Anyone Burn a Vermont Castings Vigilant II?

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Fri. Jan. 13, 2012 9:55 am

This is my first season burning coal ( Vigilant II). The only modifications are vertical fire bricks atop the
shelf where the angle brick sits. The box is narrower, but there is no ash build up to deal with. Burn time
is 8-10, (possibly longer) hours depending on my schedule. If I bank a fresh load along the back and sides, I seem to get a longer burn, It's a hunch that pea will burn even longer, but I am too inexperienced and have not tested that notion yet.

Before shaking, I push the dead ash off the front fettle and down into the grates and I push the slicer in between the grate and the vertical firebrick.

I try to avoid the slicing under neath the bed. I do this by shaking the grate , opening the ash door, and I look for a bright red glow more or less evenly dispersed through out the ash pan. This indicates there is plenty of
oxygen for the fire. This avoids making a huge mess. When sweeping any ash reside, I open the front or ash pan
door, so the fine ash is sucked into the stove. I use a "Swiffer Sweeper" towel to remove the fine particle on the front ledge and below the stove (as a final clean-up). :idea:

Considering what I have read, I was a little concerned, that the Vigilant II would not perform well. I almost
wanted to sell it before I had it installed. I thought for sure it would be a lousy stove. :shock: In my limited experience, this stove is super easy to use and kicks out heat if needed. :o When the weather is mild, I can operate it at 350-400 (F), at night or when the temps dip, I load her with more nut than pea and get her to 650- 700F.

The draft is adequate, the outside north chimney is tall, really tall, I think 20 feet or so, but 2 bends from the
stove pipe, a tee and another off-set around the eave have to detract from the pull. The inside stove pipe is double walled. My friend says this is good because more heat is directed up the chimney, but I am losing some heat from the stack. I don't know, seems to be working. :?:

The stove is easy to use, safe, and very efficient. Now I am green-pea... never had a stove, relied on oil or
gas my whole life. Believe me I was worried I would screw this up. Well it's be burning non-stop since mid-November. 8-) My friends built me a 2 T coal bin in the garage, we are getting a truck load of Reading pea this coming week.

Matt


 
musikfan6
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Post by musikfan6 » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 10:16 am

You'all are making me want to get a bigger stove! I"m reading these posts, and hat Hitzer that one of you mentioned sounds REALLY nice! Don't get me wrong, I really love my FB. It's a great stove, but I would not have wanted anything smaller for my house. I guess that's how it works when you are in your first year of burning. You learn the ropes and find out what works and what doesn't. My stove works very well, but in retrospect, I'd have a larger one if I could manage it. But this will work for now.

I originally wanted to put a coal furnace in my house here, but since I'm renting, I think it was better to get the stove.

Here's a dumb question: Will a coal FURNACE put out more heat than a coal STOVE? I often wonder if I'd have done better with a furnace in my basement hooked into the existing duct work. The heat would be more evenly distributed, wouldn't it?

 
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Dennis
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Coal Size/Type: Anthracite/stove size

Post by Dennis » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 10:28 am

musikfan6 wrote:Here's a dumb question: Will a coal FURNACE put out more heat than a coal STOVE? I often wonder if I'd have done better with a furnace in my basement hooked into the existing duct work. The heat would be more evenly distributed, wouldn't it?
All depends upon size you need.
Floors warm,even heat through out house depending upon duct work
musikfan6 wrote:I originally wanted to put a coal furnace in my house here, but since I'm renting, I think it was better to get the stove.
You could always take it with you or sell it,and patch up the duck work
Make the owner an offer to purchase when you leave
musikfan6 wrote:You'all are making me want to get a bigger stove!
you have all summer to decide and get ready for next heating season

 
musikfan6
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Post by musikfan6 » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 10:31 am

Yeah, I"ve thought about what you all said. Right now, finances are tight and I don't have the money to buy a new one. I'd have to sell the FB first.

 
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Dennis
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Post by Dennis » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 10:42 am

musikfan6 wrote:finances are tight and I don't have the money to buy a new one.
Find a used one the size you need and rebuild it. Take all summer or time needed and have the satifaction of doing your self or with help and guidence from all your new found friends here. Start looking around and keep an eye open for something needing some work,you don't need to spend alot of money,just some spare time.And don't forget to take pics. of the process.

