first fire in the new house with a Vigilant 1977 that has been installed for many years. while cleaning the ashes out of the stove today I did some prelim cleaning of the ports in the front fettle that were clogged up with ash by removing it and shaking all the ash out. now I've lit the first fire, figured out that I had the damper in the wrong position as the house filled with smoke, resolved that problem, and got a good flame going. Thermostat flapper wide open, I shut the front doors of the stove and am dismayed as I listen to the air whistling in from the front door seam and the fire starts to die down. it appears, unless I missed something else in how this stove works, that the air intake past the thermostat flapper is plugged - question is how to best clean it out.
since I've got a fire going in fireplace mode right now I'll have the possibility of hot coals in the morning so sucking the block out by vacuum is out. tried pushing a hanger into the hole on the rear of the unit but the pathway bends right away. thinking about pulling the fettle, closing the front doors of the stove , and grabbing the air compressor and blowing it blockage out. looking to see if there are any other tricks that i should know about.
thanks
Mike
since I've got a fire going in fireplace mode right now I'll have the possibility of hot coals in the morning so sucking the block out by vacuum is out. tried pushing a hanger into the hole on the rear of the unit but the pathway bends right away. thinking about pulling the fettle, closing the front doors of the stove , and grabbing the air compressor and blowing it blockage out. looking to see if there are any other tricks that i should know about.
thanks
Mike