Need help identifying a VC stove

[Swamp]

First let me introduce myself. My name is Craig and I grew up in a wood heated house and we have heated our home for the last 25 years with the original to the house 1978 Oneida Royal wood furnace. If the temp outside is under 35 degrees our stove will be lit sometime during the day and below 20 we run 2 fires a day. Anyway on to my question.
I found a stove that I believe to be a Vermont Castings Encore. Sorry, but I don't have any pictures to post yet. The stove is green enamel and appears to say Defiant Encore on the end. The pictures I saw, but didn't save, showed the exterior of the stove to be in quite good condition. I really know little about the new types of wood stoves. I'm wondering when the stove might have been made and any quirks it might have. I have read several articles here concerning the many parts used in these stoves and am wondering about the wide range of failure times such as 2-3 years on a cat vs. 5 yrs. Heck, I don't even know if I should be expecting to see a cat or not.
Can someone point me to some pictures of the interior of the stove that would show problem areas that need close inspection? I am attracted to the stove based on published btu output, burn times, windows in the doors, the color and the overall size of the stove.
We are planning on installing the stove in our 1950's 24x30 full log settlers cabin with a 14' open cathedral ceiling located in the UP of Michigan. As of now the cabin needs new chinking (hopefully this summer) and the windows will remain old casement style until we save enough money to replace them. The stove would be the primary heat source since the cabin is off the grid and we are hoping to spend a week in the cabin over Thanksgiving and again at Christmas and then some weekends late in the winter for ice fishing and snowmobiling. My thought is that with the seasoned black oak wood and limited use through a year that once put into good condition the stove should last quite a few years. Any thoughts?
By the way the price on the stove is $200 which really helps our budget with all of the other things we need to do with the cabin.
Thanks
Swamp

 

[begreen]

This may be the #2140, made in the early 1990s. Look for the UL label on the back of the stove to verify model. If so it is a cat stove. If you do a search on "Defiant Encore" you should get some threads on this stove. The first thing you want to check out is the cat and the refractory ceramic that surrounds it. This is the main failure point. If it is in good shape, wonderful. But at this price I would expect that it may be time to replace this assembly and the cat. If this is the case it could mean an investment of some hundreds of dollars to get it back to great operating condition.

 

[Simonkenton]

Good luck getting a good wood stove for $200.

 

[Diabel]

Yup, for 200.00 the insides of this stove are likely fried. I would not risk spending 500.00 on the interior parts without a complete rebuild of the unit.

 

[Swamp]

Thanks for the input guys. The $200 was the price he posted, but as with all things too good to be true he now tells me he can't sell. Not very nice after I had already arranged for two guys to make the two hour trip to go get it this weekend. As disappointed as I am that I didn't at least get to see the stove there are a lot of them around here for sale. The VC resolutes seem to be around $500-$600 in nice shape and the defiants range from $600-$1000. I guess I'm not sure what size of stove I need for the cabin. With it being built on pylons so that the underside can breath, the 2 layers of 1' lumber and the 3/4 plywood for the floor doesn't offer a lot of insulation. I want to be sure I have plenty of heat, but I don't want to go too big and have trouble trying to choke the stove off and sooting up everything.
Thanks again guys
Swamp

 

[begreen]

He may have done you a favor. I wouldn't get hung up on this brand. The old VC stoves were good, but these were followed by some high-maintenance stoves. Instead I would look for a good sale on a 3 cu ft Englander (also sold as Summer's Heat) or Drolet at a big box store like Menards, Lowes, etc.. These stores will be clearing out winter inventory shortly and some good deals can be had for under $1000.

 

[Diabel]

He may have done you a favor. I wouldn't get hung up on this brand. The old VC stoves were good, but these were followed by some high-maintenance stoves. Instead I would look for a good sale on a 3 cu ft Englander (also sold as Summer's Heat) or Drolet at a big box store like Menards, Lowes, etc.. These stores will be clearing out winter inventory shortly and some good deals can be had for under $1000.

Swamp,
Begreen (as always) is providing good advice.