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 2:36 pm

musikfan6 wrote:You'all are making me want to get a bigger stove! I"m reading these posts, and hat Hitzer that one of you mentioned sounds REALLY nice! Don't get me wrong, I really love my FB. It's a great stove, but I would not have wanted anything smaller for my house. I guess that's how it works when you are in your first year of burning. You learn the ropes and find out what works and what doesn't. My stove works very well, but in retrospect, I'd have a larger one if I could manage it. But this will work for now.
My friend hums along with 2 Surdiac models. They are good stoves and I think similar to the FB.

Regarding the VigII, ' don't know how bigger the stove is than FB, but it's putting out the heat. The stove top temp is 650F and rising with a load of pea (only).
Yet my oil burner kicked on today... it's 10F and with the wind the real feel is below 0 F. My friend said something like -10, not sure though. I know this it;s pretty cold, but heck we have not reach -26 F like last year... :lol:

 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 4:25 pm

vmi1983 wrote: The stove top temp is 650F and rising with a load of pea (only).
Yet my oil burner kicked on today... it's 10F and with the wind the real feel is below 0 F. My friend said something like -10, not sure though. I know this it;s pretty cold, but heck we have not reach -26 F like last year... :lol:
Kick it up to closer to 700. You'll be surprised at how many more BTUs the Vigilant II will put out. I've been running at 680 -700 for three days now and no oil heat yet. Got into the low twenties here last night.


 
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nortcan
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Post by nortcan » Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 5:54 pm

Vigll is correct on the answe

And with the Vigll, to get the best heat output, it's important to place the internal damper in the closed position so the Side Back long gasses path can extract as much heat out of the stove as possible, just like a Base Burner does.
And yes a V2 can works 650/700 with no problem while producing a lot of heat. The stove is rated at 50,000 BTU's and can send them in the house instead of out in the chimney.

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Sun. Jan. 15, 2012 12:04 am

nortcan wrote:Vigll is correct on the answe

And with the Vigll, to get the best heat output, it's important to place the internal damper in the closed position so the Side Back long gasses path can extract as much heat out of the stove as possible, just like a Base Burner does.
And yes a V2 can works 650/700 with no problem while producing a lot of heat. The stove is rated at 50,000 BTU's and can send them in the house instead of out in the chimney.
Thanks Nortcan!!!

Yeah I keep the VigII damper closed. I am lucky to have two experienced friend in the hamlet. :)

Got some exciting news for this newbie, I pick up the Loveless Cougar ash vac today!!! With the stove burning, got
the majority of ash build up in the gas paths cleaned out. My friend demonstrated how to remove the clean out covers and adequately vacuum the passages.
Got all the fine ash out in a half hour or less. The stove is really cooking now and she's back to the 700 F with a stronger draft. 8-)

My friend directly across the river has a VigII... he got a 16 hour burn last night and through the morning (and he says) he could have let it go another 4 hours.
This operating the stove at 700 F.

Oh yeah, did I mention I am wearing my summer shorts? :lol:

 
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nortcan
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Post by nortcan » Sun. Jan. 15, 2012 9:09 am

Very good VMI.
As all here are always saying, we love photos so we still wait the one from you near the V2 wearing these shorts. :lol:

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Sun. Jan. 15, 2012 9:19 am

nortcan wrote:Very good VMI.
As all here are always saying, we love photos so we still wait the one from you near the V2 wearing these shorts. :lol:
LOL!!! Funny ... Just recharged the stove, nut and loads of pea.. at 500 F, time to shut the internal damper... do you wait until the stove top is 500 F
before closing the damper, as per the owner manuel instructions?

Matt

 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Sun. Jan. 15, 2012 11:56 am

Hmmm, I thougth the instructions said to damp down at 400F?! :? Anyway, that's what I shoot for as long as the gasses are burning decently to produce blue flames. I never touch the thermostatic air control and damping down under these conditions keeps it from swing past 700 by much. I only adjust the air control as weather conditions require so maybe every week or so if needed.

