VC Vigilant . First problem I had was I couldn't set it to a steady temperature

[Dennis 2]

I have a VC Vigilant . First problem I had was I couldn't set it to a steady temperature. I would think very thing was ok , then the temp would go up again . I replaced the thermostat control and it seems to be working fine .
The problem ( or maybe no problem ) is that after I get the stove hot enough to put the stove in the horizontal Mode. the temperature takes a long time to settle into a 500 degree temp .
I close the damper wait for the temp get up to 500 . Then I wait for it to climb back up to 500 and adjust the thermostat lever to were the stove will burn at 500 degress . At that ponit the temp will slowly drop down to around 350 degress and will take about an hour or more to get back up to 500 degrees desired burn . Is this normal ?
In the up draft mode it settles into the burn much after . thanks for looking
Dennis

 

[BrotherBart]

Sounds like a lot of moisture in the wood to me.

 

[begreen]

The thermostatic damper regulates according to room temperature behind the stove, not according to stove top temp. In the draft mode, the thermostat is not regulating the stove secondary burn, so most of the heat is heading up past the stove top and to the flue. That will give you more consistent stove top temps, but not better regulation or wood usage.

In the damper closed mode, the thermostatic damper is regulating the stove. If it sees the need for heat in the room, it opens and the stove top temp goes up. This is much more efficient burning. As long as you have a good fire started before you close the damper (and it sounds like you are doing this fine at 500 deg) then I would let the stove do it's thing and watch it.

This is assuming that the room temp is comfortable and the air control is not set all the way open, is that correct?

 

[Dennis 2]

Yes the temp is fine and the air control is set to burn around 500 deg ( not all the way opened) . But is it normal for it to take an hr. to get back up to the 500 temp that I would like it to burn at ?
Thank you