Jotul c550 Rockland tips thread

[Patmosphere]

 

[Ridgewood]

Got the Jotul CF550 Installed. Heres the full install progression from start to finish. Amazing stove - by far the best decision I've made on the new house. Even the dog and wife love it.

https://bit.ly/2ELFrUe

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Got the Jotul CF550 Installed. Heres the full install progression from start to finish. Amazing stove - by far the best decision I've made on the new house. Even the dog and wife love it.

https://bit.ly/2ELFrUe

Looks great man! Have a warm Xmas!

 

[jatoxico]

Congrats @Ridgewood they're built like tanks!

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Was curious if Jotul offers extension to their andirons for the 550 insert. The ones that are designed into the stove are pretty useless due to being so small.

 

[jatoxico]

Was curious if Jotul offers extension to their andirons for the 550 insert. The ones that are designed into the stove are pretty useless due to being so small.

Agree if they were larger it would make it easier to fill the stove if they were bigger. I don't think they make anything but I've thought of shaping a piece of metal tubing that could be slid over the existing ones.

Would also like if the existing grill had an ash lip.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Agree if they were larger it would make it easier to fill the stove if they were bigger. I don't think they make anything but I've thought of shaping a piece of metal tubing that could be slid over the existing ones.

Would also like if the existing grill had an ash lip.

Nice, what thickness of steel tube would you use?

 

[EJL923]

You’ll find out that having larger irons in front would prob make it a pita to load if they were high enough to be effective, it would have to be high enough for a second log. Further, it would bring ash piled up towards the door and make a mess. You’ll get good at stacking that second front log behind the bottom front so it would lean back into the stove.

But if you want something larger, I would just have some pieces bent and make a rack that fits inside

 

[Ridgewood]

On the 550 - how far to the left does your air intake go when its fully closed. Attached is a photo of mine fully closed, and I'm concerned that its not closing all the way.

 

[jatoxico]

Nice, what thickness of steel tube would you use?

Would have to do a little search and think about temps etc but don't think it would take much. As far as height my first thought is something at around 4" total that could be slipped on and off.

Much more than that and I think the issues EJL mentioned would come into play too much. Just would like to get another split in across the front so you can load the box without having it ending up on the doghouse or the glass.

 

[jatoxico]

On the 550 - how far to the left does your air intake go when its fully closed. Attached is a photo of mine fully closed, and I'm concerned that its not closing all the way.

Goes all the way, now .

 

[Ridgewood]

Goes all the way, now .

?

 

[jatoxico]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/jotul-550-primary-air-modification.120412/

 

[Ridgewood]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/jotul-550-primary-air-modification.120412/

Got it - thanks. I think i'll not mess around with my brand new multi-thousand dollar new insert just as winter starts

Any idea why they made it like this in the first place?

 

[jatoxico]

Got it - thanks. I think i'll not mess around with my brand new multi-thousand dollar new insert just as winter starts

Any idea why they made it like this in the first place?

Dunno. As I said in the orig thread the one center air opening is angled so it cannot ever be fully closed presumably so it met EPA specs. The other square openings should have closed all the way but a couple on one side remained partially open because the slider did not have full travel.

Now, as then I rarely shut it down all the way but now and then it is nice to have full use of the control.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

On the 550 - how far to the left does your air intake go when its fully closed. Attached is a photo of mine fully closed, and I'm concerned that its not closing all the way.

View attachment 236751

That is definitely not closing all the way. It should go almost all the way to left for low burn. If stove is new I’d call dealer. The diagram in manual gives a good diagram of what all the way closed should look like.

 

[Ridgewood]

That is definitely not closing all the way. It should go almost all the way to left for low burn. If stove is new I’d call dealer. The diagram in manual gives a good diagram of what all the way closed should look like.

So I called the dealer and they checked a few other units that they've had on display; and they told me they all close exactly like what I have shown.

From jatoxico other thread - sounds like this is common place with the 550; and even those that customized it don't shut it down all the way. I'll probably just leave it as is and enjoy the burn.

