2017/2018 VC owners thread

[webfish]

New thread. Here is old one. . https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2016-2017-vc-owners-thread.156768/


Please continue here.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hello to all my VC brothers.. looking forward to another year of heating. 40 days untill we start to burn..

 

[Excavator]

Hello to all my VC brothers.. looking forward to another year of heating. 40 days untill we start to burn..

40 days? Wow Seems like I just burnt my last fire a month ago

 

[jharkin]

Thanks webfish for kicking us off... I keep forgetting to.

Hey all. Its 80 degrees here today so no thought of a fire for a while yet. Carry on.

 

[Mr.K]

77 degrees and humid here on Long Island! Just taking a break for lunch before heading back out to fire up the log splitter again.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

85 here today... we had a cool down the other week, but the temps are back up now for the nesx 4 days then back to the mid 70s...

 

[defiant3]

Don't ask, "Why have a fire?" but "Why NOT have a fire?"

 

[Dobish]

Just got up on the roof and cleaned out the chimney last night. It was a good use of 10 minutes! Chimney is just over 15', with a little over 8' being outside.
I was a little disappointed with how much buildup was in there, given the wood I was burning was roughly 20% or better, and I had cleaned it in january/February. We burned until May.

I didn't come across anything that didn't come off easily, but I ended up with about 2/3 of an ash pan full of black crusties and fine powder. It was all black, came off pretty easily. The Cap was pretty full of some big crusties as well, looked like some big chunks (what appeared to be cardboard). I am hoping that with 2 year seasoned wood this winter, it is even less. I also think that our former nanny was not really controlling the fire very well and was cutting the air too soon.

I will try and snap a picture of it today (since I haven't cleaned it out of the stove yet), as well as down the chimney.

 

[Excavator]

Just got up on the roof and cleaned out the chimney last night. It was a good use of 10 minutes! Chimney is just over 15', with a little over 8' being outside.
I was a little disappointed with how much buildup was in there, given the wood I was burning was roughly 20% or better, and I had cleaned it in january/February. We burned until May.

I didn't come across anything that didn't come off easily, but I ended up with about 2/3 of an ash pan full of black crusties and fine powder. It was all black, came off pretty easily. The Cap was pretty full of some big crusties as well, looked like some big chunks (what appeared to be cardboard). I am hoping that with 2 year seasoned wood this winter, it is even less. I also think that our former nanny was not really controlling the fire very well and was cutting the air too soon.

I will try and snap a picture of it today (since I haven't cleaned it out of the stove yet), as well as down the chimney.

I just cleaned mine last week and had some crusties on the cap and down the liner about a foot or two. It came right off the liner. The cap was removed so I could clean it over a bucket. I blame this on the last month of small burns at end of last burn season that were run not hot enough

 

[Dobish]

I just cleaned mine last week and had some crusties on the cap and down the liner about a foot or two. It came right off the liner. The cap was removed so I could clean it over a bucket. I blame this on the last month of small burns at end of last burn season that were run not hot enough

i thought about putting down a piece of plastic or a tarp as I was dumping crusties all over my roof

 

[Dobish]

It's October and we had snow while i was driving home from work. It was raining all yesterday and today, but i grabbed some wood and brought it inside. It was a mix of pine and maple from the uglies pile. Even wet, it was cranking pretty quick.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

70* at 8am this morning in south east Michigan so no fires for a couple weeks.

 

[Ladd]

Hello fellow VC owners!

With help from this forum, I purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant Encore Fireback Kit #5925 for Models 0028 and 2140; I have a 2140. Now that wood stove use in in the near future, I have begun to rebuild Defiant Encore.

However, after removing all the parts that needed to come out, upon starting the rebuild I don’t see how the replacement refractory chamber can be the correct part (see photos below). My old refractory chamber had a wide hole on the front and back. The rebuild kit’s instructions say there should be a wide hole on the front *and* back and the line drawings show a hole on the front of the chamber (you can’t see the back). Yet the replacement refractory chamber included in the kit has only one long wide hole, on what I believe is the backside of the chamber where the catalytic converter would go when it is inserted from the back of the stove.

I suppose it is possible that the replacement refractory chamber is a new design and the instructions and diagrams haven’t been updated. Or perhaps I am just misinterpreting something.

In any case, if anyone would pass on their knowledge on this matter so I can move forward with the rebuild, I would be most appreciative.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Hello fellow VC owners!

With help from this forum, I purchased a Vermont Castings Defiant Encore Fireback Kit #5925 for Models 0028 and 2140; I have a 2140. Now that wood stove use in in the near future, I have begun to rebuild Defiant Encore.

However, after removing all the parts that needed to come out, upon starting the rebuild I don’t see how the replacement refractory chamber can be the correct part (see photos below). My old refractory chamber had a wide hole on the front and back. The rebuild kit’s instructions say there should be a wide hole on the front *and* back and the line drawings show a hole on the front of the chamber (you can’t see the back). Yet the replacement refractory chamber included in the kit has only one long wide hole, on what I believe is the backside of the chamber where the catalytic converter would go when it is inserted from the back of the stove.

I suppose it is possible that the replacement refractory chamber is a new design and the instructions and diagrams haven’t been updated. Or perhaps I am just misinterpreting something.

