Vermont Castings Resolute Acclaim door pivot break

Hello all you knowledgeable Hearth.com folks!

Searched here quite extensively, but couldn't find my answer, so I registered and here it goes.

I bought a lightly used Resolute Acclaim over the summer. Paid a little more since it was near new condition (or so I thought). It is the flat black cast iron model, not enamel coated.

Put it in last night and fired her up. Ran BEAUTIFULLY. Warmed up our entire 1800sq/ft home very nicely using scrap wood from outside that wouldn't stack well. Great draft, no overfiring (held at a consistent 500-550 griddle temp).

About three hours in, I hear a "PING!". Go to investigate to find that the door hinge on the top is now free. The pin didn't snap, the round piece of cast iron protruding from the side of the inside of the front panel where the hole for the pin sits broke off completely. Luckily, the door still held a seal and I was able to finish the burn overnight without an issue.

It looks like the previous owner broke it, had it brazed poorly using a yellow metal (either brass or bronze perhaps?), then hit it with a coat of stove black. I checked the function of the big heavy door when I bought it and it seemed solid and had no evidence visible of the repair. I researched here for a while and found mention that a too tight latch may result in this situation on the VC Resolute Acclaims.

So now I am with a single use broken stove that needs to be welded. I hear cast iron welding is difficult, but unless I can get a cheap replacement front panel, I see no other option. No matter what I'll have to pull the top plate off. I printed the instructions from VC and have a general idea of how to get it off. My neighbor has a stick, MIG and TIG welder. Odds are a nickel alloy with the TIG welder would be the best way to do it. I'd love to do it in place also as I just hauled it up the stairs from the basement. A 110v welder should do the trick since it's not very thick and being cast iron it can't be welded using high amperage anyways.

Are there any steps I can/should skip since this is not a rebuild, but just a means to gain access to the top of the piece to be welded? The gaskets are all VERY decent condition and I can't imagine the stove was used more than 10x.

I was hoping to pull the flu-exit off the stove, take out the 4 bolts on the underside of the top plate and hopefully it will be able to be removed. Will this work?

Thanks for the help!

lecomte38 said:

How about drill and tap and install an eye bolt.

Click to expand...

I thought of that as well, but it's a higher stress point. I'll give welding a shot first as I'd be able to lay quite a bead on the bottom without clearance issues to strengthen it.

Looking for any pointers/tips before I dig into this stove.

All I need to do is get the top off.

If that doesn't work, I'll need to take the front off.

Any advice from those who have dismantled one of these is appreciated!

Well, she's apart. Completely.

Good friend and neighbor of mine came over tonight to survey the damage. He's an experienced welder. He'll be taking the front plate and the seperatist rebel piece to his shop later this week to try to TIG the nickel alloy rod into it. He's also going to put on some extra metal in places where clearance is not an issue. I figured the best bet was to chamfer the edges down so he'll have a nice V-Shaped groove to puddle into. If it works, I'll be in business. If not, I'll have to find a decent front plate on the market. No harm in trying.

The stove has never been apart before, confirming my thoughts that it saw very little use. All the existing cement came out without much persuation. Some of the gaskets were loosing their shape, but for the most part they were all decent. The combustor in the back seems to be in good condition with only a couple dings.

Now to the next question:

What should I get to rebuild this stove?

The casting date on the inside says 1988. The MFG date on the rear information plate says "2139". I assume this stove wasn't made 131 years in the future, so it must be a code. Can anyone get me a little more information about this stove using that info?

I need to know what gaskets to get, etc. VC has the kits, but they don't appear to have a lot in them. Could just be my untrained eye telling me I need more materials. Also, it looks like I'll be using a lot of cement judging on how much I vaccumed up, so should I be buying a calking gun sized tube of it?

I printed the rebuild instuctions and have them handy. My father has an older two door Resolute that he has rebuilt previously in case I need some help. I grew up running it and that's why I went with this Resolute.

Finally, what should I do with all the bare metal? The blackening does have it's imperfections so I was going to use this opportunity to touch them up. Should I paint the inside also?

Update:

Found the part online finally for the entire front of the stove that needs to be replaced. $112 and change. Well worth the piece of mind to have a fully functional part in there when I get it put back together. After all, if I rebuild it using the repaired part and it fails, I'd have to strip it all down again and that would cost a bit in time, gaskets and cement.

I have a call into Higgins Energy locally to see what they can get for me.

Also, I discovered it is the 0041 model, not the 2490 due to the three piece rear firebrick assembly.

Does anyone have a link to the PDF manual for disassembly/reassembly? I found it yesterday, printed it out, but left it at home. I can't see to find it today. I'd like to get a list of the gaskets so I can order from McMaster Carr today. Thanks!

Jim at Higgins Energy called VC for me. They said it would be about two months to get the front plate.

Guess I'll try welding. It's worth a shot if I want to get any use out of it.

The door was welded. Looks like it should hold pretty well. Alignment is still spot on, door shuts and latches well.

Now on to gaskets and cement. Anyone know if Lowes or HD or any other type of "open on a sunday" place stocks the 5/16 gasket I need?

Ended up taking the long drive down to Barre to Higgins Energy. Got the rebuild kit and asked how much cement I'd need to rebuild the entire stove from the ground up. The guy pointed at the little 3 ounce tube in the bag.

HA!

I then told him I've thrown away nearly two pounds of dried cement and VC's rebuild manual calls for 3 11ounce tubes, so he got me three tubes worth and I headed home.

Used the tubbed furnace cement (like a putty/paste) on the bottom of the stove, the caulking gun cement everywhere else.

Fired her up this morning after patching two spots on the flu connector where I could see light coming and did my test fire. Held fine, but heard some sucking so I ran a little more cement on one edge where I may of just missed.

Let it cool all day, checked it out, no issues.

Now she's running at about 500 for the last 5 hours with secondary combustion and the air down at 1/2. The smell in the house was aweful for the first hour, but after a quick open window session, it's back to normal in here.

The weld seems to be holding as well, though I do need to adjust the door shims once it goes out.

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll post some pictures tomorrow of my tile/stove setup!