- Nov 1, 2012
- 4
Hey guys, first of all these forums here are amazing! So much help and advice. I've read a handful of threads and have gotten a lot of great information. I hope I'm not posting things that have already been asked a million times but not sure I have the time to read through everything. Please forgive me on this.
Anyway, I moved into a house 2 years ago that came with an old Vermont Castings Vigilant. I tried to fire it up once and it caused problems and I decided to ditch it for a while until I could figure it out. Came to find out that the damper was locked in the down position so the stove was more or less just acting like a fireplace. I tried to free the damper but couldnt get enough leverage and i was starting to break the handle rod.
Ended up taking the stove apart piece by piece. It came apart easy and I was interested in figuring out how this thing worked. The damper finally came out but it was rusted/creasoted/bonded to the side of the stove where the pin goes through the side wall. I was able to drill out that hole nicely, and actually get a good weld on the damper and set a new piece of rod to act like a pin.
A couple screws had to be drilled out also and actually needed to re-thread part of the stove. I cleaned the stove out real nice and scraped out what was left of the old stove mortar. The new dry fit went together perfectly after a little filing to get the damper turning well.
So everything is pretty set and ready to be fully put back together and this is where my questions come into play. (taking it apart was easy). What type of mortar/heat cement do I use when I put it back together? It looks like you just spread it in the grooves and then lock the stove back up and let it set? Is there anything else I need to know about this process besides the right stuff to get? I want to do this right.
Also my gaskets around the griddle top and where the flu attaches are cooked.. What do I need to buy to replace these? I've seen gasket kits for these models online somewhere but they seem pricey and I feel like all i need is the fiberglass rope and some adhesive? Is that correct? If so can I just by a few lengths and a tube of the caulk and thats it? Without a "kit"? If so what size rope do i need and what do I use to glue it in there?
Thats pretty much it..? Ive read some good threads about burning and the temps to look for... so any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks again!
-earl-
Anyway, I moved into a house 2 years ago that came with an old Vermont Castings Vigilant. I tried to fire it up once and it caused problems and I decided to ditch it for a while until I could figure it out. Came to find out that the damper was locked in the down position so the stove was more or less just acting like a fireplace. I tried to free the damper but couldnt get enough leverage and i was starting to break the handle rod.
Ended up taking the stove apart piece by piece. It came apart easy and I was interested in figuring out how this thing worked. The damper finally came out but it was rusted/creasoted/bonded to the side of the stove where the pin goes through the side wall. I was able to drill out that hole nicely, and actually get a good weld on the damper and set a new piece of rod to act like a pin.
A couple screws had to be drilled out also and actually needed to re-thread part of the stove. I cleaned the stove out real nice and scraped out what was left of the old stove mortar. The new dry fit went together perfectly after a little filing to get the damper turning well.
So everything is pretty set and ready to be fully put back together and this is where my questions come into play. (taking it apart was easy). What type of mortar/heat cement do I use when I put it back together? It looks like you just spread it in the grooves and then lock the stove back up and let it set? Is there anything else I need to know about this process besides the right stuff to get? I want to do this right.
Also my gaskets around the griddle top and where the flu attaches are cooked.. What do I need to buy to replace these? I've seen gasket kits for these models online somewhere but they seem pricey and I feel like all i need is the fiberglass rope and some adhesive? Is that correct? If so can I just by a few lengths and a tube of the caulk and thats it? Without a "kit"? If so what size rope do i need and what do I use to glue it in there?
Thats pretty much it..? Ive read some good threads about burning and the temps to look for... so any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks again!
-earl-