sprry I lied. 600 keeps in warm. yes the left side of the stove where the front meet the side o can see fire at Times. I rent this apartment so I don't wanna put.to much money in this place.
Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question
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sprry for all the messages its how my phone does it. sorry between 500-600 keeps this place warm. only time I need to go over 600- is January and February this year I have to go over 600. kept it between 600-750
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
February was cold, but at 2.5 cord you must've been constantly feeding the stove. It's excessive but it sounds like you need to run the stove at high temps to maintain comfortable living temperature. Caulk is cheep. Check the attic to see if the ceilings are insulated - it's possible you may even be able to talk the landlord into adding some insulation if it's lacking.
there a loft above my living. room which is where the stove is. ans the lady who has that apartment is. over top of me an along aide of me. the land Lord is a scum Lord. I tried. maybe. this spring.summer if free. maybe if I pay you, you could come show me what I'm not doing rite, an show me what needs fixing.
I'm very useful in live. I can fish hunt, do roofing fruit farming with fruit trees, reg farming aiding. many more, it's just o don't know.much about.wood stoves, and I don't wanna lose my apartment do to a fore or keep burning 7-9cord.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
You're not doing anything wrong - I believe the problem is lack of insulation. It sounds like you're easily getting the stove up to temp - although 750 is on the high side. I liked to keep my Defiant around 600.
I just shut her down a few seconds ago. nice bed, although missed 500,I shut the damper at 600. I'm confident that she will stay there or no more then 20. over 600, rite now how I've got it set, shell run between 560_620. but that's because I missed 550. I'll keep u posted on how long the wood burn last, and how long of an actually burn with colas left o get. also I want to thank you for you're time and the knowledge you have gave me. what you're teaching me, will forever stick with me. lol
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
My name is Clay. I'm happy I could help. When shutting the Defiant into horizontal burn I would do so around 600. I would then get a couple hours at 5-600 and it would slowly taper off yielding around 5 or so hours of good heat. You should get similar results with the Vigilant.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
Anything above 600 is usually not needed, but 800 is where damage can begin to occur. Under 300 is basically where my stove stops putting out noticeable heat.
I'm just worried that if I run it at 430 or something that low, if could start building creosote. they say it starts then and the causes a fire. haha I do burn it.hot enough over 500ever tome I heat it up. to burn any thing bad out of the pipes chimney
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
It sounds like you are running it hot enough to not be a concern. You should plan on a yearly clean out for sure, as these older stoves will absolutely create some level of creosote.
600 was to hot so I shut it sown to 450. 450 on a nite like tonite in Columbia county it's keeping.the youse at 72. in the kitchen an dinning room 70in the bed rooms.
I cleaned her at the begging of the burning.time which in started in mid September an cleaned it in Jan. and.I'll do it when I atop burning.hopefully here soon bout 3more week hopeful not tho
I am looking for a shop to rebuild, clean out, my 1975 Vermont Defiant. I am located in western ma near springfield. Does anybody have a good place or know of a place to stay away from? It was done 20 years ago and I think the back needs to come out and get cleaned.
I have a new Defiant bought this season and it's attached to 6" stove pipe. They (dealers who sell VC's) have the oval to 6" adapter and reccomend that it will work but you can't run it with the doors open.
Bernie Sharpe
New Member
Hello Hearth.com. I suppose I should have come here the minute I bought my home. It was built in 1886 and the addition was built in 1945. We are not sure when the VC Defiant 1975 was purchased and installed. We have been here 2 years and the stove is spectacular. Well, that is until the 'inner liner' (firewall?) fell in on itself. There is a piece of this 'inner liner' that appears to support the right wall component of this 'inner liner' that has had a corner chipped off and I can not seem to put this 'puzzle' back together. I can't determine from the many diagrams/installation screenshots whether it is part #43 or part #46, or if I am completely off base. Here are some photos to assist anyone that may be able to help!
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/190/190874-04463f5c6c916384a4112c460d217ea8.jpg?hash=lsJknDdL25 "[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question")
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/190/190875-cb1be3f416a066a10ba46a793e120e20.jpg?hash=kAZDYCF2uJ "[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question")
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/190/190876-0ba5c3afe5a37251869d75d27e3bc27a.jpg?hash=q5bw8eKsxW "[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question")
We have one of the early VC Defiants. It came with the one piece fireback which is the section that you see in your pictures with the decorative oval on it. When looking in the stove from the front doors the piece to the right of the opening is the baffle. The baffle supports the fireback. It looks like the baffle has a piece/leg missing at the bottom and has shifted downward. I don't recall how the original one piece fireback baffle was configured but the newer designed baffle has a 'leg' that bolts on to support it. WIth yours missing that and shifting down, this would cause the fireback to probably shift down and become loose. I wouldn't want to run a fire in it like that.
My father replaced the one piece fireback with the two piece kit in ours probably some 30 years ago or so due to a crack in it. I just finish replacing the fireback again as it developed a crack again. Lasted a good 30 years so no complaints. I don't remember what the one piece looked like but it may have been curved like yours is. The two piece in ours is more of a straight angled fireback. I have some pictures right after the rebuild.
