# Vermont Stove Company, Shelburne Insert



## harryfatcat (Dec 10, 2012)

Anybody familiar with this? It is not Vermont Castings but Vermont Stove Company. It is a Shelburne insert with Shelburne and 1981 cast into the back of the fire box. It appears to have a secondary air system and some of that casting is burned out. I'd be surprised if there are any parts for this out there. It's been buried in the corner of my garage for years. I don't know if there's any hope for it or maybe it's destined for the scrap pile.


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## harryfatcat (Dec 11, 2012)

The very little info I've found by googleing it leads back here. Too bad, it looks like it was a nice stove at one time. Scrap heap, here it comes!


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 27, 2013)

Did you scrap it?  I not only run one of these quite happily, but I also have a full spare parts stove in the corner of my garage.  

I have the Manual too.


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## harryfatcat (Jan 27, 2013)

It's still here cluttering up the corner of my garage.


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## mnowaczyk (Nov 25, 2013)

Here is one of my best attempts at an overnight burn.  I think I will damper it down to "smoke dragon" status in hopes of having some of this ~30 lb (ash I think) knot left over in the morning.  Usually I can't expect more than cinders and ashes after 4 hours.  So we will see what I have in the Shelburne after about 6.


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## wenger7446 (Nov 25, 2013)

How did you do with your overnight burn? How is the stove hooked up?


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## mnowaczyk (Nov 25, 2013)

wenger7446 said:


> How did you do with your overnight burn? How is the stove hooked up?



 Much better than expected.  That knot rocks!  Here it is over six hours later.






^^ after opening doors and cleaning up a bit.  Note low temp on door thermometer because it was open.






It appears the temperature controlled air inlet opened itself up as the temps cooled, keeping a light flame coming out of that knot.

Man, that knot was unsplitable and just sitting next to my pile and I wasn't sure I'd be able to fit it, let alone on top of a huge bed of coals.  

Very happy!

The boiler did kick on though. 

It was just nice to come downstairs to that loud fan and see it actually was doing something.


Edit:
That sweet knot didn't fall to cinders until about 10 AM this morning.  10 hours of burn over 300 degrees on a single knot of wood.  Whoo hoo!


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## mnowaczyk (Nov 25, 2013)

wenger7446 said:


> How did you do with your overnight burn? How is the stove hooked up?



Slammer install on a 40 foot tall 13x13 mostly interior chimney (very strong draft).  It required some sheet metal to direct stove outlet back because the outlet overlaps with the lintel bricks somewhat.


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## mnowaczyk (Nov 25, 2013)

One other thing... This stove likes it hot.  I've never achieved over 700 face temps, aside from maybe on the glass.






I have thermometers mounted in both corners where recommended and I barely ever get then to 700 degrees.

I reload, reload, reload, even when I've got so many coals that they spill out the door when I open it.  

I was initially searching for "when to reload?" But figured it should be based on temperature.  Since a good fire for me is 500 degrees on those readings, I guess I should reload any time the temp falls under 400.


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## mnowaczyk (Nov 26, 2013)

And one for sale on DC CL.  
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/for/4214047831.html

It looks like it is in great shape and only $350 asking.


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## harryfatcat (Nov 26, 2013)

Mine went to the scrap man.


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## begreen (Jan 1, 2014)

manual: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/shelburne-manual/?noRedirect=1


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 1, 2014)

Thanks BeGreen.  Someone contacted me about the manual last night, and i assume your response is also a response to their inquiry.  

I wonder if that is the scan of my manual.  I have a PDF loaded on my personal web site if that link ever disappears.  

If anyone stumbles across this that has any information on a good quite replacement blower, please let me know.  Mine is running Ok but I'd like to get a backup or quieter one, maybe a more powerful one???

And if anyone is really hard up for parts, I have an extra complete stove.  I've been trying to get my brother to install it in his house, but with the slow progress on that I should probably help a stranger in need if they are out of luck.


