Anyone know how a Jotul ignition lever should work?

[autopilot]

I’m not sure if my Jotul F305 was installed wrong, if I’m using it wrong, or something else.

If I leave the main air intake lever fully open and move the ignition lever, it makes absolutely no difference (no visibly perceivable difference anyway) to the burn rate. Fully over to the left or the right, the stove operate just the same, no extra flames or doesn’t seem to be burning any better.

I was under the impression it would work like the wheel on the front of my Clearview stove, where it lets extra air in to help get the initial fire going. When I open the Clearview (we have two stoves, each end of the house) it ROARS and I get a great burn going quite quickly. The ignition lever on the Jotul seems to do nothing, or atleast is so subtle it’s effectively pointless.

Is this something the installer could have got wrong?

Any ideas?

 

[begreen]

Nice stove! We don't have them here, but I would guess that the ignition control is for boost air. If that is correct, its effectiveness may depend on how the stove is loaded. It will be more effective if air can get under the fire for starting. Try loading the stove with two "sleeper" sticks oriented N/S (parallel to the sides) about 6" apart in the center of the stove. Place some balls of newspaper between them, then build the wood on top. The sleepers will allow boost air to get underneath the wood and feed the starting fire.

This is not the same stove but it's an illustration of what I mean.

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[autopilot]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I have tried pretty much every configuration imaginable, with good seasoned wood. And tried it at lighting, reloading and other stages. Nothing works makes any difference.

 

[wild_thing]

I think, with the ignition lever to the right, air comes out more from the center. Ignition lever to the left delivers more air from the sides. The effect is very small, though. Overall I have the impression that this stoves air inlet is dimensioned too small. Other stoves I had allow much mor air, esp. in the ignition phase

 

[wild_thing]

I think, with the ignition lever to the right, air comes out more from the center. Ignition lever to the left delivers more air from the sides. The effect is very small, though. Overall I have the impression that this stoves air inlet is dimensioned too small. Other stoves I had allow much mor air, esp. in the ignition phase

We played with the ignitionever now for 2 years.
When opened you can hear that more air is sucked in . But the flames never change, neither at the center nor at the sides . Maybe additional air is fed to the chimney somewhere to be back or directly to the chimney, without be hitting the flames. For good luck purposes we always leave the lever on the right losit6.