2014/2015 VC Owners thread.

[OK_Bill]

The one you posted the picture link to didn't point to a specific page on the web - it seemed to only link to the image file itself. So I wasn't able to exactly locate the TC you wanted to reference. Instead, I just google searched for that image and found copies of it all over the place. I looked up one on eBay and found it was deficient in terms of max temp. But ... 1250C is great and if thats really the spec on it, then it would be just fine.

For more:

Check this thread out...

 

[redman]

First timer here, first woodstove in September and no regrets. Oil prices declining but I don't care. There's a lot of pages to read here and I've seen some very relevant to my heating needs right now. Can anyone on the island point me in the direction of decent firewood? I ordered 3 cords in September and am down to about 3/4 cord. I believe I've wasted a lot of wood learning how to do this but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it, keeping house up to 75 during single digits a few weeks ago.

On another note, I've run into my first neighbor complaint and I don't feel good about it. The smoke during startup can be pretty bad especially when wind blows towards my neighbors. Once cat kicks in, I'm golden but that could be 45 minutes in. I have a 16 ft galvanized metal chimney that goes straight up through cathedral ceiling. It was installed according to manual but when I look around, all my neighbors' chimneys (I presume with original chimneys for fireplaces) are a lot higher than mine and I'm wondering IF extending pipe a few feet would really make a big difference? I'd appreciate any feedback. Looking forward to hearing from some of the veterans here. Thanks

 

[Charles1981]

You are going to have a hard time with your neighbors if you are getting complaints during reloading. There aren't too many ways around smoke with the bypass open....and considering what could be... (my neighbors have owbs and those things smoke until they are coaling).

 

[OK_Bill]

If the stove is reloaded with a hotter coal bed, I've found it shortens the time in bypass before going back to CAT mode. Also, I've read the quality of the wood matters tremendously.

As an example, burning mostly black oak, if I reload with stove top at 300F I can usually get the CAT back up in 15 min or so. It will then climb through 600F (CAT temp) pretty quickly, and no smoke. However, if I reload cooler than that, say around 200F the freshly loaded wood takes much longer to get heated / charred sufficiently for a good CAT engagement. [ these are stove top temps, not griddle temps I'm referencing ]

But, there's no way around smoking when in bypass that I know of. I'm new to this also, so others with more experience may corroborate these observations, or may offer alternate tips to improve performance.

Good luck.

 

[redman]

Thanks guys, I may also extend pipe about 10 feet to help with this. About to go and find out the cost.

 

[Buck8one2]

Talking about hot running VC stoves - my Encore2040 2n1 would run hotter than I liked, even after a detailed inspection and fix-up of a few minor air leaks. I was seeing stove top over 650 with a full load of black oak - and this with the primary air turned full down. In my opinion, the stove should be more controllable than that. Simple observation: the fire was getting too much O2.

So I blocked off 1/2 of the unregulated secondary air ports that directly feed the fire. There are 8 small holes across the bottom of the ceramic fireback, oriented horizontally. I stuck #10 machine screws in 4 of those holes, thus restricting secondary air to the fire (these screws aren't threaded in - they just nicely fit the bore diameter of the holes).

Result: a MUCH cooler running stove, plus the glass tends to stay cleaner longer since more primary air now must be used to keep the combustion temps up.

Hello Folks

I have been burning an original VC Intrepid for 25 years and recently moved to a new home and purchased an Encore 2020 Flexburn 2n1 built in mid 2013 and installed in Sept 2013. The Intrepid non-cat burned perfect, no issues and no complants. This new Encore was a different story and had the same issue with overburning and uncontrolable air flow. The fix you discribe worked perfect and now it burns more like I am used to. I now can control the fire with the thermo control lever on the right side in open vent and in cat mode. The only difference with my fix is block the 2 larger holes on the ends (SS1/4-20x1 screws worked here) and the 2 center holes (SS 10-24x1 screws). Thanks for explaining the issue and coming up with very simple and inexpensive fix. Now I am very happy with the Encore.

 

[redman]

Talking about hot running VC stoves - my Encore2040 2n1 would run hotter than I liked, even after a detailed inspection and fix-up of a few minor air leaks. I was seeing stove top over 650 with a full load of black oak - and this with the primary air turned full down. In my opinion, the stove should be more controllable than that. Simple observation: the fire was getting too much O2.

So I blocked off 1/2 of the unregulated secondary air ports that directly feed the fire. There are 8 small holes across the bottom of the ceramic fireback, oriented horizontally. I stuck #10 machine screws in 4 of those holes, thus restricting secondary air to the fire (these screws aren't threaded in - they just nicely fit the bore diameter of the holes).

