Vermont Castings Vigilant Coal Kit Install Manual

Looks good!

My 2310 is still apart waiting for me to get the new bricks installed. Something unexpected is always happening this year. Now it's the leaking 6yr old water heater. I'll post some pictures of the 2310's innards. Maybe that should be another thread and if I start one I'll be sure to link it in this one.

That sure is a handsome stove...I like the black

I have the off white enamel one. Is there a way to paint the enamel or am i stuck with it???

My experience with painting something that was enameled was not with a high heat item. Process I used was normal body shop type and paint, sand, prime, paint. Came out ok, but of course with out the durability of an enameled finish.

Well my reassembly and reseal went well with one exception. I used a new coal kit that I picked up (no not that $400 or $1200 one) figured to save time on cleaning up the old one, and I noticed that the grates were not all flat/level at one time on the top. But I figured well maybe that is the way some are, that was a mistake. When I shake the grates they jammed a lot and dropped a lot of hot coal in the pan. Finally got to a point where I could no longer shake the grates, jammed solid. So let the fire go out and think I found a stone in the grate, not sure though. Replaced the grates with the old original ones, and no problems. Also since re-sealing the complete stove the flame does lean to the right all the time now, more noticeable on the left side though.

Attached is a picture of the "new" grates you can see the unevenness and the old ones even.

The picture with the piece of paper, I cracked open a couple of coals, I think the one in the middle is a rock, the other pieces had a black mark in the middle.

And the other is the ash pan with unburned coals, from what I have read here, I am guessing that is normal for unburned coals.

So I am guessing a factory defect on the grates and I wonder how many are out there like these, and you wonder why some have problems with the coal kit.

Glad to see things progressing. Those old grates look much better than the new ones. Use short strokes on the shaker handle, you do not want the grates to rock enough to open up a gap that allows unburned coal to get jammed in there. While it is empty use the shaker handle to rock the grates and you will see what I am talking about. You should never see the little square ends of the grate "teeth" of one grate above the surface of the one next to it. I use the grates to more or less shake the coal bed to get the ash down on top of the grates, where I do the majority of the cleanout with the slicer. If you do get a hunk of coal jammed in there don't worry too much about it, just use the slicer and eventually that piece should burn up to the point where it frees up the grates. The best way to make sure that the grates stay straight is to make sure that the ashpan never gets full enough to restrict the airflow to the coal bed. Because of the design there is limited space under the grates, best to empty the pan every time you fill the stove. I'm sure you will figure this stuff out with no problem, I've been doing it for 25 years and still learning. Good luck!

Yes I am catching on the shaker movement... One thing I did was to note how far the rod sticks out of the stove when the grates are all even and flat, as this helps in running the slicer knife easier. Those "new" grates really gave me a problem, after inspecting them it seems that the end piece was not welded in the correct position, just a little off, but made a big difference... yea I played with those three grates for like an hour thinking I had them in the wrong position..lol

You're getting the hang of it. This is the cleanout procedure that I use that seems to work pretty well for me: Flip the damper open, and open the thermostat all the way. I slide out a old baking sheet (that I keep under the stove to catch any stray hunks that might fall out over the rather shallow front cover of the insert When I open the doors). Put on my welders gloves. Empty the (relatively) cold ashes. I put the ash pan 1/2 way back in and use the slicer to clean out all of the ash that has accumulated behind the front cover. Shove the pan all the way in, close doors and do the shakedown. Open the doors, and I use an old welders glove in one hand pressed against the front cover to keep any coal from falling out while slicing. I shove the slicer all the way back to the stoveback and the move the handle side to side, than move it a few inches and repeat (about 4 times). At first it goes smoothly as the fine ashes fall through, and will start to feel rougher when most of the ash has been cleaned out (red coals will fall through the grate). Close her up, an refill the hopper. For final cleanup, I sweep any stray ashes off of the front lip of the stove into the baking sheet and slide it back under. When the fire is going well, flip the damper closed and reset the thermostat. Takes about 5 min. total. I'm sure you will have your own method figured out in no time. Good luck.

stonyloam wrote:You're getting the hang of it. I shove the slicer all the way back to the stoveback and the move the handle side to side, than move it a few inches and repeat (about 4 times)

Good instructions, and pretty much what I do, but when I was tending my stove just a bit ago I realized what you meant here, and worked much better than what I was doing - putting in the slicer knife then sliding it side ways while moving it back and forth. Your method worked much easier.

I have the original Owner's Manual for the Vigilant II Coal Stove Model 2310 and would be happy to scan whatever pages you need if that would be helpful. I got it direct from Vermont Castings years ago when I was considering purchasing one of their stoves.

I continued to use my Warm Morning stove until I replaced it with a Hitzer. For some reaso, I kept the Vigilant Owner's Manual.