 

[jatoxico]

So I called the dealer and they checked a few other units that they've had on display; and they told me they all close exactly like what I have shown.

From jatoxico other thread - sounds like this is common place with the 550; and even those that customized it don't shut it down all the way. I'll probably just leave it as is and enjoy the burn.

Make that decision with dry wood and cold weather. That's when you'll know if too much air is getting in. If you're not over-firing and are otherwise satisfied with the set-up you can leave it.

As I said I rarely shut it down all the way. On the other hand I routinely use some of the extra slide travel I gained for at least some of the burn cycle.

 

[EJL923]

From the picture, I would say it closes even earlier now, maybe they need to meet stricter epa or uses less air elsewhere. Mine was maybe a hair more than half of what you show. I had major draft issues and so that helped a little being able to close all the way, which is how I run 90% of the time. If you need to close it further, it is an easy job to grind down the stop, my shop actually did that one for me.

 

[jatoxico]

From the picture, I would say it closes even earlier now, maybe they need to meet stricter epa or uses less air elsewhere. Mine was maybe a hair more than half of what you show. I had major draft issues and so that helped a little being able to close all the way, which is how I run 90% of the time. If you need to close it further, it is an easy job to grind down the stop, my shop actually did that one for me.

I have to say it doesn't make much sense that Jotul created castings for an air control that only operates 75% or less of its capability. Notice it slides fully open. To me the answer is clearly that they made a small change to the slider so it could not close all the way because it helped them meet emissions spec when tested on a chimney that was probably 15' with moderate outside temps.

My chimney is 25-26' (something like that) and it gets cold enough here sometimes. Its like when Yamaha and other manufacturers needed to meet EPA emissions spec on their 2 strokes. Rather than a full redesign they did it by simply limiting the amount the throttle (carb) could open. Cheap easy "fix" for them, poor performance for the user. And then everyone including me, ground off the stupid little tab they added and we were back in business.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Here’s mine fully closed. Bought stove new in 2013.

 

[Soundchasm]

On the 550 - how far to the left does your air intake go when its fully closed. Attached is a photo of mine fully closed, and I'm concerned that its not closing all the way.

View attachment 236751

Mine is the same as yours. I worried about it as well. When you're feeling ambitious, I think that cover comes off and you can see it's deliberate on their part that you can never fully cut the air. Having had an airtight stove before and in addition to the Jotul 550, I worried I'd never be able to cut the air to a runaway stove or chimney fire. I think the stove has other air intakes, but I'll let the smart guys speak to that if true.

But none of that has happened. I clean the liner twice a year, and I actually believe I don't know how to over-fire the thing!

My two rules of thumb are that is the stove is over-firing, open the door. That inrush of cold air drops the stove temp incredibly quickly. The other is cut the air for a chimney fire. Sweeping twice a year from the bottom up with a sooteater prevents a chimney fire. Done and done.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Mine is the same as yours. I worried about it as well. When you're feeling ambitious, I think that cover comes off and you can see it's deliberate on their part that you can never fully cut the air. Having had an airtight stove before and in addition to the Jotul 550, I worried I'd never be able to cut the air to a runaway stove or chimney fire. I think the stove has other air intakes, but I'll let the smart guys speak to that if true.

But none of that has happened. I clean the liner twice a year, and I actually believe I don't know how to over-fire the thing!

My two rules of thumb are that is the stove is over-firing, open the door. That inrush of cold air drops the stove temp incredibly quickly. The other is cut the air for a chimney fire. Sweeping twice a year from the bottom up with a sooteater prevents a chimney fire. Done and done.

When did you buy your stove? I wonder if the air control differences started in the last few yrs since I bought mine.

 

[Soundchasm]

When did you buy your stove? I wonder if the air control differences started in the last few yrs since I bought mine.

Mine was installed 12/11. Purchased as new, but I don't know the manufacture date.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

The most updated manual online shows diagram of the lever being able to be moved well to the left and they provide explanation of different settings.
Seems odd that different stoves of same model have differences like this.