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## begreen (Jan 1, 2014)

I downloaded the manual from your site and posted it here. Somehow the link got into the report system instead of this thread. I posted it to the wiki to help future inquirers.


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 21, 2014)

Yesterday I walked down the steps into the living room and heard the cheap middle magnetic thermometer fall off the stove door onto the hearth tile.  After literally almost a minute I looked at the reading and it was still saying over 700 degrees.  The top two corner thermometers were reading only around 500 or 550 and I'm pretty confident I've had those much hotter.  I put on my leather glove and picked up the door thermometer when it fell to about 600 and was cooling rapidly.  The reading instantly went up to almost 800.  The manual says to shoot for temps between 400 and 800 on the top corner thermometers.  The fire was putting out so much heat that I nearly burnt my hand on the screen I keep in front if the insert, almost a foot away.  

I turned the thermostatic inlet damper "thermostat" down until the inlet closed, but the stove didn't seem to flinch.  I turned the fan speed up to noisy-as-all-hell setting to make sure the over-temp shutoff on the fan didn't stop it.  I can't remember, but I wonder if that is why I thought the fan died those other times.  Perhaps just over temp.

Anyway, it's neat when the fire gets so got that the magnet stops working.  It's nice to have a heavy cast stove that can handle those temps without fear too.

95% of the time I run it, I'm just trying to keep it hot with the doors shut and the top exhaust damper all the way closed (forcing exhaust through the afterburners).

I'm ready for the snow.  It looks like I've burnt well over a cord so far this year, and will probably do another half this week where it won't break freezing for the next 7 days with the exception of 36 forecasted for Saturday.  

Burning hot and happy!  Love to occasionally run as an open fireplace too.


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## Shelburne82 (Feb 11, 2014)

Hi mnowaczyk,  I just bought a Shelburne a couple of weeks ago.  I really like it!  I was reading your thread and thought you may have had a similar issue with your insert.  Our fan keeps shutting off.  It comes back on after awhile.  So after a few times,  I pulled it out and took the fan off.  Took it apart and cleaned it up "real nice like".  After reinstalling the fan and insert it still keeps shutting off.  Once the heat cools down the fan can be turned back on.  Is this what you have noticed with your fan?  Do you think I'm running it to hot?  " I'm getting a thermometer today"


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 11, 2014)

Possibly running hot.  I thought my fan died but apparently there's a thermo protector on the fan.  Does your fan have the external little fan to help keep it cool?  Does it run well, or might the fan overheat itself due to some resistance?  I have found that removing the rheostat and plugging the fan directly into the wall allows it to run more reliably when all I care about is keeping the blower going.  Mine seems to have its loud struggling time, and then sometimes it quiets itself down.  I haven't figured it out yet, but I do know the manual references a thermo protector.  My occurrences of the fan stopping are very rare now.  Thermometers in both top corners are mandatory in my opinion, and the smaller style is the only thing that I think fits there.  I put the larger junky one in the middle of the doors.  All seem to work well and you can see varying temps on each side of the insert.  The manual says to aim for 400-800 F in these corners.


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## cape guy (Oct 22, 2014)

I got this model (Vermont wood stove co. shelburne insert) and am restoring it, new blower, insulation etc, does any one know if the original insulation was asbestos? the stuff was falling of the sides and back from water that went down the chimney and was all over the place, kind of worried me....do I need a hazmat team?


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## BrotherBart (Oct 22, 2014)

Stuff was outlawed so long ago that I wouldn't worry about it in that stove.


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## cape guy (Oct 22, 2014)

Thanks!, that's a relief, I thought I was a goner!....and me quit smoking 15 yrs ago and got all healthy n' stuff, so if before 1981 it was outlawed, then what is this stuff?,its a tan pressed particle & looks mineral short fiber based and has flecks that sparkle a little in the light, a mica based board maybe? the board turned to a powder when it got wet... so I am using ceramic 1" fire board and "kolwool" blanketing to replace it, trying to get real efficient as this unit will be my only heat outside portable electric and I  found pieces that are used in the stove somehow to change it for soft coal operations, including a un-vented ash door and 2 comb like bars, but the manual mentions nothing about installing or using the parts for a coal operation, any ideas?


