Vermont Resolute 1979 wood\coal

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jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 11:50 am

hi everyone, I have a vermont resolute stove in my living room fireplace and have only used wood. it is in great shape and has been good on fall nights or spring nitghts to take chill off house or if i want to take door off and use the spark net for open fireplace effect. I discovered in an attic crawl space the coal conversion kit that must have come with stove from previous owner doesnt look like it was ever used but seems like alot of parts etc.... I would like to get feedback from others using this stove for coal and inserted as it is currently in the living room fireplace opening with a custom shroud that fits it to the flue opening.

I have a mag harman in basement running rice for 12yrs and its done well but when temps are in low 20's days and dip to teens at night i either pack on layers or turn on oil boiler but thinking i could be missing out by not using the coal option of the resolute. i am sure it would take stove coal not rice but there is a dealer a few miles away that sells bags of stove coal. it would be nice to run the coal on really cold periods but not all winter. Is it worth trying to figure out the kit or... would love to hear from others using same stove for this as well as pics of setup. the resolute is from 1979, 1 door that pulls down. lid ib top that would be where coal would be added

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 4:43 pm

Here is the VC site for manuals and installation.
http://www.vermontcastings.com/Owner-Resources/In ... nuals.aspx
Your dealer for coal stoves may do the installation or it may be self-explanatory. I have a later all-coal Vigilant model (which was originally also a wood/coal model from that era), and I suspect you would be pleased using coal. When converted to coal, you can still use it for an open fireplace with wood, or closed--many people burn wood in the fall and spring and coal in the winter without having to remove the coal kit.
It is smaller, but could supplement the Harmon just right. I think rice coal might slip through the grates--not sure. Their later coal stoves are recommended for nut coal or pea coal.
Sounds like a great surprise blessing.
jimbo970 wrote:
Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 11:50 am
hi everyone, I have a vermont resolute stove in my living room fireplace and have only used wood. it is in great shape and has been good on fall nights or spring nitghts to take chill off house or if i want to take door off and use the spark net for open fireplace effect. I discovered in an attic crawl space the coal conversion kit that must have come with stove from previous owner doesnt look like it was ever used but seems like alot of parts etc.... I would like to get feedback from others using this stove for coal and inserted as it is currently in the living room fireplace opening with a custom shroud that fits it to the flue opening.

I have a mag harman in basement running rice for 12yrs and its done well but when temps are in low 20's days and dip to teens at night i either pack on layers or turn on oil boiler but thinking i could be missing out by not using the coal option of the resolute. i am sure it would take stove coal not rice but there is a dealer a few miles away that sells bags of stove coal. it would be nice to run the coal on really cold periods but not all winter. Is it worth trying to figure out the kit or... would love to hear from others using same stove for this as well as pics of setup. the resolute is from 1979, 1 door that pulls down. lid ib top that would be where coal would be added

 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 7:18 pm

Hi Jimbo,

I have a Resolute in the basement that I rebuilt a few years ago. There's an air input port on the back of the stove that channels combustion air through a series of holes in the rear interior casting. Combustion air also travels to a side vent through a channel that runs across the front of the firebox. Not sure though how to remove the coal ash without shutting down the stove. I guess it's worth a try.

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 7:29 pm

I don't know either, but I assume the coal conversion has grates and in the early models you scooped the ashes from under the grates. I think the ash tray (like mine) came later.


