New to the stove scene - VC Encore Questions

[mking7]

We just moved into a home and inherited what I'm pretty sure is a Vermont Castings Encore. I found the manual on line and fired it up. I have several questions......

I'm currently burning hickory (not for long, this is my cooking wood but haven't had time to cut anything else) and the stove seems to consume quite a bit of wood but I have nothing to compare it to. My wood is 16" long and on average I'd say split to about 3" x 5" or so. This is a great size for my bbq pit but is it too small for my stove? Should I be splitting into bigger pieces? The manual says the wood should be 18-20" but I must have missed diameter recommendations if they're in there.

Also, once I get a good coal bed and the fire I am shutting off the damper to make use of the secondary burn as noted in the manual and I'm also shutting the intake damper (not sure of the proper name for this) down all the way when I do this hoping for longer burn times but it doesn't seem to do much. Is there an easy way to check if that damper is working? Do I have to take something apart?

Finally, how much wood do I put in? 3 or 4 pieces? Fill it up as much as I can? Somwhere in between? When filling it for the last time at night, I let it burn down to coals then put wood in, should I open everything back up until there's a rolling flame or do you leave it shut down?

Thanks guys for answers to any of these questions.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. It sounds like you are off to a good start. I changed the title to be more specific so that it attracts VC Encore owners. This stove is similar to the Lopi Leyden in operation. After a refill, run it with the air open until the fire gets started up and is burning well again. Then close the bypass. A stove top thermometer will be helpful here. You can use the temperature as a guide. The air control is thermostatic, once the stove is burning well and the room is at the desired temp, move the control until the flap just closes. It should self regulate after than until it needs a refill.

 

[Jags]

You should be able to notice a difference between wide open primary air and closed down. If you do not, you may have a leaky stove that needs some attention. Door seals and/or any joints could be suspect.

You should also have a variety of split sizes. From kindling up to 5-6". The larger ones for established and overnight fires, small ones for quick heat and startup.

If you do not ALREADY have fuel seasoned - your going to be sadly disappointed if you think your gonna go out and start cutting and burning. SEASONED fuel happens over a 12 month rest after splitting.

I have found that the most efficient use of fuel is to load the stove full, air wide open, char the wood and get stove to proper operating temp and then clamp it down for your required heat output. In the should seasons, use less wood for the load.

And welcome to the forum.

What year is the stove?

 

[defiant3]

Do you have a thermometer for either the stovetop, the pipe, or both? It's a bit hard to know what's happening w/o a temp. reading. You may be doing everything right!

 

[mking7]

Do you have a thermometer for either the stovetop, the pipe, or both? It's a bit hard to know what's happening w/o a temp. reading. You may be doing everything right!

Yes, there is a thermo on the pipe. I have no idea what temp it should be reading. When the fire gets going it's up in teh 550 range usually I believe. My wood is still a little green so that may be impacting me.

 

[Jags]

Do you have a thermometer for either the stovetop, the pipe, or both? It's a bit hard to know what's happening w/o a temp. reading. You may be doing everything right!

Yes, there is a thermo on the pipe. I have no idea what temp it should be reading. When the fire gets going it's up in teh 550 range usually I believe. My wood is still a little green so that may be impacting me.

Surface mount on single wall pipe, or probe type thermo?

 

[mking7]

Do you have a thermometer for either the stovetop, the pipe, or both? It's a bit hard to know what's happening w/o a temp. reading. You may be doing everything right!

Yes, there is a thermo on the pipe. I have no idea what temp it should be reading. When the fire gets going it's up in teh 550 range usually I believe. My wood is still a little green so that may be impacting me.

Surface mount on single wall pipe, or probe type thermo?

Honestly I don't know. We just moved in and I didn't know there were different types. I'll look closer tonight when I get home. I found the box for thermo with the accessories and it said surface mount so I'm guessing that's what it is but I supppose it could be a box from a different thermo that they didn't leave.....

 

[Jags]

Do you have a thermometer for either the stovetop, the pipe, or both? It's a bit hard to know what's happening w/o a temp. reading. You may be doing everything right!

Yes, there is a thermo on the pipe. I have no idea what temp it should be reading. When the fire gets going it's up in teh 550 range usually I believe. My wood is still a little green so that may be impacting me.

Surface mount on single wall pipe, or probe type thermo?

Honestly I don't know. We just moved in and I didn't know there were different types. I'll look closer tonight when I get home. I found the box for thermo with the accessories and it said surface mount so I'm guessing that's what it is but I supppose it could be a box from a different thermo that they didn't leave.....

For a general rule of thumb - the surface of the pipe is roughly half of the internal flue temp. So if you have a surface mount and are hitting 550F, your running about 1100F internal, which is at the edge of the safety zone.

 

[begreen]

With this type of stove, having a thermometer on the pipe and on the stovetop is helpful. As a test, try the thermometer on the stove top for a few fires so that you get know how hot it is burning. Read just the temps, not the ranges when on the stove top. The ranges are for surface flue operation. With semi-seasoned wood, I'm guessing that you will be re-engaging the bypass after a refill when the top reaches about 500°F.

 

[jharkin]

This stove comes in both a catalytic and non-catalytic version, and both have been through a few revisions over the years (different model #). On the back of the stove is a nameplate with a model number. If you can give us that it will help us fine tune the advice.

-Jeremy

 

[Jags]

This stove comes in both a catalytic and non-catalytic version, and both have been through a few revisions over the years (different model #). On the back of the stove is a nameplate with a model number. If you can give us that it will help us fine tune the advice.

-Jeremy

I'm taking a leap of faith, because I am not intimate with this stove model, but if he has a by-pass that would mean a cat stove to me.

 

[defiant3]

The manual you downloded will give temperature guidelines for operation based on stovetop readings. You will find the pipe temp. helpful as well. V.C. has many shortcomings, but their operations manuals are often quite detailed and helpful. If you haven't yet, give it a thorough read.

 

[mking7]

This stove comes in both a catalytic and non-catalytic version, and both have been through a few revisions over the years (different model #). On the back of the stove is a nameplate with a model number. If you can give us that it will help us fine tune the advice.

-Jeremy

I will see if I can wiggle back in behind it tonight. If not, I'll get the little one back there (before I light it of course). It's positioned in a brick cut out to resemble a fireplace although there was never a fireplace there so getting behind it might be a challenge for me.

We were going to tear it all out and put in a regular fireplace but I made the mistake of firing this sucker up and I think I'm hooked. That being said, the way this is put together it's not my cup of tea from a look standpoint so I'm going to burn it for the rest of the winter and decide if we're going to keep a stove or not. Then we'll rip it out everything and start over with a new stove and get rid of all the brick....

And probably need to move my tv a litte further away...

 

[Jags]

Once you go stove you'll never go cove.

 

[mking7]

Well, it's 14 here (super cold for us) and my heat went out yesterday at 5am. Thank god for the stove. My wife says it kept us from freezing to death. I say it kept us from a much worse fate......staying with her parents...

 

[jharkin]

I'm taking a leap of faith, because I am not intimate with this stove model, but if he has a by-pass that would mean a cat stove to me.

The non catalytic also has a bypass. Its a down draft stove, the secondary combustion happens in a separate chamber in the back of the stove .

 

[-PB-]

mking7
Do yourself a favor. This site is GREAT for new burners. The search feature is a valuable tool. Any question you can think of, or have, use the search tool. Wood, burning, cat operation, VC, when to reload, what thermometer to get, etc. Dont make the same mistakes others have made, including me, VC stoves can be expensive if you are not careful.
Good Luck.