Montpelier vermont castings insert

I held off purchasing my Montpelier during the summer because of the bankruptcy situation with Vermont Castings. However, once Monessen bought the company, I felt pretty comfortable with that turn of events. The economy sucks right now. Anyone manufacturing items that go into new construction would be hurting. I expect all fireplace manufacturers are suffering. The fact that Monessen had the financial clout to purchase VC at this point, suggests they have financial strength and foresight or they are really stupid. I am going with the former. I can't imagine that you make a purchase like acquiring VC, only to let it die or shut it down. The intellectual capital and EPA approvals that have been acquired on these products is extremely valuable. I am optimistic about VC's future, so went ahead with the purchase.

I'd read the reviews on the Montlpelier on this board and do a search with Montpelier being the keyword. There was a problem with them, I dont remember what it was but you may be interested in reading about it before you purchase.

Ours is to be installed Monday the 16th. Not sure if I'll fire it up or not until next season. If we would get a cold spell I'm afraid by the time I seasoned the castings with the break-in fires, then cleaned the glass ready for a proper hot, clean burn, it would be over. Then again, I would love to see it burn.

Steve

I saw another post on cracks and it seemed no big deal. These were in bricks though, not the cast ceramic brick liner we have. Our liners are not as thick as firebricks so they may tend to get hairline cracks easier. I have been burning mine (only a few weeks) and I am careful not to wedge or knock the liner with a split. (I'm no way implying you're not.) I saw this possibility when we purchased. I'm sure they cost a lot more to replace than just going out and buying a new firebrick.

Steve

This is interesting.. the back ceramic panel of my Montpelier has developed a crack running vertically from the top down, almost all the way. I noticed it a couple of weeks ago, and have been wondering whether this is something to be expected, or something covered under the warranty. Each panel has a separate item #, and replaceable. I've just been waiting to call the dealer to ask about it. I know for certain that I have not overfired the stove, and I don't think I've ever handled the wood so roughly as to ram the back with a log. So I 'm interested to hear that another Montpelier has also had the lining crack. I'll let you know what the dealer says after I talk to him.

Anybody have any thoughts on Insert Tax Credit and Montpelier efficiency?

Other manufacturers give some indication of % efficiency and some indication as to whether their products will qualify for the tax credit. When I talked with our dealer, he indicated that he has no information on Vermont Casting products.

I called the company, and they would not give me any information on projected efficiency for their products and whether they would qualify. I pointed out that potential cusomers are waiting to pull the trigger on purchases due to questions about the tax credit or are buying competing products of other manufacturers; and that by not providing information they are losing business. The rep on the phone did not care.

I talked to my dealer about cracks in the Montpelier firebrick lining. He said that cracks in this type of liner is perfectly normal and that the liner has a steel mesh inside that keeps it all together.

Just recently got my Montpelier insert installed (took advantage of some great sales!), and had a chance to give it a run tonight. But now I'm wondering ... why don't I see the power cord? It's not plugged into the nearby outlet, and we didn't have an electrician hardwire it. I didn't get much of a fire going, so I'm not too surprised that the fan didn't start, but I'm wondering if I need to call the installers back to find out what's going on with the power cord. Can anyone help before I bother them?

When you open the grill at the bottom front of the stove to access the fan control, you should see the electrical wire running to the left or right. The cord exits on the left or right about 6 inches behind the surround. Remove the surround, and then lay the cord so it goes out to your electrical outlet. Then replace the surround. Make sure the switch is turned (turn clockwise) to the "on" position. Once the fire is hot enough, the fan will start to blow. NOTE: If there is no wire and no switch, I think they forgot to put the fan in.

Thanks. I'll check that tonight. The fan switch is definitely there.

Took off the surround. No sign of a power cord back there. Turns out they just didn't bother to route it properly out the side of the unit. Got the plate off, maneuvered the cord through. Now it's done properly. That's what I get for getting the discounted install, I guess...

The cord will be inside the two little panels on the bottom. You open the left one to get to the blower switch/speed knob. The cord should be behind the right one all bundled up in there. There is a small cover on either side along the very bottom of the insert in back of the surround. Remove the screw on whatever side you want to take the cord out and remove the little cover and thread the cord through. It can be seen on page three of the instructions that come with the unit. (Also downloadable from their web site.)

Steve

On Edit: Wow, I was way late on that one. I just responded to the e-mail notification without looking. Guess I'll look before posting from now on.

i will be cleaning my ss liner in the next few weeks and pulling out the insert to install a block off plate to increase my output temp because the co that installed it had no clue what a block off plate was. i was wondering if anybody had any experince yet in cleaning there"s and what you had to do in cleaning the liner without pulling out the stove. Thanks Ed

haidamaka said:

Anybody have any thoughts on Insert Tax Credit and Montpelier efficiency?

