Hi everybody my friend bought a defiant before i could warn him lol,catalytic.just wondering what to look for before he burns thx
Friend bought defiant
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I think it really depends on the year the defiant was made and the condition of the stove right now. Who knows, its just like cars, some owners are better than mechanics and the wash, wax, change the oil regularly, know how to work on them and have a sense of getting top performance out of them without running them hard.
Then you have someone like me that will just start them and floor the car without letting it warm up properly, let the rain wash the paint, get reminded to change the oil when you see a oil sludge commercial (instead of mileage) you get the picture, I would be destined to have problems.
But if the stove refactory is cracking / flaking, cat looks burned out, cracks in the fire box now without firing it, I would tell your bud to sell it before anything, buy a different brand. parts on these stoves add up, and are difficult to get (depending on year)
It sucks that the mid age VC's are a pain in the butt, to me there so pretty, its really a love / hate thing with me, love the looks, hate how I'm hearing 90% of the people are having problems / spending more for parts than the stove is worth. I hope the new company like others here alluded to can make a reliable unit while keeping the same great looks, they owe the original VC grandfather that.
Then you have someone like me that will just start them and floor the car without letting it warm up properly, let the rain wash the paint, get reminded to change the oil when you see a oil sludge commercial (instead of mileage) you get the picture, I would be destined to have problems.
But if the stove refactory is cracking / flaking, cat looks burned out, cracks in the fire box now without firing it, I would tell your bud to sell it before anything, buy a different brand. parts on these stoves add up, and are difficult to get (depending on year)
It sucks that the mid age VC's are a pain in the butt, to me there so pretty, its really a love / hate thing with me, love the looks, hate how I'm hearing 90% of the people are having problems / spending more for parts than the stove is worth. I hope the new company like others here alluded to can make a reliable unit while keeping the same great looks, they owe the original VC grandfather that.
Believe it or not, those catalytic Defiants, 1910's and 1945's are pretty tough! They can hold up well to full time burning. If it's in decent shape now and he operates it per the manual, it might all be rainbows and unicorns. Problems with them start small. If he has trouble keeping the operating temp. down, then regasket immediately. $50.00 worth of gasket kit may prevent $1000.00 worth of rebuild. And if he finds any oil in the stove, by all means change it.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
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