Vigilant II Is Just Humming Along!!!

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Fri. Dec. 11, 2015 7:52 pm

Feeling Guilty?????

Nawwwww not really...

Rich W. · Post by **Rich W.** » Sat. Dec. 12, 2015 11:23 pm

Question for Vigilant 2310 owners: is it practical to burn wood in these stoves if the need for heat is occasional? I only need heat in my shop on weekends while I'm still working. But I'm planning to work less someday soon, and I'll want a coal stove and full time heat. Should I wait to buy a coal stove, or could I put a 2310 in there and use it as a woodstove until I'm ready for full time coal heat? Thanks for your thoughts.

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sat. Dec. 12, 2015 11:59 pm

I've burned wood in mine. Just make sure you have the intake air restrictor plate installed. Don't get too crazy with the combustion air and watch your stove top temperature. Wood will creosote up the windows but that will burn off after a few weeks of a coal fire.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sun. Dec. 13, 2015 5:20 am

Burn wood in a 2310? Sure why not. I burn wood during the shoulder months and then switch to coal when it stays cool. Wood in a 2310 is great for those evenings where we would like a little bit of heat but not enough to lite a coal fire.

I don't have the restrictor plate in my stove and it burns wood just fine. You do have to watch the amount of fire you have though because remember this is a coal stove and is designed to be a coal stove but it WILL burn wood. It just eats wood pretty quickly.

It does not have adequate secondary air ports except for the little tombstone flap on the side which really is useless. I don't latch my loading doors tight and just "keep em on the catch." Otherwords, don't lock the load doors down tight and you'll get all the secondary air you need to burn wood. Yep any smoke on the windows that doesn't burn off when you go to coal comes right off with a razor blade.

Rich W. · Post by **Rich W.** » Fri. Dec. 18, 2015 9:00 pm

Back to full burn for a couple of days. I've been clearing ash only from the center of the coal bed during the warm weather. The sides have been uninvolved. But with the colder forecast for a couple of days I cleared the ash on the sides, and I've entered full width burn mode. This stove is so flexible: love it! Also trying Kimmel nut for the first time. Nice consistent size.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Fri. Dec. 18, 2015 9:28 pm

Nice lookin' burn Rich, my Vig real loved the Kimmels 'nut last season...still waiting for winter to arrive up here so I can turn my Vigilant on.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 04, 2016 8:00 pm

Winter finally arrived here in central Maine an I get to lite the Vigilant.

My unfinished basement stove did a valiant job keeping the wolves from the door but 7* with a breeze is tough to keep out in a non-insulated brick home. Life is good........good and warm!

Rich W. · Post by **Rich W.** » Mon. Jan. 04, 2016 8:57 pm

Michaelanthony...I've been liking the Kimmel's, but Tractor Supply switched to Miners Choice. It's ok, but the size varies a lot more than the Kimmel's.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Tue. Jan. 05, 2016 4:31 am

Rich W. wrote:Michaelanthony...I've been liking the Kimmel's, but Tractor Supply switched to Miners Choice. It's ok, but the size varies a lot more than the Kimmel's.

Sorry to here that, luckily my TSC has tons of Kimmel's on the ground,(no pun intended), compared to last season. My store either order too much or the low price of HO has caused the stock pile.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Tue. Jan. 05, 2016 6:37 am

It's 9 outside with a lite breeze. I am running a mix of pea and nut with the stove at about 3/4. It's running 500 on the griddle per my IR thermometer. It's 68 in the living room and 65 upstairs in the bedrooms. To me it feels just right.

Now that Momma will be getting up pretty soon I'll goose the temps up to 70 with the dino burner through the finned baseboards. Coffee is on, cat's sleeping on his heating pad in the dining room and Mom's still snoozing.

Nice....

Turbogeno · Post by **Turbogeno** » Sat. Jan. 16, 2016 10:42 am

After about 10 bags of Kimmel nut I think I've got the Vigilant pretty much dialed in. I put the stoker manometer on it last week and found that at 400°f and higher the draft was -07 or more. I shut it down and put a MPD in yesterday. I've only gotten it to 400°f once due to the weather but it was easy to keep the draft at -.04/.05 and it seems to be keeping more heat in the stove. Pipe temps are about the same at 165°f on top of the pipe right where it exits the stove and 325°f on the griddle with the IR thermometer. I’ll leave the manometer on till the end of next week because it’s supposed to get cold.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Sat. Jan. 16, 2016 10:59 am

Turbogeno,that sure is a pretty stove,i love the design of those stoves & that is a very pretty color on yours too. Good to hear that you have it dialed in & keeping you warm. Gotta love that coal heat.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Sat. Jan. 16, 2016 11:07 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:Turbogeno,that sure is a pretty stove,i love the design of those stoves & that is a very pretty color on yours too. Good to hear that you have it dialed in & keeping you warm. Gotta love that coal heat.

^^^ditto for sure

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sat. Jan. 16, 2016 12:34 pm

Turbogeno, I have very strong draft as well. My Vig is set to run >600 -<700°F just about the entire season. When the air flap nearly closes on its own, my stove pipe at 6' measures ~170°F. I have never seen a need for an MPD. I resisted installing one mainly because the manual recommends against it because of the internal dampers. The way I reasoned this recommendation is the internal damping is sized to restrict the flow, like an MPD does, restricting the flow IN the firebox. Working in combination with the thermostatic air flow which automatically acts like an MPD with respect to the amount of incoming air, they both control the flow of exhaust heat.

When you measure draft, the measurement is taken on the stove side of the MPD/Baro, not the chimney side. Since the Vigilant II is dampened above the firebox, the measurement should similarly be from the inside of the Vigilant II firebox. Won't be easy but possibly by snaking some metal tubing to the top of the firebox via the vestigial "secondary air inlet" (sealing the tub there), up the inside of the left side heat exchanger, into the firebox going thru the left side exhaust slot, and positioning it nearer the center. That should give a more accurate over monitoring point to see how the numbers change in response to the position of the thermostatic air feed.

All that said, there's a few operators out there that do use draft controls in their pipes. Each instal gives different results, with or without dampers! Just thinking this thru for giggles ...

Turbogeno · Post by **Turbogeno** » Sat. Jan. 16, 2016 2:57 pm

VigIIPeaBurner; I've read your and others posts about not needing the MPD. Your right about the rear flap and bypass damper working
well and my stove is pretty tight. It didn't cost me anything but a little time. I wanted to see if it made any difference. Later, if
I decide it doesn’t help it can be taken out in minutes. One of the reasons I did it is that 2’ from the flue collar the pipe
disappears up the chimney and any recoverable heat with it. It may not be a lot of heat but I like as much efficiency as I can get. It
would be interesting to see the firebox pressure compared to the stove pipe but I’ll wait on that for now. At the very low temps I’m
running now leaving the bypass damper open for 5 minutes gives less than a .01 increase in draft. I have a probe thermometer right
behind the collar. I could poke another hole as far back as I can and compare temps with the MPD open and closed. That’s really my main
concern, keeping the heat in the house.

Vigilant II Is Just Humming Along!!!

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