Result: a MUCH cooler running stove, plus the glass tends to stay cleaner longer since more primary air now must be used to keep the combustion temps up.

Just curious OK...How does this effect CAT light off if at all?

 

[OK_Bill]

Redman, the restricted secondary air does reduce total O2 that gets admitted into the firebox: it restricts O2 that comes out of the holes referenced in the picture I posted. The reduction in O2 does affect CAT operation - it lowers temps and slows down CAT temp rise after the bypass damper is closed (what we call "light-off"). The CAT light-off it still fast enough, though. If the O2 was restricted too much, the CAT would stall and not heat up enough to work. I've found I need CAT temps of 700F or more to get a completely clean burn as observed by the presence of chimney smoke (or not). Hope this answers your question.

 

[OK_Bill]

Hello Folks

I have been burning an original VC Intrepid for 25 years and recently moved to a new home and purchased an Encore 2020 Flexburn 2n1 built in mid 2013 and installed in Sept 2013. The Intrepid non-cat burned perfect, no issues and no complants. This new Encore was a different story and had the same issue with overburning and uncontrolable air flow. The fix you discribe worked perfect and now it burns more like I am used to. I now can control the fire with the thermo control lever on the right side in open vent and in cat mode. The only difference with my fix is block the 2 larger holes on the ends (SS1/4-20x1 screws worked here) and the 2 center holes (SS 10-24x1 screws). Thanks for explaining the issue and coming up with very simple and inexpensive fix. Now I am very happy with the Encore.

Wow! 25 years - now that's some experience!!

I thought about blocking those larger holes, so its good to hear how your mod worked out. I found a few minor sources of air leaks with my stove (a 2040 in Bordeaux red) and after taking care of those I still found it running too hot.

Really glad to hear your Encore is running like it should.

Best,
Bill

 

[john84]

I also have a 2040, I am curious where did you find air leaks?

 

[OK_Bill]

I also have a 2040, I am curious where did you find air leaks?

I wrote about the air leaks earlier in the thread, but to sum it up there were three leaks I found: First, there was a problem with the primary air control door not fully closing; then I found the ash pan door latch was out of adjustment - and the damper manifold seal was misplaced.

Even after fixing all 3 of these, the stove ran hot, like around 650F stove top even with the primary air fully closed. I'm burning black oak here in Oklahoma. So that was the incentive for the air restriction mod I posted earlier.

edit: one other leak: the door glass panes were loose enough for me to be able to move them around with finger pressure. Although I couldn't find them actually leaking, I did effectively tighten the panes up by slightly bending the retainer tabs inward so they'd press the glass more tightly against the woven seal material. This may or may not have helped but it made me feel good.

 

[trispad]

.... This probe can handle up to 1250C (2282F) so its definitely not going to burn up or melt in your stove. I've been using this probe for a few months now without issue. The only complication is the thread boss is kinda large and it appears to be metric pipe thread. I was going to screw it into a home made mount plate, but just stuck it through the CAT probe hole in the back of my stove and its been happily there ever since. I use a couple small steel office clamps to hold things in place. ....

OK_Bill,

How did you actually use the small steel office clamps to hold it in place? Did you just attach them to the probe's wire to keep it from moving, or did you actually clamp the probe inside the stove? I have a Defiant 1975 and am trying to get it dialed in and your posts have been most helpful.

Thanks,

Tristan

 

[OK_Bill]

OK_Bill,

How did you actually use the small steel office clamps to hold it in place? Did you just attach them to the probe's wire to keep it from moving, or did you actually clamp the probe inside the stove? I have a Defiant 1975 and am trying to get it dialed in and your posts have been most helpful.

Thanks,

Tristan

Its actually simpler than it sounds ... the thermocouple I used had quite a bit more length in its wire leads than I needed, so I just grabbed three of those little steel office clamps we all use to help gather the extra wire up and stash it on the back side of the stove:

So, you can see here the braided wire lead clipped to the stove's heat shield. What you don't see in the pic is that there's a whole doubled up loop of that braided wire lead underneath the bottom heat shield of the stove. I liked the steel clamps because, of course, they can put up with all the heat plus they're mostly black in color so they don't look awful in their place.

Hope this makes sense out of my previous post - I was just too lazy to post a pic!

Cheers.... and stay warm

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I love my VC, it keeps me warm......

 

[trispad]

Thanks for the info OK_Bill.

