Vermont Castings Vigilant

[Kenster]

Do you have a pic of this... I am having the same problem and I have a brick holding it down..I would love to see your weight and hook application.. G-dine

G-dine, This thread is over a year old. Just so you know. I hope spolleypt, sees your question.

Cheers!

 

[Awill]

Hi, sorry for the secondary necro~
Been reading alot on these forums as I've just moved into my first house with a vc vigilant parlor stove in the basement. Really hoping to get this running efficiently as our house has electric heat....
Just want to be sure my stove is working as intended. everyone I know with a wood stove is telling me otherwise but from what I read in the manual on here as well as experienced, the bypass damper? (Handle on the top left that controls the internal damper) is not adjustable, simply wide open in updraft mode or closed for horizontal burning.
So how do you cease all the heat from escaping without a flue damper like on other stoves, the manual sounds like it describes the small hole on the bottom left as the damper as far as controlling the amount of heat escaping but you all explain it as another draft source.



Hope this old thread gets noticed, thanks in advance everyone.

 

[claydogg84]

Hi, sorry for the secondary necro~
Been reading alot on these forums as I've just moved into my first house with a vc vigilant parlor stove in the basement. Really hoping to get this running efficiently as our house has electric heat....
Just want to be sure my stove is working as intended. everyone I know with a wood stove is telling me otherwise but from what I read in the manual on here as well as experienced, the bypass damper? (Handle on the top left that controls the internal damper) is not adjustable, simply wide open in updraft mode or closed for horizontal burning.
So how do you cease all the heat from escaping without a flue damper like on other stoves, the manual sounds like it describes the small hole on the bottom left as the damper as far as controlling the amount of heat escaping but you all explain it as another draft source.



Hope this old thread gets noticed, thanks in advance everyone.

So what are your real problems with the stove? You've figured out what the bypass damper does, or at least how it operates. Once it's closed, the smoke is forced towards the side of the stove. This was an ancient design to try and achieve a more efficient stove. It was certainly ahead of its time, but still considered a "smoke dragon". There is another flap that you can open and close for air, and then the thermostatically controlled flap on the back that opens and closes according to temperature. You do not need a pipe damper for this stove.

 

[Kenster]

It's not just the smoke that is rerouted to the back of the stove in bypass mode. The HEAT is rerouted through the back and baffled so that more heat emanates from the stove and less heat escapes up the flue. Yes, it's all or nothing, open or closed. But you can control the amount of heat with your primary air/ thermostat flap in the back.

 

[Awill]

Thanks for the replies. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning. So basically burning in updraft is only to get it hot, then it should be switched to horizontal, not left open because you're just wasting heat?
Reading more convos it seems like a good idea to give the airways and the chamber behind the firebox a just in case cleaning.
Question, what is the negative effect of having ash in the bottom of the secondary burn chamber?
Sorry for another newbie question but should I have a raised grate for the wood so that the bed of coals can continue to burn without being sitffled when loading it up?

 

[homebrewz]

Raised grates are not typically used in wood stoves. If it didn't come with one originally, don't use one. Some stoves require a layer of ash and/or sand at the bottom of the firebox to protect the bottom of the stove from heat. I can't recall if the Vigilant was one of these stoves, but reviewing the manual should indicate this.

A clean secondary burn chamber will make that part of the stove run more efficiently.

 

[Kenster]

Don't use a grate. Not needed and will just lessen the amount of wood you can put in the stove. You have sort of a built in grate. After thoroughly cleaning my stove, I begin the season with a layer of clean sand up to the top of those "grates." Or you can slowly build up an ash bed. I wouldn't start off with a huge, hot fire in a cold stove with no ash or sand bed in place. Leave a bed in the bottom when you clean out the stove.

 

[Awill]

Yes I did see in the manual about an insulating layer of ash. So I found a picture of my same stove, you're saying just a layer up to where those little ridges end?

Thanks a bunch for all the quick replies!

 

[claydogg84]

Yes, a layer up to the ridges.

 

[Awill]

Thanks so much for all the help. Going to figure out how to get into the secondary burn chamber to give it a good clean when I get home and then give it another shot.
First time wood stove user, I wonder if this was the best stove for me to wind up with lol.

