Vigilant I Rebuild Manual

Does anyone have this manual--and willing to share it? I did search for it in this forum, with no luck. I did see a post where Remkel thought he had it--but alas, he no longer does.

I just picked up a Vigilant, built in 1980, that is virtually identical to one I grew up with. It's in great shape, just in need of paint and sealing up. I'm certain it'll be good as new with a thorough rebuild. So, I'm just looking for that manual to be sure I don't miss anything.

I'll post picks once I start bead blasting the bits for paint.

Thanks, Brad

Any luck, Brad? Did you go ahead with the rebuild?

Brad, I think I have a copy that Remkel sent me a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can find the file and I'll let you know.

Brad I found my copy. Send me a PM with email address and I'll email it to you.

Haven't checked in for a while... busy and it took a while to media blast all the parts with my compressor. Finally finished over the holiday and got it installed.

and installed...



It's working well, but not as well as I had hoped. Burn time is about 6-7 hours, and it doesn't get quite as hot as I recall. Trying to figure out if I have set it correctly--but I've slowly worked the thermostatic control across its range, as well as the secodary air intake.

Brad

If you've got good wood and good air you should have no problem hitting 750 or more griddle temp. When your first get the fire going, have the thermostat set so that the flap in back is wide open. Once you get the temp up to 700 or so, throw the handle into horizontal burn, leaving the air intakes untouched for a while. The temp should slowly settle down to 500 or 550. This is when I'll close the back flap to where it's about half an inch open. It should maintain that temp for several hours. The Teardrop on the side should also be open most of the time.

Stove looks great. Mine could use a good stove polish job or a couple coats of Crisco.

Fantastic job on that stove!

I've got decent wood and air--although I'm a little concerned about the draft. It doesn't seem as strong as it should be. I've cleaned the chimney, so I know it's clear, but I suspect the horizontal pipe, plus the 4 feet through the old stone wall to the chimney might be too long. Not much I can do about that though.

I haven't gotten it quite that hot before shutting it down and going to the horizontal burn--I get worried about overheating the stove pipe. I've gotten it to around 600on the griddle, but flames reach pretty far up the pipe at that point and although it's clean, it makes me a bit nervous with the popping and creaking. Once it's in horizontal burn it goes down around 500-600, but doesn't radiate the way I remember. As a teenager, I remember not being able to sit near it in our family room.

I have set the thermostatic control on the back as you have indicated, and I've run the secondary air on the side from about 1/4 to full open. 1/4 open has yielded the best results.

Thanks for the info--I'll try getting it hotter before I shut it down this evening.

Brad

Your stove looks awesome! I just got a Vig last week. Just got the rebuild manual from Remkel. How did it go? Any tips or unexpected complications? I just read through the procedures, and there seems to be some confusion (for me, away) about the one-piece fireback vs. the two piece. The manual says to contact VC about reinstalling the one-piece. Again, nice job!