Vigilant short door adjustment

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Been fighting with too much gap at the bottom of the doors. The whole stove needs a tear down but it isn’t getting it this year, i also need to weld the fireback, but to protect the crack from misshaping i stop drilled it and packed with furnace cement, we will see how long it lasts, in any event, the doors were not seating properly, too close at the top, they were hitting the lip on the stove front rather than it landing in the center of the gasket groove. It took a lot of grinding here, grinding there, shims under the hinge pins on the right hand door. 3 on the top, 2 on the bottom. I managed to get them closing better and lined up properly. I need to do something better at the center bottom for gasket seal but that is 1/4” gasket seen in the pictures. I think it will be an improvement.

 

[Defiant 3]

Don't be afraid to go with a larger size gasket on the bottom edge. Go ahead, get creative! Whatever makes the seal.

 

[Defiant 3]

You'll have trouble finding a fireback kit to replace that old 1 piece fireback. I'd be thinking about finding a replacement.

 

[Defiant 3]

Replacement stove, that is.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

You'll have trouble finding a fireback kit to replace that old 1 piece fireback. I'd be thinking about finding a replacement.

Never.
Ive had excellent success welding them, preheat with an LP Turkey burner inside the stove.
I dismantle, clean, sandblast the broken pieces v out the break with an angle or a die grinder and reassemble dry, preheat slowly, weld in place with tig and stainless rod and allow to cool slowly by keeping the burner on and on low.
Obviously if it is a warped over fired POS it cant be fixed, this is just cracked.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Don't be afraid to go with a larger size gasket on the bottom edge. Go ahead, get creative! Whatever makes the seal.

I only had 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2. I wanted the 1/4 for the top sections and thought i would see what it looked like on the bottom. Previously i had a 4” long shim of 5/16 under the full length bottom piece of 5/16, so this is a major improvement. Honestly there is no evidence of warping. More like just poor fitment. I will get more gasket tomorrow and see what i can do.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I just checked my “stash” of Vigilant parts. I have a perfect 1 piece back(except for a big mouse nest) talking to a gentleman about casting a few . Honestly I could assemble 5 stoves right now if i had backs. For the cost of a new stove i can afford to spend a little on parts.

 

[Defiant 3]

Lmk if you start cranking them out. I might buy some,!!

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Lmk if you start cranking them out. I might buy some,!!

Kinda figured maybe some
Folks would be interested. I need to dismantle that one and figure out just how feasible it is.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

So far so good! She’s holding at 360 currently, i did not build a big fire, just closed the damper when i took the pic.
I just got back from 2 different fire calls for chimney fires, first rather cold night tonight. I expect we are going to be seeing a lot more of this this year with fuel prices what they are.

 

[fbelec]

great job. i have a slightly warped right hand side door and doesn't seal right so i keep a ton of ash there and it keeps it sealed i still get 6 to 7 hour burn times and have very good control over my air supply. if i take the ash away it goes thru wood like s--t thru a goose

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

great job. i have a slightly warped right hand side door and doesn't seal right so i keep a ton of ash there and it keeps it sealed i still get 6 to 7 hour burn times and have very good control over my air supply. if i take the ash away it goes thru wood like s--t thru a goose

My grandfather’s Vigilant, with the perfect fireback has tall doors, makes me women if they were less prone to it.

 

[fbelec]

good question. like last night i was running 275 on single wall pipe and i loaded it for bear. at 8:30 this morning it was down to 250 and i started that load at 12:00. if it wasn't for the ash it would have went out at 5am