Other manufacturers give some indication of % efficiency and some indication as to whether their products will qualify for the tax credit. When I talked with our dealer, he indicated that he has no information on Vermont Casting products.

I called the company, and they would not give me any information on projected efficiency for their products and whether they would qualify. I pointed out that potential cusomers are waiting to pull the trigger on purchases due to questions about the tax credit or are buying competing products of other manufacturers; and that by not providing information they are losing business. The rep on the phone did not care.

Click to expand...

they shouldnt be telling anyone that they will get a tax credit, because it has not been signed into law yet. If it does not go thru, many dealers will have angry customers who were promised a 30% credit on their stove... potential for some lawsuits.

This is just to let you know that the back firebox panel of my Montpelier, which developed a crack from top to bottom, is being replaced by the dealer. It is covered under the warranty.

Good to hear!

Steve

Got a new Montpelier insert to replace an old Vermont Castings WinterWarm. Went with the Caprice surround and found it didn't quite fit with a small gap above the stove but dealer made up a filler piece that worked nicely rather than having to go with a larger and more expensive surround. Fired up the first test fire in September and everything went as planned. Drafted OK and the fans came on once the insert heated up. Was pleased to hear they were much quieter than the previous WinterWarm and certainly not as bad as some of the posts in this forum would have lead me to believe. After the successful first test fire, we had a couple of more fires with no backdraft or other issues except that now, for some reason, the fan has stopped working completely. Yes, I checked the switch and it is on! So, I called in the dealer and they came out to take a look. I was thinking this would be a simple replacement of a thermostat or something like that but they didn't seem to have a clue on how to remove or replace either the fan unit or any thermostat controller that might be involved. Said they'd talk to VC and get back to me. Wondering if any other owners out there have had the fan unit die on them and what the solution was so I can compare notes. Thanks in advance for advice on this.

Oh, and after the dealer/installer left and had poked around, I tried starting another fire just to see if maybe something had gotten moved or adjusted enough for the fan to kick back on. Well this time I had the dreaded smokey backdraft problem that some people in this forum complained about. It was so bad I couldn't open the door without filling the room with smoke. I left the insert closed until most of the smoke had dissipated, opened a couple of windows to get some air in the room, and started a small fire on top of what was already in there to get a draft going and that seemed to resolve the problem. Today was the first cold day outside and the first time the heat was kicking on in the house so hopefully I can chalk this up as just a bad flue drafting problem that some fire starting skill will avoid in the future.

I'm trying to remember from last winter -- (I haven't lit a fire yet this Fall!) I think I only had a smoke-pouring-into-the-room problem once, when I was first learning to use the stove, and opened the door too fast. You do have to remember to always crack it first and wait for a few seconds, then open it the rest of the way. Also, as I remember it, I found that keeping the door cracked for a few minutes after lighting the kindling helped get the fire going. (Only for a few minutes, though. Then I'd latch the door.) Other than that, I followed the guidelines in the VC pamphlet, which were pretty accurate and helpful. Good luck with the fan problem -- that's a discouraging thing to start out with.

I haven't had any problems with my fan going out. The snap stat may have become dislodged. The wires are barely long enough to connect everything and then install the fan. I do not know why the dealer could not trouble shoot the fan. There is just a fan, the off/on/speed switch, and the snap stat.

I see this sort of dealer not knowing much about what they sell thing turning up a fair amount on the forums. Also, you would think they or their installers would have some sorrt of electro-mechanical aptitude in order to solve very simple problems like this. Sheesh, can anyone just decide to be a dealer if there is an opening in the area? I mean come on, the dealer or installers can not trouble shoot a fan? They look at it and for the life of them can not see how it comes out of there? Did not even look at the parts diagram in the instructions that came with the insert? That would have at least given them a clue how to get it out. Then they could have seen if the snap stat dislodged. If it looked OK, they could then have jumped out the componets one by one until they found the problem even without a DVM.

OK, I'm done with the rant. Just erks me that simple stuff like this is such a major problem for the customer to get rectified.

Steve

Well, I got going on my previous post and forgot all about the smoke problem. I know with mine and I believe some others also, you pretty near need to leave the fire cycle through to coals or almost coals. It's not like a fire place where you just keep adding logs to the fire. If I were to open mine even slowly while the flames were a cookin good, I'm pretty sure I would get smoke back into the house. The secondary's are all pointed towards the front. The flames are just too strong to come out and then make a sudden 90 degree turn up and over the baffle with the door open.

Steve

I never add wood while the fire is burning strongly and licking the window, but when it's about half burned down and I know the logs won't last much longer I will often add a couple more logs. I turn the fan off and open the air as wide as it will go before I open the door, and have never had the slightest smoke. But I've never tried opening the door while flames were coming forward.