VC Defiant Encore #0028, 2001 Value?

[CheryladXO]

HI everyone:

I apologize in advance for this being my first post on this site!

I'm in the process of a divorce and needing to figure out the value of our installed VC Defiant Encore #0028, blue enamel, to pay my husband. We bought in new in 2002 and have used it as our exclusive heat source here in Green Bay, WI since then. It has the warming racks to the sides, bottom heat shield and, other than one of the front grate pieces being broken, it is in good shape. (needs to have seal inside top opening reattached "glued" and the door latch is sometimes difficult to latch close.

Any guesses?

PS Any hints on the front latch issue would be wonderful!!

Thanks so much,
Cheryl

 

[Charles1981]

Well no one else has piped in soooo I will give it a whirl.

Overall: Kind of hard to say for sure.

The stove probably cost between 3-4k new with the enamel finish and warmers.... but it has 13 seasons on it.

It would partly depend on the state of the ceramic refractory... Good condition or recently replaced one might find someone to pay 700-900?

But realistically I would only want to pay like 500-600 for a stove that has gone through 13 seasons. It could have 20 more left in it, but its been pretty heavily used at this point. Post this to Craigslist and you would probably get a majority of replies trying to low-ball you at 300-400$.

This is just my opinion though. Personally I wouldn't want a 13 year old stove unless someone was giving it to me for free or I knew it was in pristine shape or had been sitting and not used for 2/3's of those years etc.

 

[bholler]

I have one on my front porch that we replaced it has a bad refractory box. I thought about rebuilding it and then decided against it. It is free for the tacking so I really don't think they are worth that much but if it is in good working order id say about $500

 

[homebrewz]

I have a model #0028 which was manufactured sometime around the late 80's. It needed a lot of work, and I basically rebuilt most of it.
The value depends on the working condition, especially of the secondary combustion package. If everything is in working order, with a good catalyst and refractory in good condition, and there is no warping of the fireback plates, then between $500 and $800. If some of these parts need replacing, the refractory is about $250 and the catalyst is about $200.

Concerning yours, the "front grate piece" you mentioned could either be the grate which sits flat above the ash pan, or one of the andirons. Both are replaceable and are fairly inexpensive. A grate is about $50 and the andirons are a little less. The seal for the top opening seems to suggest the wire sheathed rope gasket for the griddle plate. That can be purchased at most stove shops and easily replaced. Details are in your owners manual. The door latch is adjustable by opening the door and rotating it either in or out. Sometimes if a set of new door gaskets have been installed, the doors may be hard to close until the gaskets flatten out a bit, or if the wrong sized gasket was used. If I recall correctly, it should be 5/16" rope gasket.