New Jotul C350 winterport

[RNLA]

I have just installed a new insert. I have been disappointed in the performance. I'm wondering if there is something to know? The stoves I have used in the past were the Country S160 freestanding, And Country 310 insert. Both of those were excelent, quick light up, super heat producers. So with those to compare to the Jotul C350 Winterport is OK to light up, then it seems to take at least 45min. - 1hr. before I can think about closing the door. then the fire wants to go out. The damper slide is wide open. Yes I'm using dry wood, lots of kindling. It just seems to choke the fire out. I can't believe there is anything wrong with the unit, but I'm begining to wonder if there is a reason they had a "DEMONSTRATION" unit from the showroom floor? It had less than 6 burns on it. Nothing is different with the installations of the other units I have used. This thing just has CRAPPY DRAFT

 

[RNLA]

So nobody has any knowledge? Of any kind? What am I doing wrong

 

[Jotul_Rockland]

try opening a few windows near the stove to facilitate drafting

 

[BrotherBart]

Knowledge isn't the problem, information is. Describe your chimney setup. Surely the little Winterport isn't installed in the same fireplace where you had that monster C310 insert.

 

[Shari]

Even though I burn, I'm no pro. The pros will ask you the following: You state you wood is dry: How dry is 'dry'? Have you used a moisture meter on your wood? The newer airtight stoves are known to be persnickety about wanting well 'seasoned' wood with 22% or less moisture reading. Tell us about your chimney. Is the diameter sized for the stove? Is the height of your chimney at least the minimum height suggested by the manufacturer?

Shari

 

[RNLA]

Thank you, the wood is not checked with a moisture meter, however I am reasonably sure it would be considered six months split and dry, also I have first hand knowledge it has been down 1yr. plus. The chimney is full stainless liner top to bottom, 15ft. min. according to instructions, mine is near 17ft. total without the cap. The cap is a storm cap with a full wrap around the top of liner and china cap inside. The flue is covered with ceramic blanket to prevent heat loss. The install is as close to the instructions as humanly possible. I guess in the original post I should have said the actual draft or chimney function is great, it seems like the air getting into the unit is not enough with the door completely shut and latched, it literally will kill the fire off in 15-20 minutes. The set up is a much smaller stove but basicaly the same size as the country 160 that has not changed in at least 12 years. I hope not to get into a contest of brands because this unit appears to be almost the same but more pleasing to the eye for our home.

 

[Shari]

Well, the first thing I would do is get some wood that has been split and stacked for a year or more. Most of us (okay some of us) consider wood not seasoned until it has had that 1 yr. split/stacked to be sufficiently 'seasoned' to burn in these newer stoves. Oak wood can take 2+ years split/stacked before it is seasoned enough. "Dead/standing" time does not count for 'seasoning' time. Seasoning doesn't start until the wood is split. Yes, some people will disagree, but more people will agree. As they say, "Your mileage may vary." But swap out the wood, give that a try and see how she burns.

Shari

 

[RNLA]

In the Pacific N.W. the wood is usually good at six to eight months. I have been burning wood for 15 yrs. as a source of heat. I have had lots of experience with the entire process of wood heat. This stove or insert is the first Jotul I've owned. Is there some different process I'm not aware of? I'm willing to listen to any advise but I feel this unit may have something wrong with it. In my original post I gave the info of my other 2 stoves being Country 1 big "310" and one small "160". These were "modern" wood stoves with the EPA approval. They had no troubles with 6-8 month dry wood. No trouble to light this fire and get it hot, it is only having trouble when I want to shut the door completly, it will choke out after 15-20 minutes, Yes the damper is open on the face of the unit, no I'm not shuting the damper.....

 

[Elderthewelder]

In the Pacific N.W. the wood is usually good at six to eight months. I have been burning wood for 15 yrs. as a source of heat. I have had lots of experience with the entire process of wood heat. This stove or insert is the first Jotul I've owned. Is there some different process I'm not aware of? I'm willing to listen to any advise but I feel this unit may have something wrong with it. In my original post I gave the info of my other 2 stoves being Country 1 big "310" and one small "160". These were "modern" wood stoves with the EPA approval. They had no troubles with 6-8 month dry wood. No trouble to light this fire and get it hot, it is only having trouble when I want to shut the door completly, it will choke out after 15-20 minutes, Yes the damper is open on the face of the unit, no I'm not shuting the damper.....

