No draft- Jotul Oslo

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flusher17

flusher17

Member
Jun 3, 2010
53
ADKs, Northern NY
I have a Jotul Oslo that I have been burning for 3 seasons with no problems. The last two times I tried to start a new fire, all I got was smoke pouring out and no draft at all.

I checked the whole chimney and it looks perfect. I looked for a troubleshooting section in the owner's manual and there is none. Is there something in the top of the stove firebox that I need to clean out? The air supply and ash pan are both completely cleared out. Please help, as I can't keep filling my family room with smoke.
 
Is the chimney cap clear also? If so, pull the lid or at least the flue connection and make sure that there isn't an accumulation of soot there or a bunched up insulation blanket?
 
Any new home sealing, bathroom fan, was the dryer running. Basically, have you done anything to your house to either not let air in or to exhaust air out.
 
I doubt this is the problem but my new stove at the farm all of a sudden quit drafting with a lit fire !!! It quickly went out and just was coals no flames. After it all cooled the insulation blanket was sucked up into the flu collar 100% blocking the flue!!! Thankfully it was a new fire that had only been lit for 5-10 mins or so or else i would have had to throw water in the stove to get it out, it was bad enough waiting for the embers to quit smoking!!
 
does this stove have a cat? If so, check and be sure that both any screen protecting it and the cat itself are free of fly ash. Also make sure the bypass door isn't somehow stuck shut.
 
I rechecked the whole chimney and the cap, then I took the top off the inside of the firebox. The ceramic cap, insulation blanket, and rear exit to the flue were all perfect. I took off the air intake cover and that was all clear, too. I am really baffled by this one. I have nothing new in the house either. No new fans or newly sealed up windows. Tomorrow morning I will try to light another fire and we'll see. Hopefully it was just a two time fluke.

Thanks for the responses.
 
I had this same problem yesterday for the first time ever. It was 55 outside and the wife wanted a fire, so being the good husband I am i lit a firestarter and as it started to light the wood the smoke went everywhere but up. We also had alot of dense fog that morning. So i put that firestarter out and let the room air out. I took another fire starter on my little shovel lit and held it in the firebox for a moment and I was off and running from there. Same senerio today but no fog and even though it said 55 outside it felt cooler than that and I had no draft issue today. As Andrew said sometimes if the negative air pressure is right it can play with your ability to start a draft in your chimney. Flusher did you try it again today?
 
I probably average only building a dozen new, from scratch fires a year in mine. To qualify that, I hold a fire 7x24 most times.Several times I have had to leave the ash drawer open a few minutes to get the draft started and she is good to go from then on with no more draft problems. In fact, ash drawer open is SOP for me now as it works. Guess I should add that this is just the second year for this stove.
 
oldogy just an fyi I wouldnt recommend continued use of the ashpan to help your draft........


5.3 sTARTING AND mAINTAINING A FIRE
bURN ONLY SOLID WOOD DIRECTLY ON THE BOTTOM GRATE OF THE STOVE,
DO NOT ELEVATE THE FIRE IN ANY WAY.
• tHE ASH PAN DOOR ON THE STOVE MUST ALWAYS BE SECURELY CLOSED
WHEN THE STOVE IS IN OPERATION.
• bURNING THE STOVE WITH THE ASH PAN DOOR OPEN WILL OVERFIRE
THE STOVE AND CAUSE INTERIOR DAMAGE.
• fiITH THE PRIMARY AIR CONTROL LEVER IN THE

That is out of the Jotul F-500 owners manual. It could cause costly repairs down the road that would not be covered by warranty.
 
use a blow torch. to help the draft or try top down fire...happens when warmer outside
 
Both mornings I had the smokey fires were in the low 20s outside, but foggy. Maybe it was just the weather. I will try a little soldering propane torch to get the flue warm and moving up first next time. We'll see tomorrow morning.
 
I never had luck with the propane torch, not saying it won't work, maybe the downdrafts I have just are to much for the size torch I have tho.

If it is a downdraft you are suffering from, easiest thing I've found is to shove an old hair dryer up the stove's air hole, (where you'd hook up an OAK to the stove) open the air up to full, close the door, and let it run for a few minutes before trying to put a match to anything.

If I suspect the weather is right for a downdraft, if I stick my hand near the front of the baffle I often can feel a slow movement of air down the chimney and into the room, that's when the hair dryer comes out.

Also, stupid question. Do you have a stove pipe damper? This fall I didn't know what the heck was going on when starting the first fire. Smoke everywhere, total mess. Then it dawned on me (while walking to the garage to get a ladder) that the stove pipe damper was in the closed position for the summer and I never opened it. Only the 2nd or 3rd or 25th time I've done that <>

pen
 
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Sounds like a cold flue to me.

Try burning a few crumpled up sheets of news paper before you start the fire.
 
Where is this smoke pouring out of? An Oslo has 3 doors on it so I'm just wunderin which one you got open. Oh yeah, dont ever stoke yer far using the ashpan door. Not unless you wanta fordge some horse shoes. Leave the side door cracked abit to get a far going at first.
 
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jotulguy said:
oldogy just an fyi I wouldnt recommend continued use of the ashpan to help your draft........