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## minn.matts (Nov 19, 2014)

I have this stove and I need a new blower. Went to Grainger and all of there fans blow in the wrong direction. Can I get a blower for this stove?


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## minn.matts (Nov 19, 2014)

I also have all the manuals if any one needs them


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## Shelburn1981 (Dec 18, 2016)

I run one of these and I need to replace a burned out secondary combustion chamber, the cast piece that hangs in the back.  Any one have a parts stove with that part?


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## mnowaczyk (Dec 19, 2016)

Did it crack?  You are about 75 minutes north of me, and I've got one back in the corner of the garage.  If you want to give me your cracked one to weld back together, then I can't see any harm in letting my spare go.


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## Shelburn1981 (Dec 19, 2016)

Not cracked, the centre points burned away so I am not sure the afterburner is working that well.


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## mnowaczyk (Dec 19, 2016)

"Afterburner"?  Does your have a cat? 

Mine just have channels that act as afterburners to run the hot exhaust through chambers that are closer to the warm air circulation channels, ideally burning off particulates, but it really restricts the air flow a lot.  So I can only close the bypass (for direct exhaust) when the stove is a solid 500 F or higher.  

I suspect you have a different stove if you have a real "afterburner".


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## Shelburn1981 (Dec 20, 2016)

mnowaczyk said:


> "Afterburner"?  Does your have a cat?
> 
> Mine just have channels that act as afterburners to run the hot exhaust through chambers that are closer to the warm air circulation channels, ideally burning off particulates, but it really restricts the air flow a lot.  So I can only close the bypass (for direct exhaust) when the stove is a solid 500 F or higher.
> 
> I suspect you have a different stove if you have a real "afterburner".


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## Shelburn1981 (Dec 20, 2016)

I think it is the same stove.  Here is a picture, burning with the doors open.  The secondary combustion chamber is in the back, it says Shelburn 1981 on it.  That is what I was referring to as the "afterburner".  I don't close the damper till the stove is almost 400 degrees, that is what the instructions say and it seems about right.  I should take another picture without the fire burning.


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## mnowaczyk (Dec 20, 2016)

Looking at yours, my parts stove looks like it may be more complete.  It actually is complete except I took the blower motor from it because the one in my house died.  Well, I guess it is complete with a blower motor needing replacement.  It does look the same as yours, but yours shows a few "modifications" and no upright "andirons", which look cool with the sunshine on them.


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## Skillings (Dec 31, 2016)

So glad this conversation is still going! I've been following it for over a year as I try to get my Shelburne up and running in my basement fireplace.

I set it up last year slammer style and had a bunch of issues with good draft/etc so I ended up buying a 8" liner and installing that (just finished the other day.) I can confidently say that this stove is a totally different animal hooked up to a liner!

The thing I still can't fix is the damn fan whistle. I fully rebuilt the fan and got it working 100% silent off the stove, but once I bolted that baby in there, it sounds like an air raid siren! It's not the fan, or seemingly some vibration... it's a whistle... I can't figure out how to adjust the airflow to fix it



mnowaczyk said:


> Looking at yours, my parts stove looks like it may be more complete.  It actually is complete except I took the blower motor from it because the one in my house died.  Well, I guess it is complete with a blower motor needing replacement.  It does look the same as yours, but yours shows a few "modifications" and no upright "andirons", which look cool with the sunshine on them.


S


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## begreen (Dec 31, 2016)

Good going on getting the liner connected. It improves safely a lot and performance too. Not sure about the whistle but maybe you could make a simple stethoscope out of some tubing  to isolate the location?


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## Skillings (Dec 31, 2016)

begreen said:


> Good going on getting the liner connected. It improves safely a lot and performance too. Not sure about the whistle but maybe you could make a simple stethoscope out of some tubing  to isolate the location?



