2018/19 VC Owners Thread

[RandyBoBandy]

Hi All - posted this in another thread but thought this would get better responses in this thread.

I recently (as in 2 weeks ago) installed a VC Intrepid Flexburn w/o the cat converter (model 2215). I have started a few small fires over last weekend and let them burn out per the O&M manual. Also - new chimney installed.

Last night I tried to start a fire and it seems like it is starved for oxygen even with the heat adjustment lever being at high. When I would open the front doors - the fire would perk up. The smoke would draft very well up the chimney.

When I would close the front doors - it seems like the fire would peter out regardless of what setting I had the burner adjustment at. I poked around the rear end of the stove and discovered an air flap just inside where the combustion air goes into the stove. Regardless of where I set the heat control lever - the flapper didnt move. It seems to me like this could be the issue. Should this flapper be linked somehow to the heat control lever?

I am getting minimal / zero support from the company I purchased it from and am quite frustrated with their lack of customer service so it seems like I am going to have to go at this alone.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Somewhat of what you are experiencing is common with people new to epa stoves. The common complaint is “I can’t get this stove to burn, it doesn’t heat like my old smoke dragon, this stove sucks, etc”. It is usually related to wood being to wet for modern stoves to burn correctly and efficiently. Another thing that could be an issue is your draft. How tall is your new chimney? This measurement is from stove top to rain cap. I haven’t looked at the intrepid manual but the encores and defiants require a minimum 16’ at around sea level to 1000 ft. If your primary air flapper is not moving with the primary air control than this is definitely a problem. Is there an Allen head with a cable attached to this flapper? With the stove cold put the air control in the closed position and adjust the flapper so it is touching the frame ( all the closed basically). Tighten the Allen head and check for movement with the control.

 

[ajayabb]

Nice secondaries in my Encore tonight

 

[Rahm]

Hi All,

I finally got a Cat probe thermometer for my Encore Flexburn 2040 this year and I've found that the stove behaves differently than I expected and not at all how the operators manual suggests. I'm wondering if other people's stoves behaves as mine does.

First, the operators manual suggests that the stove top should be over 500 degrees before closing the bypass damper because it indicates that the cat chamber will be up to temp by then. No matter how long I run the stove and no matter how hot the stove top gets, the cat chamber has never gotten close to ignition temperature with the bypass damper open. At most it will reach about 250. The only way to get the cat to ignite is to close the damper and let it heat up from the stove exhaust. On that note, the flue temp is a much better indicator than the stove top temp because it measures the temperature of the exhaust that will need to go through the cat chamber to heat it.

Second, The manual says that when reloading I should allow the new wood to fully ignite before re-closing the bypass damper. I've found that when I open the bypass damper the cat temp drops quickly and if I leave it open too long and the temp falls below 500 or so, the cat won't re-ignite when I close the damper. If I close the bypass damper soon after putting in new wood the cat temp will immediately start to rise.

Third, I've read on this forum of the cat temp rising very quickly when the cat ignites. I haven't experienced that. My cat temp rises slowly and steadily from around 200 when I flip the damper up to 800 or 900 degrees, or higher depending on the size of the load. Sometimes I've experienced a very rapid temp increase around 1100 or 1200 degrees. At first I thought this might indicate that the cat was blown, because I know that the stove can still achieve a secondary burn at a higher temp without the cat in place, so I replaced my ceramic cat with a new steel cat and it operates exactly the same.

Would love to hear if other people's stoves behave like mine or not. Thanks!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hi All,

I finally got a Cat probe thermometer for my Encore Flexburn 2040 this year and I've found that the stove behaves differently than I expected and not at all how the operators manual suggests. I'm wondering if other people's stoves behaves as mine does.

First, the operators manual suggests that the stove top should be over 500 degrees before closing the bypass damper because it indicates that the cat chamber will be up to temp by then. No matter how long I run the stove and no matter how hot the stove top gets, the cat chamber has never gotten close to ignition temperature with the bypass damper open. At most it will reach about 250. The only way to get the cat to ignite is to close the damper and let it heat up from the stove exhaust. On that note, the flue temp is a much better indicator than the stove top temp because it measures the temperature of the exhaust that will need to go through the cat chamber to heat it.

Second, The manual says that when reloading I should allow the new wood to fully ignite before re-closing the bypass damper. I've found that when I open the bypass damper the cat temp drops quickly and if I leave it open too long and the temp falls below 500 or so, the cat won't re-ignite when I close the damper. If I close the bypass damper soon after putting in new wood the cat temp will immediately start to rise.

Third, I've read on this forum of the cat temp rising very quickly when the cat ignites. I haven't experienced that. My cat temp rises slowly and steadily from around 200 when I flip the damper up to 800 or 900 degrees, or higher depending on the size of the load. Sometimes I've experienced a very rapid temp increase around 1100 or 1200 degrees. At first I thought this might indicate that the cat was blown, because I know that the stove can still achieve a secondary burn at a higher temp without the cat in place, so I replaced my ceramic cat with a new steel cat and it operates exactly the same.

Would love to hear if other people's stoves behave like mine or not. Thanks!

