Oslo installed but very lazy burn

[wendell]

Finally finished the install last night and have the second fire going now but it appears I have a pretty significant draft issue. I put in a load of pine (a little over 1/2 a load) this morning about an hour ago and finally closed the door. If I would've done this with my Morso with an equivalent amount of wood I would've melted the stove.

I am at the minimum for height on the chimney, 14' with 5 feet of flue, 3 feet of Class A in the attic in a chase and 6 feet out the roof, all straight up. 10-3-2 is well exceeded. When installing the flue I could feel a pretty good draft so it just doesn't make sense that it is burning like this.

I can add another 2 or 3 feet which will make cleaning a pain but it doesn't make sense that the burn is this bad. The highest stove temp I've gotten so far is 400 degrees.

Any ideas?

 

[Todd]

I'd play around with it a little more before adding anymore pipe, maybe try burning some different wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Possible scenarios . . . it's the shoulder season so the draft right now may be a bit sluggish . . . wood could possibly be not completely seasoned . . . or what I think is most likely . . . firebox needs more wood . . . I find that while I can have a small fire in the Oslo and it will warm up the house, this stove always seems to do much better and burn better with a full load in the firebox. I also find that even with a good draft to get the whole fire started from a cold start I need to keep the side door open ajar and let the stove and flue heat up nicely before closing the door and then starting to close down the air.

Some suggestions . . . take Todd's advice and try some different wood, try loading up the fire box more and try giving it more air longer before starting to close down the air control.

 

[jotulguy]

What was the stove top temp on that burn? Because the Jotul is a radiant stove they use very few fire brick to line the firebox (4 in the rear for close clearance). Most stoves that have a fire brick lining keep heat in the firebox and there for up the flue for help with the draft. Correct me if i am wrong but does Morso have a firebox liner also? Maybe a Skamol type material like the Scans do. If so it would greatly add to your draft.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wendell, was this during the big blow? If so, blame it on the weather.

 

[Shari]

Wendell,

Along with all the other tips when you slide the air control lever can you hear it opening and closing? It's been awhile but other people did post about a year ago that they had some cast iron burrs inhibiting the air control; or; possibly you have the air intake turned down (to the left) when it should be turned all the way up (to the right) when starting the fire.

Shari

 

[begreen]

Seems like we're missing something in this setup. Is the stove connected like the Morso was in your avatar? Single or double-wall connector? Top or rear vented? If there is a 90 + single wall + rear vent, the stove may be performing like it has a 10' flue.

 

[wendell]

See if I can remember all of the questions.

Double wall, straight up so I have the full 14'. As I was putting the last piece of pipe together last night there was a pretty big flow of air going up so I am leaning more toward something with the stove.

The wind had died done last night and we were in the 30's so I don't think either of those are the issue.

The wood last night was the same I have been burning great in the Morso, 2 year C/S/S elm. This morning was pine that was 18% 2 months ago.

The air control is to the right. I did close it down last night and it looked like the fire was going to out within seconds so it is working. Also, it doesn't burn a whole lot better with the door cracked and I opened an exterior door right by the stove so I do not believe it is an air supply problem.

It is too warm now to load it up and see how it does but I will try that tonight. I will also split up the pine smaller and see if just getting a big fire going will solve the problem. It was funny last night as I thought I still had my Fireview as the flames looked exactly like Todd's videos with the "ghost flames" dancing above the wood for a while.

The only 2 things I can think of at this point is something dislodged in the stove when moving it that is blocking the air flow out of the stove or what was suggested that I just haven't got it hot enough for it to burn right yet.

 

[jotulguy]

The stoves themselves dont have but 1 moving part on them....so as a rule its not normally the stove. That being said you can do 2 things to see if maybe something is off with that one. First 10mm ratchet and take off air inspection cover in the front inside of door. Make sure the slide is in place and moving freely. After that behind the stove there is a 3 inch round hole to allow air for secondaries. Use your hand and make sure that isnt plugged up in any way. If those 2 things are done and nothing is better I would have to point my finger at the flue then. If all else fails adding 2 feet will make your life much easier with the stove.

 

[begreen]

Good tips. Definitely pull the doghouse and make sure the air control is working over its entire range and that there are no obstructions or a random packing peanut or extra cement are not in there. Jotulguy, is the hole in back is for the oak that feeds primary and secondaries? Wendell, did you try opening a nearby window?

If all looks good on the stove, as a test, I'd get a cheap 3-4' length of 6" galvanized duct pipe, remove the cap up top and stick it in there for a fire or two. If that makes a dramatic difference then the stove want's more pipe.

 

[jotulguy]

You are correct BeGreen. It is for both.

 

[wendell]

The stoves themselves dont have but 1 moving part on them....so as a rule its not normally the stove. That being said you can do 2 things to see if maybe something is off with that one. First 10mm ratchet and take off air inspection cover in the front inside of door. Make sure the slide is in place and moving freely. After that behind the stove there is a 3 inch round hole to allow air for secondaries. Use your hand and make sure that isnt plugged up in any way. If those 2 things are done and nothing is better I would have to point my finger at the flue then. If all else fails adding 2 feet will make your life much easier with the stove.