5.3 sTARTING AND mAINTAINING A FIRE
bURN ONLY SOLID WOOD DIRECTLY ON THE BOTTOM GRATE OF THE STOVE,
DO NOT ELEVATE THE FIRE IN ANY WAY.
• tHE ASH PAN DOOR ON THE STOVE MUST ALWAYS BE SECURELY CLOSED
WHEN THE STOVE IS IN OPERATION.
• bURNING THE STOVE WITH THE ASH PAN DOOR OPEN WILL OVERFIRE
THE STOVE AND CAUSE INTERIOR DAMAGE.
• fiITH THE PRIMARY AIR CONTROL LEVER IN THE

That is out of the Jotul F-500 owners manual. It could cause costly repairs down the road that would not be covered by warranty.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, sir, I really can not see how opening the ash door a short time to get the draft started on a newly set fire is going to result in an over firing of the stove. Temperatures just do not come up that quickly, even if I use fat pine. On the other side, I fully realize that prolonged uncontrolled air fed to the fire would result in over firing..I have a firm belief this is what Jotul is making reference to in their instructions. And I would never leave the stove even for an minute with the ash door open. Been playin' with fire too long, since about 1952. My grandma taught me to throw a piece of newspaper in the firebox of her old kitchen cook stove to warm the flue. But then Jotul says not to burn newspaper and I now get my news electronically. But on the other hand, even oldogs can sometimes learn something.
 
oldogy said:
Respectfully, sir, I really can not see how opening the ash door a short time to get the draft started on a newly set fire is going to result in an over firing of the stove. Temperatures just do not come up that quickly, even if I use fat pine. On the other side, I fully realize that prolonged uncontrolled air fed to the fire would result in over firing..I have a firm belief this is what Jotul is making reference to in their instructions. And I would never leave the stove even for an minute with the ash door open. Been playin' with fire too long, since about 1952. My grandma taught me to throw a piece of newspaper in the firebox of her old kitchen cook stove to warm the flue. But then Jotul says not to burn newspaper and I now get my news electronically. But on the other hand, even oldogs can sometimes learn something.
Click to expand...


Accidents happen.

Seen enough damaged stoves around here over the years as a result of forgetting to close that ash door soon enough that I believe the best practice is to only use it for getting rid of ash.

pen
 
I don't know the configuration of the Oslo but this is what I found above the baffles on my Jotul Rockland. Had excellent draft when first installed then found I sometimes had to use a hair dryer to get things going. Had the chimney swept before the season started and after getting this stuff out of the way I could start a fire w/o problem if it 70 outside.

The issue of course was the quality of the wood I was burning (18 month seasoned locust). As I learned from the collective wisdom here, wood can't be dry enough. Oh no did I start the too dry controversy?!! :)
 

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jotulguy said:
oldogy just an fyi I wouldnt recommend continued use of the ashpan to help your draft........


5.3 sTARTING AND mAINTAINING A FIRE
bURN ONLY SOLID WOOD DIRECTLY ON THE BOTTOM GRATE OF THE STOVE,
DO NOT ELEVATE THE FIRE IN ANY WAY.
• tHE ASH PAN DOOR ON THE STOVE MUST ALWAYS BE SECURELY CLOSED
WHEN THE STOVE IS IN OPERATION.
• bURNING THE STOVE WITH THE ASH PAN DOOR OPEN WILL OVERFIRE
THE STOVE AND CAUSE INTERIOR DAMAGE.
• fiITH THE PRIMARY AIR CONTROL LEVER IN THE

That is out of the Jotul F-500 owners manual. It could cause costly repairs down the road that would not be covered by warranty.
Click to expand...

Ditto . . . did the ash pan door "trick" a couple of times when I first got the stove until someone posted pics of the damage that was done over time.

A better option is to use the side loading door.
 
Thanks for all the responses. This morning it was clear and 20 degrees. I put a small space heater in the cold firebox for a few minutes before starting. Then I tried a more top-down approach then I usually do with about 5 crumpled sheets of newspaper on top. It started right up without a single wisp of smoke coming into the room and within 2-3 minutes the fire was raging and beautiful.
 
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Yea! That gives me a warm feeling 3000 miles away.
 
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" Respectfully, sir, I really can not see how opening the ash door a short time to get the draft started on a newly set fire is going to result in an over firing of the stove"

I don't worry about over-firing the stove by doing this occasionally but i do think that the white hot jets of flame could potentially warp my ash grate before the stove top even hits 300. I don't do it except to get kindling to ignite from very weak coals.
 
I was just trying to give you a heads up about using the ashpan. By all means you have paid for the product and may do what ever you choose with it. Over time almost with out fail 3 things will happen.... the grate will warp, the base plate will crack, and the secondary manifold will warp and turn a orange color. When one or all of these things happen Jotul will turn down any warranty claim on these items. At start up when the base of the stove is cool opening the ashpan put a high amount of heat in one spot on the base plate. The cast iron can not take the extreme heat difference from the hot stop to the rest of the cool base and something has to give. It normally is the rear right side in F-500's. So honestly it was just friendly advice I do hope none of these things occur in your stoves.
 
flusher17 said:
Thanks for all the responses. This morning it was clear and 20 degrees. I put a small space heater in the cold firebox for a few minutes before starting. Then I tried a more top-down approach then I usually do with about 5 crumpled sheets of newspaper on top. It started right up without a single wisp of smoke coming into the room and within 2-3 minutes the fire was raging and beautiful.
Click to expand...

Yeah! This shows that your issue is getting the draft going in the right direction. If my stove is cold (longer than 24 hours since a fire) then I use a heat gun and insert it into a short piece of 3" flex that is connected to the OAK air intake on the bottom of the stove. After about 5 minutes, I always the draft going up the flue. I hate getting smoke in the house.
 
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