Encore 2550 rebuild... start to finish

[Reckless]

Changed for me.... just sayin

 

[jharkin]

I see it now

 

[Reckless]

So I took off my flue collar and it will be much easier to get to the damper gasket now. In the process I broke both bolts but they are tru holes with nuts so no worries. I was looking for the gasket size and found this (broken link removed)
So the flue collar is a 5/16 and the gasket grove is on the stove side but it looks like it was glued opposite at the factory anyone know which side I should put the glue on flue collar or stove??

 

[Reckless]

Answer is right in the manual I posted... stove side in the groove.

 

[jharkin]

Ok so making some more progress tonight. First up a word about parts.

I got the new Condar warranty replacement Steelcat. As I mentioned before hte previous one only had a bit over 3 seasons and ~4,000 hours on it (they are supposed to be good for 12,000) but the warping and the smoky operation below 1100F makes me think it wasnt working 100%. I even gave it a vinegar wash last year without much improvement.

So look at the difference in coloring between old and new. The uniform brown coloring of the new ones makes me think the old one really did have most of its active material stripped. Im hoping I just got a bad one or my beginner abuse killed it and I'll get a lot more life from the new one.




Also a comparison of old and new combustion throat. Its hard to tell in the photos but the old one was starting to warp and is bowed in > 1/8" in the middle. I could probably still get it back in but with a new one costing under $30 why not?

 

[jharkin]

I also cleaned up the left inner side panel. There was almost 1/4" thickness of cement in some parts of the gasket channel and excess cement on some of the edges - either excess from the gasket or somebody's poor attempt to seal up air leaks. It all has to go so that this will fit easily on reassembly.

 

[jharkin]

the pile of parts is growing... Next up will be the door glass I think.

 

[Defiant]

Nice progress, thanks BG for changing the title, jharkin I think most of your questions were answered along the way, the thread really grew with some great information, let me know if there are any more questions, meanwhile I have to do my own rebuild

 

[jharkin]

Yea, I think I'm good to go now. Obviously doing more than I needed to but hopefully I'll be set for a decade +. I'm getting excited to see how this thing performs once its back together - bring on winter!

I'll keep the photo log going as I finish up so we can save it as a reference for other VC owners.

 

[jharkin]

BEEP ** BEEP ** BEEP

We need to briefly pause this thread for a critical public service announcement.



Its that time of year friends. Ready your stacks, get out the supercedars, break out your stoves, send the kids back to school.

Fall is approaching!
(And hopefully soon a real 'Oktober like Spaten )


BEEP ** BEEP ** BEEP

We now return to our regularly scheduled thread....

 

[jharkin]

So where was I... Oh yeah woodstove repair.

The refractory came today. So I yanked out the old one and did a test fit of the new combustion to the new one.

Observations:

• The old refractory was beat, but probably still serviceable for quite a few seasons yet.
• The hole I made for the probe thermometer is quite a bit oversize and it might have been leaking excess air in there. Have to be careful installing the probes in the new unit.
• The new cat fits very snug into the new refractory. This is quite refreshing vs the old warped cat and worn refractory where it would fall in without support.

And here is the secondary air thermostat probe. I replaced this previously 4 years ago. A bit worn but still usable ( the prior one was burned off completely).... If it was a $10 part Id replace it just because like the combustion throat but they want $45 for this tiny piece!!

 

[fortuna1]

Glass, doors, side panels, and back plate re-gasketed. Catalyst in the mail. Catalyst thermal probe installed and chimney stack built and installed. Almost ready to fire up, and at 8500 feet in the Rockies, none too soon...
This thread has been timely and invaluable. Thanks for all your postings. I'll post a pic when she's ready to go.

 

[Reckless]

And here is the secondary air thermostat probe. I replaced this previously 4 years ago. A bit worn but still usable ( the prior one was burned off completely).... If it was a $10 part Id replace it just because like the combustion throat but they want $45 for this tiny piece!!

$45?? I got mine for $30 I believe. And you have seen this pic before

 

[begreen]

For a full rebuild I would want a new one in place. Keep the used one for a spare.

 

[jharkin]

$45?? I got mine for $30 I believe. And you have seen this pic before

$30??? Where ??? My local shop, Woodmans, Black Swan and Stove Parts Unlimited all want between $45 and 50 for it.

For a full rebuild I would want a new one in place. Keep the used one for a spare.

Maybe but mine really inst that worn at all (nothing like rekless' ), only has a bit over 3 seasons use on it. I'll do a test with the torch to make sure its still conducting heat to the coil and as long as its working put it back.

 

[jharkin]

The house is in turmoil this weekend... We are trying to potty train the twins, and since we just love to punish ourselves we transitioned them from cribs to toddler beds today as well. I spent the morning taking convertible crib sides off and assembling bed rails.

Needless to say I was not expecting any peace tonight, but yet by some miracle they went right to sleep!

So back to work it is. Tonight I started on the doors. Start by taking them off, plastic over the opening to keep the house clean, and start a couple hardware bags.

 

[jharkin]

Main objective here is to replace the glass gaskets. Door gaskets I did a couple years ago so I was not expecting to do them again but the gasket is falling out in some places. I wonder if its the glue? I had used rutland back in the past but last year the local shop guys suggested to use this Meeco Red Devil stuff. Hope that lasts longer on gaskets. Might redo the who things since Ive got the door gasket material in the kit.

