2018/19 VC Owners Thread

[Reckless]

Did you do a complete rebuild this year?

Nah I'm only 3 years in on my last rebuild, probably do another in 2 years or so.


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[Woodsplitter67]

Nah I'm only 3 years in on my last rebuild, probably do another in 2 years or so.


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Your rebuilding your stove every 5yrs.. what stove do you have

 

[Reckless]

Encore 2550. I have only rebuilt it once so far and I'm planning on moving that stove to the basement so it would be a good time to tear it down again and see if I missed anything [emoji23]


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[frased]

Well first burn guys since my big event and ash pan door fix.

Anyway I seem to definitely have more control now using primary air control.

We’ll see how it goes. So far so good.

 

[CTwith3]

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
View attachment 235889

No room. You said 1300 is a good number, but is 1400? 1500? What number is the maximum?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

You can download the 2010 manual here
https://www.manualslib.com/download/930691/Vermont-Castings-Encore-2040.html

Thanks.. but it dosent let you download the entire document, and it has wrighting on it over the document page..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

View attachment 235969

No room. You said 1300 is a good number, but is 1400? 1500? What number is the maximum?

I see your set up is different than mine

 

[frased]

Well first burn guys since my big event and ash pan door fix.

Anyway I seem to definitely have more control now using primary air control.

We’ll see how it goes. So far so good.

I had glowing red coals after 9 hrs and not a full load in the stove! That is an entirely new experience for me. Think I may have solved the air leak! For now anyway.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

that is awesome to hear Frased. did the fire react differently to the air controls this burn?

 

[frased]

that is awesome to hear Frased. did the fire react differently to the air controls this burn?

It appeared to kill the flames down more successfully. And quickly. Before it was not as controllable.

Picture of coals at 9 hrs.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It appeared to kill the flames down more successfully. And quickly. Before it was not as controllable.

Picture of coals at 9 hrs.

That looks much better..and sounds much better

 

[frased]

When I fill my stove I use my shovel and push everything to the back. I then grab my poker I made and drag only the coals forward to the glass. I than spread the ash evenly behind the coals. I like to keep a couple inches of ash in the bottom to prevent the epa holes and any possible ash pan gasket failure to leak air into the firebox. Than using a combination of all sizes of splits I fill the firebox all the way up to the griddle in an E/W orientation. I use big and small splits to come up evenly mainly using the small splits to fill the air gaps between the big splits. Less airspace means more fuel which means longer burn times. Once I get above the andirons I use a piece that spans from one side of the stove to the other to prevent any wood from falling into the glass. If I do everything right and my heat demand is low I can easily get 12 hour burns. I am still only loading twice a day and easily lighting off coals.

Randy,

Do you leave your ashpan full at all times?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Randy,

Do you leave your ashpan full at all times?

I dont.. i empty it out like every 10 to 14 days..

 

[Gnanneb86]

I have a fairly new Defiant flexburn, purchased in 2016.

When starting a fire, it gets going fairly quickly and i get the griddle temp up to 450-500ish. When I shut the damper the catalyst temp begins to climb rapidly and in a couple minutes I'm over 1000 degrees (I have a digital probe in). After that I start getting loud roaring noise out of the back of the stove and the cat temps quickly climb to 1800 or so. The problem I have is that it seems I also have weak draft, if I turn down the air any more than half it puffs like crazy however, if I turn the air down around half the cat temp just keeps climbing. Eventually I open up the damper, close the air control all the way and let the cat cool down to 1000 or so. After engaging the cat again I get a thunderous noise out of the catalyst and it takes off like mad, scares the crap out of me. Tonight I had to just open the doors and let it burn like that for the rest of the time.

Stove has 8" pipe coming out, 2 45s into a masonry chimney, then 90 up the chimney. Chimney is lined with a appx 7" x 11" oval flexible liner with some sort of vermiculite type substance around it.

Any ideas at all?

I grew up with an old VC (vigilant I think it was) from the 70s or so and that was the reason I went with the VC. However, I'm about ready to give up on this stove. It has me worried to start another fire in it..

 

[Dobish]

I have a fairly new Defiant flexburn, purchased in 2016.

