VC Defiant first impressions (Was "not too impressed so far" now "This is ok I guess")

[Wyld Bill]

SO the old beat up, worn out 1984 VC Encore is gone & the freshly rebuilt 2005 VC Defiant is up & running. Last night was the first night with it going. It was in the single digits last night. WIth my old stove I would have around 78 degrees in the basement, 74 degrees in the middle of the house, & 70 to 72 out in the bedrroms on a night like that. In the morning at 5:00A when I get up the house would be getting chilly & there would only be coals in the stove.
So last night it was only 68 in the bedrooms & 70 in the main part of the house. Around 75 in the basement. I woke up this morning & it felt VERY cold in the house. Checked & it was 65 to 68 in the house. The basement was only 72 & the fire was just coals. It's been 1-1/2 hours since I got it going again & I got to say I'm a bit disapointed so far. I set a steamer on the burner top last night & it never even boiled off the water. I can be withing inches of the stove & it isn't to hot for me with a flue gas temp of 500 to 600 degrees. On the old junker you wouldn't be able to get with 1' of the stove without it being so hot you had to move. A gallon of water would almost always boil off over night. In the morning it would still be warm in the house.
So I am using MORE wood now & getting like half the or 2/3 the heat I used to get.
Also it seems like more smoke comes out when you open the door on this stove. My old stove kept all the smoke inside when you opened the front or top door.
So this may be getting sold for another Encore.

 

[BrowningBAR]

SO the old beat up, worn out 1984 VC Encore is gone & the freshly rebuilt 2005 VC Defiant is up & running. Last night was the first night with it going. It was in the single digits last night. WIth my old stove I would have around 78 degrees in the basement, 74 degrees in the middle of the house, & 70 to 72 out in the bedrroms on a night like that. In the morning at 5:00A when I get up the house would be getting chilly & there would only be coals in the stove.
So last night it was only 68 in the bedrooms & 70 in the main part of the house. Around 75 in the basement. I woke up this morning & it felt VERY cold in the house. Checked & it was 65 to 68 in the house. The basement was only 72 & the fire was just coals. It's been 1-1/2 hours since I got it going again & I got to say I'm a bit disapointed so far. I set a steamer on the burner top last night & it never even boiled off the water. I can be withing inches of the stove & it isn't to hot for me with a flue gas temp of 500 to 600 degrees. On the old junker you wouldn't be able to get with 1' of the stove without it being so hot you had to move. A gallon of water would almost always boil off over night. In the morning it would still be warm in the house.
So I am using MORE wood now & getting like half the or 2/3 the heat I used to get.
Also it seems like more smoke comes out when you open the door on this stove. My old stove kept all the smoke inside when you opened the front or top door.
So this may be getting sold for another Encore.

What are the stove top temps? I've been in front of a Defiant with a 600 stove top. You can definitely feel the heat coming from it.

 

[Diabel]

Is the everburn kicking in and staying on? Can you hear the rumble? Do you see smoke exiting the chimney?

 

[VCBurner]

Wow, I thought you'd be elated with that big beast! I hope it gets better for you. I hate to think you put all that work into it and didn't get better results than the old Encore. What kind of wood were you burning?
It may get better once you learn all the ins and outs. Hang in there!

 

[Wyld Bill]

Ok so it is working a lot better now. It definently was NOT heating good before because it IS now. Same flue temp. but a LOT more heat coming off the stove. You can't even get near it. Yes there is quite a rumble almost like the sound of wind gusts. So that is normal?? I think the problem was that I never saw it running with a good 1"+ bed of coals in there. It may have get crranking over night but of course I was asleep so I would have missed it. As far as using a lot of wood,...maybe it was because it was 0 degrees last night.

 

[Wyld Bill]

Another thing that was weird. The fire was going, just a lazy flame, bypass damper shut, 650 degree flue temp., not much heat from the stove. I opened the bypass damper to add wood & got a ignition blast with a smoke puffing out any openings. What do you suppose that was all about??
I still thing I get way more smoke out of this stove then I did my Encore. When I open the front doors or the top (yes the bypass is open) I'd say about 1/3 of the smoke rolls out of the stove into the room. Maybe because the flue gas opening is larger there is less velocity??

 

[VCBurner]

Hey Bill,
Almost sound like the stove got whatever oxygen was in the flue and used it to ignite the smoke that may have been in the firebox. I know you'll get the hang of that stove. I doubt a company would put out a bigger stove that would not heat as well as their small stove. Especially not a well known company like VC, even if some people don't like them they are still at the top of the foodchain around here in New England.

I wish I had the stove going the past couple of nights. It has been 0 degrees here too!

