Want to rebuild Defiant II

[Elam]

Recently purchased a home with VC Defiant II. It's in the basement and we have another flue on the first floor not being used. Trying to decide if it's worth rebuilding the Defiant or spending the money on a new stove and putting it on the first floor. Just had both Chimneys swept/inspected and the one with the defiant is all set and the one without an appliance needs a liner if I'm going to put a stove or anything on it, so trying to keep this in mind as I decide whether to repair the Defiant or not.

I took out the upper fireback it looks like it's in great shape, but the lower fireback looks a little warped. The baffle has a small piece broken off, and the lower part isn't connected and is just sitting inside. So pretty sure I need a lower fireback, the baffle set, and gaskets. Is there anything else that looks like it needs replacing or that I should check?

 

[SpaceBus]

It's not worth it. By the time you finish you will have invested the same as a new stove and this one still won't be that efficient or clean burning. That's a lot of work compared to a modern stove that burns less fuel. I was in your shoes in 2019 when we discovered the Defiant with single piece fireback was cracked. Either way, you will need to totally tear down and rebuild that stove and parts are expensive if they are still available. Mine needed more parts since I had to update to the two piece design, but yours may need more help than you realize. In the end I couldn't justify nearly $1,000 in parts/shipping for something that wasn't that great when it was new. They are beautiful stoves, but there are also other good looking stoves that actually do perform if you are not partial to VC.

 

[rwh63]

my advice, esp. since it is a basement already: break it down, sell the good parts, put that $ towards a modern stove.

 

[peakbagger]

Unless you have hunting camp somewhere to use it, put it out of its misery.

 

[Diabel]

Everything what they said ^^^^

 

[fbelec]

to be as bad as the lower fireback looks, it looks like it may have been over fired quite a few times. the front doors or the right side might be white in color and if so there might be more parts warped that don't look warped and will not go together. in short, time for a new stove. at the very cheapest you might spend 500 dollars but you also could have to buy other stuff and spend 1000 dollars then you have to put it together. another vote for a new stove.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. It's not uncommon for a small problem in old stoves to go unserviced. Gradually it becomes a bigger issue and often is followed by cascading failures of other components that get damaged as high heat gets concentrated in spots and does collateral damage. That's what appears to have happened with this stove.
If you want a Defiant, get one that has always been serviced well, or one that was lightly used, or a rebuild by a reputable rebuilder.

 

[defiant3]

Upper and lower fireback plus upper and lower baffle are like $375.00 plus shipping. They could be replaced wo breaking the stove down. Unless the bottom or front is cracked, I don't see why trash it! Do what you want, but that could indeed be a good stove.

 

[begreen]

It would take going through the rest of the stove to make sure there aren't other issues due to continued neglect. A warped bypass would be worth checking for.