Convert VC Wood to Coal

I am going to convert a VC Vigilant wood burner to coal burner. VC makes a kit to do this. Someone is giving me this kit, so it won't cost me anything. Has anyone on this Forum had experience using this conversion kit? What do the parts look like to do this? Can I do it myself? Does the conversion result in a decent coal burner? My expectations are not high, so I won't be disapointed if you give me the "thumbs down" sign.

As long as you don't have to pay for the parts, it's worth a try. If it works reasonably well, you made out OK. If it doesn't work, at least it hasn't cost you anything.

I would say "go for it"

Always remember, ALL the feed air has to come from underneath the coal bed. Is that possible with this stove??

I won't know until I get the conversion parts... I imagine they slip right into the firebox and consist of some kind of grate and shaker mechanism.

dsteinel wrote:Has anyone on this Forum had experience using this conversion kit?

I recall a thread about this maybe a year or so ago, you may find it with a search. I don't recall wether or not it worked but would assume if the manufacturer made the kit that it more than likely will work. VC has a pretty good reputation.

coaledsweat wrote:

dsteinel wrote:Has anyone on this Forum had experience using this conversion kit?

I recall a thread about this maybe a year or so ago, you may find it with a search. I don't recall wether or not it worked but would assume if the manufacturer made the kit that it more than likely will work. VC has a pretty good reputation.

Dsteinel, there are many helpful threads on this forum about using the early model VC Vigilant with the coal insert. One member rewinder has a Vigilant and a Resolute he successfully uses with their coal inserts. Search on his name and follow his posts. He's added a piece of gasket material somewhere near the front of the front grate (?) that seals the gap between the grate and the front doors to keep the air path going up through the coal bed and not by-passing it.

If you need the Vigilant Coal Conversion Kit Manual I can scan to PDF the original that I have.

CapeCoaler,

thanks for the offer of the manual. I think the guy giving me the parts has it.. but if he doesn't, I will take you up on the offer.

Hey when you get ready, ask away! When it's set up right the VC w/coal kit works great. The only draw back is you have to tend the stove in severe winter temps a little more often than a batch burner. But in spring and fall, you can 20 hrs of low heat between tending. The shorter winter tend time are due to the fact that yo can only put in 25 lbs of new coal in when the hopper is empty (not including what is already in the fire box below the hopper after shaking)

There's a few places under tthe grates that have to be sealed up with furnace cement. I posted a pic of a mod I made to the doors with 1/2" soft rope gasket, and that makes certain that no air bypasses the fire by slipping up between the doors and lower front grate.

If you get confused onhow to assemble, I'll post some pics of mine when I clean it out this spring.

paul

I have the Resolute that came from Vermont with the coal conversion. Mine is the older style, made in 1986. It works quite well. Yes, the air comes in from below the grates. I didn't have to do the extra seal that has been talked about so I'd guess that may depend upon the exact stove you end up with. I never had any of the problems described that warranted that modification. I was following that thread pretty closely back then...

The thermostat runs the stove quite nicely. We had a pretty cold winter here so when the stove was kicking out max on those days, it needed to be filled 3 times a day to keep the high temp going - I was running it around 550 on those days and consuming about 50 lbs of coal a day. On days that weren't so cold, I'd run it down around 400 and used about 35 to 40 lbs of day coal.

You Definitely want the hopper insert. So I hope that is coming with the conversion kit. I can't imagine running those without the hopper, you'd have to be filling it every few hours.

You'll find the kit is fairly straight forward. You do want to seal all the parts where they say to with furnace cement. What do the grates look like that you are getting? I understand there are two different styles available.

Good luck,

dj

Welcome to the club! That is a great little coal burner, if it is set up properly. Do a site search for Vermont castings here, there is a lot of good stuff (ignore the negative comments) Sealing up everything including all of the seams and the "L" shaped plate underneath is essential. The door gasket as rewinder described made all the difference in mine. By using two gaskets held in place with furnace cement I was able to get a near perfect seal. I think you will be very happy with it when you get it going. Below are a couple of photos of my door gasket setup: