VC Defiant.

[Gee]

I come before you today to say what you know and do not say about the VC Defiant. It is starving for air. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Some of you hint around about the ways you do things. But the truth is that it's starving for air and everyone knows that. If you all were to come right out and say that, the company might respond and make adjustments. As long as you all pretend that everything is hunky dory, nothing changes, nothing gets better. You know who you are that are failures in this regard. Shame on you. Jam a mitten warmer under the edge of the top load and hang your head in shame.

 

[Todd]

Ha, I wouldn’t say they are starved for air just that the down draft design can be really finicky to run and that you need optimal conditions for this type of stove to burn properly.

 

[gthomas785]

It can sometimes feel like it's starved for air especially if your wood is not optimal or when you're starting it from cold. But try and tell me that it's starved for air when you're trying to calm down a nuclear runaway catalyst when it's 0 degrees outside....

 

[kborndale]

Everbodys install is different, length of chimney, tightness of house, elevation, wood moisture are a few of the factors that can affect your draft. While VCs are known to be difficult, many people run them without issues.

 

[bholler]

I come before you today to say what you know and do not say about the VC Defiant. It is starving for air. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Some of you hint around about the ways you do things. But the truth is that it's starving for air and everyone knows that. If you all were to come right out and say that, the company might respond and make adjustments. As long as you all pretend that everything is hunky dory, nothing changes, nothing gets better. You know who you are that are failures in this regard. Shame on you. Jam a mitten warmer under the edge of the top load and hang your head in shame.

Can you describe your install and chimney system a bit? Yes vc stoves can absolutely be temperamental and you wont ever see me defending their design but with proper draft and good dry fuel they generally work reasonably well.

 

[stoveliker]

Just to clarify, "starved for air" means the flue, which is the engine of the stove, doesn't have enough draft that sucks in air into the stove.
How tall is your flue, stove top to chimney cap?

And, as noted, wet wood generally needs a lot more air to stay lit than dry wood does. You being in MA, I surmise you don't burn pine but instead oak or maple or so. Has it been split and stacked off the ground for two years?

 

[begreen]

Is this a new installation? Rather than starving for air, it's possible the stove is starving for draft. Knowing a lot more about the setup would help starting with the model # of the Defiant and the flue setup.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Whats the MC of the wood your burning.. just out of curiosity

Just a heads-up . also its shoulder season.. its not that cold out a all and it certainly hasn't been cold up in mass.. Your definitely not getting much in the way of draft this time of year.. come December/January stove performance is at its best

Give it some time... youll learn.. its only the beginning of October.. Im not even close to lightning the stove and you leaves have barely changed color..

Not many stoves right now in our region drafting well.. its not a VC thing and waaayyyy to early to be pushing the panic button..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I love posts like this New member calling out members on his first post, members respond with questions to help out and this guys nowhere to be found.. lol.. hes probably kicking the neighbors trash cans by now

 

[kborndale]

Seems like a late night drunk post, OP probably doesn't even remember it!

 

[arnermd]

I love posts like this New member calling out members on his first post, members respond with questions to help out and this guys nowhere to be found.. lol.. hes probably kicking the neighbors trash cans by now

LOL, thanks for the chuckle.... The imagery makes me laugh.

 

[AsylumResident]

Based on my experience, my VC Defiant is definitely not starved for air. I am trying to reduce (better control) the air, not trying to give it more air, it gets plenty.

 

[stoveliker]

The air a stove is getting to work with is dependent on the circumstances. So one install might be starved for air when the chimney is short, has too many elbows or horizontal length, and/or the home is tight or exhausting air elsewhere. Another install of the very same stove might have a tendency to go out of control because of a tall chimney that drafts like a tornado and no competing air exhausts elsewhere in the home.

 

[AsylumResident]

The air a stove is getting to work with is dependent on the circumstances. So one install might be starved for air when the chimney is short, has too many elbows or horizontal length, and/or the home is tight or exhausting air elsewhere. Another install of the very same stove might have a tendency to go out of control because of a tall chimney that drafts like a tornado and no competing air exhausts elsewhere in the home.

Which is my point. If the OP is thinking his stove is starved for air, mine isn't.

My setup is 18' of 6" duravent flue with a 90 going through a masonry wall to a T then up through the roof. Stove is installed in the basement.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

The air a stove is getting to work with is dependent on the circumstances. So one install might be starved for air when the chimney is short, has too many elbows or horizontal length, and/or the home is tight or exhausting air elsewhere. Another install of the very same stove might have a tendency to go out of control because of a tall chimney that drafts like a tornado and no competing air exhausts elsewhere in the home.

Or the guy started burning on October 8th with it not really being cold enough to really draft the stove properly and is probably using sub-par wood to compound the weak draft issue