Oslo Continues To Disappoint.....

[wendell]

Wood is 15-18%. Jotul says 14' is adequate and as i said, 17" isn't making any difference. This is 5' of double wall, 3' of Class A in a chase in the attic and then 9' of Class A out the roof.

 

[logger]

I have NOT been keeping up with the thread, but something is really wrong if the Oslo is having a problem with heating that space.

To be fair, it is an older rustic cabin with so-so weatherization. Still, my fear was that the Oslo would just cook us out of here being such a small space, and that's just not happening.


NP

There's obviously a disfunctional piece to your setup, but it seems like you explored most of the options. Im heating a 2,000 sq ft log home and when we hit 25 deg out, its easy to get the house temp well in to the 80s if need be (where I result to hanging in me scivies). In regards to your temps, in most cases if you shut it at 450, it wont climb all the way up to 650 an the likes on its own. At least I know mine wont climb that high. The only way to reach 650 is keeping the air open on a full load. If I shut it down around 500, maybe it will reach 550-600 w the secondaries, but not always.

 

[Nonprophet]

I'm really happy this is working better for you now. Try some short bolts in the holes for now. Keep us posted.

Thanks BeGreen! I'm pretty happy/relieved myself. Because we bought the stove used and for a very low price, I was really beginning to worry that our stove was somehow defective......

I still can't shut the primary air down more than 75% and keep the secondaries engaged and the stovetop temps much above 375 or so, so I think I will plug the 3 extra holes I drilled in the doghouse cover to see if this improves the performance of the secondaries now that we appear to have sufficient draft in the stove's new location.


NP

 

[Nonprophet]

With the current weather conditions in PA, I don't get "raging secondaries and 650+ stovetop" with the air shut down 90% either. I DO get raging secondaries and 450-500 stovetop with the air shut as far as it will go. When it gets colder, and the draft pulls a bit harder, then I think I'll see somewhat higher temperatures, especially with very dry wood.

Boy, I'd love to be able to do that with our Oslo--as it is if I shut the primary own down much past 75% the stovetop temp drops to 375 or so and the flue temps drop down below 300. I'm going to try and plug the extra holes in our doghouse cover and see if that improves things any.

It sounds like your stove is performing the way it should now. Lots of folks say they need to leave a door cracked open for a little while on startup. There are a lot of variables in play when starting a fire, so it's no surprise that some folks need to crack a door and some don't. But your earlier reports of the stove basically going out if you closed the door - that's something wrong there.

Yes, I still have to crack either the front or side door for 10 mins or so when starting a fire, but it used to be 30 mins+ so that's a big improvement.

I know the manual calls for a minimum of 13' for an Oslo chimney, but IMHO it's more like 18'-20' AND you have to have very dry, well seasoned wood. In that regard I still find the Oslo a little "finicky" in that I think all in all I'd rather have a stove that operated a bit better at the margins. In general, it seems like the EPA steel stoves tend to be more "forgiving" than the equivalent cast iron stoves, but maybe that's just my erroneous perception.


NP

 

[Nonprophet]

NP, glad to hear you are getting things figured out. I'm still trying to get my Oslo figured out as I have had many of the same symptoms you describe. I need to leave my side door open at least a couple inches for almost 30 minutes to get things warmed up enough to shut it. I can have an absolutely raging fire with every piece burning, shut the door and have the fire go out in less than a minute. But, I've learned that if i open it back up, let it burn for another 10 minutes or so and shut, it will keep burning and I can get the stove top up to 600.

I started with 14" of glue and added 3 feet which hasn't seemed to make any difference. Checked the air control and it is working fine. Air supply in the back seems to be clear. In my case, I can get it to burn pretty well but it just takes so long to get there, I keep thinking there is something amiss.

As someone said in another thread, the Oslo is like a freight train, slow to get going but then a great heat producer. Unfortunately, my Morso has me really spoiled when I can reload and have it shut down 90% in 5 minutes with a flue temp of 1000 °F. I guess that makes the Morso a sports car. ;-)

Hi Wendall! Yes, I remember you were having similar problems with your Oslo too. Like I said in another post above, I think that the Oslo's are particularly sensitive to needing strong draft and very dry wood--I'm thinking a minimum of 18'+ of class A chimney especially if you live in an area like we do where overnight lows in the 35-45 degree range are common which doesn't foster strong draft like lower temps do.

Personally, I'd rather have a stove that operated better at the margins than our Oslo does, and, while we got a great deal on our Oslo used, I'm not sure I'd fork out the dough for a new one, though overall we are happy with the Oslo.


NP

 

[spendaviscpa]

Great that you got it figured out! Just to be clear, do you have the USA plate with extra holes drilled, but no washers? Is this correct? You are essentially using a EUR plate then. I’ve re-read the thread a few times and I just want to make sure I understand your final outcome! Thanks

Yes, that's correct. We're using no washers and just the modified doghouse cover with 3 extra holes drilled into it. We bought the stove used, so I don't know if Oslo's come new with both the USA plate and the EUR plate--ours only came with the USA plate.


