying to remove it, it won't be the end of the world.

Now for the suppositions. The fireplace is certified as safe by a company called Intertek which operates in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, so I suspect that the fireplace was manufactured in one of these locals by a small company without the resources for international distribution. In other words, there was at least one other distributor if not more involved in getting the fireplace from World Wide Fireplace to Dave Carter & Associates and then to Grand Design. World Wide Fireplace being a small, foreign, manufacturer, possibly in a country with limited or heavily controlled internet access may also explain why I can't find them on the internet. What I still haven't figured out is why World Wide Fireplace doesn't have their company name, location, and contact information on the installation manual?

[Second Chance]

... What I still haven't figured out is why World Wide Fireplace doesn't have their company name, location, and contact information on the installation manual?

Perhaps they don't want to be contacted? If, as you suspect, they are small and located in one of the regions you suggest, they may not have the capacity for follow-up or customer support. In the RV industry, many of these vendor-supplied components are now considered disposable commodities. For example, when our Furrion convection microwave died, the solution would have been a $30 part (latch slide that holds the door switches). Per both GD and Furrion, they do not repair or service these units... so they just shipped me a new oven (under warranty).

Rob

[Jlawles2]

We have become a disposable society. We don't even recycle well.

Oh how things with less technology back only a few years seemed to be built much better. Took a bit to find parts (i remember the days of microfish at the sparse service center and magnifiers) at times, but things did seem to last a lot longer.

[JBill9694]

Update: Played the "What If" game with SWMBO on trying to force the front cover off the fireplace; What if the glass breaks? What if the the frame bends? Etc. We've basically decided to scrap the fireplace and go with a baseboard electric heater at the bottom with storage above it. We are currently on the move every two to four weeks so not a good time to try and have something shipped to us, and hardware stores are selling fans and coolers right now instead of heaters. This project is going on hold until we are at our home base in mid-August.

[Second Chance]

Update: Played the "What If" game with SWMBO on trying to force the front cover off the fireplace; What if the glass breaks? What if the the frame bends? Etc. We've basically decided to scrap the fireplace and go with a baseboard electric heater at the bottom with storage above it. We are currently on the move every two to four weeks so not a good time to try and have something shipped to us, and hardware stores are selling fans and coolers right now instead of heaters. This project is going on hold until we are at our home base in mid-August.

Just make sure that whatever you put there doesn't exceed the 1,400 watts of the OEM fireplace. That's what the circuit is designed to support.

Rob

[JBill9694]

The fireplace is on a 15 amp dedicated circuit (breaker is correctly labeled, Yea) which if my math is right equates to 1,800 watts. The instruction manual does not state what the power requirements for the fireplace is, only that any extension cord should be 16 AWG and rated for 1878 watts, I suppose that there is a label somewhere on the fireplace listing the actual power requirements, but it is not visible after installation.

Still, Second Chance , I agree that less power is better in this case. After all, we're not hoping to heat the whole trailer, only keep our tootsies warm while watching the tele.

[JBill9694]

Well, d2reid your post of 5-19-2021was spot on. Didn't find the screws until I actually reached in with a finger and touched them. Black on black. After removing the screws the front panel lifted and rotated away without any problem. Rest of removal was straight forward; remove wood screws along flange and slide out. As mentioned previously, will not be be repairing or replacing the fireplace unit. Instead we will go with a ceramic space heater and build some shelves for reachable storage (SWMBO if vertically challenged and is excited about being able to reach her DVDs without using the stepladder). So this pretty much ends this thread.