Good idea, might try it tomorrow... right now the damn unit runs so hot (~650-700F) that at a full burn the fan won't run anyways... basement is getting nice and toasty!

I can't stress enough how much the liner changed this stove! I know the safety thing and honestly that's the reason I went through the trouble of installing it in the first place, but if someone had told me this thing would run differently with it, I would have been more eager to try it.

It's a shame the blower on these stoves isn't more shielded from the heat to keep the warmth moving around, but for now I'll take it.


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## begreen (Dec 31, 2016)

That's odd. Watch the stove carefully. If you have an IR thermometer check temps around the stove to make sure it isn't overfiring.


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 1, 2017)

It sounds like you've got your draft going very strong.  Is it also eating wood very quickly?  

I am familiar with the overtemp thing with the fan and it is exactly the opposite of what you want it to do when the stove gets hot. I don't understand the logic behind it.  

One thing you probably should be doing is using the damper to minimize the intake air and probably forcing all air through the afterburner channels (flue damper closed).  With those two closed, unless you have massive leaks at the doors, it should slow down the burn and cool the temperatures.  I think that 500-600 on the top corners is ideal personally.  

I experienced the same thing with my fan, but it seems like a droning vibration noise where the stove and masonry fireplace seem to act like an amplifier for the tiny noise the fan makes.  I think that maybe the metal mesh on the front vibrates.  The fan off the stove was silent.  I use the rheostat plug that came with my stove to reduce the power to the fan and it makes it almost bearable but still very loud.  On full power it is just horrible.  

I really would love it if we were able as a collective group to somehow come up with a better fan solution.  It seems like it would be tough though because the fan has to be mounted via some screws.  Maybe if rubber grommets were used to isolate the fan from the screws, there would be less transfer of the vibration / resonance.  I'm thinking of this rubber grommets that go in the old ceiling fan blades back when when you had to assemble your own ceiling fans, but I think more would be required, and it would need to be very heat resistant.


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## Skillings (Jan 2, 2017)

So it turns out that my wife is sensitive to the "smell" of the stove


mnowaczyk said:


> It sounds like you've got your draft going very strong.  Is it also eating wood very quickly?
> 
> I am familiar with the overtemp thing with the fan and it is exactly the opposite of what you want it to do when the stove gets hot. I don't understand the logic behind it.
> 
> ...



So we hit a snag when we found out that my wife seems to be sensitive to something related to the stove burning. Like I said, theres a really strong draft (30' flue, 8" liner) but theres a "smell" that I'm pretty sure is just the hot air... I told her I thought it was the dryness of the air... guess who won that discussion?

Once the stove hits 350 on the corner thermometer, I always move things to the rear bypass flue ports... doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Your comment about door leak reminded me that last year the vertical door seal came off and I was never able to replace it... now I gotta wait for the damn thing to cool down to replace it! Also, I've been having some problems with coals falling out of the front (wish I hadn't inherited this thing and had bought something I could top load or with a bigger firebox) but based on your comment about the seals and the chewing through wood, maybe if I get the seals replaced, I wont feel the need to overload with wood... which will hopefully keep the coals from falling out the front (and in turn reduce any smoke.)

With regards to my wife's "sensitivity", do more modern units with converters/etc. burn cleaner? Should I try to find a used one on CL? I'm going to see what properly sealing the stove does first... but we're in CT and heat with electricity only (I know, I know...) so my hope with this stove was to offset $600 electric bills from December - March.


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 2, 2017)

I found that the damper for the flu that forces the air through the back burners doesn't close the same way on both of my stoves.  One seems to close much more tightly while the other still allows most of the air out the top. Perhaps yours is similar to mine that allows most of the air out the top. Closing the damper on the flu in mine makes a huge difference and I often can't close it until the stove is plenty hot.