 

[Swamp]

Thank you guys for all of the advice. I checked out the Englanders and I am sure they are a solid dependable stove. They look like they would fit the bill perfectly and I wouldn't have to worry about the stove getting hurt if one of my adult kids goes up and runs it a little hot. That said they aren't on sale right now so I just keep looking at others ones. I can't explain why other than I just keep thinking there might be a deal I'm missing.
So I found a couple that maybe someone here can help me identify. Both intrigue me as far as looks particularly the second one. Neither is identified in the ad and I haven't had a response yet so I'm just being impatient.
#1

Any thoughts? I have become slightly obsessed with wood stoves now even though I've been burning wood for most of my 50 years.
Thanks
Swamp

 

[begreen]

2nd stove looks like it may be a Hearthstone H2

 

[Swamp]

Any ideas what to look at on the H2? Cat or no? Do they suffer burn out like other metal and cast stoves? Value if in good shape?
Swamp

 

[begreen]

Search on Hearthstone II in title only. There are many threads on this stove. Also, in the classics forum there is a thread on a complete rebuild by Kevlar_vw .

 

[Swamp]

Thanks. I just got an email back and the soapstone sold. $400 with a lot of stainless triple wall. Seemed like a pretty good deal. The other one has no tags left as the owner had it blasted and painted. He didn't really care to help as far as brand or model so since I won't deal with people like that it's on to the next. I found a pleasant hearth 2,200 at Lowe's down in Illinois new at $479. It doesn't look like they will ship it to a store nearer me though. I'm checking into it further. It has some really good reviews and then some not. Mostly seems like people who have problems are suffering from poor draft. They don't say, but maybe they are venting through a wall and not getting the stack high enough. I'll be going straight up 8' from the peak and extending above the peak 2'. The cabin is on high bank lake frontage and should provide good air movement as far as draft is concerned. It sounds like I may need to do a few small mods to get the stove to give me the 6-7 hrs of burn time I'm after. I believe they come with a 5 year warranty also. Since I think the stove looks decent and should be dependable since no cats etc. I'm leaning this way for the moment. I'll be back often as there is an addition planned for the cabin and I'll need another stove for that. Thanks again guys. It's nice coming to a site where people are willing to share there knowledge.
Swamp

 

[1000degree]

Thanks. I just got an email back and the soapstone sold. $400 with a lot of stainless triple wall. Seemed like a pretty good deal. The other one has no tags left as the owner had it blasted and painted. He didn't really care to help as far as brand or model so since I won't deal with people like that it's on to the next. I found a pleasant hearth 2,200 at Lowe's down in Illinois new at $479. It doesn't look like they will ship it to a store nearer me though. I'm checking into it further. It has some really good reviews and then some not. Mostly seems like people who have problems are suffering from poor draft. They don't say, but maybe they are venting through a wall and not getting the stack high enough. I'll be going straight up 8' from the peak and extending above the peak 2'. The cabin is on high bank lake frontage and should provide good air movement as far as draft is concerned. It sounds like I may need to do a few small mods to get the stove to give me the 6-7 hrs of burn time I'm after. I believe they come with a 5 year warranty also. Since I think the stove looks decent and should be dependable since no cats etc. I'm leaning this way for the moment. I'll be back often as there is an addition planned for the cabin and I'll need another stove for that. Thanks again guys. It's nice coming to a site where people are willing to share there knowledge.
Swamp

 

[1000degree]

Hey
I just saw your post about looking for a stove to heat a cabin in UP Michigan,
I have a 1980 Vermont Castings resolute
(non cat) cast iron wood stove, Top loader, with all options,
We retired it in 2017, it is fully functional with all the parts,
.. you can search the classifieds
(Vermont castings resolute for sale)
I have pictures of it that you can view,
In operation.
We live in central indiana,
2&1/2 hours south of indiana / mich
State line.

 

[bholler]

Hey
I just saw your post about looking for a stove to heat a cabin in UP Michigan,
I have a 1980 Vermont Castings resolute
(non cat) cast iron wood stove, Top loader, with all options,
We retired it in 2017, it is fully functional with all the parts,
.. you can search the classifieds
(Vermont castings resolute for sale)
I have pictures of it that you can view,
In operation.
We live in central indiana,
2&1/2 hours south of indiana / mich
State line.

You do realize this is a 3 year old thread right?