How Not to Use A Vigilant 2310
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Went with a friend and picked it up. The price was right for another stove to check out.
Cleaned it up and took out more than two ash pans full of fly ash and coal from behind the inner lining plus what I vacuumed. No way this could have run in indirect mode since it was totally plugged. No wonder he got a pellet stove to replace it.
He was the original owner and the owner's manual was from 1997. It must have run all that time without once vacuuming the clean outs. Can't understand how so much coal got in there too.
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- Site Moderator
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- Joined: Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 5:11 pm
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- Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood Modern Oak 114
- Coal Size/Type: nut and pea
The front grate is warped but usable, and the ash pan cover is missing. Some bricks need replacing.
This was not a normal clean out. Recommended cleaning is just to remove the 3 clean out plates and vacuum. This involved removing the entire inner lining to get at things. No way can a thorough job be done just through the clean outs. Used properly and only shaking in direct draft I suppose fly ash will not build up to that degree and a major cleaning be done maybe every 5 years. The hardest part is getting the damper out in order to remove the back plate.
A second time around would go faster, knowing what to do.
This was not a normal clean out. Recommended cleaning is just to remove the 3 clean out plates and vacuum. This involved removing the entire inner lining to get at things. No way can a thorough job be done just through the clean outs. Used properly and only shaking in direct draft I suppose fly ash will not build up to that degree and a major cleaning be done maybe every 5 years. The hardest part is getting the damper out in order to remove the back plate.
A second time around would go faster, knowing what to do.
- VigIIPeaBurner
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After a few hours of fussing, you'll have yourself a great little heater! I'm always amazed at how much fly ash ends up inside the pathways. I use a piece of flexible plastic conduit to snake around inside the cleanouts - just don't get it stuck or it'll cost you some skin! Get an old carboy brush and that works well for knocking down that f-ash by snaking that down behind the back thru the stove pipe hole and a smaller brush to snake inside the side's top firebox exits.
I run my stove at max, I'd say 600-700*F, most of the time. My front grill sags too. I replace it about every third year or so. I think the last one cost me around $65. There's a tremendous amount of heat that radiates out of the front doors. After all, your'e looking at 6-8" of the side of a burning pile of anthracite!
I run my stove at max, I'd say 600-700*F, most of the time. My front grill sags too. I replace it about every third year or so. I think the last one cost me around $65. There's a tremendous amount of heat that radiates out of the front doors. After all, your'e looking at 6-8" of the side of a burning pile of anthracite!
- dcrane
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Is their a grate buried in that mess somewhere? Im curious about that ashpan lid (is that one of those "roll top desk" designs?), I never could understand why its so hard to walk carefully outside with a full ashpan (maybe the owner ripped the top off out of frustration of having to deal with it), My only thought was it appears that some photo's of these VC's stoves have ashpans that hang underneath and outside the stove body and if the lid is Integral to making a good seal between the body of the stove and the ashpan then it might need to be replaced. if you have to open the doors of the main body of the stove to retrieve the ashpan then id just let the missing cover stay "missing"
Ash pan covers are nice but not really necessary. If you take your time, move carefully, and DO NOT TRIP and drop the full ash pan on the kitchen floor like I did all is well.
Momma was not a happy camper when I did that. By the way if you drop the pan, a lid won't help you.
Momma was not a happy camper when I did that. By the way if you drop the pan, a lid won't help you.
- carlherrnstein
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wheres the rest of the stove thers about 30 parts missing from the pic.
I like my ash pan cover, it keeps ash from blowing out when I open the front door on my way to the driveway.
I like my ash pan cover, it keeps ash from blowing out when I open the front door on my way to the driveway.
- freetown fred
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Nice Richard, you found yourself a project my old friend.
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- Coal Size/Type: nut and pea
Yes, I was thinking along those lines too.VigIIPeaBurner wrote:I'm always amazed at how much fly ash ends up inside the pathways. I use a piece of flexible plastic conduit to snake around inside the cleanouts - just don't get it stuck or it'll cost you some skin! Get an old carboy brush and that works well for knocking down that f-ash by snaking that down behind the back thru the stove pipe hole and a smaller brush to snake inside the side's top firebox exits.
It was you and Nortcan that kindled my interest in these stoves. Both of you with good objective posts, plus it is a nice looking stove. That you are heating 3,000 sq. ft. is remarkable.
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- Site Moderator
- Posts: 11416
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 5:11 pm
- Location: Kent CT
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
- Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood Modern Oak 114
- Coal Size/Type: nut and pea
I will post some pictures of the rest of the stove assembled later.
Concerning the ash pan cover, it is nice to have because it slips over the ash pan and acts as a handle. Without it the pan is awkward to grasp as there is no other handle and it has to be lifted out of the frame it sits in.
Concerning the ash pan cover, it is nice to have because it slips over the ash pan and acts as a handle. Without it the pan is awkward to grasp as there is no other handle and it has to be lifted out of the frame it sits in.
- VigIIPeaBurner
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- Joined: Fri. Jan. 11, 2008 10:49 am
- Location: Pequest River Valley, Warren Co NJ
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker Koker(down)
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Casting Vigilant II 2310
- Other Heating: #2 Oil Furnace
Thanks franco. It does the job for most of the winter. The house is also on the newer side, it was built in 1998 and is fairly tight. I do use ~ <100 gallons of #2 when it's hanging in the mid 20's and below. (edit) Still, it is only a 50k BTU stove and it has served me wellfranco b wrote:Yes, I was thinking along those lines too.VigIIPeaBurner wrote:I'm always amazed at how much fly ash ends up inside the pathways. I use a piece of flexible plastic conduit to snake around inside the cleanouts - just don't get it stuck or it'll cost you some skin! Get an old carboy brush and that works well for knocking down that f-ash by snaking that down behind the back thru the stove pipe hole and a smaller brush to snake inside the side's top firebox exits.
It was you and Nortcan that kindled my interest in these stoves. Both of you with good objective posts, plus it is a nice looking stove. That you are heating 3,000 sq. ft. is remarkable.
When you look at the picture you took of the inside back of the stove, you see just how much extra surface area for heat exchange the designers built into the bypass area. That helps it draw the heat out of the stove.
Good luck with it!