VC Defiant - Where is primary air intake?

[epnicholas]

I recently bought a new VC Defiant wood stove. I previously had a white enamel Jotul Firelight 2... they are very similar stoves in terms of capacity and top-loading and looks. I read all the bad reviews on this site and others about VC but i loved that it was top-loading and looked so similar to the old stove (and more importantly so did my wife who was not a fan of the aesthetics of most other stoves we looked at). So after lots of hair-pulling and waffling I pulled the trigger on the VC.

Have had the stove for about 6 weeks. It looks great. It seems well made. I lights very easily. It is a great heater.... definitely provides a lot more heat than the Jotul. The stove burns great with small load for about 3 hrs of strong heat.

The big issue I am having now is that I cant get it to burn nice and slow and low for a long overnight burn. With the bypass damper closed and the catalyst engaged and the air control at lowest setting the fire is still roaring. Catalyst thermometer is at upper end of "white range" which i am interpreting as the acceptable zone (thermometer it comes with does not have actually temp markings just black and white zones). Stove top thermometer is at 600-700. This is with the air intake lever at lowest setting and a half full fire box, large spits packed tight. My old stove could cut airflow to the point where i was choking the fire. I wish i had that much control with this stove. My dealer was going to come over to take a look but then the apocalypse hit.

So where i stand now is i would like to try to slightly limit the air intake on the stove to get more control. Where is the primary air intake ? I thought a bit of gasket rope to cover a little bit of it would do the trick. Does that sound reasonable? I know it is strictly forbidden by manufacturer/EPA but i don't have a problem with smolder... i have the opposite problem.

Thanks for any help. Ed

 

[bholler]

Did you check all of the gaskets and latch adjustment first?

 

[epnicholas]

Did dollar bill test on lid and front doors and ash pan door. Seem ok. I can hear air going in even with lever set at lowest level.

 

[Diabel]

Are you saying that in the first six weeks you never turned the stove down? Always burnt on high?
With the primary air on high you should have a very lively flame and with primary air turned all the way down the flame should by lazy and likely disappear after few minutes. If the flame set to low looks the same as on high, then you need to get your dealer involved. Something is not functioning right on a six week old stove.

 

[epnicholas]

Hey. That’s about right. There is a difference between high (stove overfires big time) and low (stove almost overfiring) but basically no way to really slow down fire for a long burn once a large load of wood really burning. Something is wrong. Stove is supposed to be capable of 10hour burns. I can get 3 of inferno and then 3 of embers. Dealer was scheduled to come over but then this all happened.

 

[epnicholas]

Fire starts easily with the primary turned all the way down. Not sure if that is because of the bimetallic thermostat component of the control system and that the stove isn’t hot enough to close off air intake or if that is because something is wrong. You couldn’t get my old stove to start with intake turned all the way down.

 

[gthomas785]

Did you check the window gaskets? Based on that pic you definitely have an air leak. My stove only looks like that if I didn't seat the ash pan door properly.

 

[Diabel]

In your picture, is this with cat engaged and air fully closed? If yes, then massive air leak somewhere

 

[epnicholas]

Cat engaged. Air control shut down. Thee or 4 moderate size splits packed close together. Stove top between 600-700. Cat probe highest normal range at end of "greyed out area," no temp numbers on probe.

 

[Diabel]

In this case you need to get the dealer involved. In the meantime, while the stove is running take a lighter or incense stick and run it close along the doors, ash pan, all corners and along the top cast. And see where the flame or incense smoke gets sucked in toward the stove cavity.

 

[epnicholas]

Ill try incense. I haven't had luck with smoking matches. Thanks

 

[AsylumResident]

I have a similar issue, not quite as bad. I see he stopped posing so I'm assuming he figured out the issue. I would like to know if the problem was found and what the issue was.

 

[Eman85]

On my VC I can work the control and hear the air flap close.

 

[Loueze]

I had the exact same situation and found the ash pan door was leaking using the dollar bill test.
It was very , very difficult to get the door to “seat” properly.
Last night , I finally saw secondary combustion.
So … I think that was one of my problems with this marvelous 5,000 dollar stove .
I had to put wood in it 3 times during the night or it would have run out of fuel.
This morning , I had glowing red coals on the bottom and I took that as a good sign proving the ash pan isn’t leaking anymore . The air was controlled, but not so much .

