2018/19 VC Owners Thread

frased said:

Dumb question I’m assuming dollar bill test is close doors, griddle, ash pan... see if dollar bill is removable from test spot? Testing sections of gasket.

Searched for this test.

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Yes. Close the griddle with the bill (or piece of paper) 1/2 way in, then try to pull it out. If it comes out easily then the gasket failed the test. If you cannot move the bill, then it is a good sign. Move say 5” further and repeat. Same for the doors and ashpan

Any one have the encore 2040 manual in pdf they can send me

Isn't it on line on the VC website? Kevin

Kevin Weis said:

Isn't it on line on the VC website? Kevin

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Thats the newer manual.. im looking for the original 2040

Figured I just "piggyback" on this thread since its an Encore 2040 concern. The Right glass in the doors seems to clean itself better than the left side. At first I thought maybe just the recent fire was hotter on that side to burn it clean, but now I'm not so sure its not the way the draft is set up in the stove whereby its just not a even wash across the doors. I was told before I bought it that the glass wash system on these was nothing to write home about and that not to expect it would stay clean by any stretch, so I'm okay with that sort of. Any thoughts though welcomed. Kevin

Kevin Weis said:

Figured I just "piggyback" on this thread since its an Encore 2040 concern. The Right glass in the doors seems to clean itself better than the left side. At first I thought maybe just the recent fire was hotter on that side to burn it clean, but now I'm not so sure its not the way the draft is set up in the stove whereby its just not a even wash across the doors. I was told before I bought it that the glass wash system on these was nothing to write home about and that not to expect it would stay clean by any stretch, so I'm okay with that sort of. Any thoughts though welcomed. Kevin

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My glass is dirty after every overnight burn. Each morning i drop in some wood and get it up to 600 to 650 and it all burns off.. clean as a whistle after 40 minutes. This is what my glass looks like with no cleaning

Hey guys what do you think was this my problem? Not only was my ash pan door out of adjustment again. Now it’s closing completely. But take a look at this there is some cement missing in this corner where the ash door shuts definitely air gets in there. It’s near the EPA hole area.

I need to seal that up with cement correct?

I did the dollar check on doors, griddle, etc all are good.

Let me know if this was definitely an issue. Seems like decent amount of air could penetrate that little spot. You can telll when the stove was built at the factory it was the little detail spot they missed with cement. Nothing is cracked or broken.

Woodsplitter67 said:

My glass is dirty after every overnight burn. Each morning i drop in some wood and get it up to 600 to 650 and it all burns off.. clean as a whistle after 40 minutes. This is what my glass looks like with no cleaningView attachment 235788

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Hum, my glass has never cleaned up like that. But I rarely run the stove at anything above 550 GT. Maybe I'm running it just too cold for it to burn off? Kevin

Bought some good dry oak from the local stove store (really cool place with a great manager, we talked like stove nerds for a good 30 minutes even though I ended up getting my insert off of Craigslist rather than them, shout-out to Adrian if he's reading this) and wow yeah it burns a lot differently than pine. I mean I knew it would from all I've read but it's cool to actually experience drastically different woods firsthand.

I put one big split and two small splits of oak in there along with two small pine splits to get things going quickly (I was reloading on almost zero coals) and now 4.5 hours later I've still got a 370 stove top and quite a few coals.

Curious to see how long these coals last. I figure I only had about 1/3 the oak I could have fit if I had used only oak and loaded it full, so I'm thinking overnight burns shouldn't be too difficult with good dry oak.

@frased nice find. Definitely worth sealing with cement, it can't hurt. You could stuff it with aluminum foil in the meantime to see if there's a noticeable difference

frased said:

Hey guys what do you think was this my problem? Not only was my ash pan door out of adjustment again. Now it’s closing completely. But take a look at this there is some cement missing in this corner where the ash door shuts definitely air gets in there. It’s near the EPA hole area.

I need to seal that up with cement correct?

I did the dollar check on doors, griddle, etc all are good.

Let me know if this was definitely an issue. Seems like decent amount of air could penetrate that little spot. You can telll when the stove was built at the factory it was the little detail spot they missed with cement. Nothing is cracked or broken.