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 2, 2017)

Oh, on the different stove on craigslist comment… I had picked up a very early Vermont castings stove that had two blowers on the front and I was trying to decide which stove to keep. One of the fans was not working on the Vermont castings and also the great was broken. The great could be welded back together apparently and the guy that bought the stove from me ended up fixing the second fan and loving the stove. I had tried it but compared to the Vermont stove company stove I thought it was actually much poorer quality. I think that the Vermont stove company also put out more heat overall but of course I was using the Vermont castings with only one fan working. I am pretty confident that the Vermont castings was much quieter. I was lucky in the way both stoves were very pretty in my opinion but I still think the Vermont stove company is a better looking stove. The noise sucks though


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## Skillings (Jan 2, 2017)

I love this stove, just was wondering if other (newer) stoves burned any cleaner and might help eliminate the "complain" factor from the wife. I'll have to see if there's any front adjustment on the tightness of the damper closing... the installation I did with the liner pretty much eliminates pulling the stove out because the adaptor is screwed into the top of the stove using self tapping screws 

I need to get the temps down because the lowest I can tune the running temps right now is ~750


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 7, 2017)

I thought get I'd share a video on one of the things I do to get the stove kicking or burn off coals. 








Edit:  major bummer frying my rheostat.  All I've been able to find is this 3-speed adjuster as a replacement.  

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/91569/GROW-ACSC.html?gclid=CJaJkq_JsNECFcmFswodJBUPfA
Maybe I will need to rig up a custom outlet in the baseboard next to the fireplace with a rheostat in the wall to address this issue.


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

Thanks for sharing! I liked the idea of a video and tried to record something in response, but it didn't quite work (not enough space.)

That being said, I went out this AM and picked up replacement seals for the main firebox doors and the ash tray door. I was actually in the middle of my test fire when you posted your video (great day in the northeast to mess with fire!)

The seals made a huge difference and I actually discovered that one of the doors had blown out the foam seal around the glass, so I ended up throwing some seal in there too so the firebox is pretty air tight.

The stove isn't burning anywhere near as roaring as it was before and I'm working on tuning the thermostatic damper to keep the fire from smoldering while also trying to keep the temp < 600.

Much more promising now with the new rope seals.



mnowaczyk said:


> I thought get I'd share a video on one of the things I do to get the stove kicking or burn off coals.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 7, 2017)

Skillings said:


> Thanks for sharing! I liked the idea of a video and tried to record something in response, but it didn't quite work (not enough space.)
> 
> That being said, I went out this AM and picked up replacement seals for the main firebox doors and the ash tray door. I was actually in the middle of my test fire when you posted your video (great day in the northeast to mess with fire!)
> 
> ...



Glad to hear for both of us honestly.  Glad to know that my draft isn't significantly lacking.  

I have the slammer install, but I have a ~40 foot tall mostly interior wall chimney (which some call an exterior because one side is exposed) with a 13"x13" clay liner (way too big).  My chimney drafts so well on cold days, that I can dump my ash into my ash bucket and not really worry about the poof of ash dust because I watch it all get sucked into the stove as long as the flue damper is open, even if the ash bucket is a foot or so away from the stove.  (On the down side, when the weather changes to warmer, I get significant ash smell in the house.)

The install where the duct is sheet-metal-screwed to the stove... how did you work that out?  Did you put the top face plate on the stove after installing the insert?  

In the manual, it seems to instruct you to build more of a "hood" that's just above the height of the top of the stove (no positive connection like it sounds like you've done).  I wonder if you will be able to get your chimney cleaning brushes up through the stove flue damper.  I certainly would not be able to get my 13"x13" brush up through there.  I'm sure an 8" round would be easier, but I'm guessing you are able to more easily do a top-down cleaning than me with my ~40 foot chimney on a 12-10 pitch slate roof.  

Here's a video of my chimney that protrudes from the 4th floor attic in my house from several years ago.


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

At some point I'll take some pictures, but for now I'll post some links to what I used:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Wood-Stove-In...3A7af051a41590a2a405abf61dffc69678%7Ciid%3A11

I used that in an 8" design (he sells it somewhere on the site) and predrilled holes through the top of the stove (into the cavity the fan uses to move air.)

