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[braveblaster]

My buddy has a 6000 with a crack in the upper right area. Mines all welded up and running now. I have a hard time believing it overheated also, seems like i would have caught it. I mean it wouldn't just magically quit overheating, and I wasnt that low on water. Fortunately my brother in law is a welder and we have it fixed up good. But i feel for anyone who doesnt have that luxury.

Glad everything worked for you -- how hard and how much work was it to take it apart as you have on the picture?

[jamesbodeis]

I had the steel off in a few minutes. Had to cut the welds on the angle iron and get it off to access the cracks better. Started at about 3 pm and we were all done welding around 10. Had to fill and drain a few times while checking for and fixing leaks.

[U.P. Doug]

Glad to see you got it fixed. Any problems, or is it working fine?

[jamesbodeis]

So far it seems to be going good. I need to weld the angle iron back on to attach the sheet metal.

[jamesbodeis]

noticed yesterday two of the corners are cracking again where we welded them.

[ridgeman]

My 6000 cracked in both of the bottom radius cuts as well. I'm planning on draining and welding it here once its time to shutdown for season. The one crack all the way down into the water jacket but it somehow is not leaking. I'm going to drill a hole at the bottom of each crack before welding it to prevent any it from cracking again. I just find it odd that this is happening to so many guys who had there's built the summer of 2014. Maybe it was a bad batch of steel. Thank God I weld for a living

[jamesbodeis]

Very odd. I was hoping this stove was gonna last a good while but i have my doubts. Really don't want to have to tear this thing apart every year and re weld it.

[Michiganman]

I don't know if I should try and sell the stove now or hire someone to weld the cracks and hope for the best. I was hoping to get ten years out of the stove, I know it was not a high dollar stove but I didn't expect this so soon. I don't want a bunch of problems in the middle of next winter.

[intensedrive]

No wonder why they bailed, too many issues to support with warranty.  Let this be a lesson to all when taking a risk with a sketchy company.  They sold a ton of stoves with no quality control.  I'm doing a clean out and I'm worried what I might find.  According to their website April 30 is the end of ridgewood.

[Roscoe]

Back in 2014 when Ridgewood delivered my stove...... I knew I was in trouble as it came rattling in on their trailer.

Hell, replacement of solenoids alone had to have hurt the company. Glad I sold it after one season!   

[Chas]

Just finished my 3rd uneventful winter with my Ridgewood 6000. Mine was built early 2013 and the only things I've replaced is a solenoid that was still working but was getting sloppy, and the door gasket. I think mine was built before their production really took off. Maybe I just got lucky, and maybe s#*t will hit the fan next winter? At this point I still love it and don't regret buying it. Wish me luck.

[automan77]

Just got done cleaning my 6000 after shutdown and found cracks on both side of the door on the lower corners. Both about a good 3 inches long.

[mlappin]

Just got done cleaning my 6000 after shutdown and found cracks on both side of the door on the lower corners. Both about a good 3 inches long.

I looked up your location, your way the heck over thar while I’m a hop skip and jump from Chicago.

I’d like to see this in person, but given that we’ve had several people in this same thread with cracks in the same place, about has to be an engineering issue rather than a big load of faulty materials.

[Michiganman]

Well, Still not sure what to do. I don't want to sell the stove knowing there is problems. If I have it welded how long until it cracks again. I don't want to get in the middle of heating season and have it fail. I think its an engineering problem. Expansion and contraction with the heat? Metal not thick enough? water not circulating in that area? mlappin if you have any ideas let us know. The stove has worked without a hiccup for two years. It heats my 2000 sqft house and 40X60 garage with no problems in the heart of winter. I also think there are a lot more stoves out there with the same problem that we don't know about. I almost pulled the trigger on a central but didn't like there warranty, in regards to you have to ship it and pay the tab.

[intensedrive]

Can you post some pics