 

[Buck8one2]

Its actually simpler than it sounds ... the thermocouple I used had quite a bit more length in its wire leads than I needed, so I just grabbed three of those little steel office clamps we all use to help gather the extra wire up and stash it on the back side of the stove:

So, you can see here the braided wire lead clipped to the stove's heat shield. What you don't see in the pic is that there's a whole doubled up loop of that braided wire lead underneath the bottom heat shield of the stove. I liked the steel clamps because, of course, they can put up with all the heat plus they're mostly black in color so they don't look awful in their place.

Hope this makes sense out of my previous post - I was just too lazy to post a pic!

Cheers.... and stay warm

Its actually simpler than it sounds ... the thermocouple I used had quite a bit more length in its wire leads than I needed, so I just grabbed three of those little steel office clamps we all use to help gather the extra wire up and stash it on the back side of the stove:

So, you can see here the braided wire lead clipped to the stove's heat shield. What you don't see in the pic is that there's a whole doubled up loop of that braided wire lead underneath the bottom heat shield of the stove. I liked the steel clamps because, of course, they can put up with all the heat plus they're mostly black in color so they don't look awful in their place.

Hope this makes sense out of my previous post - I was just too lazy to post a pic!

Cheers.... and stay warm

Humm, interesting. OK_Bill how did you attach the probe to the stove? I'm having trouble finding a probe to mount to the cast iron back. Can you just use a straight probe and while in the proper position, use stove cement to hold in place? I'm a bit concerned bout the probe getting pulled out and/or otherwise damaging the refractory.

 

[Buck8one2]

Wow! 25 years - now that's some experience!!

I thought about blocking those larger holes, so its good to hear how your mod worked out. I found a few minor sources of air leaks with my stove (a 2040 in Bordeaux red) and after taking care of those I still found it running too hot.

Really glad to hear your Encore is running like it should.

Best,
Bill

Update: I've had a chance to tune the stove to my liking. First let me provide some backround. My wife and I are retired and have my motherinlaw living with us here in North Georgia. While down south it doesn't get that cold, but up here in the mountains it will get below freezing and windy which can make it a bit raw for our bones. The Encore is in a large family room, kitchen and eating area which I would guess is about 1000-1100 SF with door openings and upper open areas along one wall for warm air to semi drift to other areas of the house. Fuel is dry very good Hickory. The chimney runs upward about 3' and makes a 90deg. in double wall to the wall then transitions to a full insulated SS T then up and out in full insulated SS pipe. Total length of about 12'-15' of 8" pipe. I have concluded that running this stove in Cat mode is just too hot for my application and setup, closing up 4 of the airholes in the refractory slowed down the burn a bit but even with primary air closed it still ran too hot for the room at 550* and rapidly climbing. So my current setup is with 4 of the holes plugged and Cat removed (Non-Cat mode). I can now burn fireplace style with doors open with spark screen (burns great). Also doors closed, damper open or closed and I am still able to control the burn slow enough with primary air to keep from burning us out of the family room. For the last 2 nights I had loaded it up with 3-4 good size splits and about 4" coals under them closed it up and shut the primary air down to about half way and it burned all night at 350* to 400* and had hot coals left to fire it off again in the morning. I'm a happy camper. I may try going Cat mode again when I can purchase the Auber AT100 and proper probe for the Encore.

 

[Blackjack Dan]

Hi all: I have a hand-me-down stove a Encore 2550 I inherited it from my father, it's had intermittent use for the last 10 years at my hunting cabin love the looks and I know it needs gaskets (seems to burn fast and hot with the air and bypass closed) I want to do a thorough cleaning and check it out, what are some things I need to do and look for with this stove?

Also is the stove considered medium or large?

I'm assuming this is a cat stove I have never taken it apart or cleaned it just used it?

Any help and suggestions will be appreciated.(broken image removed)(broken image removed)

 

[OK_Bill]

OK_Bill how did you attach the probe to the stove? I'm having trouble finding a probe to mount to the cast iron back. Can you just use a straight probe and while in the proper position, use stove cement to hold in place? I'm a bit concerned bout the probe getting pulled out and/or otherwise damaging the refractory.

I simply popped out a small snap-in circular plug that was factory installed in the back of the stove. That gave me the opening needed to push the TC probe straight into the CAT chamber. In doing this, I did push the probe through a thin layer of fiberglass insulation, which took very little pressure. I'd recommend that you take the CAT element out of the stove when inserting the probe for the first time; that way you can see the probe push through the insulation layer and into the CAT chamber.

For my probe, its just stuck in there without any hard mounting or threaded support. I was at first hesitant to accept this situation, but its been just fine over the last few months.

If you want to see which probe I used, take a look at post #63 in this thread where I spoke more about it along with a few pictures.

Best,
Bill.