Hello , I was given an early Vermont Castings Vigilant which I cleaned and painted recently. It has the one piece fireback and is in really great condition. There is a crack in the fireback however. It is a tight crack that goes across the back and down to each corner in the lower section. I put some play sand in the base, installed a 5 foot flue on it and ran it in the backyard yesterday to see how it burned. It did surprisingly well considering it only had a 5 foot flue and maintained a burn in the horizontal mode. All the passages where vacuum out well before the burn.
My question is the crack. It did not change when burning and there is no warping. The damper didn't close or open on it own when it warmed up. Can these old stoves run fine with crack ? And what temp should the griddle get to during a normal burn? I am going to get a thermometer today and do another burn to finish curing the paint.
Thanks in advance,
Bill
My question is the crack. It did not change when burning and there is no warping. The damper didn't close or open on it own when it warmed up. Can these old stoves run fine with crack ? And what temp should the griddle get to during a normal burn? I am going to get a thermometer today and do another burn to finish curing the paint.
Thanks in advance,
Bill
