VC Defiant cracked backplate

Clarks ACE Hardware said:

We have replaced about two dozen refractory access covers under warranty out of about 100 2n1's sold. We have yet to have anyone break one a second time. They could have definitely been designed better, but I believe breakage can be avoided.

FWIW, we have burned 3 different Defiant 2n1's in our showroom with at least 10 different people loading/operating the stove and have yet to break one of these covers ourselves.

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Fortunately, I am not the only one loading this stove. The baby sitter we have puts wood in too (and my wife doesn't, go figure). Maybe one of us dropped a piece in or maybe heat did it. The fact that you have seen no failures after the first one is heartening. I got an extra one on order, just in case it does.

I will let everyone know if I have the same problem again.

Diabel said:

Burnout,

I was looking at the pics from your other thread, and not sure if anyone mentioned this but shouldn't there be a brace for every 4' of chimney? From pics to me it appears to be something missing.

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I will have to talk with my installer then. Guy is not the sharpest tool...

Diabel said:

I am surprised the pros didn't pick up on it. Unless I am wrong on the 4' thing
The boys are mighty fast on these details.....

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I'm not. This guy has been at it for 25 years he tells me. He gave me 10' of stack with three 90 degree bends in it. It took me 15 minutes and I knew more about my stove and my install than he did. Then it took me two weeks of complaining to get it fixed. Would not surprise me if he messed this up too.

I think it may be just under 8 feet if I have a 16' stack and 8'+ ceilings. I will have to measure.

Well, it lasted a while, but the repair finally cracked. I will repair it again if it is possible. The part still hasn't come in yet. I couldn't imagine not having my stove for the past two weeks waiting on this thing.

Not too bad, 10 days with a good amount of care.

I have an update to this thread. I am sure some other people have had similar experiences, but I will share the rest of mine.

I ordered another back plate from the dealer. I also got one from warranty. That makes three backplates total. The one I ordered had a clamshell on it and went the way of the first one, cracked in half.

The replacement one, had a circle on it and seemed to be made of a different material. It took MONTHS to get this plate in from warranty. I had been cementing them together and trying make the old ones work, but it was futile.

The warranty replacement looked good, for about 3 months and now has gone the way of the others. My stove guy says that the VC rep will say that I am overloading the thing, forcing wood in. This is not the case. I dont force anything in there.

Anyway, he gives me the VC rep's number and I have called about 5 times, all with no answer.

There has to be a more durable solution to this thing. Or, a way to get the VC rep to at least call me back.

Has anyone had the same experience with the new backplates?