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I would seal it up for sure.. may want to use a high temp silicone in an area like that.. it may stay put better

Kevin Weis said:

Hum, my glass has never cleaned up like that. But I rarely run the stove at anything above 550 GT. Maybe I'm running it just too cold for it to burn off? Kevin

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Run it like 600 or so for a little.. it will clean up. When i clean out my stove i also take a damp paper towel and wipe down the glass from all the fly ash that sticks to the glass. Sometimes there is some black on the glass and that just wipes off also..

Woodsplitter, got what your saying. The stove is in a small addition to the house so running it at 600 or more for any extended length of time would over heat the room. Around 500 is where I'm usually at. Can see from your picture its cranking pretty good. Kevin

Kevin Weis said:

Woodsplitter, got what your saying. The stove is in a small addition to the house so running it at 600 or more for any extended length of time would over heat the room. Around 500 is where I'm usually at. Can see from your picture its cranking pretty good. Kevin

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My stove is in an open flooor plan.. it makes a big difference.. i see your dilemma..

The dollar bill test is mentioned in the manual on p. 29.
“Close the door on a dollar bill and at- tempt to pull it free. If the bill is freed with little resistance, the gasket isn’t snug enough at that spot. Continue to make small adjustments until the setting is right.”

Thanks guys.
I replaced the door and glass gaskets today, and I had already changed the sh pan gasket a few weeks ago, and the griddle top gasket in the middle of October. I think it’s going to be better- at least I hope so.
I twisted and trimmed carefully with both a very sharp pair of scissors and a new razor, but I have a problem with not leaving a ragged end no matter how I twist it.

Yup.

Your looking for air leaks, and a dollar bill is pretty thin, so I would assume so.

Three good oak splits, two small pine splits. 2.5 hours after reload and stove just peaked at over 700 about 10 mins ago. It was at 650 for a long time before that and back at 650 now.

There's been secondary action this whole time. Never got more than two hours of flame time total with the pine and here 2.5 hours in and its going strong, probably another hour of flames left or so.

The heat I'm getting is incredible. Too much really for this 20 degree night but I'm not complaining.

I could have gotten a fair bit more wood in there if I had packed it to the gills. Just worried that it would overfire as the temp just kept climbing slowly for the first two hours, and that is with the air all the way shut. The flames were mostly lazy and at some points it was only aurora borealis style secondaries with almost no primary flame. Flue temp stayed lower than before too, even though my stove top was higher.


Maybe if I loaded it with all oak it would have been ok due to it off gassing slower. Not sure and still a bit scared to load her up full but will do it in an afternoon where I can monitor the whole burn. Still seems to me like if too much wood catches early on that temps climb crazy high.

Wood Splitter: here is the manual I have in pdf form

If you want a copy give me your email.

Pulled coals to the front, packed my stove with wood, stove went to 400 so I closed the damper and then the air to get a low long burn.
I ended up with GT or 300 and a cat temp of 1380 degrees. I could hear the rushing sound.
I have 8” Ventis Class a double wall pipe so I have no idea what the flue temp is at any time. If my cat temp is 1400 what would my flue temp be, and should I woory?
How hot is too hot for the cat?
Right now i’vevsett It down to 625 on the gt, and 925 on the cat. I don’t need 650, 450 would be great.

Also, where can Imfind good instructions on how to close up the secondary air inlet?

An interesting article regarding VC:

https://www.vnews.com/Editorial-Investment-in-Vermont-Castings-18362792

An interesting video tour of VC with Bob Villa:

CTwith3 said:

Pulled coals to the front, packed my stove with wood, stove went to 400 so I closed the damper and then the air to get a low long burn.
I ended up with GT or 300 and a cat temp of 1380 degrees. I could hear the rushing sound.
I have 8” Ventis Class a double wall pipe so I have no idea what the flue temp is at any time. If my cat temp is 1400 what would my flue temp be, and should I woory?
How hot is too hot for the cat?
Right now i’vevsett It down to 625 on the gt, and 925 on the cat. I don’t need 650, 450 would be great.

Also, where can Imfind good instructions on how to close up the secondary air inlet?

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That rushing sound or baby jet engine sound is your cat running and that sound is good. 1300 is a good number. I also have 8in pipe. I mesure right before it gets to the 8in double wall. This would be the collar that connects the stove and the double wall pipe Not a super optimal spot but close enough. I also take my IR gun and read where it is vented.. where i can see the inside wall pipe. I just started the stove so the temp is a little low

CTwith3 said:

Wood Splitter: here is the manual I have in pdf form

If you want a copy give me your email.

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Thanks for the reply.. pm sent