New Jotul F600 questions?

Hi D,

What are your stovetop temps with a full load of wood and the damper closed? With the stove running properly, there will be secondary flames for a few hours and sometimes it will look like it's out of control! As far as the coal bed, when the coals get so small that they don't produce any heat anymore, they fall throught the grate. Your stove should hold a bed of coals for at least eight hours. What some people do is let the ash tray fill up and shovel the ashes out from the front . I prefer the ash tray.

Jim

I like to keep my ashpan full for a while because you get a better bed of coals. This takes a few days of burning before it fills up. Then the ashes will build up on the bottom of the stove instead of falling through. In this condition, the coalbed stays hotter longer and for this reason I only clean about every 3 weeks.

Hi:

My stove will show 425* to 575*F, measured at the right-rear top with a Home-Saver thermometer. When I shut down a very hot fire, the temperature actually spikes for several minutes. After shutting down the primary air, the flames subside around the wood after 5 or 10 minutes, but flame activity at the top burn tubes greatly increases, and then gradually subsides over the next few hours. (I'd say it appears "quieted down" about 15-20 minutes after stopping down the primary air.

I burn north/south, that is, I used shorter splits facing end-in straight into the firebox. This keeps the fire from collapsing toward the doors as it burns. I also don't typically add wood during the burn; I wait 'til the temp is below 200* and then rake coals forward. With a "shut down" over night fire, I easily get 10-hour fires (not still flaming, but with hot embers), with coals hot enough to relight the next load -- and that's with pine.

I empty the pan every two to four fires, for neatness' sake. I find I don't lose many coals into the pan, if I rake carefully.

Regards,

Dszatk said:

Fire doesn't seem to quit down when i use the air control? Can u get a good bed of coals in this stove seem like they just fall into the ash pan??

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Just to be clear . . . and please excuse me if I have stated the obvious . . . I mean no disrespect . . . but you do realize that when you "turn" down the air on this stove once you've achieved high enough temps for secondary burns the fire will often become more intense with secondary action (aka the Bowels of Hell) and more heat . . . many folks think that "turning down" the air will result in less heat . . . like a thermostat . . . and usually the opposite effect happens.

Also . . . I have an Oslo . . . younger brother to the F600 . . . small coals may fall into the ash pan . . . but larger coals will stay on top . . . and will be enough to light up the wood from a reload or kindling. I usually find very few coals in my ash pan since they continue to burn and provide heat . . . mostly just ash in my ash pan. It will take a few fires to get a decent 1-3 inch layer of ash . . . which will then help preserve the coals . . . make sure you don't remove all of the ash in the firebox or stir up things too vigorously . . . you want a nice layer of ash and coals.

Dszatk said:

Thanks guys this stove i bought for my camp i only had a small break in fire with it. Noticed that my ash pan door handle nut was loose so i tightened it seems to close nice and tight now!. Will be going up this weekend to try it again. try to build up that coal bed!!. In my house at home i have a Hampton H300 and love it. bought the jotul for the open door fire figured it would be nice at camp!

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Just a word of advice . . . many folks who have run stoves with the screen have only done a couple of times before realizing that they tend to lose a lot of heat that way . . . most folks who have stoves with screens for the front say they haven't used the screens for several years.