I am a VC owner and here is my story.
At the end of October we purchased a VC Defiant nc. We bought the stove based on it aesthetics and the fact that everyone we spoke with and trusted went on and on about how great VC stoves were. We knew absolutely nothing about burning wood. I just thought that we'd through in some wood, light it on fire, and it would burn for ten hours in this magic machine while heating our 2400 sq. ft. Clearly, not the case. Thankfully I found this sight, learned how to run the everburn, and actually got the stove running well - with a few exceptions. Our house stayed toasty warm and the furnace has rarely come on.
As of the last coupla weeks, things changed.
The stove began to run weakly. We were getting little heat, limited to nonexistent "everburn rumble", significant, even violent whoofing, and a lot of flame in the firebox with the damper engaged (which was unusual for this stove) and consistent smoke from the chimney. We were using the same wood so I thought that we must have a clogged flue or chimney cap (deduced thanks to the countless hours I've spent on this sight). When things warmed up this past weekend I got up on the roof. The cap was a little crummy, but not close to being plugged. The stack was clean. So, I disconnected the pipe from the stove and had a look - clean. So, I got into the stove, and cleaned it out. I noticed what looked like ash in the throat of the refractory - it wasn't ash. It was a pile of the potato chip like material mentioned in other posts. I reached in there and pulled out a number of chips and a great deal of a sandy material that seemed to be the "chips" broken down even further. Looking down the back of the stove, there were plenty of chips on either side of the fountain assembly. The stove is three months old and the refractory was disintegrating
With propane burning and my blood boiling, I called the dealer Monday. They apologized and said that they were on it. A coupla hours later I got a call from the VC sales rep. He said he would order the necessary parts and get back to me. Today (Tuesday) he called. The parts (refractory, refractory shoe, fountain assembly, and upper fireback) should be to him in a week and a half and when he knew for certain he would call me and set up a time to send someone out to replace/rebuild the inerds of the stove. The dealer assured me that this would be covered by the warranty and even if VC wouldn't cover it, that was their (the dealer's) problem, not ours - WOW!
While I am sincerely PO'd about our POS stove, and highly concerned that the new inerds might only last a coupla months (we'll hopefully not have to cross that bridge), I am beyond impressed with my dealer as well as the quick response from the VC rep.
I have hopes that the new parts will hold up for the many years I am/was hoping to have this stove. It's not a frequent occurrence, but I'm trying to stay positive - do I have a choice?
To be continued in a week or two.
At the end of October we purchased a VC Defiant nc. We bought the stove based on it aesthetics and the fact that everyone we spoke with and trusted went on and on about how great VC stoves were. We knew absolutely nothing about burning wood. I just thought that we'd through in some wood, light it on fire, and it would burn for ten hours in this magic machine while heating our 2400 sq. ft. Clearly, not the case. Thankfully I found this sight, learned how to run the everburn, and actually got the stove running well - with a few exceptions. Our house stayed toasty warm and the furnace has rarely come on.
As of the last coupla weeks, things changed.
The stove began to run weakly. We were getting little heat, limited to nonexistent "everburn rumble", significant, even violent whoofing, and a lot of flame in the firebox with the damper engaged (which was unusual for this stove) and consistent smoke from the chimney. We were using the same wood so I thought that we must have a clogged flue or chimney cap (deduced thanks to the countless hours I've spent on this sight). When things warmed up this past weekend I got up on the roof. The cap was a little crummy, but not close to being plugged. The stack was clean. So, I disconnected the pipe from the stove and had a look - clean. So, I got into the stove, and cleaned it out. I noticed what looked like ash in the throat of the refractory - it wasn't ash. It was a pile of the potato chip like material mentioned in other posts. I reached in there and pulled out a number of chips and a great deal of a sandy material that seemed to be the "chips" broken down even further. Looking down the back of the stove, there were plenty of chips on either side of the fountain assembly. The stove is three months old and the refractory was disintegrating
With propane burning and my blood boiling, I called the dealer Monday. They apologized and said that they were on it. A coupla hours later I got a call from the VC sales rep. He said he would order the necessary parts and get back to me. Today (Tuesday) he called. The parts (refractory, refractory shoe, fountain assembly, and upper fireback) should be to him in a week and a half and when he knew for certain he would call me and set up a time to send someone out to replace/rebuild the inerds of the stove. The dealer assured me that this would be covered by the warranty and even if VC wouldn't cover it, that was their (the dealer's) problem, not ours - WOW!
While I am sincerely PO'd about our POS stove, and highly concerned that the new inerds might only last a coupla months (we'll hopefully not have to cross that bridge), I am beyond impressed with my dealer as well as the quick response from the VC rep.
I have hopes that the new parts will hold up for the many years I am/was hoping to have this stove. It's not a frequent occurrence, but I'm trying to stay positive - do I have a choice?
To be continued in a week or two.
