I have a VC Defiant Encore. There is a problem with the linkage to the damper plate at the back, for running the gases into the catalytic. A couple months ago, it was getting so that something in there was not sliding smoothly, so I had to work at getting it to go all the way back, like it was stuck somewhere. I posted here about it, and was advised to get some anti-seize lubricant that stands up to high temps. I did, and smeared it on the back of the damper plate where the rod runs through a slot with a clip, and presto! it was smooth as you-know-what. But after several weeks it is slowly getting back to the old problem. So I need to open it up again and grease it again. Maybe that wasnt where the grease was needed, but after greasing it, there seemed to be no resistance left. A puzzler!
My question is about moving the store around, not about the greasing [though I would be happy to have any further suggestions about freeing it up].
Mine is installed right close to the chimney, so I only have a one-foot pipe, an oval-to-round 8" straight into the thimble. So I cant just take the pipe apart to get access to the damper from the flue collar at the back. I have to move the sucker out from the chimney. It weighs something like 350#, and I am older than I used to be. Last time I was able to lift one side just a tad and slipped a sheet of roof flashing under the legs, then the other side, and then inched it out a bit at a time on each side. It was not easy.
I have wondered about a stove pipe connector we had once, that wrapped around where two sections of pipe met and had a flange running down the edge on either side, so you could bolt the meeting flanges together and make a reasonably tight joint. But with just a one-foot run, and going from oval to round, I dont see how that would work.
Maybe I could somehow jack it up with my automotive floor jack and roll it out, but I wonder about the bottom of the stove bearing the weight. If I take off the heat shield there is a casting that forms the pocket for the ash pan. It has 4 short round "feet" at its corners, each about 1" in diameter, sticking down from the casting just a bit. That makes me think they are meant to be able to rest the stove on if I jacked up either side and slid blocking under them. But I dont want to make that guess myself.
Would that be safe?
Or does anyone have another slick idea?
My question is about moving the store around, not about the greasing [though I would be happy to have any further suggestions about freeing it up].
Mine is installed right close to the chimney, so I only have a one-foot pipe, an oval-to-round 8" straight into the thimble. So I cant just take the pipe apart to get access to the damper from the flue collar at the back. I have to move the sucker out from the chimney. It weighs something like 350#, and I am older than I used to be. Last time I was able to lift one side just a tad and slipped a sheet of roof flashing under the legs, then the other side, and then inched it out a bit at a time on each side. It was not easy.
I have wondered about a stove pipe connector we had once, that wrapped around where two sections of pipe met and had a flange running down the edge on either side, so you could bolt the meeting flanges together and make a reasonably tight joint. But with just a one-foot run, and going from oval to round, I dont see how that would work.
Maybe I could somehow jack it up with my automotive floor jack and roll it out, but I wonder about the bottom of the stove bearing the weight. If I take off the heat shield there is a casting that forms the pocket for the ash pan. It has 4 short round "feet" at its corners, each about 1" in diameter, sticking down from the casting just a bit. That makes me think they are meant to be able to rest the stove on if I jacked up either side and slid blocking under them. But I dont want to make that guess myself.
Would that be safe?
Or does anyone have another slick idea?
