Vigilant solid door to glass

[plymouthvigilant]

I bought a place with a VC Vilgiant wood burning stove last year. Burned through a bunch of wood last year and while it put out good heat, I went through a lot of wood to make it. I replaced the gaskets this year and things have improved greatly. I decided I'd also like to see the fire a bit, so I got the glass panels and glass frames. I had the 3/16" gasket material left over from my gasket kit.

I thought this would be enought to replace the solid panels with glass, but the gasket doesn't even come close to sealing. I put the glass down in the door, then the 3/16" round glass gasket, then the glass frame on the back. The frame doesn't not push the gasket down onto the glass, the glass and gasket can still slide around. It is like I am missing a part or the 3/16" gasket isn't correct. I even tried to use some 5/16" door gasket...nope.

So, am I missing a part? I have seen mention of a glass guard, but I cant can't find this online anywhere, although it does appear in some pictures. Any ideas how to make this work? Maybe some ribbon gasket along the edge so it is on both sides?

Thanks!

 

[DAKSY]

You would probably be better off trying the 3/4" tape gasket, but there is no guarantee that will work, either.
What does the owner's manual say to use for the glass gasket? I tried the VC website, but there doesn't seem
to be a spot with discontinued models' manuals.

 

[vasten]

According to the gasket kit for the stove this is what that call for

• Original OEM Vermont Castings part - not aftermarket.
• 4' of steel reinforced griddle gasket
• 12' of 5/16" door gasket
• 5' of 3/16" glass gasket, and 1-tube gasket cement
• Fits Vigilant, Resolute, Intrepid, Intrepid II, and 1975-1988 Defiant stoves.

BUT I also found this with a little help from google:
(broken link removed)

It appears there is a frame for the glass to sit in part# 1304242 on this site it is $28.00 per door side.

Hope this helps without knowing the exact model/year of your vigilant it is hard to say, but I will be following this one because I have considered putting the glass in mine.

 

[plymouthvigilant]

I had purchased the gasket kit so I had the 3/16" gasket, that is what wasn't even close to fitting. I used those exact glass frames and while they fit well, they leave too much space between the frame and glass, the 3/16" gasket rope doesn't even come close to sealing. I should have taken some pictures with both the 3/16" and 5/16" gasket in place, well neither one would actually stay in place it was so far from fitting.

I have a feeling some flat tape gasket may do the trick since it will add material on both sides of the glass. I'm going to get this to work...hopefully...

 

[plymouthvigilant]

The flat gasket tape didn't even come close, the glass would no longer fit because of the extra material around the edge of the glass all the way around. Just wouldn't fit into the area the glass is to go into anymore.

I tried the 5/16" rope again and with careful fitting, slowly screwing in the glass frame, wedging in the gasket as I went...I got everything to seal. Fired up the stove and it was beautiful...for a few minutes. Soot started to build up on the glass pretty quickly. Got to a good temp, put the stove into horizontal burn (was cool to watch), and about 30 minutes later...the glass was completely covered and I could see nothing.

Now, stuff will burn and flake off from time to time and I can generally see "a little bit" at all times...it wasn't worth it. I'd advise against doing this if you are burning wood in a Vigilant. You can get a seal, but in the end, you don't really get to see the burn which is the point.

 

[Al McKegg]

I did exactly what you did, Plymouthvigilant, but on my old Resolute: replaced the original steel plate with 2 glass panels. The parts came from Cozy Cabin, which handles Vermont Castings parts. They sent me, if I remember correctly, the same gasket kit Vasten refers to above, two glass panels, four small stainless clips which help to hold the glass in place on the door, and two big castings which hold the glass. Turns out they made a mistake, I needed only one of the big castings. Despite their policy of no returns after 30 days, they took one of the castings back. As I read your last posting, it appears you have your problem under control.
But now I'm digging around to find exactly how I should have installed that main door gasket. It fits well everywhere except the bottom, where it's not bearing on anything, just hanging there. If I don't find the answer to that, I'll be back soon.

 

[Bob M]

I have heated my entire house (1400sf) for 35 years with the same Vigilant stove. I used it as I bought it (w/solid doors), but a year later I bought doors with glass panels in them and have use those non-stop since then. My original doors did not have the panels in place of the glass as I have seen mentioned.
The original stove had an enclosed ash fettle which connected to the main air chamber on the left side of the stove and had andirons attached to it. There were holes in the ash fettle that supplied air to the fire. Additionally, there was some slots along the top between the fettle and air chamber which cast air up on the glass to keep it clean. THe doors also had two panes of glass separated by a coat hanger type wire wrapped with insulated sleeve to create an air space between the glass panes. This allowed the inner glass to get hot enough to burn off soot while the outer pane was cooler. My original ash fettle deteriorated and had to be discarded so the air supply for the glass is no longer there. The replacement fettles are single pieces with no air chamber.
This might be a remedy for you if space permits to add a second pane of glass with the space between which would allow the inner glass to remain hotter.
If you can fabricate the wire I can send you enough high temperature hollow rope for the two doors as I had to buy 100' to get the few feet I needed and can not imagine ever needing as much as I have left.