On 3 Jan 2006 14:03:18 -0800, "phaeton"
wrote:

Anyways... I opened the oven and took the racks out for its initial
cleaning, and I noticed that in the back of the oven, on the bottom
there are two screws. One seems to be seated properly into the 'floor'
of the oven, but the other looks like it was driven in at about a 30
degree angle, probably stripped to ****, and there it sits, poking up

This reminds me of the time I was on an airplane about to take off,
and I saw a guy on the wing doing something. In a few seconds he was
putting the cover panel on, and after a bit, he turned the screwdriver
upside down and was hammering on the screw with its handle. A couple
minutes later he left. I think a lot of the passengers would have
been bothered if they had seen this, but it didn't bother me.
Mechical stuff is not perfect.

I doubt that it is stripped much at all, although maybe at the very
bottom of the threads.

about 1/2".

Should I get on the horn with Home Despot and demand a whole 'nother
stove?
Should I reach in and pull the screw out, and see if I can put it in
the right way and call it good?

Phillips, torx, flat slot, or hex head? Galvanized , silver, black,
or Zenith colored?

This is why I remove most of the screws, etc. from anything I throw
away, and save all of them. I almost always have exact replacement
screws, and the next size larger as well. Although if the first guy
didn't get it in right, I think there is only about a 50% chance
anyone can do much better.

Should I just leave it as-is and assume I'm overparanoid?

It just holds the metal together, right? And the metal is together.
And it is not intended to be gas-tight or air-tight chamber to begin
with, right?

I mean, I don't want to cause a huge stink, really. But since I don't
know anything about the workings of stoves, I would like to be sure
that there isn't something *else* in this unit that wasn't half-assed

I would not be sure there isn't. In fact, I'm pretty sure there is.
But as long as the gas doesn't leak, you're safe, and if it lights
when it should, you're in fat city.

in. We are talking about the appliance that deals with gas,
electricity and fire.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

This is what overflowing pies and spilling food is for. Eventually
the screw head will be covered by crud, and all we be well again.
Although if you do clean the oven, be careful not to stub your fingers
on the screw head. That would be the biggest reason for putting it in
all the way. Hmmm. So if that were likely to happen, and you
couldn't get the screw in**, I'd consider checking what is underneath
it and if there is space to drill, * after* getting a screw one size
bigger, drilling a bigger hole through the two pieces that are there.
The earlier holes were predrilled and clearly, when the time came to
assemble the stove, they didn't align. If you drill the hole in
place, both parts will align. Remember that the size of the hole
should be, since sheet metal screws are probably used, the size of the
shank of the screw, not counting the threads. I would use a matching
style and color screw, because I'm compulsive, but the easiest ones to
install are in order, hex, torx, phillips, and flat.


**First I might loosen the screw on the left rear and maybe the frront
right,and maybe even the front left, and insert and tighten this bad
one, and then tighten the others. For me this would be easier than
calling the dealer and being home when he came. In theory I might
call him and give him this choice, that I fix it, but in practice I
probably wouldn't. Heck, one of the reasons I don't buy much that is
new is to avoid these choices.

-Phaeton


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