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Mon. Jan. 16, 2012 11:07 am

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:Hmmm, I thougth the instructions said to damp down at 400F?! :? Anyway, that's what I shoot for as long as the gasses are burning decently to produce blue flames. I never touch the thermostatic air control and damping down under these conditions keeps it from swing past 700 by much. I only adjust the air control as weather conditions require so maybe every week or so if needed.
Hmmm the 3210 manual says 500F :?: The draft in the chimney here is not so powerful as a straight up and out set-up. The lower inlet flap lip is 1.5 " out
from back side of stove.... this will allow 700 F stove.

Matt

 
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VigIIPeaBurner
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Mon. Jan. 16, 2012 4:32 pm

vmi1983 wrote:Hmmm the 3210 manual says 500F :?: The draft in the chimney here is not so powerful as a straight up and out set-up. The lower inlet flap lip is 1.5 " out
from back side of stove.... this will allow 700 F stove.

Matt
By-golly, it does say 500* right there on page 17 :oops: I does say normal operating temperatures are 400-700. If I wait until it reaches 500* my chimney will be over 275*. The blue flames are jumping by 425*. My chimney's draft would suck George off the dollar bill. It pulls -0.1 in this weather. It's a 6" straight SS insulated ~16' high chimney.

I reloaded last wit ~23 lbs night at 10:30 pm after shaking down and have added ~12 lbs at 7:30 am and just added another ~12 Lbs. Haven't shaken down since last night. I checked the damped down stove conditions just before adding the last 12 lbs and the flapper was open ~5/8" and the griddle measured 723*, chimney skin temperature was 170* with the draft puling through ~35 lbs of coal and ash after 17.5 hours. Without the thick ash bed, the flap would only be cracked open, </= 1/4". With UAE nut, I only need to shake once a day. With Reading, I'd have to shake after every 25-30 lbs.

 
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vmi1983
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Post by vmi1983 » Mon. Jan. 16, 2012 5:46 pm

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:
vmi1983 wrote:Hmmm the 3210 manual says 500F :?: The draft in the chimney here is not so powerful as a straight up and out set-up. The lower inlet flap lip is 1.5 " out
from back side of stove.... this will allow 700 F stove.

Matt
By-golly, it does say 500* right there on page 17 :oops: I does say normal operating temperatures are 400-700. If I wait until it reaches 500* my chimney will be over 275*. The blue flames are jumping by 425*. My chimney's draft would suck George off the dollar bill. It pulls -0.1 in this weather. It's a 6" straight SS insulated ~16' high chimney.

I reloaded last wit ~23 lbs night at 10:30 pm after shaking down and have added ~12 lbs at 7:30 am and just added another ~12 Lbs. Haven't shaken down since last night. I checked the damped down stove conditions just before adding the last 12 lbs and the flapper was open ~5/8" and the griddle measured 723*, chimney skin temperature was 170* with the draft puling through ~35 lbs of coal and ash after 17.5 hours. Without the thick ash bed, the flap would only be cracked open, </= 1/4". With UAE nut, I only need to shake once a day. With Reading, I'd have to shake after every 25-30 lbs.
I think my experience is familiar.... my friend just came by with a laser temp reader.... metallic temp gauge on the stove reads about 650F while the laser-gun read 690-700 but was jumping around a bit. Last night at 0100, I loaded her up with large-sized nut from the Tamaqua coal pockets. (This is a bag I got from a friend.) This morning at 0800 I added coal to the left and back sides (where the coal was more burned), after the blue ladies, I reloaded completely.
I'd say 25-35lbs. total. So right now at 1730, there's plenty of bed left to burn, and the rear air inlet is 1" open. Stack temp on double walled stove pipe read
135 and up near the thimble 90 F. Right side was 400 F while lower terrace on stove top reads 500F.

I don't understand what" -0.1 pull" means nor how to measure it? :?:

My friend and I both have VigIIs and we are getting similar results.

Two tons of Reading pea coming this week, have some bagged Blashack nut and pea on hand. Oh yeah -7 on my block this afternoon, but I hear the temps are about to rise into the 20s tonight?

I like the straight side walls on the fire box, but will experiment with the original design. I presume the burn times are shorter with the smaller box, man but this large Tamaqua nut has a lot left to burn... could be an easy 12 + hour burn, possibly 15... I will see!

Thanks,

Matt


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