2018/19 VC Owners Thread

[Gnanneb86]

Looks like you got it!

I feel like I'm getting it, about time!

My wood is on the dry side also, moisture meter read 14 percent on a fresh split tonight...if those harbor freight moisture meters are accurate

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[RandyBoBandy]

This is at 13 hours. Solid 3” of good coals. Cat was at 655 with primary air just a tad open. This was a load of 4 year css oak.

 

[CTwith3]

That primary air door is the same as mine. That looks auful far open. Mine from the factory did not close all the way when the lever was closed. I had to adjust that. Maybe this is too far open as well. Check and adjust so it just closes when lever is all the way in closed position. Funny thing is prior to 17' model the manual said hands off on any adjustments. 17' manual noted a small section to make adjustments to the primary damper. Need to figure out where that gasket piece came from though. Kevin

The primary does close all the way.

It’s the gasket for the refractory support - #7 on the exploded parts diagram in the manual. The stove has never been dismantled, it came this way. So, how is this mangled gasket effecting the stove. At the least the gasket is effecting that sealing point and probably an air leak.

Will VC take responsibility for this and do something like gets tech to my house? Probably not.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Could be was extra gasket material cut away but didn't make it out a there in the end? Dealer should make it right. Kevin

 

[CTwith3]

Kevin- Bought it online 4 years ago.

For you guys that rebuild- how big a deal is it to replace the refractory support gasket on an Encore 2040?

Randy- what is css oak?

 

[Woody Stover]

css oak?

4 yrs. cut, split, stacked. Even Red Oak should be dry by then.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Just a little update.

Tonight I started the fire with kindling, maybe 1 to 2 inch splits and about 5 of them. Let that go for a while till they were mostly coals. Then added some 3 to 4 inch pieces, maybe 4 of them so it was about a quarter full. Let the stove get up to about 350 to 400ish then shut the damper. Took the stove maybe 10 mins to get the catalyst up to 500 and then the catalyst climbed slowly instead of taking off like it used to. Once that catalyst got up around 800 I started to shut the air a bit. After 30 to 40 mins of continually reducing air bit by bit I was down around only a quarter open for air and no puffing or anything, it ran better than it ever has and burned on those few small pieces for about 3 hrs till I reloaded. I reloaded with 3 good size junks 5 inch or so. I immediately shut the damper after reload and left the air fully open for 2 to 3 mins before starting to shut the air slowly again. Right now it's cruising beautifully, cat is hovering around 1000, air is 3/4 shut, small flames in the stove and no back puffing yet. Seems to be good, hopefully it stays that way tonight.

I'm starting to think that this whole time I've been thinking it wasn't going good enough and didn't have enough draft it's been fine after all, I was just getting too hot before turning the air down.

Just feeling great at the moment, hopefully work my way up to a full load of wood and start enjoying long burn times.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

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This is exactly why this site exists. I'm so happy for you. Im, personally glad i could help you and i am sure everyone else who helped along the way feels the same. These stoves run great, you just gotta know how to operate them.. ALL stoves have there quirks

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I have two year css red oak that I’m mixing in on most loads. I’ve had to split the red oak down to smaller pieces so it burns better though. It’s test around 19-20% MC. What I’m finding with a stove full of larger red oak splits is the cat wants to run real hot while not being able to have a good fire in the stove. Remember the picture I posted of my cat hitting 1900. So if anyone is burning wood a little on the wet side I would suggest keeping the splits around 3”.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Good to know. Again size seems to play a big role in the operation of these cat stoves (not jus VC). Too little not good, too big not good. Kevin

 

[Gnanneb86]

This is exactly why this site exists. I'm so happy for you. Im, personally glad i could help you and i am sure everyone else who helped along the way feels the same. These stoves run great, you just gotta know how to operate them.. ALL stoves have there quirks

So I happened to be home today, we're having some work done on our windows.

Started the stove same as yesterday and this time went to about half full with 5 inch splits on a nice bed of coals.

All went well at the beginning, cat slowly climbed above 500 and I reduced air bit at a time down past half to 3/4 shut. Ran like that well for about an hour and then all went dark and it started puffing. Cat began to climb up to 1450 or so and it continued to puff. I opened the air and the cat began to roar loudly again and climb to high temps. I opened the bypass damper and shut the air all the way to let the cat cool down. Once cat got down to 1000 I opened the air and shut the damper. I was able to then get the air down to just above half closed and the cat hovered around 1400. Even a tiny bit less air at this point triggered puffing. I was able to keep it above half open for the rest of the load but it went through the wood pretty quickly.