I married the adaptor to the liner at the height it would need to be when attached to the stove and had it hanging in the fireplace before I pushed the insert into the area.

Then I matched the liner with the predrilled holes on the top of the stove and used a 1/4" ratchet to screw in self tapping hex head metal screws.

I also ran a bead of cement on both sides of the adaptor to create a bit of a seal between the stove and liner.

It's not "permanently attached" but it sure as hell is gonna take some effort to get it in and out . I'm still toying with the idea of a newer stove since the blower I rebuilt stopped working again, but most modern stoves need a 6" liner and I just dropped $$ on this 30' 8" liner so I might try to get the winter out of it.



mnowaczyk said:


> Glad to hear for both of us honestly.  Glad to know that my draft isn't significantly lacking.
> 
> I have the slammer install, but I have a ~40 foot tall mostly interior wall chimney (which some call an exterior because one side is exposed) with a 13"x13" clay liner (way too big).  My chimney drafts so well on cold days, that I can dump my ash into my ash bucket and not really worry about the poof of ash dust because I watch it all get sucked into the stove as long as the flue damper is open, even if the ash bucket is a foot or so away from the stove.  (On the down side, when the weather changes to warmer, I get significant ash smell in the house.)
> 
> ...


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

Oh, and to the question regarding cleaning, I have a very easy roof to climb up on, so I plan on "top-downing" it



Skillings said:


> At some point I'll take some pictures, but for now I'll post some links to what I used:
> 
> http://m.ebay.com/itm/Wood-Stove-Insert-Adapter-Low-Clearance-6-Flue-Size-/172094441517?hash=item2811a0c82d:m:mPObqV7OzEKOi-Acg1ilEBg&_trkparms=pageci%3A5ef82be8-d524-11e6-b3b2-74dbd1802aa0%7Cparentrq%3A7af051a41590a2a405abf61dffc69678%7Ciid%3A11
> 
> ...


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

Now it seems like I've uncovered a 3rd or 4th (I've lost count) issue... with the fan not working, the thermostatic damper coil isn't getting enough air moving over it, which is keeping the damper shut despite the fact that the fire is simply smoldering. Then if I crack it even slightly, the fire goes bonkers and kicks up to 600 in the blink of an eye.

I think I'll be getting a ball bearing fan and setting it up with some sort of jig to blow across the front of the fan and try to supplement the failure of the built in fan


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 7, 2017)

I have not had this fan from my second/parts stove fail me.  The stove I am using was apparently only used a single season for a few fires before the guy decided it was too loud and basically never had a fire in his house again for the next 25 years.  He also had it in a formal living room that he never used.  (My house is designed like spiral coming up from the fireplace though.).  

The parts stove I bought was well-used and the glass was like yours, mov my around in the doors, and I think I remember the seals kind of falling apart.  It's way back in the corner of my garage now under and extremely heavy countertop, in the corner between two cabinets.  I can reach individual pieces, but the stove is stuck there.  Fortunately, the motor and all parts should be accessible if needed though.  That first fan is probably an original, and perhaps it was failing me as designed due to temperature or something. I do remember that the fan(s) had an external little fan that looked like it was there to cool the fan motor.   I can't recall, but think this may have been an issue with one of mine.


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

I'm pretty sure I over cooked mine when the stove was running at 800+ with the leaky doors and other seals... I have a stand fan pointed at the stove right now to try to keep the thermostatic damper operational, if that doesn't seem to be helping, I may pull the unit out during the week when I'm not firing it and see what melted. I know the motor itself has a temp shutoff built in, so I'm guessing the wire nuts I used either melted and then shorted or just melted and aren't working (either of those scenarios is obviously easy to repair... if the fan motor is dead, I'm not putting the extra effort in and will just use something external.)



mnowaczyk said:


