Mid season tune up.

[ThunderMedic]

I noticed that my Vogelzang Colonial has been burning pretty aggressively even with the air control shut down. After three years, the fiber rope gasket on the door had gotten pretty compressed and was letting some air in. Also, on these stoves there are two torx screws that hold the slider plate on that controls the primary air. I ordered a gasket kit from Amazon. So I let the stove go out this morning and proceeded to take the door of and remove the old gasket rope and silicone. The rope had been compressed to half the diameter of the new one. The hardest part of that operation was scraping out the old silicone, as it took me almost twenty minutes just to get it cleaned up with a flathead screwdriver and a wire brush. Sizing, cutting, and siliconing in the new rope was a breeze.
What a huge difference in sealing off the door! Before replacement, the door latch would fall freely into place when I closed the door. The new one took some effort to actually cam shut. After getting that situated I tackled the air control. Two 6mm hex nuts, one on either side of the air control panel, and it came off. Inside of that there were two torx screws holding the air slider plate to the stove. Both had backed themselves out, one almost nearly out completely. I tightened then both up enough that the plate sat flush with the stove again. This is honestly the biggest design flaw with these stoves, as when loose, the primary air control will allow extra air into the stove even when shut down.
After getting everything put back together, I put in a load of cherry and the stove runs like new again. I would recommend that anyone with a VZ stove check this at least once per season. So for 45 minutes of work and about $18, I've got a stove that runs like new again!

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[begreen]

Very good tip! We don't get a lot of feedback on the new Vogelzang. I wonder if some permatex thread lock on the air control plate screws would help.

 

[ThunderMedic]

Very good tip! We don't get a lot of feedback on the new Vogelzang. I wonder if some permatex thread lock on the air control plate screws would help.

The biggest issue is that you can't tighten the air control plate screws all the way down, as this would lock the plate in place.

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[begreen]

Understood, that's why I was wondering if Loctite would be advised here.

 

[ThunderMedic]

The biggest issue is that you can't tighten the air control plate screws all the way down, as this would lock the plate in place.

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Here are the photos. The new door seal, air control box, and the two torx screws that hold slider plate in place.