help needed for cleaning jotul lillehammer.

[glennster]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post and could appreciate any help and guidance towards learning to service clean my lillehammer myself. I bought the heater new in 2008 and have never had it serviced. However, it has intermittently developed a problem of just shutting down while it's being used. The store I bought it from told me it needed cleaning because of gas particle build up. I'm more than willing to do the work myself if I could access a service manual or if someone would be willing to walk me through the process. I really can't afford a tech house call at this time,so any suggestions on doing it myself would help. Thank you. Also I'm mechanical and have good tools and I know my skill level in most areas.

 

[DAKSY]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post and could appreciate any help and guidance towards learning to service clean my lillehammer myself. I bought the heater new in 2008 and have never had it serviced. However, it has intermittently developed a problem of just shutting down while it's being used.

If it shuts off & stays off, that sounds like either a wiring connection at the switch or the valve.
If it shuts off after a time & comes back on all by itself, your thermopile (TP) is on the way out.
If you have a multimeter, set it to DC millivolts (mV)attach the probes to the TP & TH-TP
(or TP-TH) terminals, with the burner on, & watch to see if the numbers drop below 135 or so.
That's a failing TP. It needs to be replaced.

The store I bought it from told me it needed cleaning because of gas particle build up.

What will they think of next? I would call that person & ask him how to verify that.
Gas Particle BUILD-UP! That sounds like the mechanic who told a customer that he needd
to change the muffler bearings. *SHEESH*

I'm more than willing to do the work myself if I could access a service manual or if someone would be willing to walk me through the process. I really can't afford a tech house call at this time,so any suggestions on doing it myself would help. Thank you. Also I'm mechanical and have good tools and I know my skill level in most areas.

Check the mV first, check the wiring connections & report back...

NOTE: I had a TYPO in there that I corrected The reaing should be on the TP & TH-TP Terminals...

 

[Heatsource]

What will they think of next? I would call that person & ask him how to verify that.
Gas Particle BUILD-UP! That sounds like the mechanic who told a customer that he needd
to change the muffler bearings. *SHEESH*

while i agree, its pretty lame advice

its not quite that bad, i've seen soot balls on the tip of t-couples creating a similar issue
and weak pilot flames that improved after "cleaning"

 

[glennster]

DAKSY,
I checked my wire connections at the valve and the rocker switch,they were fine. With the volt meter and my test leads on the TP and TP-TH ,my results were:

SWITCH: OFF
PILOT: ON
BURNER:OFF
VOLTAGE: .560


SWITCH:ON
BURNER:ON
VOLTAGE .240

I also noticed that the pilot flame doe not fully engulf the thermopile.

 

[glennster]

DAKSY,
I gave you readings at the wrong connections in my last post. So let me start over. Both test leads at TH @TP-TH.

SWITCH:OFF
BURNER:OFF
VOLTAGE: .480

SWITCH:ON
BURNER:ON
VOLTAGE: 0

 

[DAKSY]

DAKSY,
I checked my wire connections at the valve and the rocker switch,they were fine. With the volt meter and my test leads on the TP and TP-TH ,my results were:

SWITCH: OFF
PILOT: ON
BURNER:OFF
VOLTAGE: .560


SWITCH:ON
BURNER:ON
VOLTAGE .240

I also noticed that the pilot flame doe not fully engulf the thermopile.

By your readings, the T-P looks to be OK, but how long did you keep the meter on the terminals?
I try to keep the contacts on for about 3 minutes, so I know that my readings are steady...
I've seen T-Ps hold for a few minutes & then drop quickly, to the point of shutting down the burner.
The pilot flame should engulf the top 3/8" of the T-P to get adequate performance, but like I said,
your numbers look good. Cleaning the Lillehamer is fairly straightforward. Shut everything down &
let it cool. Remove the cast top plate & release the glass clips to remove the glass frame.
Remove the logs, noting where they were placed & then remove the embers. Beofre you get down to
the nurner, there may be some sheet metal brackets that have to be removed & they may be held in
place with 6mm hex head zip screws. a 1/4" driver will work if you need to remove them. Remove the
burner from the burner orifice. NOTE: Depending on the generation of your Jotul, there are variations in
the burner types. The original burners were bent-tube types. The newer ones are a combination pan-style
made up of cast iron & stainless steel. Once everything is out, vacuum & wipe down all the interior surfaces
& Clean the glass with Rutland White Off or a ceramic cooktop cleaning paste. If there are locations in the
firebox where there are scratches or flaked paint, this is the time to touch them up with Stove Bright
Hi-Temp paint. Once the paint has dried, reassemble everything, making sure the burner is correctly aligned
on the burner orifice. Also make sure the logs are in the correct position(s), there are no embers located where
they would be in the pilot flame & make sure there are no embers in the lower glass channel... Replace the
glass & clip it securely. Replace the top & light er up. HTH

 

[DAKSY]

DAKSY,
I gave you readings at the wrong connections in my last post. So let me start over. Both test leads at TH @TP-TH.

SWITCH:OFF
BURNER:OFF
VOLTAGE: .480

SWITCH:ON
BURNER:ON
VOLTAGE: 0

If your original reading were at the TP & TH-TP terminals, those are the correct locations.
My bad. I had a typo in my original post which has been corrected...

 

[glennster]

DAKSY,
I only left the leads on the connections for a few seconds, so I will retest for a longer period and report back. Thanks.