- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
Help out there! Installed a new VC Encore into a 6" Metalbestos 19 foot straight run pipe. This replaced a super burning Tempwood for efficiency,longer burns, and clean burns. Specs from VC allow 6" flues(no open door burning tho). We have had 2 Encores and other stoves for years w no problems. The Encores and the older Vigilant were on a straight run 8" flue. The draft/air control has NO effect on the burn whether 'on catalyst' or not. Tightened all latches, checked all the gaskets. The Encore leaks smoke out of the top plate seams (not the loading door) on a smoke test. I don't want to start sealing factory seams from the outside. Ideas? Has VC lost its quality with Majestic? Do we just have a defective stove? Or, is there something real obvious to try?
Answer:
You may have a stove with loosened bolts no longer holding the side walls in place. These side walls are gasketed, and air flows in between the inner layer and the outside. We have been VC dealers since 1989 and we once had a stove with a "runaway" fire and opening and closing the air (the small handle on the right) had no effect whatsoever. We investigated the secondary air, but closing that somewhat also had no effect. On a fluke, we tried checking the bolts on the inside side panels, and they were very loose! We tightened these bolts (if I remember, there are 2 on each side)... problem solved!!
We had one other case where a bolt popped off the rear of the stove, on the part that houses the catalyst. It had been working fine but after a few years, turned into a "runaway stove" which was uncontrollable. We found the head of the bolt which had rolled behind the stove. After extracting the rest of the bolt and putting in a new one, problem solved.
One more -- whoever wrote about checking the operation of the air inlet was on the money. We had one stove that had a glop of furnace cement that had landed on the area where the flap which opens and closes. Needless to say, this glop prevented the flap from closing. After removing the glop, problem solved.
Last one -- we had one where the ash pan assembly was not properly assembled at the factory (bad quality control) and it wasn't sealing at the bottom. Talk about uncontrollable!! We had to take this one back to the shop to fix it.
Help out there! Installed a new VC Encore into a 6" Metalbestos 19 foot straight run pipe. This replaced a super burning Tempwood for efficiency,longer burns, and clean burns. Specs from VC allow 6" flues(no open door burning tho). We have had 2 Encores and other stoves for years w no problems. The Encores and the older Vigilant were on a straight run 8" flue. The draft/air control has NO effect on the burn whether 'on catalyst' or not. Tightened all latches, checked all the gaskets. The Encore leaks smoke out of the top plate seams (not the loading door) on a smoke test. I don't want to start sealing factory seams from the outside. Ideas? Has VC lost its quality with Majestic? Do we just have a defective stove? Or, is there something real obvious to try?
Answer:
You may have a stove with loosened bolts no longer holding the side walls in place. These side walls are gasketed, and air flows in between the inner layer and the outside. We have been VC dealers since 1989 and we once had a stove with a "runaway" fire and opening and closing the air (the small handle on the right) had no effect whatsoever. We investigated the secondary air, but closing that somewhat also had no effect. On a fluke, we tried checking the bolts on the inside side panels, and they were very loose! We tightened these bolts (if I remember, there are 2 on each side)... problem solved!!
We had one other case where a bolt popped off the rear of the stove, on the part that houses the catalyst. It had been working fine but after a few years, turned into a "runaway stove" which was uncontrollable. We found the head of the bolt which had rolled behind the stove. After extracting the rest of the bolt and putting in a new one, problem solved.
One more -- whoever wrote about checking the operation of the air inlet was on the money. We had one stove that had a glop of furnace cement that had landed on the area where the flap which opens and closes. Needless to say, this glop prevented the flap from closing. After removing the glop, problem solved.
Last one -- we had one where the ash pan assembly was not properly assembled at the factory (bad quality control) and it wasn't sealing at the bottom. Talk about uncontrollable!! We had to take this one back to the shop to fix it.
