F55 Owners, Step Inside

ToltingColtAcres · Mar 13, 2015

I let the fire go out on Monday morning (wasn't home enough to justify keeping it going, was only home to sleep Monday & Tuesday night). Wednesday after work I came home at 4pm, stirred the ash/coals around found enough still-warm/glowing ash/coals so I was able to just throw a little kindling in, get a small fire going, and then slowly build it up with small splits. By 6pm was cruising really nice. Gotta love the F55, even if it doesn't have an ash-pan

iluvjazznjava · Mar 19, 2015

ToltingColtAcres said:
I let the fire go out on Monday morning (wasn't home enough to justify keeping it going, was only home to sleep Monday & Tuesday night). Wednesday after work I came home at 4pm, stirred the ash/coals around found enough still-warm/glowing ash/coals so I was able to just throw a little kindling in, get a small fire going, and then slowly build it up with small splits. By 6pm was cruising really nice. Gotta love the F55, even if it doesn't have an ash-pan

No ash pan is actually a preference for many, myself included. I have one of those black ash buckets and shovels which works just as good. There is a real elegance in the simplicity of the F55. I bought it because I knew it would be a real solid heating appliance, its well made and should require minimal maintenance.

Knots · Mar 20, 2015

When I was trying to decide what stove to buy, I visited many stove shops. Those that were burning PE Summits and some others with ash pans, said they just let the ash pan fill up and were shoveling from the big door.

That, coupled with my own experience with coal stove ash pans/doors, led me to believe that the F55 was the solution for me. I like the simplicity - less gaskets and moving parts.

clark77 · Mar 20, 2015

On the topic of ash pans, here's a few things I've noticed with the F55 burning it 24/7 for the last 6 weeks or so.
First off, the ash that I take out is very fine which would lead me to think that the efficiency of this stove is real good. I usually take the ash out once a week but it's only a few scoops. I could easily go 2 or more weeks without taking ash out.
So not having a ash pan on this stove was not a big deal for me. I've been burning wood for the past 8+ years and I always used a shovel and bucket.
Anyway, I thought I wanted an ash pan when I was first in the market for a new stove but I'm glad I got this stove. Having to maintain only one gasket is an added plus.
another thing I noticed is that I'm using less wood with this stove verses my regency insert. Actually less wood and more heat.
Putting this stove in my 19' x 15' living room, I thought I was going to get cooked out but I'm not. It's a nice even heat and with the ceiling fan on, the heat gets moved out of the room and heats the rest of the house nicely.
I've been very happy with my purchase of the F55 and hope it lasts me the next 10+ years.

clark77 · Aug 13, 2015

So what is everyone's methods of cleaning your stove after the winter months?

Creekheat · Aug 13, 2015

cuttingedge said:
I had a Jotul F55 installed in October. I really like the stove and it has been able to heat our entire home thus far. I have a few questions for those that own this particular stove. The metal plates on the right and left sides inside of the stove that hold the firebricks seem to have bowed out a little. Are yours doing the same? What is the highest stove top temp that you have achieved? My stove sometimes reaches 700-750 and I am wondering if I am doing any damage?
Thanks.

You're fine. All of them bow out a little after the first few fires. It's still steel and no problems. I've had mine around 825ish. No worries. I normally peak about 740ish and cruise down at 700. Depends on wood characteristics. My last burn of the season I run it as hot as I can safely get away with to clear the stack. After its cool I scrub and clean the inside and wipe down the outside with a moist cloth followed with a VERY light oil rub to protect the cast iron in the off season. Inspect and clean stack as needed. Every time I load mine I run her hot for about 15 min after she comes up to temp to burn off anything in the stack. I get very little if any this way. Plus I burn good seasoned wood.

clark77 · Aug 13, 2015

I scrape any creosote/crap from the inside of the main box area but looking up over the baffle area, I see there's stuff up there but I can't seem to reach it. Any tips on cleaning that area barring taking the top of the stove off? I would rather not do that.
I also take a damp cloth and wipe down the exterior of the stove.
This year will be my first full year with the stove and I'm hoping I use 4 or less cords. My insert I used to have, I averaged 5 cords a year but the f55 is way more efficient and it puts out more heat.
My heat source for this year.

jeffesonm · Aug 13, 2015

That's already more than I do. I still have some ash in the bottom from my last burn, whenever that was.

I just peeked up in there and I see some ash in various spots, but it's all light powdery stuff, so I'd just assume leave it.

Knots · Aug 14, 2015

I shoveled out most of the ash, cleaned the chimney, and turned on the dehumidifier in the basement. Oh yeah - I cleaned the glass real good too.

