Jotul F400, how to clean a 13 year old stove

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Triacon

Triacon

Member
Oct 8, 2012
28
I purchased a nice looking jotul F400, and would like to clean the inside of the stove completely. the previous owners confessed that they never took the stove apart in 13 years. I made a test fire today and the stove seemed starved for air. an insence stick lit showed not leaks but also showed sluggesh air intake where the chrome lever fits into the ashlip. more air was drawn in on the underside then on the top side of the ash lip. even more air was drawn in on the let's say 2 inch diameter hole at the very bottom back of the stove where outside air withdraw in. when I opened the doors completely it was a better fire then when the doors were closed. so I am thinking that the inner panels need to be removed and dusted out. so again what is the best procedure what is the proper procedure for removing panels. I noticed some furnace cement at the bottom of the left and right parts.
 
The Castine likes a strong draft. What temp was it outside? How tall a chimney is on the stove and how is it connected?

There's no need to pull the inner panels, they don't affect draft. You can pull the doghouse over the air control valve and make sure the lever is controlling the air valve correctly. Vacuum that area out while the cover is off. You can also pop the lid on the stove. That will let you see if there is accumulated soot on top of the baffle.
 
Don't worry about the panels. Air is supposed to come in that 2" hole. Not around the air control. You just need to have a warmed up flue and good draft as BG suggests. The EPA stoves are more draft picky than the older stoves.
 
I am in central nj. the temp yesterday was around 70 deg, maybe higher. ranch house. stove pipe design is straight up, through ceiling. 15' total length. doors accumulated a yellow,brown coating. are secondary burn flames supposed to come out the rows of holes? this stove is not doing that yet...
going to take top off. how do you get to the 2 bolts?
 
The problem sounds like it's the outdoor temps, the stove could be fine. With a 15' flue most likely you are not going to see good secondary burning until the temps drop into the low 50s or maybe even 40's. And that is assuming the wood is well seasoned. Is the stove connected top or rear vent?

IIRC, the top is bolted from the interior with 2 bolts from the underside. Remove and lift off. The top is gasketed.
 
Ok. I took the top off by removing the bolts. lots of stuff was cleaned off the underside of the top after removing the top. I then loosened the 2 bolts that hold pressure plates, and turned them in order to remove more parts. I then blew air through the bottom hole and saw lots of dust come out the side ports. I then blew through the front lever area and eventually I felt air at the top left and right front. air wash, I presume...I got lots of soot out of the stove. I think the stove may have been clogged, what do you think?
stove is back together again.
 
It should be ready for heating when the season starts. How is the stove connected, rear vent or top vent? Top vent is much better with a short chimney.
 
Sounds good. I think you will find its performance much better when the outside temps drop below 50F.
 
how do I find the btu rating and sq/ft for this stove? double door design built in aug 2000.
I have a long number from the back plate.
F400 103931 14 8 00
 
Last edited:
The door change in the f-400 didn't change the specs you are inquiring about. Still up to 1500 square feet and up too 55,000 btu's.
 
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