I had the air control closed and the cat engaged .
The stove top is 450 degrees , the cat thermometer is 1/4 into the white zone and the room is sure warm.
Anyway, with the coals glowing ,I wanted to see if the fire would change if I opened the air .
No change .
I never hear the primary air control (but I don’t hear much honestly ) people on here say I should hear it click closed or open .
Nothing I do makes that sound.
It does feel like it’s doing something, but I don’t know what.
I think the air control is not responding to movement of the lever .
Also , the stove never seems to burn the “glass “ clean , but that’s another issue and I don’t care as much as the inability to control the fire past a 3-4 hour burn .

Is there a way to check the air control visually ?

Thanks so much for trying to help so many of us in so many ways !
This is the only place to go for answers .
I have a great chimney draw, seasoned wood and I think all the basics covered . I e been a member for years and think I know what I’m doing …

I called Vermont castings and the dealer the website switched me to was not my selling dealer .
The man I spoke with was wonderfully pleasant , but told me “you’re gonna have to fix this yourself. VC figures we already made money selling the stove and they don’t pay us very well for warranty work “
He said if the air control isn’t working, it was a huge ordeal to fix it and required a complete disassembly of the stove.
Please help .
I have my paperwork .
The stove is about 2 months old .

 

[begreen]

I called Vermont castings and the dealer the website switched me to was not my selling dealer .
The man I spoke with was wonderfully pleasant , but told me “you’re gonna have to fix this yourself. VC figures we already made money selling the stove and they don’t pay us very well for warranty work “
He said if the air control isn’t working, it was a huge ordeal to fix it and required a complete disassembly of the stove.
Please help .
I have my paperwork .
The stove is about 2 months old .

That's a poor dealer response but there is some truth to the fact that the air control linkage is internal. What happened to the selling dealer? Why are they not helping?

What model VC stove is this?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I agree with the above. The dealers response was extremely terrible. You should have no issues contacting the dealer that you purchased it from so I would definitely start there. I am also assuming you did purchase the stove from a reputable store.

There are alot of resources here. I would also assume you have a manual and a service manual for the stove.. if not pleas post the model and begreen can probably help you download the manuals for future reference.

If your having an issue with the cable you dont need to do a complete tear down, but part of the stove does need to come apart.
To check your primary air you will need to take off the primary air cover off the back or the stove.. its about 2.5x 4.5 inches its at the bottom back of the stove in the middle. Once off and with a cold stove, you should see the flapper. With the primary air closed you should see the flapper closed against the body of the stove. With the primary air all the way open you should see the flap pulled forward and it open. It could be as easy as just adjusting the cable at the flapper.

Attached is a photo of my flapper closed this is what your looking for

 

[Loueze]

I bought the stove from a company that had an ad on line ..
During the transaction , my guy was great.
Now that I am where I am …. He doesn’t answer my texts .


Now , of course I wish I had supported my local dealer .

Anyway , my stove is a model 1975- CAT -C
I tried to take a picture of the back of the stove but it’s hot and I may have to try again. My apologies for the horrible camera work , but it doesn’t look like what you posted at all.

It looks like the primary air control might be inside the box with the vents cut in it .
Looks like you would straighten the twisted metal tabs to open it .
I don’t want to do anything that would mess up any warranty there might be .
No matter what . Thank you so much for trying to help me .
I’m really grateful .

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I bought the stove from a company that had an ad on line .I think it was called Mod Spaces .
During the transaction , my guy was great.
Now that I am where I am …. He doesn’t answer my texts .

View attachment 318596
Now , of course I wish I had supported my local dealer .

Anyway , my stove is a model 1975- CAT -C
I tried to take a picture of the back of the stove but it’s hot and I may have to try again. My apologies for the horrible camera work , but it doesn’t look like what you posted at all.