Your miss reading the manual.. your to get your stove up to temp with the damper open. So get your stove up to 500 then close the damper and that will engage the cat. You need to wait a bit and that cat temp will need to climb past 600 to light off. When re loading you will need to open the damper. Depending on how much wood is in the box i fo the following. If there is still 1/4 box i just put in the wood let it catch close the damper and let that cat light back off.. If the box is pretty empty. You will need to get the stove back up to 500 and close the damper and basically restart the process

You need to get the stove to 500 degrees prior to closing the damper.. keep the primary air all the way open
You cat will go off at about 600 degrees cat temp with the damper closed ( you looking at your cat prob tem for this no longer looking at stove top temp )
I also look a flue temp i close my damper when my flue temp is about 400.. at that point my flue is warm enough
I hope this helps you with your stove
When your damper is open your stove burns like a regular fireplace the smoke and gasses go right up the chimney
When your stove is up to temp and you close the damper you go from free burning wood stove to a catalytic mode wood stove being able to burn longer, lower and cleaner

 

[Kevin Weis]

No, the manual does not say when the griddle top (stove) reaches 500 that is also the temperature of the cat also. I will say it is easy to constru that though. I have one. With the stove at around 500 the cat chamber will likely only be around 250 or so as some of the cold primary air is going through the cat chamber as well at that point. The manual does not really show that good as well. Once the stove is at or around 500 and you close the damper the cat should jump past 500 from 250 in about 10 minutes more or less. There other things you need to know as well to keep puff backing to a minimum. Look back in this thread and all of that is discussed. You must follow the rules of conduct (manual) for this stove or it will not behave well for you. Hope this helps.

 

[jharkin]

Soooo.. I wont be joining these VC season threads anymore as I no longer.... drumroll... own a VC. Or the drafty antique house it heated.

We just sold our old place and moved into a modern contemporary that only has a single conventional open fireplace. No more stoves for me.. Keep up the good fight with your VC's folks.

 

[frased]

Hey all! Hope everyone’s summer is great!

Question... is there any off season maintenance I need to do?

I’ve only used the stove 1 season. Stove and chimney were brand new last fall.

 

[begreen]

Hey all! Hope everyone’s summer is great!

Question... is there any off season maintenance I need to do?

I’ve only used the stove 1 season. Stove and chimney were brand new last fall.

The flue system should be cleaned for sure. The stove should be inspected, but probably will not need much more than a general cleaning the first year. Check the stove manual for good details on future maintenance.

 

[alivegas99]

Hi all, first post!

I'm taking delivery of a beautiful new Encore wood stove this week. Just recently started getting excited for it and started reading the Hearth.com forums... I guess the views on these stoves aren't great. I have read pretty much every post on VC's going back a few years but had a question I was hoping to get some input on before this delivery becomes official.

From reading here, although VC has corrected a few of the problems from earlier models, it seems the downdraft design is what is most troublesome in these newer models. We have a 32 foot interior chimney/flue that will be pulling air from this stove... will this create a strong enough draft to help mitigate the negative effects of a downdraft stove?

Any tips on operating from people with the newest model would be greatly appreciated! I have the operations flowchart made by a poster here printed out and ready for action, haha.

Thank you very much for the time. I hope to be a helpful member of the forum.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. The modern Encore is improved and hopefully much better now than in previous years. The Achilles heel was the refractory package which has been improved. It is still a very good looking stove and a nice heater. With a 32ft chimney, you could have the opposite problem, too strong draft. This might not show up until the weather gets cold out. Have them install a key damper in the stove pipe to provide greater draft regulation.

The other thing that makes a huge difference between struggling to heat and a satisfying burn is the wood. Modern stoves need fully seasoned wood to perform well.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hi all, first post!

I'm taking delivery of a beautiful new Encore wood stove this week. Just recently started getting excited for it and started reading the Hearth.com forums... I guess the views on these stoves aren't great. I have read pretty much every post on VC's going back a few years but had a question I was hoping to get some input on before this delivery becomes official.

From reading here, although VC has corrected a few of the problems from earlier models, it seems the downdraft design is what is most troublesome in these newer models. We have a 32 foot interior chimney/flue that will be pulling air from this stove... will this create a strong enough draft to help mitigate the negative effects of a downdraft stove?

Any tips on operating from people with the newest model would be greatly appreciated! I have the operations flowchart made by a poster here printed out and ready for action, haha.

Thank you very much for the time. I hope to be a helpful member of the forum.

I have the 2040.. i have it with an 8in stove pipe. My choice to do the 8in was because I my stack is short, im in a ranch style house. My draft is great so my stove runs really well. I dont over/under draft. With 32ft you should be fine with draft. A little more description could help us out. I hope yor wood supply is good. You'll need good wood with any modern day stove
Congratulations on your purchase....

 

[alivegas99]

Thanks begreen and woodsplitter.

We are scheduled to have the 6" pipe installed vs. the 8". Sounds like, from what begreen said, that is likely the right decision.

Having not burned wood in anything but a very simple early 1980's Jotul #8, I did not appreciate until recently how potentially complicated burning wood for heat is in 2019! A few really cool features have been added but a lot of complexity too.

Thankfully we have about 5 cords of 1 to 2 year aged wood (mostly oak) lined up and ready to go, but I'm going to have to get in front of it pretty quickly to prepare for the next few years.

In regard to controlling potential over draft.... I think it was in this thread (or one from years past), where someone put screws in the refractory holes that allow secondary air into the main chamber. For about two dollars I actually bought those screws in case I would have to decrease air flow to keep from over drafting. Would this have a similar effect as a key damper? Or, regardless, is the adjust-ability of the key damper just a really great tool to have on this kind of stove?

Thanks again!

 

[begreen]

Draft is going to vary depending on several factors like the number of turns in the flue path, stove location (basement vs main floor), locale terrain, outside temperature, etc.. Having a key damper in the stovepipe will allow you to fine tune draft if needed. This may only be on cold and/or windy days or it may be needed all the time. You will have to tell us.

 

[Dobish]

I would suggest using it before you start messing with the epa holes, etc. Good wood makes a big difference, so you will be ahead of the game. Make sure you have a cat probe as well, this was a game changer for me. Enjoy it!

 

[Dobish]

New thread for 2019/20 here