Jotul Castine 400 Slider Vent Part Missing

[SD Hills]

Glad to find this forum which I think has helped us figure out the problem with our new Jotul Castine 400. Since our stove was professionally installed a few months ago the air vent lever had no resistance. Thinking this was the new style . . . We conducted the rec'd break in fires and have had ~12 fires since, highest about 550 degrees. No matter where the lever was set we could tell no difference in the fire behavior which got us researching.

After reading this forum and studying the manual we took the "doghouse cover" off and there is no slider vent, or anything else, inside the doghouse other than the end of the lever and a bolt coming from the top. I contacted our dealer last week but no return call yet. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Want to mention that the paint smell/fumes from the break in fires was quite bad, as warned. Those we did with all windows open and we ended up leaving the house. We still smell fumes and have burning eyes, sore throat after an hour or so of burning. Like us, someone else here wondered why the factory doesn't take care of this problem before shipping. We would have thought twice about buying this stove had we known there would be ongoing fumes. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

It burns a great fire though!

 

[Michael Golden]

It gets resolved by burning it! The fumes are strong, but I don't remember getting a sore throat and having to leave? I wouldn't burn until you get the correct parts, a fire could get out of control if you can't control the air.

 

[begreen]

Resolve the missing air control slider plate with the dealer. Can you go in person to them or try another local Jotul dealer? See if they can give you one off a floor model and don't burn any serious sized fires until you get it. Your flue temps must be very high.

If the dealer can't be contacted call Jotul at: 207-591-6601

 

[jotulguy]

Occasionally in shipping the slider can come loose. If you have needle nose pliers you will likely find it either on the left or right side of the channel once the dog house is removed.

 

[southbalto]

Occasionally in shipping the slider can come loose. If you have needle nose pliers you will likely find it either on the left or right side of the channel once the dog house is removed.

this happened when i picked my castine up. We had to rock the stove (picking up each side) to get to the slider.

I wouldn't run the stove with any more than a couple splits without the slider in place.

 

[Paulywalnut]

I never had that issue of the fumes from the Castine 400 stove. 3 or 4 small fires increasing flame intensity gradually probably helped. One question SD. Is it cold enough to burn a wood stove with any intensity in San Diego?

 

[SD Hills]

I never had that issue of the fumes from the Castine 400 stove. 3 or 4 small fires increasing flame intensity gradually probably helped. One question SD. Is it cold enough to burn a wood stove with any intensity in San Diego?

Thanks to all for your responses. I was able to contact Jotul and they are shipping us a replacement part. They mentioned that it would be almost impossible to get the slider out of the doghouse if it is indeed in there, so we'll wait for the part. Also was told a ~500 degree fire for 5-6 hour would eventually burn off the fumes. It can get down to freezing here a few times a year, but we rarely have fires during the day. We may have to burn off those fumes with windows open! Thanks again!