In any case, if anyone would pass on their knowledge on this matter so I can move forward with the rebuild, I would be most appreciative.

That looks like the refractory box for my 2250 encore. That would be the front of the box. The cat sits in the opening there and a cover slides in to hold the cat nice and tight in the refractory box. So basically when you remove your lower fire back you will be staring at that opening you see in pic 3. With the cat cover installed you should only be able to see the top of the cat.

 

[Ladd]

That looks like the refractory box for my 2250 encore. That would be the front of the box. The cat sits in the opening there and a cover slides in to hold the cat nice and tight in the refractory box. So basically when you remove your lower fire back you will be staring at that opening you see in pic 3. With the cat cover installed you should only be able to see the top of the cat.

That would make sense if your 2250 loads the cat from *inside* the stove. My 2140 loads the cat from the rear, so I don't see how this refractory box will work in my stove. AND it's from the kit that supposedly FOR my stove.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

That would make sense if your 2250 loads the cat from *inside* the stove. My 2140 loads the cat from the rear, so I don't see how this refractory box will work in my stove. AND it's from the kit that supposedly FOR my stove.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge than myself will be by soon. Is it possible they sent the wrong one?

 

[Ladd]

Update to my original question and a second question: I *think*, but am not even close to being sure, that the rectangle seen on the inside of the refractory box is supposed to be cut out (see photo below). The instructions say that it is "friction fit" and a sharp knife may be needed to remove the rectangle. There is nothing friction fit about the rectangle; the back is one solid piece. Still, cutting out the rectangle shouldn't be much of a problem, if that's what I need to do. Adding to the confusion, the instructions say this cut out piece is supposed to be the insulation piece immediately inside the catalytic converter cover on the back. Of course, the cut out piece will look nothing like the old insulation piece just inside the cat cover.

Second question (photos below): There is a separate piece of refractory material that appears to fit into the large hole on one side; perhaps it forms the base for the catalytic converter to sit on. It has two wings that fit into the side grooves on the refractory chamber. This piece is flat on one of the long, narrow sides and slightly rounded on the other narrow long side. On one of the wider long sides, there is a large lip. On the other wider long side there is a narrow lip. So, how does this piece fit into the refractory chamber? It can go in four ways; large lip in and on top or on the bottom, or large lip out, on the top or bottom.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I'm still thinking you have the wrong refractory box. I just looked on a couple different sites and the box you need does not look like the box you have.

 

[defiant3]

So the refractory assembly pictured would be correct for models 2190, and 2550. Will NOT fit 0028 or 2140. Hearth and Home Tech., the most recent owners of V.C. seem to have endless difficulty with parts identification. Many of the fireback kits I've gotten have the wrong stuff in them.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

So the refractory assembly pictured would be correct for models 2190, and 2550. Will NOT fit 0028 or 2140. Hearth and Home Tech., the most recent owners of V.C. seem to have endless difficulty with parts identification. Many of the fireback kits I've gotten have the wrong stuff in them.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. When you finally get the right stuff you should have a good little heater.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. When you finally get the right stuff you should have a good little heater.

Last reply was meant for OP

 

[Ladd]

I'm still thinking you have the wrong refractory box. I just looked on a couple different sites and the box you need does not look like the box you have.

I agree with your conclusion, but if on those same sites, you search for the *Fireback kit* for the 2140, not just the refractory box for the 2140, you will see that I received the refractory box that comes in the kit. They're definitely different.

 

[Ladd]

I just returned from my local Vermont Castings dealer and he has confirmed that the refractory assembly in my Defiant Encore Fireback Kit #5925 is the *wrong* refractory for that kit. The refractory is for the Model 2250 model of stove, not the 2140 model which is what the 5925 kit is for. Therefore, the kit itself had to be packed wrong, either by the VC distributor or most likely by Vermont Casting themselves.

So, you guys were right!

In any case, as Vermont Castings never talks to the end users (and from what I understand, rarely talks to the retailers and usually only to the distributors), I have to go through the retail business in Connecticut from which I purchased the kit over the Internet to get them to convince VC to send me the correct refractory. I am not anticipating this to go smoothly ...

 

[Sailrmike]

I just returned from my local Vermont Castings dealer and he has confirmed that the refractory assembly in my Defiant Encore Fireback Kit #5925 is the *wrong* refractory for that kit. The refractory is for the Model 2250 model of stove, not the 2140 model which is what the 5925 kit is for. Therefore, the kit itself had to be packed wrong, either by the VC distributor or most likely by Vermont Casting themselves.

So, you guys were right!

In any case, as Vermont Castings never talks to the end users (and from what I understand, rarely talks to the retailers and usually only to the distributors), I have to go through the retail business in Connecticut from which I purchased the kit over the Internet to get them to convince VC to send me the correct refractory. I am not anticipating this to go smoothly ...

Was it Preston Trading Post's Stove World? They are a top notch shop, I'm a customer for life.

 

[Ladd]

Was it Preston Trading Post's Stove World? They are a top notch shop, I'm a customer for life.

Can't say that it was; too bad, you gave them a good review. FWIW, the company I'm dealing with sent me an email within five minutes, saying they were forwarding my emails upstream, so we're off to a good start. Hopefully the VC distributor will be convinced.