NP

NP, I’m really glad you got your setup working. I’m wondering if you could share how many and what size holes you drilled in the doghouse cover. I’m not ready to take that step yet. My Oslo is new (about a month old) and it seems like it wants to burn in the 400-450 range. I’m not living in the house yet, so I want more time to see how the stove operates with more use. I looked at the dog house cover and I’ve got 3 holes for air to enter. Anyway, I’m just curious! Thank you!

 

[Nonprophet]

If I shut it down around 500, maybe it will reach 550-600 w the secondaries, but not always.

That's one thing that still nags me--our stove does NOT increase in temperature once we've really cut back the primary air (i.e. 75% or more) and the secondaries are burning well--at best it will maintain the current stovetop temps, but usually it drops 50-100 degrees which is contrary to what most Oslo owners are reporting. Maybe once I temporarily plug the extra hols in our doghouse cover that I drilled this too will improve.


NP

 

[Nonprophet]

Great that you got it figured out! Just to be clear, do you have the USA plate with extra holes drilled, but no washers? Is this correct? You are essentially using a EUR plate then. I’ve re-read the thread a few times and I just want to make sure I understand your final outcome! Thanks

Yes, that's correct. We're using no washers and just the modified doghouse cover with 3 extra holes drilled into it. We bought the stove used, so I don't know if Oslo's come new with both the USA plate and the EUR plate--ours only came with the USA plate.


NP

NP, I’m really glad you got your setup working. I’m wondering if you could share how many and what size holes you drilled in the doghouse cover. I’m not ready to take that step yet. My Oslo is new (about a month old) and it seems like it wants to burn in the 400-450 range. I’m not living in the house yet, so I want more time to see how the stove operates with more use. I looked at the dog house cover and I’ve got 3 holes for air to enter. Anyway, I’m just curious! Thank you!

I'll have to check to be certain, but I believe that I drilled 3 new holes for a total of 6--but it may only be 5 total. I drilled them approximately the same size (maybe a teensy bit smaller) than the factory holes are.

NP

 

[Green Energy]

Wood is 15-18%. Jotul says 14' is adequate and as i said, 17" isn't making any difference. This is 5' of double wall, 3' of Class A in a chase in the attic and then 9' of Class A out the roof.

I think 14 -16' flue height is the minimum - any elbows will reduce the draft as well. On a cold start, it takes more time to get the flue hot. Until the flue gets hot, the draft will be marginal, meaning that the oxygen will not be pulled into the stove as fast, taking longer to get the fire hot. Keeping the side door open to get the fire (and flue hot) will help. Sounds like you have dry wood. But I think you need to consider the height of the flue as a performance issue, especially at startup.

If the performance is better at after hot reload, than this would also be an indicator that there may be a draft issue at start up.

 

[wendell]

NP, glad to hear you are getting things figured out. I'm still trying to get my Oslo figured out as I have had many of the same symptoms you describe. I need to leave my side door open at least a couple inches for almost 30 minutes to get things warmed up enough to shut it. I can have an absolutely raging fire with every piece burning, shut the door and have the fire go out in less than a minute. But, I've learned that if i open it back up, let it burn for another 10 minutes or so and shut, it will keep burning and I can get the stove top up to 600.

I started with 14" of glue and added 3 feet which hasn't seemed to make any difference. Checked the air control and it is working fine. Air supply in the back seems to be clear. In my case, I can get it to burn pretty well but it just takes so long to get there, I keep thinking there is something amiss.

As someone said in another thread, the Oslo is like a freight train, slow to get going but then a great heat producer. Unfortunately, my Morso has me really spoiled when I can reload and have it shut down 90% in 5 minutes with a flue temp of 1000 °F. I guess that makes the Morso a sports car. ;-)

Hi Wendall! Yes, I remember you were having similar problems with your Oslo too. Like I said in another post above, I think that the Oslo's are particularly sensitive to needing strong draft and very dry wood--I'm thinking a minimum of 18'+ of class A chimney especially if you live in an area like we do where overnight lows in the 35-45 degree range are common which doesn't foster strong draft like lower temps do.

Personally, I'd rather have a stove that operated better at the margins than our Oslo does, and, while we got a great deal on our Oslo used, I'm not sure I'd fork out the dough for a new one, though overall we are happy with the Oslo.


NP

I hope you're not right about needing 18'. I'm at 17' and I can't go any higher because I'm near the peak on a 3/12 roof so I would have no where to run the support poles to raise them any higher and still have them be functional. I think the stove is working fine once it finally gets running but what doesn't seem right is how long it takes the stove to get there. It just seems odd to have a raging fire with the door open (and I can't just crack it, it's got to be open at least a couple inches) and have the fire go out when I close the door. I'm only using the side door and have had absolutely no smoke spill out so it seems the draft is good. I have an exterior door right next to the stove and have opened it to see if I have an air supply problem but that has made no difference, either.