 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Mon. Dec. 10, 2018 8:05 am

Image

Image

I see the Resolute wood/coal design is different from the straight up wood stove.

 
jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Fri. Dec. 14, 2018 4:53 pm

keegs wrote:
Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 7:18 pm
Hi Jimbo,

I have a Resolute in the basement that I rebuilt a few years ago. There's an air input port on the back of the stove that channels combustion air through a series of holes in the rear interior casting. Combustion air also travels to a side vent through a channel that runs across the front of the firebox. Not sure though how to remove the coal ash without shutting down the stove. I guess it's worth a try.
Do you have firebricks in your stove. i see the grates but there was no fire bricks not sure if this stove uses them, my stove looks like that exact stove but did you add an ash pan or did it come with one

 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Fri. Dec. 14, 2018 5:27 pm

No ... I think I recall there being a later version of the Resolute that had a fire bricks lining though.... maybe the one you have? Hard for me to tell whether the on in the image has the brick.
Mine has castings lining the inside on three sides and the front loading doors are split (hinged on the sides) I bought it second hand and it had been used heavily. The rear casting was in pretty rough shape so I replaced it and a side casting.
I think VC had an older version of the Vigilant that had a coal conversion kit and didn't have fire brick.

 
jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Sat. Dec. 15, 2018 4:15 pm

keegs wrote:
Fri. Dec. 14, 2018 5:27 pm
No ... I think I recall there being a later version of the Resolute that had a fire bricks lining though.... maybe the one you have? Hard for me to tell whether the on in the image has the brick.
Mine has castings lining the inside on three sides and the front loading doors are split (hinged on the sides) I bought it second hand and it had been used heavily. The rear casting was in pretty rough shape so I replaced it and a side casting.
I think VC had an older version of the Vigilant that had a coal conversion kit and didn't have fire brick.
the one i have was made in 1979


 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Sat. Dec. 15, 2018 8:42 pm

There's also a VC Resolute Acclaim... looks like they're several models.

Here's the inside of what mine looked like after the rebuild

Image

 
jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Mon. Dec. 17, 2018 2:24 pm

mine is just like yours, did you say panels on the inside come out?

 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Mon. Dec. 17, 2018 4:53 pm

Si... There's three panels/castings that line the inside of mine. I'm guessing 4-5 years ago I was able to find replacements online. Can't recall exactly how they disassembled/reassembled but it was tricky and I did take the stove apart completely to replace old cement and gaskets. I didn't replace the left side casting or the front channel.

I'm pretty sure combustion air travels through the front channel piece to a combustion air vent in the right side casting. I can't see a way to incorporate an ash tray with my setup w/out removing that front channel piece. Did you say you had an ash tray? If so how do you access it?

I haven't reviewed the air flow design recently...just recalling information from some time ago.

 
jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Sun. Dec. 23, 2018 5:17 pm

keegs wrote:
Mon. Dec. 17, 2018 4:53 pm
Si... There's three panels/castings that line the inside of mine. I'm guessing 4-5 years ago I was able to find replacements online. Can't recall exactly how they disassembled/reassembled but it was tricky and I did take the stove apart completely to replace old cement and gaskets. I didn't replace the left side casting or the front channel.

I'm pretty sure combustion air travels through the front channel piece to a combustion air vent in the right side casting. I can't see a way to incorporate an ash tray with my setup w/out removing that front channel piece. Did you say you had an ash tray? If so how do you access it?

I haven't reviewed the air flow design recently...just recalling information from some time ago.
no ash tray, I believe we have same stove. mine has only used wood. i saw the coal kit in the attic in the very back crawl space so will be investigating that more. i know when i briefly looked at it you could tell it hadnt been used

 
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Post by rberq » Sun. Dec. 23, 2018 6:08 pm

jimbo970 wrote:
Sun. Dec. 09, 2018 11:50 am
hi everyone, I have a vermont resolute stove in my living room fireplace and have only used wood. it is in great shape and has been good on fall nights or spring nights to take chill off house ... I have a mag harman in basement running rice
You are familiar with the Harman Magnum Stoker. I'm not sure how long it takes to start up or shut down a stoker -- but a typical hand-fed stove likely takes longer to fire up from cold, and even longer (days?) to shut down once you have a good coal bed burning. In other words, it won't have the same convenience as wood for a quick, short fire just to take the chill off. The "one-match club" says, fire it up in October, shut it down in May.

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