2014 VC Owners discussion thread...

... A.K.A the "lets share the pain thread" is now open for business.

Its October 1 - Are you ready?

I for one, am not. The wood supply is set but I have yet to clean the stove and flue.

 

And to start off our fun, the annual buyout already happened - as reported on the 'other side'. I hope reckless gets his parts.......


http://article.wn.com/view/2014/10/...quires_Leading_Hearth_Provider_Vermont_Cas_c/

 

I'm swapping the Defiant and the 30 this season. The Defiant on a 6" chimney BLOWS.

I got so much buildup I had to clean the chimney twice during the burning season last year.

 

Also, the Intrepid is finally out of the house!

 

Only if I plan on using it as an open fireplace Parts land today and then its a busy week or 2 to get this thing up to snuff.

I dont know if you guys caught this but VC was featured on "How it's Made: Cast Iron Stoves; Ultra Light Aircraft; Snow Groomers; Rubber Bands" Very interesting on how easy these things go together at the factory

 

I'm switching the encore to a 6"..... What do you think caused it?

 

The Encore and the Defiant are two completely different monsters. You have nothing to worry about.

 

Are previous VC owners invited?
In some ways I miss my encore. In other ways, not so much.
IMHO they can be good stoves, as long as you have the two P's, parts and patience!
Good luck guys.

 

Alright, let the pain begin

I cleaned out the Encore today. You might remember that after the big rebuilt last year I continued to struggle with stalls and smoke that I think was due to the steelcat gone bad. Close to the end of the year I got it warranty exchanged for a ceramic and things began to improve.


Well take a look at what I found on clean out today. This is after about 1.5 cord.




uggggggg. I know my wood was good last year, most well under 20%. I'm hoping this was from the steel, but will have to wait till the end of season cleanout to prove if the ceramic fixed it.

If not it might be finally time to get rid of this thing... which may end up meaning no stove period as my wife has become completely soured on the idea of a woodstove in the house at all from our troubles with this beast.

 

On the bright side, refractory and cat look great, nothing but fine white ash in the firebox and behind the firebox... So Im keeping my fingeres crossed thats all old pre-ceramic cat buildup and this year will be better.

pleeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee .





And if you dont believe me on the wood... Also took a look at the fireplace. 3 years of burning the same wood since the last cleaning and the clay flue tiles are nearly spotless.

 

I still need to get mine out of a pile and into something that resembles a wood burning stove lol. Hope you are correct about the steel cat as I didn't have nearly that much in mine. Good luck

 

It doesn't have to be like that. I was in your shoes a few years back. Heating your home with wood shouldn't be difficult, and it's not.
My wife too was soured on the whole idea of heating with wood because of stove issues.
I alleviated all my problems in one fail swoop. I sold the encode and found relief in the form of a Blaze King Princess.
The stove is idiot proof. It is stupid simple to operate and the burn times are so silly my wife never ever has to touch the stove or a piece of wood ever again.
There are other options.

 

I hear what you're saying, jharkin. Must've been hundreds of times I thought the Encore cat was burning clean so outside goes me with a spotlight to look at the chimney. Followed by cusswords, more than not. Seems the only time it did burn clean was when the hood and fireback were glowing. But I kept the glow down to a dull orange, mind you. She's gone now...

 

I don't have a VC right nw but I have burned wood in a VC Dutchwest since I was a kid and had one in my house for years. I never had a problem with mine and it burned super clean. You could lift the thermometer out of the top of the stove and if the cat was glowing orange underneath there was no smoke out the chimney on a reload. The Dutchwest is a different beast than a Encore or Intrepid though as it has the cat right in the top of the fire box.

I am in the middle of helping my friend put all new gaskets in his Dutchwest. We pulled it all apart and ordered all the gaskets stove cement and a new cat and I hope to have it back together for him by the weekend.

 

Secondaries!


Last night I woke up around midnight ('cause the kids where yappin in bed) and see all these dancing lights across the ceiling of the bedroom. The stove is right across from our bedroom door in the LR and what I was seeing was the light of some nice secondaries. It was fully shut but with temps in the teens drafting like mad.

Had the same this morning with the air cracked 1/8 open.

Nice dry wood this year. Stove is working well. Only complain is that (expected) the ceramic cats lights off a lot slow than SS so I have to force myself not to rush it.

 

Great picture. For years I dreamed of having a defiant on my hearth. I still love the looks of the and like the idea of the top loading feature.

 

My chimney would get some buildup also but it was due in part to my wife loading the stove and not getting good the cat lit off properly. With the T6 not so much went darn near 2 years and the chimney didn't need cleaned.

 

I have a VC Montpelier and have been burning it 24/7 for three seasons now. First season wasn't so good, new burner with purchased "seasoned" wood. Once I started to read and figured out what seasoned wood really was things got better.

I had a slight problem with the stove the first season, the fan motor had a slightly bent shaft or something and was very noisy. I contacted the dealer and told him how I had tried to quiet the fan; oil, soft shims, etc. My dealer wanted a paid service call to check it out and then another paid service call to install the new part if the replacement was authorized by VC. His estimate was $300 to $400 for travel & labor. I contacted VC with the same info I gave the dealer and the dealer's response. Based on what I read about the company's direct customer service, I did not expect to hear anything from them. The next day I received an e-mail saying a letter was in the mail authorizing the part replacement and instructions on how to swap the part. They also sent a copy to the the distributor for the area asking them to facilitate the the replacement of the part. By time I received the letter and got to the shop the replacement fan unit was there. The dealer offered to come to the house and install it for a $50 flat rate (which I declined).

My insert works well and, with seasoned wood, is a good heater.

KaptJaq