Jotul Castine 400 - New Install - How to break in?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Gabby12

New Member
Mar 8, 2012
65
Wilm. DE
I am 5 days away from having a new 400 installed.
It is going into an addtion I am building.

With building the addition since Thanksgiving I am going in all directions and now need to think about how to use/break in the stove.
I am sure the installers will give some advice and of course there's the manual, but I thought i would ask here for some advice to look over in the next couple days before install.

I am concerned with over heating before it's broke in - as well as after.
How to break in.
What temp should I strive to stay under and where is the best place to take this temp reading.

Recommended temp. gauge.

And any other items that you all can provide...
 
Follow the manual's instruction for break-in. 1st fire, just a few 2" kindling sticks, let them burn down and let the stove cool down.
 
Hi Gabby,

We just installed a jotul 400 castine in November. We were total novices so we followed the manual word for word. The first fire was basically paper and a few sticks, I think the first stove top temp you are going for is 200 degrees. The temp guage should be off to one side, of the stove on top, there is a picture of this in the manual as well. We allowed the fire to just burn out on its own and the stove to cool down, our house was cold as the stove is our only heat source, so cooling didn't take long. For the second fire the target temp is 300 degrees, and I think you are supposed to try and keep it warm for an hour or so. There will be smokeyness and a stink from the high temperature paint as is seasons with these break-in fires. opening a window is a plus, even if its cold, we found it hard to stay in the room with the stove the whole time. After it's cooled down again to room temp or so you can do the third break in fire at 400 degrees, there will be more smoke and smell, but for us it was only during these 3 break in fires and then the very next time we fired it we took it up to 650 degrees, after that we've never had a problem, though we only rarely get it to 600 degrees, as it's dang hot in the living room if the stove is 600 degrees. It was very easy, minus the seasoning of the paint and since our house was cool we did all these fires in the first 24 hours of having the stove. It's been burning 24/7 ever since and we love it.
 
I am 5 days away from having a new 400 installed.
It is going into an addtion I am building.

With building the addition since Thanksgiving I am going in all directions and now need to think about how to use/break in the stove.
I am sure the installers will give some advice and of course there's the manual, but I thought i would ask here for some advice to look over in the next couple days before install.

I am concerned with over heating before it's broke in - as well as after.
How to break in.
What temp should I strive to stay under and where is the best place to take this temp reading.

Recommended temp. gauge.

And any other items that you all can provide...

I have a Condar Medallion stovetop temp gage and a Condar Flueguard on my dbl wall pipe.
Follow the manual it is pretty thorough with regards to temps.
These stove require very dry wood, most that you buy as "seasoned" needs another year at least. Do you have a supply of seasoned wood that you know was cut, split and stacked for at least 2 years; the wood wants to be covered and in an area that is exposed to a fair amount of wind.
 
Just like dating, take it slow at first, warm it up a little more, then bring on the heat :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jotulguy
the manual with the stove gives detailed explanation for when the time comes but I will explain here. 3 fires, the first one to 300, the second to 400 and the 3rd to 500. I did mine on 3 consecutive days. You could do them all in one day but in between the firings, you have to let the stove go cold. I did mine when it was around 50 degrees in Sept. and my draft was not great. Doing them on colder days would be best. To get to 300 I used 3 small splits, 4 for the 400 and 5 for the 500. It should go well. Pick up some stove glass cleaner for the break in fires as to get the temp to not exceed these numbers I had to choke down the fire and in turn created dirty glass. Rutland makes a good cleaner.
 
You don't need to waste money on the stove glass cleaner. Windex works fine, as does a damp cloth dipped in the ashes.
 
You don't need to waste money on the stove glass cleaner. Windex works fine, as does a damp cloth dipped in the ashes.
mine blacked during break in and needed the rutland product to scrub it off - ashes did not work and my dealer discouraged window cleaning products - for the white ash film, use only damp cloth or damp paper towel.
 
Last winter I obtained about 4 cords of wood - I split it, stacked it and covered it by building a roof that is about 6" over the wood pile - so it's not touching the wood thus allowing air movement.
I do have another 3/4 of a cord that is split/covered and about 5 years old - will probably use this first.

Break in sounds easy enough and with the room still being built and not to the house yet and not insulated it will help to cool down stove quickly as well.

I did ask the stove shop when I can have a fire and they said as soon as it's installed.
I thought there might be some adhesives that need to cure or is it all gasketed with no dry time needed?

I am not necessarly in a rush to get some wood buring but..you know..I can't wait.
I have been heating the room with a torpedo kerosene heater when working out there which has worked great but burns kerosene quickly.
It's convieniate and can turn on/off as needed unlike the stove which will take a little time to heat up and then if too hot to work will take time to cool but I am ready to burn some wood...

I also asked the stove shop about putting in a stove pipe dampener above the stove - thought this would give a little more control if needed.
They said with this stove that it is not needed.
Any thoughts?
 
I also asked the stove shop about putting in a stove pipe dampener above the stove - thought this would give a little more control if needed. They said with this stove that it is not needed. Any thoughts?
You will not need a pipe damper, unless the flue is really tall, like over 28'.
 
I also asked the stove shop about putting in a stove pipe dampener above the stove - thought this would give a little more control if needed. They said with this stove that it is not needed. Any thoughts?

From the manual:

"Excessive chimney height can promote over-strong draft resulting in high stove temperatures and short burn times. Excessive draft can be corrected by installing a butterfly damper. Your Jøtul dealer is an expert resource to consult regarding draft issues or other performance-related
questions."

If your stove shop is familiar with the installation and saying it's not needed, you should be fine.
 
This made me laugh, a lot. Thanks for that remkel. Funny how that approach works with just about anything.
The funny thing is that marriage more resembles the cool down phase of the burn....starts really hot, cools down over time, and eventually you are looking at a cold box of metal. Thus, I have now made a full comparison of the burning cycle to the mating cycle. I think I can get this research published.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.