I just quickly looked and I do believe you have the old fireback design. Others may correct me. If you fix this you will need the left end door and the new fireback kit. Here is what you would be looking at, something like this. Maybe $700 in parts counting the kit and left door.
(broken link removed)
The kit I just got was about $280 for the two piece fireback since ours was switched out long ago.
Good luck.
My father replaced the one piece fireback with the two piece kit in ours probably some 30 years ago or so due to a crack in it. I just finish replacing the fireback again as it developed a crack again. Lasted a good 30 years so no complaints. I don't remember what the one piece looked like but it may have been curved like yours is. The two piece in ours is more of a straight angled fireback. I have some pictures right after the rebuild.
I just quickly looked and I do believe you have the old fireback design. Others may correct me. If you fix this you will need the left end door and the new fireback kit. Here is what you would be looking at, something like this. Maybe $700 in parts counting the kit and left door.
(broken link removed)
The kit I just got was about $280 for the two piece fireback since ours was switched out long ago.
Good luck.
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I may have been incorrect in my post prior to this one. I am not familiar with the later model Defiants. The one we have is one of the early models that had the one piece fireback. It may be that yours is a Defiant II. Again, I am not familiar with the other models.
This thread may be of help. Looks like a similar fireback to yours? https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/defiant-ii-fireback-dislodged.160711/
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Hello, I'm glad to find such a wealth of information! The last two weeks have involved a lot of time reading about wood stoves.
I recently moved to Downeast Maine, and of all the stoves that could have been in this house, an original VC 1975 Defiant is sitting in the living room. So far I've been ecstatic with the performance. I'm having some teething issues figuring out where to set the thermostat lever. The original was broken, so for the first burn I just manually adjusted the primary intake. I've seen photos where the thermostat assembly has a cover, is this required for proper operation? The firebox started huffing a bit last night before cooling down.
Now onto issue number two, the firebox plate in the back (older single piece style) has a decent crack in it. I'm hoping to wait until summer when I don't need the heat to rebuild the stove. So far I haven't found an exploded parts diagram for the original defiant, and it seems users of this stove are becoming scarce, as are parts. Any leads on where to find the updated parts would be appreciated as well. Also, I have no idea how to rebuild a stove, but it can't be any harder than an engine. I would include a photo of the crack, but I need the heat!
Now for the niceties, can you still get add on parts for this stove? I would love to have the side warming racks, or a handle for the griddle. A local gentleman has the same model, but his griddle does have the handle, and his stove has the plate over the thermostat.
Thanks for the help!
For those curious, I'll be burning 90% spruce and 10% birch, or there abouts. We have 24 acres, the vast majority of which is red and white spruce. I know it's not ideal for a wood stove, but I'm getting nearly invisible wispy smoke with a fabulous draft. Thankfully the house has 3 - 4 cords of seasoned wood stacked in the sheds. Many days of cutting and stacking wood are in my future.
Oh, don't mind the weird white stuff around the stove pipe, the previous owners of the house, who used it for occasional vacations, used some kind of sealant, but it seems like a waste to me. The stove has no smoke leaks into the house.
I recently moved to Downeast Maine, and of all the stoves that could have been in this house, an original VC 1975 Defiant is sitting in the living room. So far I've been ecstatic with the performance. I'm having some teething issues figuring out where to set the thermostat lever. The original was broken, so for the first burn I just manually adjusted the primary intake. I've seen photos where the thermostat assembly has a cover, is this required for proper operation? The firebox started huffing a bit last night before cooling down.
Now onto issue number two, the firebox plate in the back (older single piece style) has a decent crack in it. I'm hoping to wait until summer when I don't need the heat to rebuild the stove. So far I haven't found an exploded parts diagram for the original defiant, and it seems users of this stove are becoming scarce, as are parts. Any leads on where to find the updated parts would be appreciated as well. Also, I have no idea how to rebuild a stove, but it can't be any harder than an engine. I would include a photo of the crack, but I need the heat!
Now for the niceties, can you still get add on parts for this stove? I would love to have the side warming racks, or a handle for the griddle. A local gentleman has the same model, but his griddle does have the handle, and his stove has the plate over the thermostat.
Thanks for the help!
For those curious, I'll be burning 90% spruce and 10% birch, or there abouts. We have 24 acres, the vast majority of which is red and white spruce. I know it's not ideal for a wood stove, but I'm getting nearly invisible wispy smoke with a fabulous draft. Thankfully the house has 3 - 4 cords of seasoned wood stacked in the sheds. Many days of cutting and stacking wood are in my future.
Oh, don't mind the weird white stuff around the stove pipe, the previous owners of the house, who used it for occasional vacations, used some kind of sealant, but it seems like a waste to me. The stove has no smoke leaks into the house.
Attachments
![[Hearth.com] Vermont Castings Original Defiant Question](/talk/data/attachments/233/233729-f3bfc0552373dbacf518aa79514bebb2.jpg?hash=C4nX9ajesi)
I bought the original Defiant 1 in 1977 and the single piece fireback split in 1981. I don’t think this is consequential. I burn in updraft and downdraft mode every winter since the split (it’s 2024 now). I also don’t worry about cleaning behind the fireback. I do keep the small round air intake holes in the base of the fireback clear of ash with a shop vac.
