I wish I could post a picture here of my setup - I have a defiant 1945 from early 2000s, new to me as of last winter - I was not sure how well the primary air control was working because I did not notice any change in how the stove burns when I manipulate it Anyway, my unit seems to have an aftermarket solution installed - there is a steel “box” mounted around the primary intake shown in this video that has a long handle that flattens at the end where it inserts into the box - this handle slides back and forth and effectively opens and closes the primary air. I have recently torn the stove apart preparing for winter to change broken refractory and catalyst and re-gasket the whole unit so I’ve learned a lot about how it works - I never operated the “aftermarket” primary air control last season and it must have been open the whole time because I always burned very hot and couldn’t get wood to last - now with the catalyst shiny new and very airtight stove, I will “close” the primary air once I’m at temp and see how it goes I originally clicked on this video to see if I could find anyone else who has the same setup, but I’ve not found one yet. To the video uploader, I would say open up the inner right of the stove and take the primary air control assembly out and inspect and get VC on the phone for guidance on how to set it up properly. I believe you will have to take down the right side plate (7/16ths bolts have to come out) and maybe pound up on the wedges and remove to let the lower fireback out) Hopefully this is helpful to someone Thanks for the video
New 4th Quarter 2023 Michigan USA customer: On my new Defiant stove, the air intake handle limiter did not work properly. It could be spun in either direction 360 degrees and the control of the air intake was hit or miss. The automatic damper control function did not work at all. It would over heat the stove and other times I could not seem to open it properly to start a fire without opening the ash pan door. The limiter stoppers did not work. Being under warranty, I had a difficult time getting a tech to come out. When the technician finally came out to fix it, he found the wire had to be replaced as it was installed wrong. When replaced, the air controller works better, but the limiters still do not work and the automatic damper system failed within weeks. So, I am unable to fully load the stove with wood without over firing the stove and cannot do overnight burns safely. Now, all I have is a very pretty stove that works no better than an old fashion stove without all the bells and whistles. 😢. Tom Canfield in northern Michigan
Just moved in with my inlaws. They need to open swing out ash pan a bit to keep stove from smothering. Glad to have traced this down. Primary air control lever turns less than a quarter turn. That doesn't seem normal.
I have the defiant, the opening appears to be about the same with mine fully open however I don't seem to have a problem with it getting hot. It does take some time to get a good burn going at times.
I have the Defiant , mine has the same problem: I'm not able to get the temp above 350-400 with the catalyst engaged. So I checked the intake flap and sure enough the temperature control flap does not open all the way. Except on mine, when I went to push it open manually with a wooden-handled icepick, it's blocked from opening all the way. I got a little more out of it but something is keeping it from opening all the way -- I can't help but wonder if Vermont Castings governed the performance of these wood stoves, you know, 'for our safety'.
thank-you for posting! same issue on 3 year old encore- my damper travel and full opened position identical to yours- any follow-up! i just cleaned stove but will check catalytic filter for cleanliness (because it's easy to do) have you come up with a resolve?
Interesting and thank you for commenting. No real resolution, however it's good to know that it appears to be normal operation. With really really dry wood, I can get an inferno, but no where that I'm ever afraid that it'll run away. I guess that's both good and bad. Good so you it doesn't easily kill you :-). Bad in that everything has to be perfect. I feel that it should really allow a more wide open operation.
update- dug a little deeper & found a video re: cleaning cat converter- i overlooked this at first because it was spanking clean after servicing the stove just a month ago- viola the cat was way dirty- vacuumed it & the stove is working real well in closed damper/ cat mode
Mine looks the same way. (2 months old). However I feel like I don’t have much control with it. Im afraid to put more that 2 or 3 logs in at a time because I feel like the temperature gets away from me. Not comfortable doing an overnight burn.
