New member and jotul 602cb question

[Lincolnlog]

Howdy! I am the new owner of a used jotul 602 and I love this thing. The previous owner had it in a small 10x16 cabin for two years so it was gently used ( until now :-/ ). I have a Newmac combination wood/oil furnace in the basement and picked up this Jotul 602 to use during the shoulder seasons before the wood furnace gets running so I don't burn much oil. I also picked the 602 because is fit in my existing hearth with no mods and because I wanted something just to have fires in the living room on cold nights. My living room also has a ton of glass so it is a tad drafty. So far as a shoulder season stove and as a purely aesthetic addition to my living room I am loving it.

One thing that is for sure is that this little thing is a blast furnace. It can and will get up to high temps fast. I have checked for leaks and all seems well. The stove is airtight except for around the cook plate and at the flue. My question is about max temps and more specifically where to measure temps. I have it setup for rear exit so I can measure temps on top of the cover plate for the top exit. I have accidentally hit 900 degrees on the center of the cook plate but it was only about 700 on the rest of the top including on the rear exit cover plate. I know that is pushing it and it was an accident. I have also broke 800 on the cook plate a few times now. Is the cook plate designed to be hotter than the rest and does that make it a bad place to measure temps? The previous owner had the cook plate upside down and I have left it that way. Is that bad? Where should I measure temps on this thing? I have an ir thermometer. What is a good max temp for the cook plate and what is a good max temp on the top flue exit cover? I have not measured a flue temp over 500, even when the stove was over 800 on the cook plate. I have run the cook plate for a couple of hours at 750 a couple times. Is that really bad? The rest of the top was around 650 and the flue was down around 400. I think my flue connections are leaky which is keeping the temps down on it but I have tons of draft. I have about an 18 foot chimney which is a 6 inch liner inside of a masonry chimney with about 5 foot of flex pipe to get me through the fireplace opening and around the stubborn rusty latch/hinges. I have been burning oak, beech, maple and black birch for the most part.

I appreciate any help you guys can give me. The owners manual says nothing about max temps or where to measure them. Also, here is a pic of my setup. The chimney liner is in the chimney straight but the flex pipe does snake it's way through the fireplace opening. I need to just take an angle grinder to the latch and hinges from the old fireplace baffle. They are in the way. I will still need the oval pipe to get through but if I cut those off at least I will be able to run it straighter.

 

[begreen]

The cookplate is more conductive so I would place the thermometer right behind it and try to keep that location temp to 650F or below. No part of the stove should be over 800F for very long. Try using thicker splits and closing down the air sooner to keep temps more regulated if necessary.

 

[Lincolnlog]

Good to know. It is a result of leaving the air intake open too long on startup. I definitely take responsibility for that. I have a little one in the house and he has pulled me away from the stove a few times at inopportune times. I was dealing with a nasty diaper blowout the time I hit 900. I'll start measuring on the top in between the cook plate and the rear exit cover and I will keep it below 650.

 

[begreen]

Because the air shoots right at the base of the fire the 602 can take off in a hurry. It needs careful minding. I set a timer to alert me if I am not staying right at the stove.

 

[ccmac]

I would also highly recommend that once you do the work you mentioned on the damper.....fabricate a blockoff plate. You'll be really glad you did.

 

[Woody Stover]

he has pulled me away from the stove a few times at inopportune times.

Welcome to the forums, Lincolnlog. I use my phone timer as a backup in case I get distracted. Kinda hard to break off in the middle of a blowout, though.

 

[Lincolnlog]

Thanks guys. The timer trick sounds like a good idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

 

[begreen]

Most all have spaced out damping down a fire at one time or another. A timer saves us from a personal blowout.

 

[nola mike]

The cook plate is routinely about 150' hotter than the area immediately behind it on mine. During the hottest part of the burn my cook plate hits 850 or so, with the hottest part otherwise being around 700-750. If I try to run it cooler, it will briefly spike and then smolder. And yeah, this thing gets hot fast. I don't want to tell you how hot my cook plate has been. I have a little dedicated timer I carry set for 10 minutes. Easier than the phone, and harder to forget.

 

[black smoke signals]

begreen though I would ask what do you mean personal blowout? Is this where lack of oxygen and the insert raises off the hearth?

 

[begreen]

Not quite. More like when stove temps reach a point that you have spoiled your shorts.

 

[nola mike]

@Lincolnlog , how do the secondaries perform on that thing? I get very little secondary activity. Don't know if it's the stove or my stove. I've been chasing a cause since I got this...

 

[Lincolnlog]

Thanks Nola, that is reassuring. My cook plate was getting into the 800s easily too but it seems as though if I just dampen it down a tad sooner then it is easy enough to keep it to about 750 which gives me about 650 on the strip in between the cook plate and the top flue plate. It doesn't seem to be smoldering either. My chimney is easy to sweep so I don't worry about getting dirty too much. The stove is already going out every night and smoldering some so I plan on sweeping it regularly anyway. When it is burning hot it seems as though it burns very clean.

My secondaries seem to work well. You can really see the air coming out of them and you can see the flames dancing around them. Maybe I am getting a lot of air through them when the front intake is closed since my glass isn't working right? That brings me to my next question.

How does the front primary work? My glass is sort of loose and the air wash doesn't seem to be working well. There is a clean line about 1/16 of an inch wide across the top of the glass and the rest stays sort of dirty. The fire keeps it burned sort of clean but not clear. How do I tune that and get it working right?

 

[Lincolnlog]

Nola, my secondaries often look like two rows of Bic lighter flames in addition to what looks like a lot of gas ignition going on around the top. I think that it is working right. I haven't burned wood in about ten years and it was in a pre EPA stove when I was. This secondary burn part is totally new to me.

I have one more question. When I am loading wood and I tap the side burn plates on the inside they sound almost like they are loose. They don't look warped or cracked. Are they just bolted in? Could the bolts just have loosened from getting hot and at times too hot? Can I just tighten them back up? Are they supposed to be that way? The rear plate doesn't sound like that? With our current cold snap I may very well have the wood furnace up and running soon and this one may just get used on the coldest of nights through winter so I will be able to work on it easily soon.

My glass seems to always look like this.

 

[nola mike]

Interesting about the secondaries. Mine will flare occasionally, but don't typically have a sustained burn. The side burn plates aren't bolted in, yours sound normal. If your secondaries are burning, that means you're (probably, esp with your burn temps) not getting too much primary air. The intake system in this stove is goofy. The glass is gasketed on 3 sides. The top has no gasket, and always lets air in.
That's what should keep the glass clean. You'll always get some ash buildup, the air wash keeps the real dark soot from accumulating.

 

[Lincolnlog]

My glass is loose and easily rattles and fairly easily moves side to side. From what I understand it is not supposed to be that way. What do I do? Fiddle with the gasket until tight and if that doesn't work replace it? It doesn't look too old.