Like you said usually good in six to eight months, ( however I would say 9 to 12 months but that is just me) we had a pretty wet damp spring / summer, was your wood in a covered shed or out in the eliments? does it hiss when you burn it? Go get a couple 2x4's, or a pallet, cut them up and try that, if they choke out you can eliminate wet wood and trouble shoot further

 

[BrotherBart]

If you are convinced it is the stove and won't listen to the fact that there is no way on this earth that wood is dry enough then call the dealer and tell them that you have a defective stove. The first thing they are going to do is come out there with some properly dried wood and that puppy is gonna take off and run.

Happens here a dozen or more times about this time every year. New stove, person has been burning since Moby Dick was a minnow, wood is fine and on and on. And finally after arguing with everybody here for a month they go down to the convenience store and buy one of those bundles of kiln dried firewood and have an epiphany. Either that or the dealer hauls a few splits of good dry wood out to their house and, viola, the stove takes off like gangbusters.

One time in the five years I have been on this Forum it actually turned out to be a stove defect.

 

[RNLA]

Sir, I do reply with the utmost respect, but your not reading the post correctly. The light up is fine, infact it takes little to no effort to start the fire and build lots of heat. The problem is when it is time to shut the door, and continue to build heat, to get to the secondary or reburn stage. The door shuts and the fire wants to go out after 15 to 20 minutes. The damper is wide open...

 

[begreen]

We haven't had any reports of the C350e being particularly fussy, though you are having issues, so we need to figure out all the variables. Bear with it, that means lots of questions. It sounds like you have done a nice installation. Everything you have mentioned sounds great.

What type of wood are you burning? Usually we can get away with 8 months seasoning on some wood here, but this year has been cooler and damper than normal, so I would take a few splits and resplit them. Press the freshly exposed surface to your cheek. If it feels cool and damp, the wood could need more seasoning. The problem description really does fit a classic, half seasoned wood scenario. Or the fire is not getting air for some reason. That was why the suggestion to open a window as a test.

One possible problem might be a crimped liner, maybe at the damper location? Another would be if there are air leaks in the liner. Usually this would be at the connection to the insert. If the wood is dry and the cap screen is clean, I would guess weak draft due to our warm weather lately and low pressure systems. What area of WA are you located in?

 

[RNLA]

No question on the wood here in the PNW, Liner is brand new no crimps in the flue area, Almost a straight up shot except a 30* elbow at the insert top, then a piece of heavy flex called Hyperflex, then 11.5 ft of solid liner, this totals almost 17ft as I stated before. No problems getting a good bed of coals goin, just the point when I close the door, it wants to die out after 15-20 minutes. The wood does not hiss when being burned, I'm burnig Maple, Fir, Alder and some other misc. stuff. All this wood has been down more than a year, and split 6-8 months. I know some of you think I'm crazy but I really have been burning 15 years, I run my own tree service, I do know how cut, split , stack, and season wood. The other stoves I have mentioned did not have any problems running the same mix year after year.

 

[begreen]

No problem, we'll assume the wood is dry. What are the outside temps? We haven't been below about 55 here. That leads to poor draft. I don't even try to burn until it gets below at least 50 and have a straight up flue, ~20 ft.

If the wood is dry and the flue unrestricted, the only thing left is the air supply to the fire. If the house is tight or the draft is weak due to the warm weather, the fire may be starving for air. The air control slider in this stove appears to be one piece with the handle, so it should be opening ok with the control to the far right. A remote possibility is that something is blocking the internal air passage. This is unlikely, but who knows if a packing peanut or something got in there.

 

[Todd]

Check your air slide, maybe something came loose and it's not working properly. Do you have outside combustion air hooked up?