Seems the stove is happy with small loads but getting a bigger load to cruise just isn't possible with lower air settings.

On the plus side, with the air above half and the cat at 1400 I had nothing coming out of the chimney at all!

Still thinking maybe my chimney setup isn't ideal. I think I know how to operate the stove it just isn't the perfect setup to make this stove happy.

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[Woodsplitter67]

So I happened to be home today, we're having some work done on our windows.

Started the stove same as yesterday and this time went to about half full with 5 inch splits on a nice bed of coals.

All went well at the beginning, cat slowly climbed above 500 and I reduced air bit at a time down past half to 3/4 shut. Ran like that well for about an hour and then all went dark and it started puffing. Cat began to climb up to 1450 or so and it continued to puff. I opened the air and the cat began to roar loudly again and climb to high temps. I opened the bypass damper and shut the air all the way to let the cat cool down. Once cat got down to 1000 I opened the air and shut the damper. I was able to then get the air down to just above half closed and the cat hovered around 1400. Even a tiny bit less air at this point triggered puffing. I was able to keep it above half open for the rest of the load but it went through the wood pretty quickly.

Seems the stove is happy with small loads but getting a bigger load to cruise just isn't possible with lower air settings.

On the plus side, with the air above half and the cat at 1400 I had nothing coming out of the chimney at all!

Still thinking maybe my chimney setup isn't ideal. I think I know how to operate the stove it just isn't the perfect setup to make this stove happy.

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In an early post it said the you were going to change you chimney set up.. if its still an option than you may want to consider that still..

 

[Gnanneb86]

In an early post it said the you were going to change you chimney set up.. if its still an option than you may want to consider that still..

Correct, that's my next move I think. Just a lot of remodeling in the house to move the stove and I wouldn't do it if the current setup did work.

My three options are move the stove and build the new chimney through the house, buy a different stove and hope it works better with the current setup, or buy a wood furnace and put it in the basement using an existing chimney from the basement that was once used for a coal furnace no longer in place.

I really want to like the defiant and get it working the way it should so still leaning towards a new chimney setup.

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[Kevin Weis]

So, the key is to make it off gas less. Wood will tend to do that if it's too dry. All the pieces are off gassing at one time may mean too many pieces exposing too many different faces are heating up at the same time. Maybe try to place on stove so minimal faces are exposed. Think this may have been mentioned above. Kevin

 

[Gnanneb86]

So, the key is to make it off gas less. Wood will tend to do that if it's too dry. All the pieces are off gassing at one time may mean too many pieces exposing too many different faces are heating up at the same time. Maybe try to place on stove so minimal faces are exposed. Think this may have been mentioned above. Kevin

Yes, after playing with it today it seems like the combination of not excellent draft with dry wood is causing the issue.

I find if I load only half a load, immediately close the damper, and reduce air in increments till it's always closed I can get it to run without puffing. That seems to be the only way to keep gasses to a minimum. The cat is still getting up to 1500 at times but that's the best I can do.

Any suggestions for getting better draft out of my current chimney? The dealer that installed the stove said there is no way to pull out the current liner and replace it with an insulated 6 inch...but it may not hurt to try if I have to abandon it anyway.

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[Diabel]

Rome was not built in one day!

You had a good burn yesterday and a bad one today. Keep working at it. Get to know your stove.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

For anyone following my Montpelier adventures with too high a burn rate, a miracle of sorts happened. I started the stove yesterday and it burned like a completely different stove. Turning the air all the way down would always kill the fire in the early stages of burn...so I had to run way more open than I normally did for reloads (before I would almost immediately shut it completely closed and things would still take off wildly in a bit).

Once I got the wood started, turning the air down resulted in truly lazy flames that were NOT flickering/flapping in the wind like they used to. Great secondary action (slow and rolling rather than fast and turbulent like before )and a clean burn (no smoke out the chimney) even when burning dry pine that I used to think just naturally offgassed too quickly for this stove (any stove) to handle properly.

It was an awesome feeling, but weird...everything I had learned about running the Monty went out the window. I can't stress enough it felt like a completely different stove. Or like a new car, which made you realize the old car had bald tires and horrible spongy brakes, and suddenly you could stop the car without having to slam the brake pedal to the floor and in half the distance.

