I finally removed the cover on the thermostat.  I tried to do it awhile
back, and after I removed the two square-drive screws, it was still
really stuck in the back (up against the stove) and I was afraid to beat
on it too hard, given the dire warnings against removing said cover (on
the sticker).  But the tech guy at BK said it was fine to remove it, once
he realized I wasn’t an idiot.  And with the stove hot, it came off
quite easily.  Removing the cover does not affect the airflow, although
of course you want to replace it when done trouble-shooting.  One
thing he said (IMPORTANT): turn the control knob down so that the
flapper is close to fully-closed before re-installing the cover, lest the
edge of the butterfly flapper wedge against the cover.

So here is what I found.  I set the thermostat control at about 2 and
left it there throughout this experiment.  I measured the width of
the valve opening - between edge of flapper and the opening (where
is unimportant, as long as you’re consistent).  With the stove almost
completely cold, it was about 1-1/8” open.  I built a good fire and after
an hour or so the opening was close to 2”.  I let the fire burn down
overnight and by morning the stove was pretty cold and the opening
was down to 1” or so.  Clearly this is wrong - for a given control knob
setting, the valve should close as the stove heats up and open as it cools
down.

I confirmed this with BK and the dealer is sending me a new thermostat
assembly with prepaid return label for the old one.  It appears to be held
in place by two screws and some silicon sealant (presumably some high
temperature variety, hopefully available locally).  So stay tuned ...

The kicker is ... even with this gross malfunction, this is still, by far, the
best woodstove I’ve ever had, easily keeping a fire going for 12 hours !

This isn’t as amazing a deal as nonprophet’s F500 score, but the theme is similar: a couple (from SoCal) had just bought the house and wanted “that dirty thing outta here” so they could get their electric baseboard installed. Yes ma’am, happy to help you out, ma’am. A near-new dark blue enamel Waterford Leprechaun, complete with stovepipe and 6’ of Class A double wall chimney, for $150 was too good to pass up.

I went to examine it today and I swear, there have been maybe a handful of fires burned in this thing. Hardly any soot in the upper chamber. The fire fence, which directs the primary air into the fire, was still packed in it’s transport packing - a little rusty but perfectly clean - it had never been installed. One screw which secures the door catch had come loose, so the door doesn’t close tightly. Instead of fixing it, they let it sit and just looked at it for more than 10 years.

It should be fun to play with. Pretty interesting air system design on this critter.

I’ll post pics when I get it here this weekend.

BTW, PDF users manuals for the discontinued Waterford stoves are on the Regency website:
http://www.regency-fire.com/Customer-Care/Manuals/Discontinued-Manuals.aspx

I’m concluding it is the right size for our intended use, which is occasional as supplemental heat and to use as a fireplace with the door open during the in between seasons.

However, the 18.75” side to side, 12 ” front to back, 11.25” height of firebox is not large.  And front door opening of 9.5” high and 14.75” wide seems a bit small too.

Am I going to be overly frustrated with difficulty of getting wood in this stove and room for draft to get a fire going?  With its small capacity to hold wood and small door opening to load wood into it?

Wondering about experiences of others that have made decision for a smaller stove from Pacific Energy or perhaps other brands too.

I am also considering the T5 but am concerned with getting baked from too much heat, or if I run it low then with the door glass window blackening up.

I would imagine it might be relative to what type of heat it is replacing.  Replacing electricity generated at a coil or oil fired plant might be relatively green.

Bill

I happened across someone that is selling a Woodstock Fireview, in great shape, for $500. Her is my question; Does it make sense to buy it and replace the Vigilant? I could probably sell the Vigilant for $200-$400. Will the Fireview work well inside a walk-in fireplace? [photo of the fireplace is below]

For example, in the morning, first thing I do is go into the living room, disengage the cat, and turn the draft all the way to 4, and let the coals turn red and get all ready to add more wood. 

I’m just not sure how long I need to wait before I can open the door and add wood. 

By the morning, its been probably 10 hours or so since I last loaded, and probably the cat hasn’t been doing anything for several hours, but I always wait a while just to be safe. 

whats the consensus? 

Thanks!