7acres · Aug 23, 2015

I ended up getting out all the ash and sweeping it out. It's in the middle of our house and we've got young kids. So inevitably someone will get curious or playful and the door ends up open. I didn't want to deal with ash wafting out randomly all Summer. "Summerizing" the hearth in this fashion did the trick for us.

iluvjazznjava · Sep 30, 2015

Just a shout out to all the fellow F55 owners out there! Now that October is pretty much here, I'm getting excited about burning season beginning again soon. I lucked out the other day and had a neighbour give me a cord of maple rounds that he had sitting around his yard for a few years. I put them through the splitter yesterday and tested them with the MM - 15-20%, so they will burn great this winter! Maple isn't common where I live, so looking forward to burning some hardwood this winter. Other than that, I have about three cords of larch/fir/pine mix split and ready to go.

Anyone want to share any interesting stove projects that they worked on over the summer? I'm looking for a good solution for monitoring stove temp remotely. My stove is in my basement, so I can sometimes forget about it. I need an alarm that will sound if things get too hot. I'm looking at the various options from Auber Instruments and others. Anyone install something like this on their F55 and care to share their experience?

Knots · Oct 2, 2015

I have mine in the basement also. So far I've been using an egg timer to avoid forgetting to go back downstairs. I too am considering a remote temperature indication system.

I'd like to raise my stove up a little and eventually hook up the OAK, but I'm not sure it's going to happen before this winter.

cuttingedge · Oct 2, 2015

I have mine upstairs in the living room but I also have a stove in the basement (Cawley LeMay 600). I would be very interested in something that monitors remotely as I sometimes forget to check on the basement stove as often as I should.

iluvjazznjava · Oct 2, 2015

Knots said:
I have mine in the basement also. So far I've been using an egg timer to avoid forgetting to go back downstairs. I too am considering a remote temperature indication system.

I'd like to raise my stove up a little and eventually hook up the OAK, but I'm not sure it's going to happen before this winter.

I have the OAK on mine - the dealer installed it with the stove. I'm not sure you will need to raise your stove, provided of course its on the stock legs that came with it. Or are you just needing to lift it to get clearance for the install? My OAK is an impressive installation - there was no easy access to outside air on the side of my basement where the stove is, so they ran a pipe across my basement ceiling and down behind the wall near my stove and then underneath to connect it. Altogether I would say I have 30' of pipe. I was skeptical it would work, but it does. I tried running the stove without it a couple times to see how that would go, but its better with the OAK. OAK is also code in my area, so not much choice really, especially since I have a building inspector living on my street! OAK allows for cooler outside air for combustion and the stove won't suck humidity out of my house. This is nice, since my house is way too dry in winter to start with.

iluvjazznjava · Oct 2, 2015

cuttingedge said:
I have mine upstairs in the living room but I also have a stove in the basement (Cawley LeMay 600). I would be very interested in something that monitors remotely as I sometimes forget to check on the basement stove as often as I should.

I think I'm going to order one of the Auber Instruments temperature systems:

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=17

Just trying to decide whether or not to shell out the extra $ for the wireless unit with the dual displays. The wife also isn't thrilled with the way they look, so I may need to hide it or find a way to make it look nice.

Knots · Oct 2, 2015

iluvjazznjava said:
I have the OAK on mine - the dealer installed it with the stove. I'm not sure you will need to raise your stove, provided of course its on the stock legs that came with it. Or are you just needing to lift it to get clearance for the install?

I'm not raising it for the OAK. I wouldn't mind being able to see in a little easier, and making my chimney shorter sure isn't a bad thing.

I think there's a thread around here somewhere on the Auber. Might want to do a search if you haven't already.

Is your OAK inlet higher or lower than your stove?

iluvjazznjava · Oct 2, 2015

Knots said:
I'm not raising it for the OAK. I wouldn't mind being able to see in a little easier, and making my chimney shorter sure isn't a bad thing.

I think there's a thread around here somewhere on the Auber. Might want to do a search if you haven't already.

Is your OAK inlet higher or lower than your stove?

My OAK is definitely higher than my stove given that my stove is in the basement. OAK inlet is probably 8 or 9 feet higher than the bottom of the stove. I have heard that ideally you want the OAK inlet lower than the stove, but obviously not going to happen for a basement install and I didn't have any choice anyway because local code requires the OAK regardless of location in the house.

Knots · Oct 3, 2015

Thanks for the info. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for me to get my inlet lower than my stove.

iluvjazznjava · Oct 19, 2015

Hello everyone,

I need your thoughts on my experience and some ideas on reducing creosote formation. My F55 is installed in my basement. The brick chimney runs outside the house and I have it lined with a 6" flexible liner that is connected to my stove. Total chimney height basement to cap is about 25'. After burning approx 3 cords of wood through my stove last year (first season with this stove), I inspected my chimney and found that there was some hard/glaze creosote at the top end of my chimney. I bought the Gardus Sooteater and this weekend I gave it its first use, cleaning from the bottom up. The Sooteater worked pretty good, but I wasn't able to to remove 100% of the glaze from the top end of the chimney. This is what the top end of my pipe looked like AFTER it was cleaned:

My apologies for the sideways picture, but you get the idea. Obviously, there is still a little bit of glaze left, although I would say its about 90% better. I ran the Sooteater over this area multiple times. The good news is that the bottom end of the pipe only had a moderate amount of brown/black fluffy stuff that was easily removed, so that end of the pipe isn't a major concern. My wood last year was pretty good overall - most under 20% moisture on the MM. I may have been a bit aggressive in choking the air off on the stove in order to get a longer overnight burn. Typically, I would get it down to about 1/4 to 1/3 open and then leave it there for the night. The stove has always drafted well and combustion air comes from an outside air kit. My main goal it to burn cleaner this winter and avoid the nasty glaze creosote, so I'll throw it out to my fellow F55 owners to see if anyone can share their experiences on burning clean and keeping their pipe glaze free ...

