GoodBye VC Encore 2550

[cmcramer]

Eighteen months old. Severely warped throat hood falls off, replacement throat hood will not hang on warped Upper Fireback.

Griddle temp *never exceeded 700, running mostly at 600-650. I have NOT overfired this stove. (book says 750 max)

I hope my local machine shop can grind down throat hood to fit.......then it's on to Craigs List. Would make a nice parlor stove that runs at 450-500 for a few hours.

Goodbye to VC from this long time user.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Eighteen months old. Severely warped throat hood falls off, replacement throat hood will not hang on warped Upper Fireback.

Griddle temp *never exceeded 700, running mostly at 600-650. I have NOT overfired this stove. (book says 750 max)

I hope my local machine shop can gring down throat hood to fit.......then it's on to Craigs List. Would make a nice parlor stove that runs at 450-500 for a few hours.

Goodbye to VC from this long time user.

Here's to hoping the older VC stoves last longer. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

[Jags]

An 18 Month old stove that is "toast". Thats sad. I don't understand how metal can warp in a stove without excess heat though. Unless it is really thin to begin with. Dunno.

 

[logger]

Its ashame. Going into our last stove purchase I was set on VC until I researched them more, now its incidents like these that make me glad I went with Jotul.. still no complaints. Hope you find joy in a new stove.

 

[cmcramer]

An 18 Month old stove that is "toast". Thats sad. I don't understand how metal can warp in a stove without excess heat though. Unless it is really thin to begin with. Dunno.

The parts that warped are right next to the cat - firing at 1500 degrees or so....the throat hood regularly glows dull red...

....I dunno either.....

..poorly designed / engineered / tested at maximum temps? ( I use two thermometers to check temps...)

And another observation: when I watched the fire burn with no throat hood (it had fallen off) I noticed the flame all enters the cat at its center - no flame reached the ends of the 10-12 inch cat. Could this be the "asymmetrical" burn / exhaust I have read about? Is it just coincidence that the warped cast iron is also located adjacent to the center of the cat?

Just read this on a dealers site: If the "Cat" is engaged when you have a roaring fire and extremely high stove temperature (above 600 degs.), the likely result can be premature wear, and cracking of the Catalytic Combustor.
This is news to me: I don't see it in owner's manual....and I often run my stove this way! Run it wide open up to 550-600, then engage the cat. Has this practice warped parts near the cat? yikes!

 

[Jags]

..and I often run my stove this way! Run it wide open up to 550-600, then engage the cat. Has this practice warped parts near the cat? yikes!

Uh oh.....I don't want to put the cart before the horse....but we may be on to something here. I'm not a cat owner, but on the other hand, I don't consider 600 degrees as a "ROARING" fire. What temp is the suggested "engage" temp for this box?

 

[cmcramer]

Minimum Griddle temp 450 before engage cat

No maximum temp specified....except do not exceed 750 griddle temp

 

[Jags]

Minimum Griddle temp 450 before engage cat

No maximum temp specified....except do not exceed 750 griddle temp

So they want the cat engaged above 450 and below 600 or "the likely result can be premature wear, and cracking of the Catalytic Combustor."

A 150 degree window sounds pretty dang picky to me....but what do I know. If following "their" law to the letter - yeah, you were breaking the law. I'd be ticked off too.

 

[Diabel]

Sorry to hear about your stove problems. It sounds almost unbelievable to to sustain such damage without over firing the stove.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Wouldn't believe you if the same thing hadn't happened to me, twice. Just about 18 months on both of them.

 

[HeatsTwice]

Wouldn't believe you if the same thing hadn't happened to me, twice. Just about 18 months on both of them.

The exact same thing happened to me so I kicked that under performing poorly engineered money pit out the door 3 years ago. Got a Napolean 1900 now. Very happy with it. But compared to my VC encore, an inverted coffee can is a step up.

I was just at the VC dealer in town today. I asked them why they carried that POS. They said because the company gives them great deals on the stove and exclusivity in the area - both of which serve only the dealer - not the customer.

VC is a very bad company.

 

[CTBurner]

sounds like stove envy to me

 

[HeatsTwice]

sounds like stove envy to me

A fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[HeatsTwice]

sounds like stove envy to me

As a dealer you should know.