It looks like the primary air control might be inside the box with the vents cut in it .
Looks like you would straighten the twisted metal tabs to open it .
I don’t want to do anything that would mess up any warranty there might be .
No matter what . Thank you so much for trying to help me .
I’m really grateful .

where are you at in NJ

That should be the primary air cover. Take that off and the flapper should be there. At this point all your doing is looking.. looking at something isn't going to void a warranty

 

[AsylumResident]

I have the same stove that I bought in March 2023. When I fully open my air I can hear the flapper ting metal and when I fully close the air I can hear the flapper ting metal. It isn't that quiet so you should be able to hear the sound if the room is relatively quiet. If you can't hear anything I would assume the cable needs to be readjusted. That is an assumption without being able to see it. I used a flat head screw driver to pop that grill cover off. It can be put right back on so it shouldn't be an issue to take it off.

I recently had an issue with fire control which I figured out was my door gaskets. I replaced those and I was able to have better control of the fire with the air adjustment.

 

[Loueze]

I live in Sussex NJ
I think the air control has to be my issue .
Last night I took a cigarette along all the seams of doors / stove body and nothing was sucking the smoke in.
It was cold last night . I had more than enough heat , but went though a lot of wood.
My splits are sized for the stove I had previously, and I need bigger ones for this monster , but still , I used 14 splits to get through the nite.
Nothing I do with the air control makes and difference so I’m going to take a look at that little box when I get home tonite.
Thanks so much for participating in what has become the pinnacle of problems in the house !!the wood stove is 90 percent of our heat

When I close the damper to engage the catalyst, I get major changes in fire and it feels right .
I’m pretty sure it’s the flapper.
Funny how the stove came with a hand signed inspection certificate for finish , air tightness and quality …
Huh

 

[AsylumResident]

I live in Sussex NJ
I think the air control has to be my issue .
Last night I took a cigarette along all the seams of doors / stove body and nothing was sucking the smoke in.
It was cold last night . I had more than enough heat , but went though a lot of wood.
My splits are sized for the stove I had previously, and I need bigger ones for this monster , but still , I used 14 splits to get through the nite.
Nothing I do with the air control makes and difference so I’m going to take a look at that little box when I get home tonite.
Thanks so much for participating in what has become the pinnacle of problems in the house !!the wood stove is 90 percent of our heat

When I close the damper to engage the catalyst, I get major changes in fire and it feels right .
I’m pretty sure it’s the flapper.
Funny how the stove came with a hand signed inspection certificate for finish , air tightness and quality …
Huh

Do you have a stove top thermometer? Burning through that much wood in such a short period of time sounds like a very hot stove. Any idea what the stove top temperature was during that burn? Also, what kind of wood are you burning, that would effect burn time?

If you have issues with the primary air flap, closing the bypass will have an effect on the burn but you still won't have much control over the fire. Do you have any control when you close the bypass?

When I set the air control at about 50% closed, I have been able to get 4 large splits of ash to burn through the night. A solid 8 hour burn time. To define that for me, after 8 hours I was able to open the stove back up to a small bed of red coals. I put a couple small splits on those coals and it lit off.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Do you have a stove top thermometer? Burning through that much wood in such a short period of time sounds like a very hot stove. Any idea what the stove top temperature was during that burn? Also, what kind of wood are you burning, that would effect burn time?

If you have issues with the primary air flap, closing the bypass will have an effect on the burn but you still won't have much control over the fire. Do you have any control when you close the bypass?

When I set the air control at about 50% closed, I have been able to get 4 large splits of ash to burn through the night. A solid 8 hour burn time. To define that for me, after 8 hours I was able to open the stove back up to a small bed of red coals. I put a couple small splits on those coals and it lit off.

Your on point.. I was going to suggest the same thing with the high temperatures.. stove may be getting to hot..

I would check the stove prior to the next use as an Overfire will definitely void your warranty

You should also look into the digital cat prob

 

[Loueze]

I took the cover off the air control and found what I think is the problem.
Fortunately, the door seems to be stuck kind of in the middle .
That’s why the 600 degrees
Not how I wanted to break the stove in , but it is what it is at this point .
It did not overfire .

 

[Loueze]

Does anybody know what I should do ?
Thanks in advance .

 

[Loueze]

I see begreens flapper photo from yesterday and it doesn’t look all that different from mine .
I can tell you , the flapper never closes all the way .
I wonder if you just loosen the Allen bolt and move the cable …..
I can do that .