VC Intrepid II dampener question

[PhilFer]

I recently moved to a house that has a Vermont Castings Intrepid II model 1990 wood burning stove. I discovered when operating the damper door lever it was not opening the door as it should. When I rotated the lever down the door stayed in the closed position and would only swing open when I manually pushed on the door itself. It closes just fine, but when try to open it it will always remain in the closed position.
1. Am I correct in my thinking that the door should just open when the lever is rotated down?
2. Do you think that something is broken or improperly assembled? And if so, is it probably that the the damper rod has slipped off of the damper D-plate or the damper D-plate itself is missing or broken? Or is this not the function of the damper rod to damper D plate interface and it is entirely something else?
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Phil

 

[PhilFer]

Can anyone comment on this post?

 

[Kevin Weis]

I have an Intrepid flexburn and the damper should be similar. My damper opens immediately with no problem. To me it sounds like there may be too much crud where the damper pivots open. Think first order of business would be to remove the stove pipe and the cast iron exit piece and get in there and clean around all parts of the pivot points. Not sure about the Intrepid II but maybe access would be easier to unbolt the damper from the inside and remove and then clean. May also be a good opportunity to replace the damper gasket as well. Just my thoughts.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Maybe before you remove the damper as above check the adjustment of the damper adjustment nut/tab per page 30 of the Intrepid II model 1990 manual. It's set up so this adjustment nut/tab needs to be engaged by the damper rod to pull it open. The damper doesn't just fall open on its own when the damper rod pressure is released from it. So either this nut/tab is way out of adjustment or maybe it's missing altogether. Also the stove pipe will need to be removed anyways to access this. Hope this helps.

 

[PhilFer]

Thank you very much. These suggestions were very useful in helping me understanding how it should work. It was kind of how I imagined it in my head after looking at the exploded parts view, but this helps clarify it. So thank you again. Phil