Of course I began to wonder what changed. Weather was warmer, it hit 40, and our usual moderate winds were non existent. I feared it was just these weather conditions. Heart sunk thinking as soon as it cooled down and winds picked up that I'd have an uncontrollable beast on my hands again.

On the next reload I did notice one other thing that was different. The ashes we're higher than they'd ever been in the stove. It hit me then...I think the ashes are blocking the doghouse air. On the next reload i moved the ashes to open the doghouse back up and Bam, back to non lazy flames, excessive off gassing and crazy secondaries, even with air down.

I've now got magnets over the doghouse air holes on the bottom front of the unit and it is burning perfectly again. What a difference they make. I still let a tiny amount of air through the doghouse so the coals burn properly, but I think I have that air reduced about 90% and plan to keep it that way​

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Thanks for posting

 

[frased]

There are so many factors to consider regarding burn times with any stove. Most VC members here consistently get 8 to 12 hours between reloads. So, yes you are doing something wrong.

As said before. Start with sealing the flue adaptor. Then do the dollar test again on all gaskets. Check the wood MC (very important). Once that is done, experiment with the stove during the day by closing the primary air more and more in increments and watch the behavior of the stove.

I hadn’t considered sealing the flue adapter until reading this. Are we talking about the oval to round adapter on top of the stoves flue collar?

My oval to round is the original VC porcelain enamel finished single wall piece.

Are the air gaps on the corners affecting my burns??

 

[begreen]

Probably not, but if in doubt it won't hurt to finger trowel in some stove cement there.

 

[Gnanneb86]

I hadn’t considered sealing the flue adapter until reading this. Are we talking about the oval to round adapter on top of the stoves flue collar?

My oval to round is the original VC porcelain enamel finished single wall piece.

Are the air gaps on the corners affecting my burns??

I did end up sealing mine up with some gasket just by stuffing a piece in each side but didn't notice any difference in the performance. I was surprised at how much air gets sucked in around that area but I'm guessing that air just goes right up the chimney and doesn't necessarily add oxygen to the fire. I was more hoping it'd increase my draft by reducing the amount of gasses going up the flue but no such luck...

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[frased]

When you guys do the “full load” are you putting the last piece in front of the damper just under the griddle?

Reason I ask is I’m trying to make sure I’m loading enough. My burn times have increased but I want to hit 9 hours eventually. Hopefully.

When the damper is closed CAT engaged I guess having that top piece at the very very top of the fire box wouldn’t matter?

 

[Dobish]

When you guys do the “full load” are you putting the last piece in front of the damper just under the griddle?

Reason I ask is I’m trying to make sure I’m loading enough. My burn times have increased but I want to hit 9 hours eventually. Hopefully.

When the damper is closed CAT engaged I guess having that top piece at the very very top of the fire box wouldn’t matter?

i generally got about 1" from the top griddle.

 

[Kevin Weis]

1" from the top, man that's a lot wood in there. Is this what most folks with the 2040 are doing? I just have this fear of all that wood gassing off at once or bursting into flame all at once and over firing the stove. Maybe I just need to get past that and do it. Kevin

 

[Kevin Weis]

While I'm on this thread, is anyone here still using the cat probe that was provided with the Encore 2040? Also has anyone determined if the factory cat probe is accurate? When mine hits the active range I do see a difference in the smoke coming out of the chimney at that point so it seems right and no reason to replace it for a different one. If I'm wrong no this please advise what probe would work better. Hopefully if another one better fits the bill, it can be inserted as is with no modification to the back of the stove. Thoughts/concerns. Kevin

 

[Dobish]

While I'm on this thread, is anyone here still using the cat probe that was provided with the Encore 2040? Also has anyone determined if the factory cat probe is accurate? When mine hits the active range I do see a difference in the smoke coming out of the chimney at that point so it seems right and no reason to replace it for a different one. If I'm wrong no this please advise what probe would work better. Hopefully if another one better fits the bill, it can be inserted as is with no modification to the back of the stove. Thoughts/concerns. Kevin

when I got my AT100, I did some tests to see what the smoke looked like coming out of the chimney. It seemed that the factory probe was about the same as what the AT was reading (roughly 500º for cat engagement).

The nice thing about the AT100 is not having to get up and look behind the stove, as well as having a quicker and more accurate reading, as well as alarms. knowing when i'm getting up to temp gives me a lot more control (hence the 1" from the top wood loading).