I will take a look but it doesn't seem to be a supply problem as with the side door cracked and an exterior door 2 feet away open, it still didn't burn great so it is either I just didn't build a big enough fire or I need a taller chimney. I actually have a 2' and 3' section of Class A I was planning on returning but can definitely put one of them up there. It already looks crazy tall since my roof is only a 3/12. Going up to 9' out the roof is going to be really tall. ;-)

I guess since I have the choice of both, I might as well slap on the 3'?

 

[begreen]

First try a hotter fire to see if the pipe/stove needs to be hotter. That's the easiest test. If still poor draft, then put on the 3' section.

 

[ansehnlich1]

my oslo behaves more like a locomotive getting up to speed than a funny car in the quarter mile. i know, that may sound funny, but that's the way it is. from a cold start, rolled newspaper, maybe some cardboard, dry oak or pine kindling fitted loosely, some small splits on top of that. light it off, let the side door open for a spell, then close her up. immediately it looks like the thing is being snuffed out, the flames die down, etc. then she starts to crank up again, and shortly goes into secondary burn. i have around 18 feet of exterior brick chimney, 6 inch insulated flex liner.

 

[wendell]

Well, the jury is still out but at the moment, I would say it was a heat issue. I chopped a bunch of pine, a little larger than kindling size and was able to close the door within 10 minutes. Shortly after starting, I rearranged the splits to choke off the fire so it would really start smoking and with the side door wide open, the copious amounts of smoke that was being produced was being pulled straight up at a very rapid pace with nothing even close to spilling out of the stove.

I say the jury is still out though as the stove top was only at 275 but has now climbed up to 350 so thought I would see a little more heat than that.

But once this burns down, I'll load it up good and see what happens.

Is ti OK to load wood on top of the primary air inlet? If not, it would seem you are going to lose a lot of the firebox.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I always dig a little channel out in front of the doghouse air inlet holes and try and position a split out across that, maybe rest it up on the doghouse there, but youu're right, you don't want to plug'em shut.

My gut tells me you ain't loaded 'er up yet

If ya got draft she'll burn, remember what I said, she's slow to get goin' but once she kicks in you'll see.

I just packed mine about 10 minutes ago and she's up to 300 now. It'll take some time but I'll let her go on up to about 600 then back off the air to just a smidge open, like maybe an eighth or quarter inch slide to the right from full closed, and let her burn all night that way.

 

[ansehnlich1]

well wendell, wanted to let you the oslo's climbed to 400 already and she's really crankin.....gotta keep an eye on it now cuz it'll go and shoot to 600 pretty quick.

keep posting cuz I'm interested in how your's is running.

 

[wendell]

It's up to 400 now and will probably be ready for a reload so I'll give you an update in a couple hours.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I ain't trying to hijack your thread but my oslo's burnin at 500 now, I went over and set the air back to half on it. I'll let it run up to 600 then shut it down to almost closed on the air control, just leave it open a bit and it'll burn clean through the load.

good luck on yours, like I said, I don't think you've got it up and runnin' yet.

 

[wendell]

Well, it appears I just needed to learn to go big or go home. It got quickly up to 525 and it was so warm in the room I had to turn it down over half way before letting it get to 600 and leave that part of the house. Went back to check on it a half hour later and it was still cruising at 550.

We normally won't have to even run this stove until it gets into the 20's so I think it is going to work just fine.

 

[begreen]

Ta Da! Houston, we have ignition.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Well, it appears I just needed to learn to go big or go home. It got quickly up to 525 and it was so warm in the room I had to turn it down over half way before letting it get to 600 and leave that part of the house. Went back to check on it a half hour later and it was still cruising at 550.

We normally won't have to even run this stove until it gets into the 20's so I think it is going to work just fine.

HA!! I love it when ya overshoot and have to open up the windows

Good to hear you starting to figure that thing out for sure. You'll get to know just how often you have to burn, what type wood, how much wood to load depending on weather conditions and stuff.

Everything sounded just normal on your setup and I couldn't figure why that ozzie wouldn't just crank up and burn, and then had a suspicion that maybe you were just not letting her rip, now I know when it throws out that north wind and falls to 10 or 12 degrees you'll be laughin' at the oil man!

 

[wendell]

Yeah, this thing is a serious heater. I really installed this stove for my wife as I was OK with the house being in the high 60's with the Morso but I knew she was always cold. She was downstairs last night when I was playing with the Oslo and I didn't have the Morso lit so when she came upstairs to go to bed to a 76 degree house, she was a very happy camper!

 

[spirilis]

um crazy thought maybe, but, perhaps turning the air down a tad in the beginning--back to 3/4ths open or something--during startup? wondering if your draft is actually too good and sucking an excessive amount of the heat up the chimney, hard to believe with 14' but who knows
Worth a shot once and if it doesn't work any better, forget I ever mentioned it

 

[begreen]

It takes a while to learn how to burn well in any new stove. You'll have nice predictable burns happening soon. Every fire doesn't have to be a huge one. Once the stove is warmed up, just add a couple splits when it needs them and let it cruise at 400. Forget the secondary lightshow, especially in shoulder season weather and just go for predictable comfort.