break in for Jotul C550 insert

1st fire kindling. 2nd fire, two small splits. 3rd fire, a little bit more. You should smell a little something on the last two burns. That was it for me, good to go from there. Let it cool down all the way between break-in burns. Great stove, you'll be happy with it.

Pile o' wood,

I am really looking forward to my first winter as a serious wood burner with the 550. I bought the Rockland in April and only had a few small fires, but it raised the temp in the room about 9 degrees very quickly. Had only a little smell, so I hope I did it right. I guess I'll try a few more when it gets a bit cooler. One problem that I had and I'm not sure if the stove just didn't get up to temperature, but the fan on auto never came on. I'm thinking that once I get that baby cranked up it should work fine. Otherwise, I will be calling the dealer to take a look at it. Keep posting. I'm curious to see how you make out with it.
Best of luck!
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I had a problem with the automatic fan also. I found that if you push the ashes to the back of the stove before you start a fire it works much better. The ashes work like insulation and prevent the sensor from recognizing it is hot enough until you really get alot of coals. Normally it will take 20 minutes to 1/2 hour to kick on. You can just turn it on if you do no want to wait. One of my fans was a little lose and would vibrate and make some racket. I just removed the bottom grill myself and put a little foam rubber around the fan an it got quite. Other than that it worked fine. You will probably find some black soot build up in the corners of the glass. Every couple of weeks I found if you just take a little newspaper and wet it slightly, put in in the ash and rub it on the glass it cleans right up. Then use a paper towel to take off the residue. YOu can put a thermostat right in the open slot on top if you want an accurate reading. If you are using an IR then point it in the slot or you will not get a good reading.

GolfandWoodNut,
Thanks for the tip on the thermometer and the fan. I have been wondering for a while where the heck I'm going to put a thermometer. I thought maybe on an insert it wasn't feasible to have one, especially on the Rockland since it sits flush. Must be kind of tough to read however stuck in the slot.

I use an IR therm. too. I aim it into the slot where blower air exits about 3" in and in the center when I take reads.

I leave my blowers on manual. Turn them on when temp. hits about 450 -500* and adjust according to how much heat I need at the time.

When you hit new high temps. in the beginning you will get the break in smell again and maybe some metal 'pinging'. All this goes away once you are burning regularly.

Don't know if you have searched old threads but there is a rather extensive one here on the 550. It has been going for a couple of years now and is full of a lot of good info.

Have fun and you are smart to break in your stove now when you can open a window to get rid of the smell.

Here's a great resource: Jotul C550 Rockland Tips Thread. Lots of information. I'm still a newbie myself and that helped a lot. Good luck with the insert.

Jaugust124 said:

GolfandWoodNut,
Thanks for the tip on the thermometer and the fan. I have been wondering for a while where the heck I'm going to put a thermometer. I thought maybe on an insert it wasn't feasible to have one, especially on the Rockland since it sits flush. Must be kind of tough to read however stuck in the slot.

Click to expand...

It is not that hard to read if you do it right. Put the thermometer in so that 400 - 450 points out, your probably want the temp between 400 and 500. So the white arrow is visible when it is in the range. Also I keep a little flashlight nearby the fireplace and just shine it in there once in awhile. It is also kind of nice to not see the thermometer on the outside of the Jotul, plus you definetly will not get a good reading unless it is in the slot. There are other threads on this, with pictures, and it works well.

My wife and I are getting our jotul 550 tomorrow .. Live in mass. Gonna be in the 60s all weekend .I read a lot of forums so it looks like I will start with the 3 break in fires..I am just wondering can I do them all in 1 day or 1 each day . And do I leave the air Intake open on all 3 or play with it alittle .. Any suggestions would help , on everything from getting good overnight burns , to blower, everything ..thanks
Shawn

I am starting my 1st break in fire as we speak. How long do I burn for ? Do put the blower on ? My thermometer is sitting in the blower opening ..

I am . All it tells me is to use kindling the first fire and add a log or 2 the next couple fires getting it hotter. I was just curious how long I should do these burns.

The manual should have temperatures for each fire. Mine did for the castine.

It does. 200, 300 ,400 .. I just didn't know how long it takes to get it to that and if my thermometer is in the right spot

Oh, ok. Start small, for your first one, until the fire goes down to coals. That will be a good gauge for your next fire.

Thanks

I did progressively larger fires each time until I did not smell any type of cooked paint odor. Open your windows when you do these first few break in fires as the odor can be overwhelming with the windows closed - not too bad but you'll notice it for sure. Keep the damper open all the way (completely to the right) until it gets going good and burns down a bit. Once you have some coals you can close it down a bit (about 1/2 - 1" to the left) and then let it burn down to nothing. Build a bigger fire the second and third time (even four if needed) until there is no more smell of paint or other manufacturing oils, etc... The warm temps are great for seasoning your insert as you can leave the windows open to exhaust the odors and not get cold.

From that point forward it's really a trial and error type of situation in order to understand how the stove works best. READ THE MANUAL often until you understand how and why everything is supposed to function. Don't close down the damper too quickly or you'll stifle the fire and it will start to die down and smoke a lot. As the fire progresses from the initial burn into coals, you can slowly begin to close the damper by moving it about 1/2" or so at a time from right to left. You won't get 8 hour burns, not sure where they got that number but it's not going to happen. You'll be lucky to get a solid 6 hour burn before the beast needs to be fed again. I work from my home and generally need to reload about every 4 hours or so to maintain a consistent stove temperature that's adequate to keep the house temp's stabile during very cold weather.

Good luck and stay warm!

Thanks man,
I have my stove thermometer but it's not reading anything ,I also have my blower on . I have it where the air is coming out .I probably should just go get the ir thermometer . I am just burning kindling ,small pieces of wood now. I guess I will just burn alittle these next few days and then start using big splits. Thanks