 

[claydogg84]

Thanks so much for all the help. Going to figure out how to get into the secondary burn chamber to give it a good clean when I get home and then give it another shot.
First time wood stove user, I wonder if this was the best stove for me to wind up with lol.

These older VC stoves are about as easy to operate as they come. Get it up to temp, make sure the flap intake is set according to desired temperature, open hole for secondary burn, and shut damper. I always shut damper at 600 @ the griddle.

 

[Awill]

Got it running last night, brought it up to 600, shut the damper and opened the hole on the side. After a bit I closed the secondary burn hole slightly as I've seen people say to do that. Before calling it a night I checked on it and it was sitting right around 450.
I opened the flap in the back slightly more wanting it to go up to about 500.
Woke up and had nothing but a few dying coals.
I think the crap wood I received is partially to blame

 

[claydogg84]

I used to run the single port hole closed after startup, but was recently told that hole is specifically to achieve the horizontal burn. The rear flap should be nearly closed @ 600, if not closed completely. How long was the burn cycle? Maintaining 500 isn't hard to do, but it obviously will effect the length of the cycle. It will take some trial and error to find the sweet spot.

 

[Awill]

Went to sleep around 1 and woke up a little after 6. I'll try it again tonight flap down with the small hole opened. Haven't gotten it running long enough to heat the upstairs as well, would like to be able to wake up to it hot, load it and head to work, repeat once I get home.

 

[claydogg84]

Fill it to the gills.

 

[Awill]

Well got the thing roaring last night and went to bed for 6 hours, first time waking up to coals! They weren't exactly hot enough to reload but a few smaller kindling got it fired up pretty fast.
I lowered the flap nearly all the way and had the secondary hole wide open. I'm not sure if my thermostat in the back is broken or not though. I open it all the way when building the fire, bit when it gets up to 600 it stays in the same position, so I manually lowered it and this morning it was actually fully shut.
I also find it harder to get it up to 500-600 since cleaning it the other night, not sure why

 

[claydogg84]

The rear flap should be controlled by a spring that expands/retracts with the heat. Is the spring there? It does have a delay to it, but it works.

 

[Awill]

It looks to be there, its the same concept as the burn meter right? It seemed more like it expanded as it cooled to be honest, which would be backward? I went to sleep after manually lowering the flap until it was only about 1/4" open at 550 and it was fully closed when it had dropped under 100. Perhaps I just don't know the thermostat's settings? As in what position the lever should be set to for what temp.
Is this the must have rear thermostat heat shield I read earlier? When I saw that I was nervous I was missing something.

 

[claydogg84]

That is the heat shield. It's possible the spring is upside down. The flap should be almost 90 degrees open when cold, and nearly shut around 600. Watch the flap next time you run the stove. It should slowly drop as the heat increases.

 

[Awill]

And the lever should be all the way up? I've ran it a few times all the way up and it doesn't budge so I'm assuming you're probably right.

 

[Awill]

Took a look at the spring, seems to be in the right position

 

[claydogg84]

The lever is there really only for the initial setup. Once you've got it set where you want it, you shouldn't have to mess with it again. It's orientation doesn't really matter, as long as the spring is correct, which I don't think it is, but I'm not certain.

 

[Awill]

Had what I think was a decent burn going last night, again woke up to less than a full bed of coals but still hoping out around 150°.
I did switch the spring lever over to the other side as its depicted in the manual, today I'll also adjust the chain length to the specifics of the manual, guessing the previous owner never got one.
What is a good temp to set for a long burn (i.e going to sleep or work)?
Since it seems like that 500 or above is burning a full box down to ash and coal in about 6 hours or so

Thanks for all the help so far

 

[claydogg84]

I had the Defiant, so the firebox was a bit larger. My flap was nearly shut @600 griddle temp. If that's not leaving enough coals, you may want to try 500-550.

 

[Awill]

How long of a burn should I be getting at that temp though?
I'm able to get it up to temp and keep it hot during horizontal burn, I'm just struggling to find the right temp to maintain hot enough coals after 6-8 hours so I can just reload the box and bring it back up to temp easily.
I'll just try going lower tonight, was at 525-500 range last night I believe, but I thought I read somewhere that you shouldn't drop below 400 during horizontal burn?