What size is your flue in that chimney? Do you open the door slowly? Sounds like a draft problem. These stoves are designed to burn with the screen on and doors open right? The smoke rolling out of the stove doesn't sound right! Maybe the air is coming from down low where your ash clean out is and being sucked into the stove?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Ok so it is working a lot better now. It definently was NOT heating good before because it IS now. Same flue temp. but a LOT more heat coming off the stove. You can't even get near it. Yes there is quite a rumble almost like the sound of wind gusts. So that is normal?? I think the problem was that I never saw it running with a good 1"+ bed of coals in there. It may have get crranking over night but of course I was asleep so I would have missed it. As far as using a lot of wood,...maybe it was because it was 0 degrees last night.

Good to hear. Apart from the refractory maintenance, I always heard they threw a lot of heat. Glad to see it is beginning to work out.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Another thing that was weird. The fire was going, just a lazy flame, bypass damper shut, 650 degree flue temp., not much heat from the stove. I opened the bypass damper to add wood & 1. got a ignition blast with a smoke puffing out any openings. What do you suppose that was all about??
2. I still thing I get way more smoke out of this stove then I did my Encore. When I open the front doors or the top (yes the bypass is open) I'd say about 1/3 of the smoke rolls out of the stove into the room. Maybe because the flue gas opening is larger there is less velocity??

1. Something like that happened to me with the Vigilant and I have seen it described on here a few times. Nothing to really worry about. I forget the terminology that was used, though.

2. are you running a 6" or 8" liner?

 

[Wyld Bill]

Hey Bill,
Almost sound like the stove got whatever oxygen was in the flue and used it to ignite the smoke that may have been in the firebox. I know you'll get the hang of that stove. I doubt a company would put out a bigger stove that would not heat as well as their small stove. Especially not a well known company like VC, even if some people don't like them they are still at the top of the foodchain around here in New England.

I wish I had the stove going the past couple of nights. It has been 0 degrees here too!

What size is your flue in that chimney? Do you open the door slowly? Sounds like a draft problem. These stoves are designed to burn with the screen on and doors open right? The smoke rolling out of the stove doesn't sound right! Maybe the air is coming from down low where your ash clean out is and being sucked ito the stove?

You raise some good points. My Encore was a 8" flue but was a substatially smaller stove so maybe the fact that my collar into my chimney is only 7" instead of 8" is a problem. I think my chimeny liner is only 7" too. This may be my problem with the smoke. I probably need to tidy up the chimney with a brush too,..need to get me one of those brush things.

 

[BrowningBAR]

The smoke rolling out of the stove doesn't sound right! Maybe the air is coming from down low where your ash clean out is and being sucked ito the stove?

Depending upon how you open the top loader, you will get the occasional puff of smoke that escapes. It will happen on your Encore occasionally when you top load it.


It sounds like he Wyld might be running the Defiant with the 8" exhaust with a 6" liner.

 

[VCBurner]

The smoke rolling out of the stove doesn't sound right! Maybe the air is coming from down low where your ash clean out is and being sucked ito the stove?

Depending upon how you open the top loader, you will get the occasional puff of smoke that escapes. It will happen on your Encore occasionally when you top load it.


It sounds like he Wyld might be running the Defiant with the 8" exhaust with a 6" liner.

Yes, I had a Surdiac top loading stove. The manual stated that while opening the top loader you needed to go slowly because volatile gasses that build up on top of the firebox would ignite once they came in contact with oxygen. Sort of like a secondary burn tube stove! :coolcheese:

Bill I agree with you, the problem here may be a 7" liner. This would probably cause the stove to under perform also.

 

[Wyld Bill]

I just tried measuring the liner. Pretty difficult since I faced over the bocks with stone but seems to be 8". Probably just need to brush it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I just tried measuring the liner. Pretty difficult since I faced over the bocks with stone but seems to be 8". Probably just need to brush it.

Hmm... Try opening the top loader just a crack and then slowly opening... unless you are already doing that.

 

[Wyld Bill]

I just tried measuring the liner. Pretty difficult since I faced over the bocks with stone but seems to be 8". Probably just need to brush it.

Hmm... Try opening the top loader just a crack and then slowly opening... unless you are already doing that.

Yeah gonna try that.

 

[Woody Stover]

My BIL has a top-loading Resolute. I slowly open the front door and evacuate the smoke for a few seconds. Then I close the front door while opening the top a crack to look. If it looks clear, I open the top the rest of the way.

 

[Wyld Bill]

My BIL has a top-loading Resolute. I slowly open the front door and evacuate the smoke for a few seconds. Then I close the front door while opening the top a crack to look. If it looks clear, I open the top the rest of the way.

Wow that sounds like a pain in the butt.