I haven't been a very good stove owner. I've neglected my VC WW (Large - new in 1996) and that's putting it mildly. We don't depend on it for heating the house, but it's been used enough to require some maintenance and repairs that it hasn't received. So an internet search led me here.
I've done virtually nothing to this stove except clean out the firebox when needed. But the past few seasons its performance has deteriorated to the point where I need to either fix it or get a new stove. We like the look of the stove and I'd like to see if I can fix it up and make it efficient and working again.
Yesterday I was reloading the stove and what do I see? The two throat halves all cockeyed and half laying in the firebox. Turns out the bolt that holds the throat clamp busted. To my relief, it's not a tapped hole. Whew! I just need to get a new bolt and refasten the clamp. But since I had the firebox cleaned out, I removed the grate and lower fireback to check things out. The secondary combustion paths after the refractory assembly were plugged with fly ash. I cleaned everything out, removed the cat, vacuumed that. I noticed the front part of the refractory assembly is detached from the rest of the unit, but it seems to fit snugly when reassembled. Regardless, I figure I'm looking at a rebuild. I'm confident I can do that with the help of those on this board.
At this point, however, I need to get the stove back together and in service. We have company coming this weekend and I'd like to have a fire. I have two questions at the moment:
1. The bolt that broke - do I need to get any special "stove bolt"? It's a 1/4-20 x 1.5" hex head cap screw. Or will a regular bolt work? Should I put anti-seize on the threads?
2. If the parts of the refractory assembly fit together well, will I need to replace that? I know I'll need a new cat.
Thanks for the help.
I've done virtually nothing to this stove except clean out the firebox when needed. But the past few seasons its performance has deteriorated to the point where I need to either fix it or get a new stove. We like the look of the stove and I'd like to see if I can fix it up and make it efficient and working again.
Yesterday I was reloading the stove and what do I see? The two throat halves all cockeyed and half laying in the firebox. Turns out the bolt that holds the throat clamp busted. To my relief, it's not a tapped hole. Whew! I just need to get a new bolt and refasten the clamp. But since I had the firebox cleaned out, I removed the grate and lower fireback to check things out. The secondary combustion paths after the refractory assembly were plugged with fly ash. I cleaned everything out, removed the cat, vacuumed that. I noticed the front part of the refractory assembly is detached from the rest of the unit, but it seems to fit snugly when reassembled. Regardless, I figure I'm looking at a rebuild. I'm confident I can do that with the help of those on this board.
At this point, however, I need to get the stove back together and in service. We have company coming this weekend and I'd like to have a fire. I have two questions at the moment:
1. The bolt that broke - do I need to get any special "stove bolt"? It's a 1/4-20 x 1.5" hex head cap screw. Or will a regular bolt work? Should I put anti-seize on the threads?
2. If the parts of the refractory assembly fit together well, will I need to replace that? I know I'll need a new cat.
Thanks for the help.