> I have not had this fan from my second/parts stove fail me.  The stove I am using was apparently only used a single season for a few fires before the guy decided it was too loud and basically never had a fire in his house again for the next 25 years.  He also had it in a formal living room that he never used.  (My house is designed like spiral coming up from the fireplace though.).
> 
> The parts stove I bought was well-used and the glass was like yours, mov my around in the doors, and I think I remember the seals kind of falling apart.  It's way back in the corner of my garage now under and extremely heavy countertop, in the corner between two cabinets.  I can reach individual pieces, but the stove is stuck there.  Fortunately, the motor and all parts should be accessible if needed though.  That first fan is probably an original, and perhaps it was failing me as designed due to temperature or something. I do remember that the fan(s) had an external little fan that looked like it was there to cool the fan motor.   I can't recall, but think this may have been an issue with one of mine.


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

Update: an hour in and burn is holding steady at 500 with the damper fully closed and the fan pointed right at the unit from ~12' away. Room temp has (obviously) also benefited from the increased movement of air

I'm going to see if I can get the coal bed reduced a little and get the box loaded up to try to keep it warm over night


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 7, 2017)

I like to sleep in, and I rarely can get a good overnight burn without some special logs or knots that will burn forever and put off little amounts of heat.  

Another thing I hate is laying in bed in the morning and hearing the loud fan knowing that it's just blowing cold air around, and making all that racket.


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## Skillings (Jan 7, 2017)

I solved that problem by blowing that fan up


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## Skillings (Jan 15, 2017)

Skillings said:


> I solved that problem by blowing that fan up



Update so far (feels like it's been weeks with this thing burning) says that the things I've tried have been working well for the most part.

Even after replacing all the rope seals and getting the thermostatic damper hooked back up, I'm having trouble keeping a long term fire under 600 in the upper right hand corner. I have a run of the mill IR laser thermometer that seems pretty iffy with accuracy which says temps are closer to the mid 500s so... whatever close enough.

It turns out burning out the rear Fan was a blessing in disguise because I've now taken a typical pedestal oscillating house fan and pointed it across the front of the stove and my basement is reading a good 75-78 degrees all day. The problem now is that the basement heat isn't doing a good job of circulating throughout the house... so I have some work to do to improve that.

I've burned through quite a bit of wood but since overhauling the seals, the pace has slowed down. I heated, my basement is right around 50... most of the day while tending to a fire the basement sits in the high 70s, then I load her up with some larger pieces around 11 every night and when I wake up at 6-8 am, the basement still reads 65-68 and there are still enough coals to throw some cardboard or paper into the box with some smaller split wood and get the thermometer reading 300 again in about 15 minutes...

So I've still got work to do, but I'm learning a lot and definitely making progress! Now we'll see how this months electric bill looks...


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 9, 2017)

Finally burning here again.  It's been such a warm and busy winter.  I promised myself I'd burn through it all this year, burned a lot early and slowed down to assure I had some left for a cold spell like this one.  

The doors are still open as I'm just getting the fire started in this picture.  I haven't turned on the ultra-loud blower that now had no rheostat to calm it down, but I can hear the creaking of the metal expanding.  So soon I will turn that fan on... and shut the doors of course.  But I like to make sure my big 40' tall clay lined 13x13" chimney gets at least a little warm first.


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 10, 2017)

Talk about speaking too soon!  I had a roaring fire and the needles in the top corners were maybe beyond 500 F and the fan just shut down on me.  I dampened down the air inlet to quell the roaring fire and ultimately tried a hat dryer on "cool" to blow into the blower motor cavity.  No luck, but I did notice that the fan blade spins silently when hair dryer air is pushed through it.  It continues to spin a long time before it finally stops too.  So that tells me it's the motor that is making all the noise, not the bearings.  

When I plugged the motor back in this morning the fan was working fine again.  So I'm up and burning trying to keep temps closer to 400 F this time around.  I want that extra heat today when it's so cold (for this area).


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## mnowaczyk (Jan 3, 2018)

I took some pics today, less than a year later.  The house was freezing and I figured it was time to fire it up and get it hot.  Proud of the temps my stove seems to handle really well.  I hadn’t read the above.  It’s amazing what you can forget in 11 months.  I can’t remember when my outlet rheostat went bad, but hopefully eliminating that from the equation is better for the fan.  Anyway, here are the temps I was so proud of coming here to post.  Now I see that I should damper it down to cool it off.


