VC defiant

[stihlfanboy]

Picked up my stove finally. Bye bye old wonder wood. After running my father inlaws difiant last year I decided I wanted one. Finally found one in good shape, No cracks in the fire back. But I did drive 6 hours each way to get it. Was a nice little road trip across Pennsylvania. Vary nice man from the Netherlands in easton pa that restores them. Vary fare price being summer time. I'm extremely happy with these stoves. The heat and burn times works great for me. I have one question though as I'm not sure. He added fire brick to the bottom to make it easier to clean. My fil says all you need is an inch of ash in the bottom. And someone else told my sand. So what should I do? Leave the brick and burn on them or remove them? There glued in.

 

[sawjunky23]

I have brick in the bottom of mine and it works good, you just have to be careful not to throw the wood in there or they break. It cleans up nice and it also seems to help hold heat.

 

[stihlfanboy]

I have brick in the bottom of mine and it works good, you just have to be careful not to throw the wood in there or they break. It cleans up nice and it also seems to help hold heat.

Ok think I'll leave them in there. Have you ever had to reseal the seams between the plates? And if so what did you use?

 

[sawjunky23]

No I never have had too do that.

 

[blacklocst]

Hmmm, I would think the brick would block the air holes in the back. I had one, great stove, one of the best looking stoves ever made, would complement any home. It took a long time to get to speed but once it did it was like a locomotive heading down hill.

 

[sawjunky23]

Hmmm, I would think the brick would block the air holes in the back. I had one, great stove, one of the best looking stoves ever made, would complement any home. It took a long time to get to speed but once it did it was like a locomotive heading down hill.

In the picture on top, you can see that the bricks appear to be well below the air holes.

 

[blacklocst]

In the picture on top, you can see that the bricks appear to be well below the air holes.

Your right, but I would think that ashes and what not would block the air vents sooner than later. Also the bricks take up volume thus hinder the ability to load the stove to its full potential. IIRC the defiant can handle about 80lbs of wood at a time.

 

[sawjunky23]

Poin

Your right, but I would think that ashes and what not would block the air vents sooner than later. Also the bricks take up volume thus hinder the ability to load the stove to its full potential. IIRC the defiant can handle about 80lbs of wood at a time.

Point taken

 

[blacklocst]

Poin

Point taken

 

[stihlfanboy]

I ended up removing them. My fil said they would let to much ash build up and block the holes. We got it down in the basement yesterday and my god that thing was not light. Even both us bricklayers had a hard time. Went and got the flue pipe last night to. That stove has to be around 500lbs with the doors off

 

[cheeves]

I ended up removing them. My fil said they would let to much ash build up and block the holes. We got it down in the basement yesterday and my god that thing was not light. Even both us bricklayers had a hard time. Went and got the flue pipe last night to. That stove has to be around 500lbs with the doors off

Great stove!! One of the best looking of all time! Heated with one one very cold winter of '78 I believe it was. Neat thing about is you can load from the top or side or front. If I remember stove didn't have firebrick. Likes dead standing oak too! Will take a load and burn all night!
Very good move!!!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Boy does that bring back sweet memories. I bought one in 1976 but had to say good bye to it in 1980 when I sold the house. There was something about that Defiant that was remarkable. Mammoth heat, overnight burns, and big logs come to mind. I even cooked streaks on it with a swing-out grill. I'll never forget it.

Thanks for the thread. Now I need a Bud Light.

 

[stihlfanboy]

Well figure I'd update. Got the stove down in the basement back in july. My god that thing is heavy. Me and my father in law had a hard time with it. And mind you were both 250 pound bricklayers that sling block around all day... Got it down, got the pipe for it. And a few other things. New inline duck fan to replace the old one, adding a vent under the bathroom to try and draw heat in there. Haven't worked on it at all though. Just finished my glass block windows and other projects. Next is to brick the old 6inch hole in on the chimny and on the wider side put an 8 inch hole in. From what I understand I don't want to put I reducer on to bring it dow to 6 inch pipe. Most draft possible so that's what I have to do. Hope to work on it tomorrow but got to finish up a lean to on the barn and found 3 more dead trees well I was cutting today. Joys of being a home owner I gusse.

 

[stihlfanboy]

 

[Wood Doctor]

When you get this beast installed, you will love it. Bring your first fire up slowly. Then let her rip as the castings show you what they can do. The radiant heat produced by this stove is second to none. You will be operating a classic cast iron stove that will never let you down. They use to call it a parlor furnace. I was always proud of mine.

 

[stihlfanboy]

When you get this beast installed, you will love it. Bring your first fire up slowly. Then let her rip as the castings show you what they can do. The radiant heat produced by this stove is second to none. You will be operating a classic cast iron stove that will never let you down. They use to call it a parlor furnace. I was always proud of mine.

My father in law has one and is vary proud of it. That's what he said to. Start with a small fire. I'm gunna put a bed of ash or sand in frist so there's something there

 

[Wood Doctor]

My father in law has one and is vary proud of it. That's what he said to. Start with a small fire. I'm gonna put a bed of ash or sand in first so there's something there

I never had to load mine up with and sand. Seems a waste. Just use a small fire and break in the cast iron while listening to the creaks. The ash will remain for the next fire, and then let her rip with the second one. You cannot damage this stove unless you really try hard. It's too tough and it will serve you well for years and years.

 

[Streblerm]

I had a Defiant. I was on the edge about rebuilding it when a good deal came up on an Englander. Mine had a severely warped/cracked fireback and lots of leaky joints. It would throw a lot of heat, just not for very long.

On the topic of the fireback, make sure you remove the plate you access through the flue outlet and clean between the fireback and the back wall of the stove. This should be done at least yearly. Fine ash builds up back there and causes warping of the fireback.

I never bothered wit sand in mine either. A bed of ash is sufficient.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I had a Defiant. I was on the edge about rebuilding it when a good deal came up on an Englander. Mine had a severely warped/cracked fireback and lots of leaky joints. It would throw a lot of heat, just not for very long.

On the topic of the fireback, make sure you remove the plate you access through the flue outlet and clean between the fireback and the back wall of the stove. This should be done at least yearly. Fine ash builds up back there and causes warping of the fireback.

I never bothered with sand in mine either. A bed of ash is sufficient.

I believe those cracks and leaky joints can be sealed with ordinary stove cement that will withstand all the heat the stove can produce. By some miracle, I have never had to do this with my Federal Airtight, the stove I bought after my Defiant vanished in CT.

 

[Streblerm]

I believe those cracks and leaky joints can be sealed with ordinary stove cement that will withstand all the heat the stove can produce. By some miracle, I have never had to do this with my Federal Airtight, the stove I bought after my Defiant vanished in CT.

I tried sealing from the outside and it helped, for a little while. The stove really needed to come apart to be sealed correctly. The fireback was so warped that it affected the volume of wood I could load. It was an older model with the 1 piece fireback. To upgrade to the newer 2 piece would have cost me almost what I paid for the Englander.

I did like the Defiant but in retrospect I wish I would've just bought the Englander in the first place. I put in an 8" stainless double wall chimney for the defiant. The cost of the 8" over 6" would have almost paid for the Englander.