2017/2018 VC owners thread

ratsrepus said:

in grand ledge, place called Mc Dowells. called another dealer in Davidson, he was higher in price and had to order the stove. Mcdowells had it in stock.

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That's not to far away. There is a shop in Chelsea to but they are dropping the BK line.

Reckless, I don't think so. I have a probe thermometer in the flue connector about 2 feet above the fireplace. I also have an infrared thermometer that I have used to check the surface and probe thermometers. This morning I closed the bypass damper when the stove top was 400 and the flue temp was 350, closed the primary about half way when the catalyst got above 600, closed it almost all the way when the catalyst got to 1000, and it still eventually climbed to over 1600 before leveling off around 1500 for a couple of hours. I think I'll replace the loading door, cleanout door and top lid gaskets and see what that does. I haven't ever replaced the bypass damper gasket and it fails the dollar bill test, but my thinking is that any leakage there would result in less air to the combustor. The 5/16 gasket is really stretchy. Should I just lay it in at its natural length, without trying to stretch or compress it?

The damper should be adjustable. Jam nut in middle of damper plate. This shouldn't lead to cat overtemp though. Just smoke up the chimney. What is your stove top temp when the cat is up around 1500-1600? I'm wondering if you are chopping the primary to much at once and loosing the flame in the box. Does your secondary shutter have a pin in the lower left corner?

Stove top is 550 or so when the cat is at 1600. I don't think the 0028 has an adjustment on the bypass damper plate. The shutter does have a pin. It's placement allows the shutter to close completely.

Woodwringer said:

Stove top is 550 or so when the cat is at 1600. I don't think the 0028 has an adjustment on the bypass damper plate. The shutter does have a pin. It's placement allows the shutter to close completely.

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I am pretty sure the 0028 has the baypass adjustment bolt.

1600 is pretty common for the cat but with 550 stove top.....tells me some leaky gaskets. Do not forget the stovetop thermos (magnetic) can be grossly inaccurate.

Woodwringer said:

Stove top is 550 or so when the cat is at 1600. I don't think the 0028 has an adjustment on the bypass damper plate. The shutter does have a pin. It's placement allows the shutter to close completely.

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If you open your griddle top and look at the front of your damper plate there should be a jam nut and bolt. How full are you filling the stove on reloads and what size splits are you using?

Unlike the 2550, there is no damper adjustment nut on the 0028. I'm using 4 or 5 splits, depending on size. One armful, about 20 pounds. If they were round, the average diameter would be 3 1/2 inches.

Woodwringer said:

Unlike the 2550, there is no damper adjustment nut on the 0028. I'm using 4 or 5 splits, depending on size. One armful, about 20 pounds. If they were round, the average diameter would be 3 1/2 inches.

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Try using bigger splits if you have any. That sucks you can't adjust your damper tension.

I will go see my 0028 (retired) and see if there is a adj bolt. I am sure there is. It is in the basement/storage.

Diabel said:

I will go see my 0028 (retired) and see if there is a adj bolt. I am sure there is. It is in the basement/storage.

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I just looked at the 0028. Indeed looking from the firebox, you cannot adjust the bypass. You need to remove the oval adapter and adjust the nut from there.

There is no adjustment on the 0028. The torsion bar is captured on the back of the damper plate between two raised lugs by a metal strap attached with bolts, but nothing about the connection is adjustable. I guess the torsion bar flexes enough to hold the damper tight, at least in theory. There are some straps that hold the torsion bar and the ends of the damper plate in place, and I think they may have bent out some. There's a fix for them noted in the repair manual. I did try using larger splits, and it does help. I wish I had more of them dry enough. Now if it will just warm enough, I should have time to replace the gaskets. We got 12 inches of snow here yesterday. That's the third largest snow in my lifetime, and a very unusual event in central NC.

Woodwringer said:

There is no adjustment on the 0028. The torsion bar is captured on the back of the damper plate between two raised lugs by a metal strap attached with bolts, but nothing about the connection is adjustable. I guess the torsion bar flexes enough to hold the damper tight, at least in theory. There are some straps that hold the torsion bar and the ends of the damper plate in place, and I think they may have bent out some. There's a fix for them noted in the repair manual. I did try using larger splits, and it does help. I wish I had more of them dry enough. Now if it will just warm enough, I should have time to replace the gaskets. We got 12 inches of snow here yesterday. That's the third largest snow in my lifetime, and a very unusual event in central NC.