When starting a fire, it gets going fairly quickly and i get the griddle temp up to 450-500ish. When I shut the damper the catalyst temp begins to climb rapidly and in a couple minutes I'm over 1000 degrees (I have a digital probe in). After that I start getting loud roaring noise out of the back of the stove and the cat temps quickly climb to 1800 or so. The problem I have is that it seems I also have weak draft, if I turn down the air any more than half it puffs like crazy however, if I turn the air down around half the cat temp just keeps climbing. Eventually I open up the damper, close the air control all the way and let the cat cool down to 1000 or so. After engaging the cat again I get a thunderous noise out of the catalyst and it takes off like mad, scares the crap out of me. Tonight I had to just open the doors and let it burn like that for the rest of the time.

Stove has 8" pipe coming out, 2 45s into a masonry chimney, then 90 up the chimney. Chimney is lined with a appx 7" x 11" oval flexible liner with some sort of vermiculite type substance around it.

Any ideas at all?

I grew up with an old VC (vigilant I think it was) from the 70s or so and that was the reason I went with the VC. However, I'm about ready to give up on this stove. It has me worried to start another fire in it..

It sounds like you are using really dry wood, or you have a leak somewhere. Back puffing will happen if you close the air too quickly.

What type of wood, what moisture content, and how long is your total chimney length?

 

[Gnanneb86]

It sounds like you are using really dry wood, or you have a leak somewhere. Back puffing will happen if you close the air too quickly.

What type of wood, what moisture content, and how long is your total chimney length?

It is really dry wood. Sat in logs for 3 to 4 years before being split a year ago. Reads around 15 percent with a HF moisture meter.

I try to close the air as slow as possible.

I thought it may be a leaky gasket but checked all with a dollar bill and seem tight, and the flames are still controllable with the air control. The one spot it is pulling major air from is where the oval adapter attaches to the stove, but not sure that would be affecting anything. It whistles from there pretty loud it's pulling so much air.

Chimney is around 16 to 18 feet above stove top.

Some pics as well... sorry for the deck construction at the time haha

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have a fairly new Defiant flexburn, purchased in 2016.

When starting a fire, it gets going fairly quickly and i get the griddle temp up to 450-500ish. When I shut the damper the catalyst temp begins to climb rapidly and in a couple minutes I'm over 1000 degrees (I have a digital probe in). After that I start getting loud roaring noise out of the back of the stove and the cat temps quickly climb to 1800 or so. The problem I have is that it seems I also have weak draft, if I turn down the air any more than half it puffs like crazy however, if I turn the air down around half the cat temp just keeps climbing. Eventually I open up the damper, close the air control all the way and let the cat cool down to 1000 or so. After engaging the cat again I get a thunderous noise out of the catalyst and it takes off like mad, scares the crap out of me. Tonight I had to just open the doors and let it burn like that for the rest of the time.

Stove has 8" pipe coming out, 2 45s into a masonry chimney, then 90 up the chimney. Chimney is lined with a appx 7" x 11" oval flexible liner with some sort of vermiculite type substance around it.

Any ideas at all?

I grew up with an old VC (vigilant I think it was) from the 70s or so and that was the reason I went with the VC. However, I'm about ready to give up on this stove. It has me worried to start another fire in it..

Regarding your back puffing. Back puffing occurs when there is a buildup of gasses in the box that light off. This is not a draft issue, this is more of opperator error. Please dont be upse by that. I when im in cat mode at first i can't turn the air back past half way with a good amount of wood that is just gassing off. As far as the high cat temps it almost sounds like there is too much wood and coles lit off. When om doing an overnight burns. I get the cat going with a small to medium load of wood. Then load it fully with on a medium bed of coles close the damper right away let a little wood catch turn the air to half way, couple minutes later turn the air all the way down.. my cat temp then will be about 1100. After a couple hours it will hover at 1000.. the key is NOT to allow all of the wood in the box to light up.. this is why you pre light the cat and get it up to temp..

 

[Gnanneb86]

Regarding your back puffing. Back puffing occurs when there is a buildup of gasses in the box that light off. This is not a draft issue, this is more of opperator error. Please dont be upse by that. I when im in cat mode at first i can't turn the air back past half way with a good amount of wood that is just gassing off. As far as the high cat temps it almost sounds like there is too much wood and coles lit off. When om doing an overnight burns. I get the cat going with a small to medium load of wood. Then load it fully with on a medium bed of coles close the damper right away let a little wood catch turn the air to half way, couple minutes later turn the air all the way down.. my cat temp then will be about 1100. After a couple hours it will hover at 1000.. the key is NOT to allow all of the wood in the box to light up.. this is why you pre light the cat and get it up to temp..