... I am considering installing a block off plate above my stove, and my wood this winter will be very well seasoned as I have stocked up on some 3+ years seasoned larch, fir and maple. I know my chimney setup isn't ideal being completely outside the envelope of the house, but its in good shape and won't be rebuilt anytime soon.

Creekheat · Nov 29, 2015

iluvjazznjava said:
Hello everyone,

I need your thoughts on my experience and some ideas on reducing creosote formation. My F55 is installed in my basement. The brick chimney runs outside the house and I have it lined with a 6" flexible liner that is connected to my stove. Total chimney height basement to cap is about 25'. After burning approx 3 cords of wood through my stove last year (first season with this stove), I inspected my chimney and found that there was some hard/glaze creosote at the top end of my chimney. I bought the Gardus Sooteater and this weekend I gave it its first use, cleaning from the bottom up. The Sooteater worked pretty good, but I wasn't able to to remove 100% of the glaze from the top end of the chimney. This is what the top end of my pipe looked like AFTER it was cleaned:

My apologies for the sideways picture, but you get the idea. Obviously, there is still a little bit of glaze left, although I would say its about 90% better. I ran the Sooteater over this area multiple times. The good news is that the bottom end of the pipe only had a moderate amount of brown/black fluffy stuff that was easily removed, so that end of the pipe isn't a major concern. My wood last year was pretty good overall - most under 20% moisture on the MM. I may have been a bit aggressive in choking the air off on the stove in order to get a longer overnight burn. Typically, I would get it down to about 1/4 to 1/3 open and then leave it there for the night. The stove has always drafted well and combustion air comes from an outside air kit. My main goal it to burn cleaner this winter and avoid the nasty glaze creosote, so I'll throw it out to my fellow F55 owners to see if anyone can share their experiences on burning clean and keeping their pipe glaze free ...

... I am considering installing a block off plate above my stove, and my wood this winter will be very well seasoned as I have stocked up on some 3+ years seasoned larch, fir and maple. I know my chimney setup isn't ideal being completely outside the envelope of the house, but its in good shape and won't be rebuilt anytime soon.

My stack is 26ft. Stove to cap. Every time I load I burn it hot for about 20 min. To burn everything off. After last year I opened her up to clean the chimney and it was in great shape. Not a single bit of creosote, just a very fine thin layer of baby powder grey ash. Came right out with one pass.

clark77 · Nov 29, 2015

Cruising at 500 this morning

iluvjazznjava · Dec 2, 2015

Creekheat said:
My stack is 26ft. Stove to cap. Every time I load I burn it hot for about 20 min. To burn everything off. After last year I opened her up to clean the chimney and it was in great shape. Not a single bit of creosote, just a very fine thin layer of baby powder grey ash. Came right out with one pass.

I burn hot on startup and reload - I put a stove pipe probe in and often get the flue gasses up to 800-900F and the stove top up to 650F on the reload, but once I start turning the main air down the flue gas temps drop like a rock to 200F or less. I insulated the top and bottom end of my liner quite well now with Roxul, and I don't see much difference. I'm thinking my only real solution would be to put in a double wall liner, but that's not going to happen, so I'm probably just stuck with sweeping a couple of times a season and always burning very seasoned wood to cut down on any gummy creosote formation.

7acres · Dec 2, 2015

ToltingColtAcres said:
Gotta love the F55, even if it doesn't have an ash-pan

I made my own ash solution for our F55! It takes me two minutes start to finish and my bottom fire brick is clean again and ready for a reload.

If there are live embers I like to leave enough behind to set off the new load.

nellraq · Dec 3, 2015

7acres said:
I like that high temp needle mod!

A small piece of tin foil crunched into a small ball works well to show you the highest stove top temp. Simply put it beside the pointer...as the temp rises, so does the pointer and the foil. Of course the foil stays put while the temp indicator goes down..thus showing you thw highest temp.

iluvjazznjava · Jan 3, 2016

How about those secondaries F55 owners? Here's a pic of mine about 2 hours into the burn cycle:

That's with the air about 1/4 open and the stove top around 350F. If I go any lower with the main air, then I start getting incomplete combustion (visible smoke out the chimney). Just curious how my burning experience compared to others. I have never been able to close the air all the way to minimum, but I suspect that few people can unless they have unusually strong draft.

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