Anyway, the trickiest part is getting the small screws and glass clips off without breaking anything. Even though the galss burns clean, creosote tends to buildup along the frames and coats the screws. Do your best to chip it away and dont feel shy about tapping around the screws with a small chisel. The glass as we all know is ceramic and wont crack unless you give it a direct blow.

Unfortunately no matter how good I cleaned it up, some of the those button head philips screws are too fulll of buildup to get a good bite with the screwdriver. Whatever you do, DONT cut the heads off thinking you will just drill and tap new holes - these are very shallow screws and you would likely have to drill holes all the way through the door casting to get a tap to fit.

I have a trick to get this out. Read on in the next installment...





(dont forget to label your glass panes before taking them out. These are single pane coated glass and you have to make sure the coated side is out on reassembly).

 

[jharkin]

So the trick to get the screws out is quite simple. Its something I learned from working on R/C airplanes because we use a lot of small hardware, 2-56, 4-40, 6-32, etc and its easy to strip tiny allen head cap screws.

What you do is get a dremel cutoff wheel, and use it to cut a slot in the screw head. Cut deep enough to get a good bite, but not so deep you bottom out and weaken the head. Then find the largest flat head screwdriver that will fit and give it a turn. Even better, and what I did, is to use the electric impact driver again.

I got all 11 screws out without breaking a single one. I think I had to use this trick on 7 of them. All new hardware will be in order... Have to check the size I think these are #8 or #10.

 

[jharkin]

So both glass panes are out and set aside wrapped in towels. I started cleaning out the first gasket channel a bit then called it a night.



I'm going to need to get all new hardware, and also touch up the paint on these a bit around the windows before I re-gasket and reassemble.

 

[jharkin]

Oh and I know what you are thinking - "Look at all that buildup! What is he burning, wet newspaper?"

In my defense a lot of that buildup is from the prior owners... Who were also the folks who but the refractory access in upside down blocking the secondary air and used and inch think layer of glue on every gasket

 

[Reckless]

Whats the difference between rutlands black and grey gaskets??? Anyone?? I have some of both. Oh and don't forget to that small gasket section door to door

If you don't mind Im gonna throw up some of my damper regasket pics that I did from rear (what a PIA thank god from dremels!!)

$30??? Where ??? My local shop, Woodmans, Black Swan and Stove Parts Unlimited all want between $45 and 50 for it.

I might have lucked out on ebay tbh... I know for sure I paid $30 though.

 

[jharkin]

Whats the difference between rutlands black and grey gaskets??? Anyone?? I have some of both. Oh and don't forget to that small gasket section door to door

Oh I meant the "rutland black" glue, that comes in a caulk gun tube.

All the gaskets I get at the local shop are the grey style, which I believe is the graphite impregnated.

If you don't mind Im gonna throw up some of my damper regasket pics that I did from rear (what a PIA thank god from dremels!!)

I might have lucked out on ebay tbh... I know for sure I paid $30 though.

Go for it.

 

[Reckless]

I mean this, notice the color variation.

 

[jharkin]

Slow progress still. Really just trying to do too many things at once right now, still have chaos in the house with the kids, plus I just got a fresh load of wood in that I'm trying to process and stack. Top it all off, yesterday a freight truck delivered 500lb of 8ft boxes to my garage - a new backyard playset kit for the kids that I'm trying to get built by the end of the upcoming long weekend.

I'm trying to also keep progress moving on this but at this point I dont expect to have it done before I leave for China in 2 weeks (work trip). Goal will be to have it done by Oct. 1.

Anyway, latest news. I took a look at the door glass hardware. The screws are all #10-24. And I noticed that one of them did shear off after all leaving a stub I will have to drill out and tap. I take back my earlier warning about tapping, turns out the holes I thought where shallow are through holes into the gasket channel and some of the others are in a really thick part of the door casting. So you probably can get a tap in there, or at worst have to drill through and just patch the hole with furnace cement at the very worst.

I went through my hardware bins. In my RC hardware organize I have a set of various length #10 SHCS and a tap... except..... its all #10-32! So today its off to the local hardware store to see if they have the sizes I need. Hope I dont have to mail order 5 screws.

 

[jharkin]

UPDATE:
Hardware store is out of 10-24 taps. All their non-stainless hardware is either galvanized or zinc plated - neither of which I suspect is good for the CAT. Also they dont have any 10-24 shorter than 3/8. I would go stainless but Ive heard of issues with it not standing up to the heat or galling in cast iron. So what to do....

I looked and Woodmans carries the glass screws for $5 a piece!! (seriously?)

So instead I will but them from Amazon Supply a.k.a smallparts.com. I have to buy in lots of 100, but 100 screws are $6, with free 2 day shipping to prime members. I'm getting new glass screws and new 1/4 bolts for the sides and fireback. All in plain steel black oxide. If anyone is rebuilding a VC and needs extra hardware I'll send you some for the price of a stamp!

One side benefit of ordering though amazon is that I was able to get hex drive button head screws for the glass to replace the phillips. Easier to remove without stripping the next time....