 

[RNLA]

Thank you, begreen. I have a 1941 house with more holes than swiss cheese. Temps outside have been a tad warm but nothing my previous experience has ruled out as the OK beginning of burn season... The air to the fire is what I've been concerned about from the start, I'm sorry if I have not communicated that properly. The light up is good, lots of hot coals before I even think about closing the door. After I add a good 4x6 (rough size) piece of wood, wait for it to catch over the entire surface, then I can close the door and wait 15-20 minutes and the fire is almost out. The insert does not seem to get enough air into the firebox...

 

[RNLA]

This damper or air slide is open, but after the stove gets hot the slide is difficult to move, like almost impossible. The cast iron grows with heat and it binds up. The glass on the door is super close to the "air manifold" as Jotul calls it. This is part of the air wash system and where it gets the primary air, secondary air comes from another chanel in back. According to Jotul there is not a cold air intake system, only secondary burn.

 

[BrotherBart]

I won't ever agree that the wood is ready yet, but in the meantime try this. Split two of those 4X6 splits in half. After you get a coal bed established take your poker and make a trough about two inches wide in the middle of it from front to back. Then lay one split in the back and one in the front with a little space between them. Then lay one cross ways across the top of them. Give it four or five minutes to get going and then close the door. In that four or five minutes only have the door cracked open about an inch.

 

[begreen]

This damper or air slide is open, but after the stove gets hot the slide is difficult to move, like almost impossible. The cast iron grows with heat and it binds up.

That shouldn't be happening. Have you called the dealer about this?

 

[RNLA]

OK, no problem with the damper. I adjusted the bolts that hold the air manifold inside the stove, they start out just past finger tight when the stove is cold. Now I have the stove up to temp and the slide is loose and works well. Brother bart you are right about the wood not being ready at 6-8 months but it is NW woods and I do not have a real problem with it, longer would be lovely but we don't have that luxury. The technique that you describe is one I'm very familiar with and I have smaller splits now too. I cracked the bathroom window and the results are better now, however the thing seems to be starving for air only when I close the door all the way. The damper is basicaly useless now, even though it does slide perfectly now. I have not had any trouble in the past with 6-8 month wood.

 

[begreen]

If the air control is not controlling the fire, something is not correct. There should be a notable difference between wide open and all the way closed. The fire may not respond instantly, but should respond in a minute or two.

 

[RNLA]

So now we are at a total of 2.75 hrs. of hot fire, with lots of coals - 1"-2", good hot fire, 3 sticks of wood positioned with gaps and spaces, complete fire. Close the door and the fire stays hot and reasonable for fifteen minutes, I got brave and slid the damper over halfway. 5-7 minutes and the flames are gone. AIR STARVATION.

 

[begreen]

Or wet wood and weak draft with our 59 deg temps. I suspect that come December, things will work a whole lot better with lower temps and the wood getting a couple months more of drying time.

 

[wmk1956]

No expert here, last year was my first year burning with an insert and my first year with the Winterport C350. I just can’t help to think something is starving the fire for air. Our slide is difficult to move, but does move. And when you open it up the flames jump almost at once. When you shut your door and you slide open and closed you should see the flames reacting. If you don’t see that, I think you need to get the guy you purchased it from to look it over.

That’s all I can offer. I love the unit and can’t wait to start burning again.

 

[RNLA]

Yes you nailed it, you should be able to see a difference within 2-3 minutes. As I recently said I opened the window just a half to one inch and the results were better. OK weak draft, wood not so perfect, and all the rest, not to mention my wife can not open the door or slide the damper. The beauty of the unit is all we really like, if the stove is this particular about what it needs I'll have a stove I know works easily here in the PNW. My other stoves did not require this level of attention... One I burned in for 6 yrs. the other 4yrs. other experience would be totaled up with open fireplaces of two types. All the while cutting, splitting, stacking, seasoning my own wood. This does not include all the years as a kid splitting wood & kindling, and my Dad showing me how to burn... I'm saying I realize I have some factors against me, however these have never been a problem before.