Santiago wrote:I have the original Owner's Manual for the Vigilant II Coal Stove Model 2310 and would be happy to scan whatever pages you need if that would be helpful. I got it direct from Vermont Castings years ago when I was considering purchasing one of their stoves.

I continued to use my Warm Morning stove until I replaced it with a Hitzer. For some reaso, I kept the Vigilant Owner's Manual.

Thanks Sanitago for the offer, the Vigilant II is not the same, as what I wanted is the install/manual for the coal kit its self, mainly to see what fine points it has on the installation. As the Coal Kit Parts Inventory page I found here on the forum shows gasket material, and only two parts have groves that look like they would take a rope gasket.

Thanks again for the offer

cntbill

when i first took out the coal conversion kit from VC many years ago, those grooves you see on the edeg of a few parts were filled with stove cement, They looked like the factory had squirted a bead of cement from a tobe into the froove and then placed it in the stove.

I never saw any casket fopr on any interior part. My brother has the same stove from that era and the same with his.

I have replaced the interiot conversion pars many times and i jus butter the edges of the parts where they meet the stove castings, and smooth them with a wet sponge, adding more if needed to make it a good seal.

the left hand interior parts are most important to seal off so as to make all incoming air from the flapper/thermostat go thru the underside of the grate and not bypass the coal.

If there were actual assembly directions for the kit, I never saw them.

the other important sealing-up job is the addition of a soft rope gasket to the front door halfs where they come close to meeting the front grate (when doors are closed)
thant and being sure you don't have too much draft from a overly tall chimney.

that a

Rewinder:

When I pulled the coal kit out of my stove I noticed those grooves were really packed with stove cement, one of the reasons I decided to use the new kit to save time to get the stove back up and running.

Since I saw the gasket in the Parts Inventory page (from one of your other post, Thanks!) and it looked like a groove for a gasket ... well.. I used a 3/8 gasket there, thinking maybe the gasket would offer a better seal in case there was movement from expansion. I also used quite a bit of cement as well on my re-re-seal of the coal kit, along with your recommendation of the extra door gasket.

This stove really puts some heat out, however I finally been able to get it to idle down at 350*, Thinking of such, What is your lowest idle temp for yours and how high do you run them?

ct bill, I can run the vig or resolute as low as 200deg top temp, in 65deg outside temps during the day, knowing that at nite I don't have to relite a fire. sure,I might have to open the door for a while sometimes-haha.

And that's when burning pea coal. I using nut, it's harder to keep a real low burn at high outside temps, I think there is more air flowing thru the coal bed because the coal doesn't pack as tightly , with more air spaces netwen the coal bits.

you're "ideling down to 350 " is where i run mine on a 30 deg nite, I can loaf along at 200 for over 18 hrs bebore i need to shake it down,

but at 450 degrees, that's another story,

rewinder wrote:...you're "ideling down to 350 " is where i run mine on a 30 deg nite, I can loaf along at 200 for over 18 hrs bebore i need to shake it down,

but at 450 degrees, that's another story,

rewinder, Good to see you're back!

Wow, 200* for 18 hours. Does your baro open much at these temps? Do you close the stove's internal damper at those low tems too?

rewinder wrote:ct bill, I can run the vig or resolute as low as 200deg top temp, in 65deg outside temps during the day, knowing that at nite I don't have to relite a fire. sure,I might have to open the door for a while sometimes-haha.

A bit ago when it was 45* or so, I opened the door to the garage since it is right across the door to the basement to let the extra heat out..lol

rewinder wrote:And that's when burning pea coal. I using nut, it's harder to keep a real low burn at high outside temps, I think there is more air flowing thru the coal bed because the coal doesn't pack as tightly , with more air spaces netwen the coal bits.

I tried both nut and pea and noticed the difference with each. The last couple of days and right now I am running a mix, about 60% - 75% nut mixed with the lower percent being pea and the stove is running about 400-425 degrees for 10 - 12hrs before tending to it. Too me it seems the mix works pretty good to give me a good lasting temp.

rewinder wrote:you're "ideling down to 350 " is where i run mine on a 30 deg nite, I can loaf along at 200 for over 18 hrs bebore i need to shake it down,

but at 450 degrees, that's another story,

I forgot to close the back dampener the other day and after about an hour or so noticed it was a bit warm in the basement and the stove was running at 550*... man that was putting some heat out!

The last few weeks I've been recording the house, stove, and outside temps, along with how much coal I have been using, and only for the last week I finally figured a way to measure the back dampener setting and adjust for temps. While right now I just hold the ruler against the side of the stove and use the mm scale, I think I will figure a way to attach it using that hole for the mitten warmer rod or maybe just another ruler that is wider. See photo below: