Does anyone have a catalytic thermometer on a VC Encore 2550?

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Eddie24361

Member
Aug 13, 2008
48
Southwest Virginia
I am thinking about installing one, but I would like to hear from someone else first. Which one do you have? How did you install it?
 
I don't yet have one yet but can answer how it might be installed. On our 2550, there's a pre-drilled hole in the back
3" above the secondary intake cover plate. The hole is plugged with a removable silver cap. My dealer says remove the cap,
drill a hole (diameter will be specified in the instructions) in the refractory material and slide the probe stick in a certain distance.
Didn't get the probe because of cost, Condar makes the one the dealer offered. Our 2550 was made in July '08.
 
Mine is a July 08 model as well. I called Condar this morning and spoke with Eddie. He did not have any specific information on exactly how it would be installed in a Encore 2550, but he assured me that many of them had been installed. He did not know if the rear heat shield would affect the installation, or if the probe needed to be sealed around once it was installed. He did not think a hole would need to be drilled in the refractory chamber. Instructions were not available online. Just thought I would bump this thread back up. If that many really have been installed, surely someone must have one :)

Eddie
 
The hole behind the refractory package in the back covered by the silver plug is used for testing purposes. Condar (condar.com) makes a digital thermometer with a 6' long probe extension that may be installed in that location. If a rear heat shield is used, you will have to remove it to install the probe and then replace the shield. Drill a small hole through the refractory package with your fingers to pilot the probe. Can't remember if the probe is short enough that you don't need to drill a small hole in the RHS to allow the 6' lead to route properly to the digital readout. All the VC catalytic stoves (Defiant, Encore, Intrepid II, Small and Large WinterWarm Inserts) have the same capability. This is really cool.
 
I have an Encore 2550 and I installed the Condar 6" digital temperature probe through the test hole on the back of the stove and into the catalytic combustion chamber. I just fired up the stove for the first time and the probe works beautifully.

My stove has a rear heat shield (RHS). I took the RHS off, measured to the center of the hole on the back of the stove to the floor and from the side of the stove. I made a template by using a square piece of heavy cardboard and installed it on the back of the stove using the four screws of the RHS. Using the measurements I'd taken to the hole on the back of the stove, I marked the cardboard. I then pushed a hole through the cardboard using a 3/8" drill bit. When you push a pencil through this hole it should be perfectly level and extend to the hole on the back of your stove. If not, you can move the hole through the cardboard until you've get it just right.

Once you have the hole in the cardboard at the measurements of the hole in the back of the stove, take the cardboard off the back of the stove and, using the four RHS attachment screws, line it up on the RHS. Mark the hole through the cardboard template onto the RHS and drill a 3/8" through the RHS.

Using the 3/8" bit, by hand, screw a pilot hole through the refractory package. Slowly thread the probe through the RHS, into the hole on the back of the stove, and through the refractory material. Reinstall the RHS on the back of the stove. The probe should go all the way through the RHS and extend into the combustion chamber by about 1 1/2".

I didn't seal the probe into the hole as my dealer tells me the refractory material will expand around the probe when it heats up.

Finally, my stove sits in an alcove. I used two sided velcro fasteners to attach the probe lead to the stone behind my stove and ran it up to the digital readout also fastened to the stone. It works great.
 
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