Fortunately, I don't need the stove until it gets in to the low 20's or lower as up to that point the Morso keeps the house plenty warm. Tonight would be a good night to give it a better test as we are getting down into the mid teens but we just painted the wall behind the Oslo and I'm a little concerned all that heat might cause it to dry oddly. (I used the IR gun the other night behind the stove pipe and got a reading of 170 °F) . The stove is installed 7" away from the wall with the rear heat shield installed but it still gave me a little bit of a pucker factor.

 

[Shari]

Wendell,

Did you follow the 3/2/10 chimney height rule on page 14? I'm confused about what you are saying about your chimney.

Shari

 

[wendell]

I'm WAY past 3/2/10.

 

[Shari]

Wendell,

Something's wrong... You are an experienced wood burner so you know how to check the gaskets but could you report your results on the $1 test on your ash pan door? Some people are reporting a failed test here. Also, have you checked the seals on the glass?

Hmmm... don't know what else to say.......

Shari

 

[Shari]

Wendell,

Sorry - got another thought here - Is your baffle above the air tubes in place correctly? It should touch the back wall. If it has shifted forward during shipping part of your air flow could be restricted. Also, the blanket above the baffle should not obstruct the front of the stove - it should lay in the same position as your baffle. (I probably said all that wrong so if it's not clear just ding me back and let me know.)

Again, some people are reporting their baffle is cemented to the back wall of the interior - mine is not, it's sitting there loose. It is corrugated and should sit down nicely on the air tubes.

Shari

 

[wendell]

Gaskets, baffle and blanket are fine. Since it will burn fine once it gets going I'm just going to wait until tomorrow night and see how it does. With the cooler temps, all of this may become a non-issue.

 

[Todd]

Should of kept the Fireview! :coolgrin: Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[wendell]

Can't believe you waited this long! ;-)

Timed loading up the Morso wrong last night so it was a little chilly in the house this morning so fired up the Oslo when I got up this morning. The colder temps definitely helped get things going this morning but I again shut the door too soon and although the fire kept going for a while, it was definitely dying out. Just 5 more minutes of an open door and was able to get it going with the door closed again. Made it up over 600 in the back right corner within 15 minutes and was able to maintain that at 50%. Shut it down all the way shortly after and that was too much so lost the flame and the top temperature started dropping pretty quickly.

I opened it back up to bring the temp back up, went down 50% and then down to 75% about 15 minutes later and was able to still stay over 600. On my first reload, I was able to get it back up over 600 really quickly. I'm now on my second reload with 4 big ash chunks and cruising along at 475 at 75% closed.

So, although I'm not getting quite the performance that others have stated, at this point, I just need to learn how to run this stove as well as I can run my Morso. With the Morso, I can control the temp exactly where I want it and I'm sure, with time, I will get there with the Oslo.

 

[Renovation]

I thought I'd just make sure again that the air channels weren't plugged somehow (it's amazing where mice will build their nests here in the boonies.....) and so I removed the doghouse cover to check for any blockages. I used a small can of compressed air to blow through the chambers. No ash or debris was visible, nor was there any sound of anything moving around in the air chambers. When I put the DH cover back on. I decided to leave the "spacer washers" off.

Hey NP,

As a firm believer in the scientific method, I want to remind you that you changed *two* things before your burn improved. That's not to say you're on the wrong track, but just a reminder, just in case.

Congrats!

 

[wendell]

Nothing like single digit temps to solve what ails you. Raked the coals forward this morning, loaded it up and had the door shut in less than 10 minutes. On reload, door shut in less than 2 minutes and now cruising along with the primary about 80% closed and stove top over 600 °F .

Even when I was having some challenges, it was obvious this stove was a serious heater. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get some more of this abundant heat up to the second story.

 

[Shari]

Nothing like single digit temps to solve what ails you. Raked the coals forward this morning, loaded it up and had the door shut in less than 10 minutes. On reload, door shut in less than 2 minutes and now cruising along with the primary about 80% closed and stove top over 600 °F .

Even when I was having some challenges, it was obvious this stove was a serious heater. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get some more of this abundant heat up to the second story.

Great news, Wendell! Put a fan at the bottom of your upstair steps and blow that cold air towards your stove room.

Shari

 

[wendell]

There are already fans at the top of the steps and the end of the hall but there are a few too many turns. What I'm thinking is to cut a few vents in the top of the wall that separates the stove room from the steps to let the heat take a more direct route.

 

[gizmos]

Would you mind posting a picture of your modified dog house ?
Still following your thread. Glad it's working out.