Has anyone figured out a way to keep the firepot door operating with out sticking? We tried silicone, oil, and graphite powder. Both sante fe stoves doors wont open without forcing.

Others have commented that they have used the graphite powder with success, but may have used it more often? The only thing i have found is to loosen the arm bolt far enough that the pot floor stop, clears the back of the pot and lets the pot floor swing out to the front of the stove. Makes for easy scraping then with a pair of gloves on. Quad has commented that the smoother the pot floor, the less there is for the carbon deposit to stick to. If you keep forcing the floor, you will damage the pot mounting bolts. With my Sante Fe, i just vacuum the firebox and pot out, being carefull that all coals are out. I rarely use the pot floor. When i burned a mix, it pretty much kept it clean, and just had a clinker to lift out, or dump. Burning corn will clean the floor also, but that has gotten too expensive to burn. Sorry i didn't have a better answer for you. kap

I have used graphite powder with success. Rubbed it in-burnished then sprinkled into pot every time I cleaned. Did the feed tube, and floor slide clean outs. It will not burn at the temps in a stove. Santa Fe and Bixby pot floor and shear

High temp antiseize seems to help mine. YMMV

I adjusted the nut/bolt to just have the door SLIGHTLY hanging down so that a dime would NOT slip into the gap. Also, I use an old wood chisel to dig straight down into the build up and twist it. It breaks everything loose. Do that a few times and it's as good as new.
Someone got the very bright idea to make a metal piece that fits the form of the bottom of the pot. Lay it in there when it's clean and then there is no build up at all on the door. When you open it, the metal piece falls into the ash drawer. Then it's easy to scrape it a little and replace it. I got as far as making a paper template but haven't made the metal pieces yet. I would assume it should be at least 16 gauge so it wouldn't warp, maybe even thicker. It's a great idea though.

I had a similar problem on a Quadrafire 1200CB that I resurrected two years ago.

I tried almost all the above with no good results. I went to my local hardware store and purchased a stainless steel washer that would drop the door down the width of the washer.

It's been in there two winters. Since installing the washer, I've yet to have the door bind and it's made cleaning out the fire-pot a whole lot easier.

Quad recommends no more than a dimes width crack between the pot floor and the pot. Sounds like you guys are spot on.

I really like the idea of the stainless steel washer. I will install them in both sante fe stoves when I do the spring clean out. thanks

You could also just loosen the pot arm bolt enough to do the same thing.

That's an option, but the bolt tends to loosen over time as the door is opened to drop the ash. Once it loosens enough it will back out completley and then drop into the ash... door and all.