Should I try shutting the damper before the stove top gets up to 450 then?

No matter when I start closing the damper and no matter how slow I close it if I go pass half it'll puff eventually, sometimes it's okay for an hour or two but then I'll wake up at night to the smell of smoke and it's puffing away. Also, when reloading I get smoke spillage into the room, which to me seems like it would mean weak draft.

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[Diabel]

Should I try shutting the damper before the stove top gets up to 450 then?

No matter when I start closing the damper and no matter how slow I close it if I go pass half it'll puff eventually, sometimes it's okay for an hour or two but then I'll wake up at night to the smell of smoke and it's puffing away. Also, when reloading I get smoke spillage into the room, which to me seems like it would mean weak draft.

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When was the last time you cleaned the chimney and the brushed off the cat? Do you have a flue thermometer? Flue thermometer is the best indicator as to when to shut the bypass.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Randy,

Do you leave your ashpan full at all times?

Sorry I have been MIA for a bit. Life is crazy right now. I empty my ash pan similar to what woody said. About every 10 days. I try and keep about a 2” layer of ash in the stove though. So as it builds up I will sift through it and let it fall down to the pan until I get about 2 inches. If you are seeing smoke and orange flame through your GT than your gasket is compromised. I replaced the wire mesh gasket with regular 5/16” rope gasket. It seals much better. As far as you having a chimney fire already I would say that’s from using wet oak to make up for a leaky stove thus creating lots of creosote. Bad combination all around. Sounds like you got the ash pan all figured out. Now do the GT and try a mixture of more dry Maple than your oak.

 

[Diabel]

I just looked at your pics.

You should get a flue (ideally probe) if that is a double wall pipe.

With that set up I would imagine you will get some smoke spillage via the griddle in the shoulder season.

 

[Gnanneb86]

When was the last time you cleaned the chimney and the brushed off the cat? Do you have a flue thermometer? Flue thermometer is the best indicator as to when to shut the bypass.

Chimney was cleaned before this heating season, Sept 2018. The cat is clean as could be, opened it yesterday and checked it. I do have a flue thermometer, usually around 400 when I shut the bypass. When the cat takes off the stove top and flue temps stay fairly low even though the cat keeps climbing. Honestly it's more the thunder roar of the stove that has me concerned when it happens, it sounds scary at times.

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[Gnanneb86]

I just looked at your pics.

You should get a flue (ideally probe) if that is a double wall pipe.

With that set up I would imagine you will get some smoke spillage via the griddle in the shoulder season.

The plan at the moment is to install a new chimney through the house and abandon the masonry setup this summer...just concerned it won't fix the issues I've had with the stove.

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[Diabel]

The thermometer is a probe type correct. If so 400 sounds ok and the behavior of the stove top temp is similar to mine.

Your flexburn is a combination of cat technology and the famous VC “everburn” technology. (Btw the later failed miserably imho).

The roaring is the result of a secondary combustion at the back of the stove. If you don’t have a rear heat shield, try taking a peak at the back of the stove when your cat is at 1800 and the stove is roaring during eve or night when the lights are turned off.
Hopefully, you will NOT see a pretty dark orange glow of the cast parts........do not ask how I know.

 

[Gnanneb86]

The thermometer is a probe type correct. If so 400 sounds ok and the behavior of the stove top temp is similar to mine.

Your flexburn is a combination of cat technology and the famous VC “everburn” technology. (Btw the later failed miserably imho).

The roaring is the result of a secondary combustion at the back of the stove. If you don’t have a rear heat shield, try taking a peak at the back of the stove when your cat is at 1800 and the stove is roaring during eve or night when the lights are turned off.
Hopefully, you will NOT see a pretty dark orange glow of the cast parts........do not ask how I know.

It's single wall pipe, I use a point and shoot infrared type thermometer on it.

Do you know if it helps to seal up the catalyst thermometer probe hole? My probe is pretty loose in that hole and I feel like it would shoot air right at the cat.

Is it an issue at all that it's pulling so much air where the oval adapter connects to the stove? It's not a very tight fit there...maybe half inch to three quarters inch gap.

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