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I wish I could post a picture here of my setup - I have a defiant 1945 from early 2000s, new to me as of last winter
- I was not sure how well the primary air control was working because I did not notice any change in how the stove burns when I manipulate it
Anyway, my unit seems to have an aftermarket solution installed - there is a steel “box” mounted around the primary intake shown in this video that has a long handle that flattens at the end where it inserts into the box - this handle slides back and forth and effectively opens and closes the primary air. I have recently torn the stove apart preparing for winter to change broken refractory and catalyst and re-gasket the whole unit so I’ve learned a lot about how it works - I never operated the “aftermarket” primary air control last season and it must have been open the whole time because I always burned very hot and couldn’t get wood to last - now with the catalyst shiny new and very airtight stove, I will “close” the primary air once I’m at temp and see how it goes
I originally clicked on this video to see if I could find anyone else who has the same setup, but I’ve not found one yet.
To the video uploader, I would say open up the inner right of the stove and take the primary air control assembly out and inspect and get VC on the phone for guidance on how to set it up properly. I believe you will have to take down the right side plate (7/16ths bolts have to come out) and maybe pound up on the wedges and remove to let the lower fireback out)
Hopefully this is helpful to someone
Thanks for the video
New 4th Quarter 2023 Michigan USA customer: On my new Defiant stove, the air intake handle limiter did not work properly. It could be spun in either direction 360 degrees and the control of the air intake was hit or miss. The automatic damper control function did not work at all. It would over heat the stove and other times I could not seem to open it properly to start a fire without opening the ash pan door. The limiter stoppers did not work. Being under warranty, I had a difficult time getting a tech to come out. When the technician finally came out to fix it, he found the wire had to be replaced as it was installed wrong. When replaced, the air controller works better, but the limiters still do not work and the automatic damper system failed within weeks. So, I am unable to fully load the stove with wood without over firing the stove and cannot do overnight burns safely. Now, all I have is a very pretty stove that works no better than an old fashion stove without all the bells and whistles. 😢. Tom Canfield in northern Michigan
Just moved in with my inlaws. They need to open swing out ash pan a bit to keep stove from smothering. Glad to have traced this down. Primary air control lever turns less than a quarter turn. That doesn't seem normal.
I have the defiant, the opening appears to be about the same with mine fully open however I don't seem to have a problem with it getting hot. It does take some time to get a good burn going at times.
I have the Defiant , mine has the same problem: I'm not able to get the temp above 350-400 with the catalyst engaged. So I checked the intake flap and sure enough the temperature control flap does not open all the way. Except on mine, when I went to push it open manually with a wooden-handled icepick, it's blocked from opening all the way. I got a little more out of it but something is keeping it from opening all the way -- I can't help but wonder if Vermont Castings governed the performance of these wood stoves, you know, 'for our safety'.
thank-you for posting! same issue on 3 year old encore- my damper travel and full opened position identical to yours- any follow-up! i just cleaned stove but will check catalytic filter for cleanliness (because it's easy to do) have you come up with a resolve?
Interesting and thank you for commenting. No real resolution, however it's good to know that it appears to be normal operation. With really really dry wood, I can get an inferno, but no where that I'm ever afraid that it'll run away. I guess that's both good and bad. Good so you it doesn't easily kill you :-). Bad in that everything has to be perfect. I feel that it should really allow a more wide open operation.
update- dug a little deeper & found a video re: cleaning cat converter- i overlooked this at first because it was spanking clean after servicing the stove just a month ago- viola the cat was way dirty- vacuumed it & the stove is working real well in closed damper/ cat mode
Mine looks the same way. (2 months old). However I feel like I don’t have much control with it. Im afraid to put more that 2 or 3 logs in at a time because I feel like the temperature gets away from me. Not comfortable doing an overnight burn.
I've never had that problem, however I read a few that have. I'd check the seals for the main font doors and especially the ash pan on the bottom.
@@toddrussell212 thanks! I’ll check it out. I saw someone say try incense sticks and see if the smoke gets pulled to a place it shouldn’t be.
My stove seems like it's the same way. Have you found any solutions?