what model jotul is this

I just answered a similar thread, so I'll post the link below. At $200, it's hard to go wrong, unless there's a major casting that's broken (eg. top, lid, side, bottom), as most of those are now unobtainable from Jotul. I believe the inner and rear burn plates are still available, but you should verify.

Most components are in the $100'ish range, with the big exception being the cat chamber at $450. The usual failure mode of the cat chamber is wear and tear of the little ledges that support either end of the cat combuster, although I can tell you a squirrel down the chimney will do a good bit of damage to the top of the chamber. I would not intentionally buy a Firelight 12 with a bad cat chamber, as the cost of that component combined with the risk factors associated with an old and potentially-overfired stove means there are probably better options out there. However, if you do buy this stove thinking the cat chamber is good, and later find out it needs to be replaced, it's not entirely awful. These stoves sold for over $3k new, and still sometimes go for over $1k used, so there's some justification for the cost of parts.

If you can verify all external castings are sound and sealing at their joints, and you don't mind a few Saturdays to repair and clean up, it's pretty low risk at the asking price. Worst case, you end up parting it out, in which case you'll be investing some time, but will more than make back your investment.

Here's the other thread: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/jotul-600-firelite.131943/

edit: Holy carp! Just saw that inner burn plate in the corner of one photo. If that happened in the process of operating the stove, proceed with extreme caution. I've seen that component with a crack down the middle (due to some of the details of that casting), but have never seen one bent like that!!

That cat is toast. Best reports from others here are with factory Jotul cat's, available only thru your local dealer. Be warned that it appears woodsmanpartsplus actually sells the Applied Ceramics aftermarket canned cat, mis-represented as the Jotul OEM cat, so you want to confirm you're actually getting OEM when you buy.

On pulling the rear burn plate, never a bad idea, but I'd be surprised if you'll see any damage you can spot thru the flue port or with the inner burn plate already removed. 99.9% of all damage to these cat chambers is wear and tear on the little ledges supporting either end of the cat, or clumsy chimney sweeps hitting the top of the chamber with their rod and brush.

I'd offer $100 on it. If you decide to bail on the project, and the stove top is in good shape, I'd give you that much for the top alone. Well... maybe if I hadn't just bought another one myself.

Is the cat chamber made out of refractory material like in the older VC's?

homebrewz said:

Is the cat chamber made out of refractory material(?)

Click to expand...

Yep.

homebrewz said:

like in the older VC's?

Click to expand...

I have no idea on the differences or similarities to VC's design.

Step 1 of working on a Firelight 12: remove the top!

Open the front doors, stick your head in there, and look at the under-side of the top. You'll see one large bolt on either side. Undo the little strap on the bottom side of the top-load door, remove those two big bolts holding the top on, and then it just lifts off. No cement, it just sits on a gasket, and is made to be easily removed for working on the stove.

One word of caution, be very careful not to let the top load door flip over backwards after you remove the linkage strap. This will cause the hinges to break, and you can no longer by the top castings, so this would scrap your new stove.

that's a steal! Even if you had to put a dozen man hours and a few hundred worth of parts. Those were neat stoves

That's not weld... it's the furnace cement used to seal the seams of your stove when it's bolted together. Don't chip it out, or you'll have to tear the stove fully apart to properly re-glue the seams.

The refractory looks mostly okay, but is that broken piece in the bottom part of the chamber, or just the lower front piece (separate, $65)?

The cat cover is 1" larger than the opening, and they do often split (when you use a cat with an expanding gasket). They're also $65'ish. I think I said in one of my earlier posts, that you will probably end up replacing those two small pieces of refractory on any used F12 you find. The only major expense is the cat chamber itself ($450), but it looks like yours might be okay.