Jotul F400 0wners

[rijim]

I recently installed a new F400 and get mixed results when burning; if I use all small splits I can get the stove top up to 500-600 deg f. as soon as I put anything of any size in the fire box temps drop to 300. When installing the stove it instructed me to remove the air intake cove marked USA and replace with the one labeled EUR. I left the USA cover on assuming the instruction was for owners in England. The difference between them is the EUR version allows air to enter at the bottom front of stove as well as to travel up between walls to feed the secondary burn tubes. The USA model blocks all air at the bottom front and forces all air up to the secondary burn tubes.
My question is which of these covers everyone else is using? If all are using USA cover; what might I be doing wrong with larger splits? I can have a got bed of coals, stove at 400+ add a log and temp drops to 250-300 deg. Logs will burn complete just not at high enough temps to maintain secondary burn and get good level of heat from the stove. I don't have a moisture meter yet but I did buy logs from Home Depot and got same results.

I would appreciate any hep you can give me.

Jim

 

[begreen]

The manual is multi-lingual. It sounds like you might have been reading in the Great Britain section where they talk about the doghouse cover. I tried it both ways and our F400 seemed to burn better with the USA cover.

This might be more of a draft issue. Half of the fire burning system is the flue. The F400 is a bit more draft sensitive with it's shallow firebox. It likes a decent draft. Can you describe the flue system and how the stove is connected to the flue or chimney? Also, where is the stove located? Basement or first floor?

Then again, it could be the wood. Sometimes what's sold at the store is not fully seasoned wood.

 

[rijim]

BeGreen,
I didn't notice if there was more than one english section, I'll dig out the manual and read it again; it was just a thought.
The chimney is 9' straight of SuperPro most of which is outside, a cathedral ceiling box then the top of the stove is about 5.5' below the cathedral ceiling box. I ran double wall (DSP) up with (2) 45 deg bends used to obtain a 9.5" offset (6" pipe between).
I could maybe add 1' or 2' more height but any more would require a second guy kit; about 7-7.5' already above roof. I would rather not go any higher, the manual recommends a min of 14' above what I thought was the fire box but maybe I read that wrong.
I have 2 cord of wood that was delivered a week ago but it is soaked so I got some "kiln dried" from HD... The smaller splits burn fine but 3hrs and its time to reload; due to chimney height I may have to live with this.

 

[begreen]

Well, it's at the minimum, but could be worse. At least it's almost straight up and you have double wall on the interior. Be sure it's braced on the outside. Is the stove flue connector rear exit or top exit?

Kiln dried wood will burn up quickly. 3-4 hrs is all I would expect in this stove.

Does the stove respond to the air control? How are do you manage the air control when adding wood to on a hot coal bed? When you say large split, what size are we talking about?

 

[Eric Miller]

How big are you talking about? The firebox isn't very big, I've noticed with my F400 that really big pieces usually don't burn as well. It seems to do best if I load three or four splits onto a bed of hot coals. I've also learned mine likes to have wood placed pretty close to the top of the firebox to really get the afterburn going. It dosn't like the pieces too densley packed, the easier air can circultae between all the pieces in the firebox, the better it burns. Well seasoned wood also makes a HUGE difference for me with this stove. It really struggles if the wood is not properly seasoned. My draft is not great either, I get some smoke roll out if I'm not careful when opening the door if the stove is not good and hot.

 

[rijim]

The chimney is braced with an adjustable guy kit about 5' up, the flue connector is top exit. The stove does show some response to air control, the only clue is the secondary burn increases, I don't know what to expect so I cannot relate it to what is normal. When I add wood to a hot bed of coals I add the wood then leave the door cracked until the wood is fully engulfed then close door keeping damper wide open. Once the stove top temperature hits about 350 deg then I start closing the air control down 75%- 50%- 25%. The size split would be about the size of a 10" log quartered or larger. Eric, I'm beginning to think that the way the wood is packed is an issue; I'm thinking about cutting some shorter pieces so I can add them north/south then full length east/west. I do get a little smoke roll out if I don't crack the door and give it a minute then slowly open. Since this is a new stove the wood is not something that I have controlled and know how it has been handled; I'm not burning any of the 2 cords delivered just what came from HD...


Jim

 

[begreen]

Let us know how it works out with the short N/S sleepers under the big wood. It worked great for me. If you can get oak or maple, unfinished flooring scraps they work quite well too.

 

[f700]

As a second season castine owner, this is what I have found. It definitely likes the smaller splits. My neighbor who has the Oslo convinced me to make my split larger and I did, but they just do not burn as well. When larger splits are used, I end up with a pile of coals and can not get the heat out put.

 

[rijim]

Thanks F700, I have pretty much come to the same conclusion; I tried cutting smaller pieces to run North/South then adding a larger split east west and it wasn't much better. As you mentioned hot coals low stove top temps and little or no secondary burn. I am going to experiment with using the EUR air intake to see if I can add a plate to block off the air flow and open it only when I have a larger split, the air entry at the bottom of the stove seems to improve the burn on larger pieces.