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 4, 2022)

I’m just getting back here and have a spare one of these stoves in my garage.  I had the best hot blaze going a few days ago with 850+ F on the center of the doors and something hot in the top corners too.  Damn fan shut off.  Ugh.

I’m tired of the loud fan and it shutting off on me.  A friend of mine suggested replacing it with a brushless motor.  I think my noise might be coming from the bearing.  I don’t even feel like pulling the stove out, but know I must, especially with all the wood with carpenter ant damage that I just brought home.


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## begreen (Feb 4, 2022)

Yes, that's pretty loud. It would drive me nuts.


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 7, 2022)

begreen said:


> Yes, that's pretty loud. It would drive me nuts.



Yes.  Way too loud.  I wish I’d learned to weld and how to fix the Vermont castings insert that had two quiet fans on the front.  For some reason I chose not to keep that one and sold it to a guy that fixed it in no time.

My fan Rheostat had died a few years back, and I just ran the fan on high non-stop plugged in directly.  The max speed causes resonance which is out of hand, to the point where I can hear in in my bedroom with my door shut.  I bought a new rheostat on Amazon last week, and have not had the issue of the fan stopping since, and have been able to set the fan at a maximum speed that does not cause resonance.  So even though it is still insanely loud, it seems totally bearable now in comparison,  I even couldn’t hear it at all in my bedroom above with the door shut.  When the door was open I could hear it though.  My kids have gotten better about shutting it off when the stove is cold, but haven’t gotten to the point where they will get the fire going for me.  Some day!

I purchased a new house that we are currently renting out.  It’s a much larger home with only one fireplace, but I know inserts are the way to go for max heat.  I have TWO of these shelburne inserts, which is nice for sore parts.  For example, the rope came unglued on the door, and rather than needing to do a mid-fire repair, I was able to simply swap out the door.  So that’s nice.  Plus I like the way it looks.  If I could just quiet the darn thing down, then maybe I will move these stoves to the new house.  The garage has a chimney, so perhaps the second one could be setup in the garage too.  

Or perhaps someone here in hearth.com can tell me which inserts are just lovely, and take me into the new millennium as opposed to using a 40 year old insert.


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## Shyft (Feb 16, 2022)

I recently purchased a home and have this stove in it! So far I love it, though it definitely is noisy. 

However our thermostatic damper is missing, well the thermostat part is. So for now we have just been leaving the damper propped open, but this obviously causes the stove to burn too fast. I was wondering if someone could show me what it is supposed to look like so I can try to rig up a replacement. 

And any other tips or tricks to running the stove would be greatly appreciated.


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 17, 2022)

If you don’t already have one of these to turn down the fan to a bearable sound level, yes, it’s friggin horrible how loud it is.

 Variable Speed Controller... Amazon product


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## jonnylu (Nov 21, 2022)

Hello all, new to forum... trying to find manual/ info on Vermont stove Co.  Shelburne 1982 stove insert... for some reason the links do not work.. Thanks so much


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## begreen (Nov 21, 2022)

jonnylu said:


> Hello all, new to forum... trying to find manual/ info on Vermont stove Co.  Shelburne 1982 stove insert... for some reason the links do not work.. Thanks so much


Links got broken with a forum upgrade a while back. Hang in there, I will post it shortly and fix the bad link in this thread once the boss turns on permissions in the new Resources section.


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## begreen (Nov 22, 2022)

@jonnylu Here is a link to the new Resource with the Shelburne manual provided for download.






						Vermont Stove Company
					

Vermont Stove Company (NOT Vermont Castings) produced a line of fireplace inserts in the 1980's. The units had a distinctive look, with arched glass doors and cast fronts. The most popular model was named the Shelburne, after a town in Vermont...




					www.hearth.com


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