Jotul Insert - Is my fan working?

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G

Gray Rock Farm

Member
Nov 24, 2008
15
Eastern MA
OK - So I've had my Jotul Wintersport insert for about a year. I can get a great fire going - nice and hot with good seasoned wood. However, it is doing a pretty lousy job of heating the room. Even though I am running the fan at about medium to medium high speed, it seems as if all of the heat I get is from the radiant heat of the stove, not the fan. Even though I can hear the fan running, I can't feel any air coming out of it, even on high.

Any suggestions on how to diagnose what is going on here? I suspect I've got some blockage somewhere, but I don't have the slightest idea of how to check or how to clean it out.

Thanks for the help.

-Gary
 
My Jotul Rockland has a pretty good flow of air over it when the fan is on, sounds like you should take and make sure that no packing materials etc. may be blocking the path of air. Are you letting the stove get up to temp before turning the fan on?
 
I am not sure about the Winterport fan but the Kennebec fan even on low moves quite a bit of air. The intake on mine is at the bottom and the outlet is at the top, I would assume all of the models are similar in this respect. I would make sure that the blower itself is turning and not just the motor, it may be a possiblity that the blower wheel has loosened from the motor shaft (loose set screw). Update:I have seen this on forced air furnaces before, just a thought.I looked at the breakdown for this model and it shows two blowers. It appears that you can remove this assembly from the bottom through the front, but I am not sure. It may be possible that only one blower is running . I am sure someone on this board has this model and can tell you how to check it out.
 
I tend to only use the last 1/4 turn of the speed control on my Winterport. The fan down 1/4 turn from high, with the air control all the way down is my "overnight" setting. You are correct that anything lower than that is nearly unnoticeable. You should feel the air moving on the high setting, but at a 1/4 turn it is hard to notice. Put your hand in front of the bottom grille on the left and right side and make sure you can feel air being drawn in on both sides.

It is possible to remove the fans and double check their operation, the grate below the door lifts up and out. Pull the left fan out first, then the right. You might need to disconnect the wiring to get them out. I usually do this once a year to clean out the air passage because having the air intake below the door tends to suck a lot of ash into the fans.
 
Thanks for the input.

So I pulled the fans out (had to let things cool down first), and everything seems to be working ok. I ran the fans outside of the insert, and they move a reasonable amount of air. I re-installed them, and did put a piece of paper in front of the air flow exit (about the fire box), and they are definitely moving air, just not much. It seems like a lot more air is being pushed at the exit of the fans than is coming out above the stove. I know it is a larger cross section above - but still doesn't feel like much is coming out. I assume that there is not any packing material behind the firebox (especially since I have been using the insert for a while). Might there be something else in the back that is blocking air flow?

-Gary
 
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