I am thinking about buying a new stove to replace my 1975 design, 1977 manufacture VC Defiant. I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it! This old stove has been keeping me warm for 30 years and, like me, she is showing some age. I took some pictures of it (her? - kinda like a ship, one wants to add gender. 
) The stove has been running for a couple months, so the make-up from last Spring has worn off:
After 30 years, things have broken. Notice below the missing damper control - it broke off as did the nickel handle. I replaced the handle with one from the hardware store. The damper handle I wasn't able to replace because the problem was with the shaft:
In the below shot, you see the fix for the damper. The wooden handle is attached to a stainless rod that connects to the damper and I simply pull it to put the stove in horizontal burn mode.
Two other items are from experience - one time, after a MONSTER PUFF, the griddle popped up! Thus the heavy rock on top of it. Another time, a log slipped down on the front handle and opened it, hence the vertical rod to block the door from opening. (You learn a lot about a stove after 30 years!)
80% of the time, I run the stove in the horizontal mode. This of course produces a lot of creosote, so every morning I get a good fire going to burn off the creosote - waiting until I see no smoke from the chimney before damping down. The pipes still require cleaning every year. Unless it gets below around 15 degrees or so, I keep the "thermostat" fully closed and the secondary control only partially open before heading to the sleep shelf. If it gets down to, say, around 25 degrees, this will give me an incredible burn time of 13 hours (oak, mostly) and the house will still be around 65 degrees (1600 sq ft).
In this next shot, notice the size of the chamber and it will take a 24" log. I think the picture says it all about how much heat this stove will put out!
Finally we are dealing with 1970's technology, but the baffle/secondary chamber on this stove is actually fairly efficient. Note the smoke on the left and icicles on the right. It wasn't bitterly cold, around 15F.
I'm really torn between keeping this old girl going or getting something new, like the Jotul Oslo...
Anyway, the Defiant was -and is - a great stove.
Hope you enjoyed the post!
) The stove has been running for a couple months, so the make-up from last Spring has worn off:After 30 years, things have broken. Notice below the missing damper control - it broke off as did the nickel handle. I replaced the handle with one from the hardware store. The damper handle I wasn't able to replace because the problem was with the shaft:
In the below shot, you see the fix for the damper. The wooden handle is attached to a stainless rod that connects to the damper and I simply pull it to put the stove in horizontal burn mode.
Two other items are from experience - one time, after a MONSTER PUFF, the griddle popped up! Thus the heavy rock on top of it. Another time, a log slipped down on the front handle and opened it, hence the vertical rod to block the door from opening. (You learn a lot about a stove after 30 years!)
80% of the time, I run the stove in the horizontal mode. This of course produces a lot of creosote, so every morning I get a good fire going to burn off the creosote - waiting until I see no smoke from the chimney before damping down. The pipes still require cleaning every year. Unless it gets below around 15 degrees or so, I keep the "thermostat" fully closed and the secondary control only partially open before heading to the sleep shelf. If it gets down to, say, around 25 degrees, this will give me an incredible burn time of 13 hours (oak, mostly) and the house will still be around 65 degrees (1600 sq ft).
In this next shot, notice the size of the chamber and it will take a 24" log. I think the picture says it all about how much heat this stove will put out!
Finally we are dealing with 1970's technology, but the baffle/secondary chamber on this stove is actually fairly efficient. Note the smoke on the left and icicles on the right. It wasn't bitterly cold, around 15F.
I'm really torn between keeping this old girl going or getting something new, like the Jotul Oslo...
Anyway, the Defiant was -and is - a great stove.
Hope you enjoyed the post!
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