2014 VC Owners discussion thread...

Sounds lime you need a gassification boiler and a coil in you ductwork or tied into a boiler. (Not sure which system you have). That might get your wife on board!

 

Explain to me how you have this set up.

The lack of blower on the Defiant is reducing its effectiveness.

 

Nothing crazy. Being that the Stove is in an actual fireplace I was able to utilize the old OAK that runs through the hearth into the basement to run all the wires, fan and cat probe (first year had it plugged into the outlet near the stove and it drove the wife crazy). I had put a thermo in the fireplace behind the stove and watched, without fan 120 degrees with fan 98 degrees and the room 68 w/o and 77 with!! I just position it as shown blowing across the back and bounce it off the firebrick into the living room.

 

I just threw a fan behind the Defiant propped up on bricks so the fan is level with the stove top. Can't believe I didn't do that until now. Massive difference. It was heating well before, but the heat exchange at low temps really extends the burns.

Not as pretty as a blower on a stove, but it works, and didn't cost me anything.

 

My original plan was to mount this fan up near the block off plate but this is just easier.

 

I had this same fan setup when I had the Vigilant. The 30 has been in this fireplace the previous two winters. If I don't upgrade from the Defiant this winter, I might experiment with some different fans/blowers.

 

Great burn last night!! Loaded at 10pm 4 scotty splits of red oak and ash, lit off in about 10min turned down to half and then 1/3 cruisin at 1400 @12 when I called it a night. 19F last night reloaded at 7:30 on a full bed of coals GT of 300 and the house @ 67F. 9.5hrs baby!!

 

The Defiant has been burning differently since I tightened up the front door latch.

Loaded the stove at 11 PM. Reload at 9:30 AM with stove top temps of 325. Fan kept the area at 70. Outdoor temps were about the same as yours.

 

Baby oh baby this stove is finally working the way it was intended!! Load hot and shut it down quick on overnights and it sits at 1400 all night with huge coal beds in the morning. Stay warm fellas!! (I have caught it trying to sneak up to 1700, my own fault, but a little throttle adjustment fixes that now)

 

Yeah, the Defiant is running well for the most part... apart from the smoke.

Been getting 10+ hours of temps above 300 degrees on a full load of hardwood overnight.

 

Temps dipped again, recently. With the fan behind the Defiant, I am able to keep the room at 80 degrees even at single digits.

But, at single digits, the home reminds me how much more I need to do to tighten this place up. Just got a quote for the windows in the gallery; $10-$12k, plus another $4-6k for doors.

Moving might be another option.

 

Or, I could stop cleaning the chimneys and have an unfortunate accident... after I put everything of value in storage, of course.

 

Our buddy jharkin been too quiet lately.... come out and play bud!!

My stove has still been running great. I am no longer afraid to stuff it to the gills and let her rip. I can dial it in and cat usually doesn't peak over 1500 but occasionally creeps to 1600 max. Overnights I can dial it down early and it will still sit right around 1300.

 

Yeah, the stoves have been running well... for VC stoves, at least. I have been burning mostly pine this year and saving the hardwood for overnight burns.

When they are burning right, and you have the slow, thick, rolling secondary flames that roam about the firebox, it makes your realize how unfortunate it is that VC halfassed the design and development of these theses. Cuz, they are really nice looking when they run correctly.

 

Ive been here... just work busy. I check into the BS thread ocasionally in the off topic room.

The encore has been just fine. I used up all the ash and locust in the small shed and now am working on the outdoor stacks, which are all oak from 2012 or so, split big.
Ive been getting good burn times with great coaling and less ash buildup vs. ash (doh bad pun). I also tried your fan trick... wow huge differnece.

Overall no complaints here.. Just got in from an afternoon outside and warming up for the game now.

 

Any end of season comments on the VC stoves? Any on the company in general? Ran into a former VC person at the Morso NA distributor in Vermont. He was one of the guys that made Vermont Casting work for many years. If he and others like him moved on I wonder what is in for the rest of the company.

KaptJaq

 

I'm a prospective VC insert buyer. I like the looks and specs of the Merrimack. I read this entire thread.

Is the Montpelier / Merrimack suffering from quality issues like the freestanding stoves did/ do? I know there's no cat on the inserts, but beyond kaptjaq's small issue on his Montpelier, it seems decent.

Reading that parts availability and customer service are subpar, I'm a bit off put that the closest place that sells these in my state are in Madison, or much further north.

I'm very handy though, so if its minor, I can easily do anything myself. I'd also install it myself, with helping hands from a buddy for physical help, and FHC advice.

Any comments?

 

I liked the build on my insert. It has secondary burn tubes but does not have a cast masonry burn chamber that has caused problems in some of the free-standing stoves. My only concern is that they are in the process of moving some of their manufacturing plant. From what I understand they are keeping the foundry in Vermont so they can continue to use the name, something about the state of Vermont being protective of the use of "Vermont" in product names/descriptions. They are combining assembly plants with other product lines.

Once they dust settles hopefully they will still have a great product.

KaptJaq

 

Yes, the changes up top in the organization and facilities does concern me a little, but if the unit is well built, that doesn't bother me. I'm a Buyer by trade and have been working for a few manufacturing companies, so I understand the intricacies of manufacturing.

I assume you have to buy these through a dealer. But if you could buy one factory direct, I'd do that.

 

jeez Ray - in my part of MA it costs triple that for an Electrician to change a light switch!