Mystery Jotul-- flue unhappiness

[g-hoppa]

Just got home last night with a nice gray enamel Jotul 3 off Craigslist. The ad said it was a 3TDC with a 7" flue collar. I'd never heard of such a thing, and searches online haven't turned anything up. The only manuals I can find are for the TDIC-2. I assumed this older lady was mistaken, that she had meant a 3TDIC, and my local Jotul dealer confirmed that none of the 3 series were ever produced with a 7" flue collar. The pics of the outlet were not very clear, and like a fool I didn't bring a tape measure with me.
Got it home, and in the light I could finally see that I have bought something weird. The riveted plaque on the back says it is either a 3TD or a 3TDC, and since it clearly has a round 6" combustor, it's obviously the TDC. Old lady 1, me 0. I also realized that the collar is indeed 7 inches, and the plaque clearly says that the 3TDC needs a 7" connector and flue. Old lady 2, me 0.
The cat is mounted in a heavy iron flue collar on steroids, outside the stove body, reversible from back to top of the stove. It pivots to allow a bypass for starting. One thread on this site mentions that Jotul did some weird experimenting when they started making cats-- this stove is dated to 1987-- and I assume I have one of these misbegotten freaks. Which would be fine, except . . .

I paid the chimney guys a lot last summer to rebuild my chimney and line it with 6" stainless. Never had a stove in here before. The chimney is internal masonry, through two stories and a full height attic before leaving the house. I'm guessing there's plenty draft. Can I get away with a 7"-6" reducer at the flue collar? I mean, the collar starts out at 6" at the combustor, then expands to allow a 7" connecter. Any way to make this pass inspection? Do I need to just get a different stove?

And finally, anyone ever see one of these Jotuls before?

 

[begreen]

The 3 TDIC took 6" pipe. I think you have an interim predecessor that was not very successful from what Craig posted yesterday. The combustor was a tacked on attempt to clean up the burn.

It's important to know what is a good fit whether it's a new or old stove. Maybe back up and tell us what size space you are trying to heat with the stove and how you intend to run it. It could be that biting the bullet and getting a new stove is a better investment in the long run.

 

[webbie]

Based on a warm internal masonry chimney - if you can keep the interior stovepipe without too many bends - I think you will do fine as far as draft and operation of the stove goes.

After all, it's a small stove! There is no need for the larger chimney other than something in the whole deal was not balanced right, etc. - in fact, most of the time Euro models of the same stove (118, for instance) had smaller flues. The larger Jotul 8 had a 7" flue at the time (I think) and perhaps they just used a similar flue collar.

As to it passing inspection, that is usually up to the AHJ (local authority). Maybe if you use a really nice one piece reducer it will look slick and the guy won't even notice it. Even if he does, you could probably show him all the newer model of that stove and tell him this one as an anomaly and, if a nice (and informed) guy, he is likely to OK it. A 6" flue can probably handle 5X the normal output of that stove!

Example:
http://www.ventingdirect.com/heat-fab-2736b-7-6-reducer-both-non-crimp/p651609
You need one either with no crimps (crimp on site if needed, but it might fit into the collar anyway) or with the crimp on the 7" down side.

 

[g-hoppa]

BeGreen-- Well, when I said 'a new stove', I meant new to me, not really new out of the box. I'd love to do that-- but it's not financially possible. I really want this stove to work from both a heating and safety point of view and (a bit less importantly) a legal point of view. We have about 600 sq. ft. on the first floor in an open plan, and a wide stair going up to a similarly sized second floor. Also a pass-through vent in the ceiling/floor we were thinking of putting a circulation fan in. Between the stair and the vent, we're hoping to get a lot of that heat upstairs to the bedrooms. This will not be our only heat by any stretch-- we won't be burning all day, and maybe not even every evening. But we are hoping to cut down a fair amount on the gas bill.

Webmaster-- Thanks for the link. Those reducers look slick enough to do the trick. The design of the flue collar is already odd enough that it may look integral. I'm trying to think what the reasoning for the larger flue would be-- maybe they assumed the combustor would obstruct the airflow too much? The either/or model info on the label on the back seems to imply that the only difference between the TD and this interim TDC is the flue collar with the combustor in it.