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Do you leave a layer of ash in the stove or do you sift it through the grate every reload? I'm in the same boat as you with the smaller splits. My large to small split ratio is not in my favor at the moment.

I'm empty my ash pan twice a season, when I open it I have a 7" pile on the ground [emoji23][emoji23] what's an EPA hole?


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Hmmm - sounds like more ashes and larger splits will help my overheating problems. Maybe I can even put a full load of wood in the stove.

Woodwringer said:

Hmmm - sounds like more ashes and larger splits will help my overheating problems. Maybe I can even put a full load of wood in the stove.

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I still never load my stove to the top. 3/4 max for me.


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Woodwringer said:

Hmmm - sounds like more ashes and larger splits will help my overheating problems. Maybe I can even put a full load of wood in the stove.

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Leaving ash in the stove definitely helps

Reckless said:

I'm empty my ash pan twice a season, when I open it I have a 7" pile on the ground [emoji23][emoji23] what's an EPA hole?


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When the ash starts spilling out the doors I will empty the pan and sift it down a couple inches. Makes a huge mess on the hearth when opening the ash door. I don't have a kid for the ash pan either so it's a slow walk to get outside.

Woodwringer said:

Hmmm - sounds like more ashes and larger splits will help my overheating problems. Maybe I can even put a full load of wood in the stove.

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I fill my stove right up to the griddle. I even push the load to one side so I can slip some shorties in there vertically. I mix my load to with large splits and using smaller ones to fill in the gaps.

RandyBoBandy said:

I fill my stove right up to the griddle. I even push the load to one side so I can slip some shorties in there vertically. I mix my load to with large splits and using smaller ones to fill in the gaps.

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I burn 24/7 and in shoulder season I emptied the ash once (Oct-Dec) burning 100% hemlock.

I was away over the holidays. Started burning on Jan 8th. burning mainly ash and maple, and emptied the ashes once. I always leave the lots of ash in the stove.

Yesterday was +7*C
I let the stove go out (first time since Jan 8th). This morning checkout the cat and the refractory box. All looks in great shape!!

RandyBoBandy said:

I fill my stove right up to the griddle. I even push the load to one side so I can slip some shorties in there vertically. I mix my load to with large splits and using smaller ones to fill in the gaps.

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I don't think I'll ever trust mine enough.


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Reckless said:

I don't think I'll ever trust mine enough.


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And you call yourself reckless

Diabel said:

I burn 24/7 and in shoulder season I emptied the ash once (Oct-Dec) burning 100% hemlock.

I was away over the holidays. Started burning on Jan 8th. burning mainly ash and maple, and emptied the ashes once. I always leave the lots of ash in the stove.

Yesterday was +7*C
I let the stove go out (first time since Jan 8th). This morning checkout the cat and the refractory box. All looks in great shape!!

Click to expand...

For the most part I burn 24/7 as well. Temps got up to 40's today so I let the stove go cold to do some cleaning and gasket work. Put regular gasket on the griddle instead of the wire mesh stuff. I really hate the tubes of Rutland gasket cement. Even after kneading it for 5 minutes or so it came out with inconsistencies marking it difficult to get a uniform bead.

RandyBoBandy said:

For the most part I burn 24/7 as well. Temps got up to 40's today so I let the stove go cold to do some cleaning and gasket work. Put regular gasket on the griddle instead of the wire mesh stuff. I really hate the tubes of Rutland gasket cement. Even after kneading it for 5 minutes or so it came out with inconsistencies marking it difficult to get a uniform bead.

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The graphite gasket is much more durable (I find) than the regular white one.

Yes, lots of water in the cement tube if you don't massage it for a long time...........

Diabel said:

The graphite gasket is much more durable (I find) than the regular white one.

Yes, lots of water in the cement tube if you don't massage it for a long time...........

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It's the gray graphite rope. Just not the mesh stuff.

RandyBoBandy said:

It's the gray graphite rope. Just not the mesh stuff.

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For me the regular graphic seems to work best.
The wire mesh sucks, I think (unless there is a veriaty in terms of thickness to it, that I don't know of!?)