Vigilant II Is Just Humming Along!!!

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Sat. Aug. 30, 2014 4:03 pm

franco b wrote:Crack the front doors a bit and it works fine and the glass stays cleaner.

... or buy the fireplace screen made for the older Vigilant. I have one and use a few times in the fall. I keep the front door open w/screen in place in 'fireplace mode' and feed it as need. I haven't had a problem with my 6" chimney but it does have very good draft.

nortcan · Post by **nortcan** » Sat. Aug. 30, 2014 5:31 pm

Very good comment about cracking the front door, I do the same with the Golden Bride when making small wood or eco logs fires. Keeps the mica cleaner.
Anyway, even the Vermont Castings wood stoves were not the best one but they have the merit to try new options like cat or horizontal burning.... and got the very practical swing out ash pan with a lid....
The Vigll I got helped me to graduate as a ""Coal Burning Québecois"" and it was not perfect but had many + like the very long gases path, just like a base burner.
I think you will like the Vigll.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sat. Sep. 13, 2014 6:51 am

Got up at 6:30 to the morning I have been waiting for. It is 52 outside, 65 inside so I decided to test fire the VGII on coal to see how to dial it down. I can tell you right now I LOVE this stove.

Without a doubt it is the easiest stove to light I have every had. Some newspaper, kindling, some larger stuff and then the coal and wallah!!! A nice low soaking fire. I currently have the kitchen door open to the unheated enclosed back porch and a windowstat in operation in the second floor bathroom. Within 30 minutes the house is 72 downstairs and upstairs.

The fire is not enough to cook off the wax base polish on the stove or paint on the new flu pipe but it's enough to let you know it's there. Nice blue ladies on 1/2 thickness bed of coal dancing a nice calming ballet of heat. Between the air inlet damper control on the stove and an MPD on the flu pipe I have it dialed down to an idle.

Looking forward to the predicted 39 low next Thursday night. Never thought I would look forward to the temps in the 30's and below.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

Post by **Lightning** » Sat. Sep. 13, 2014 6:55 am

Yer gonna tease us like that without pictures!!??

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Sat. Sep. 13, 2014 7:43 am

.JPG | 60.3KB | cat stove.jpg

Took a bit to get the photo that showed the blue ladies and our stove cat in the same picture. Every time I tried to get him to look at me he thought I was calling him to jump up on me for petting. He's 18, blind in one eye, and loves to wear an infant onese year round.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

Post by **Lightning** » Sat. Sep. 13, 2014 8:15 am

Awesome!! Yer kitty looks very happy...

Post by **StokerDon** » Sat. Sep. 13, 2014 8:35 am

You might want to put something next to the stove to raise the cat up to where the real heat is.

Nice look'in fire Larry. What ever happened to the harth you were going to build?

-Don

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 9:09 am

Just light up my new vigilant II 2 days ago, to replace my grand Godin, no more distributor in Canada. I am very surprise of the efficency of my Vermont casting, goes up easily to 650 (was still going up!). My question: Is it normal that the minimum température is 350, will not go any lower?

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 9:20 am

StokerDon wrote:You might want to put something next to the stove to raise the cat up to where the real heat is.

Nice look'in fire Larry. What ever happened to the harth you were going to build?

-Don

That pad the cat is laying on is a heating pad with an incontinence pad over it to protect it. He's being cooked from the bottom and the top.

Hearth plans went south for the winter. Made an appointment for re-evaluation next spring when the Canadian Geese return.

We looked and measured and re-looked and never could decide on a suitable hearth design, color, type, depth, height, etc etc etc. Rather than build something and not REALLY like it we decided to defer till the spring and think about it all winter.

Post by **franco b** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 2:32 pm

Serge wrote:My question: Is it normal that the minimum température is 350, will not go any lower?

My experience is about 350 to 400 as a low, in the middle of the griddle which is the hottest part of the stove. About 20 pounds per day at that setting.

VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 6:04 pm

franco b wrote:
Serge wrote:My question: Is it normal that the minimum température is 350, will not go any lower?
My experience is about 350 to 400 as a low, in the middle of the griddle which is the hottest part of the stove. About 20 pounds per day at that setting.

Serge, I can't remember exactly what the temperature measured as franco b stated was when I took this picture. I do believe it was in the range he stated. More important at this stage of the game when you're goal is to keep it as low as possible is what is the temperature as it exits the stove to the flue. Please note that the proper place to take the operating temperature is as franco b said: in the middle of the griddle. That's where you need to monitor it so it doesn't run steadily much above 700°F, the stove's designed safe max steady run temperature.

edit: How low can this stove idle? It begets a lawyerly answer: It depends! Because this stove is thermostatically controls the combustion air (and therefore stove temp), the temperature that the stove cruises at greatly depends on the area it is heating and the air circulation of the space.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 9:00 pm

I have my Vig II running at 200F measured with a Cen-Tech Infrared Thermometer. It will fluctuate 50 or so degrees as the draft changes with the outdoor temps but it tends to idle around 200F taken at the center of the griddle. My flu outlet measured where the other one in the photo was measured reads 163F-165F.

I am running with a MPD but have it wide open right now. I do not have a barometric damper and it seem to be doing just fine without one. Running it this low means that I need all the draft available to keep it humping and bumping and putting out minimal heat.

I do have to watch the ash buildup real closely. Running the stove this cool it will ash up try to go out on me REAL quickly. I do a knife between the grates about every 8 hours and shake about every 12. So far I am burning about 15 lbs a day at this setting. Using 12,500 BTU I get at idle around 7,812 BTU/HR.

Not to shabby for disposing of dirty old coal that pollutes the atmosphere, contaminates the water, and poisons the ground.

Gotta love it !!!!

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 9:05 pm

Serge be sure to check your ash door gasket. If it is not sealing tight you won't get a low end control of your burn. It will run hot because your not metering the air and controlling the stove with the rear flapper. With a bad ash door gasket, you will suck air in at that point and it will run hotter than it should.

Rich W. · Post by **Rich W.** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 9:56 pm

Last spring I was running at 250* and tending just once per day, using roughly 15 to 20 pounds per day.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Wed. Sep. 17, 2014 10:09 pm

Serge wrote:Just light up my new vigilant II 2 days ago, to replace my grand Godin, no more distributor in Canada. I am very surprise of the efficency of my Vermont casting, goes up easily to 650 (was still going up!). My question: Is it normal that the minimum température is 350, will not go any lower?

Welcome Serge nice stove you have there. Can you get your hands on some "Pea" size coal, my Vigilant loves it when I need to run her real low. The "nut" allows more air through the coal bed and runs hotter than needed. Mike.