Cracked Jotul Oslo safe to keep using?

[dave kay]

About to start my fifth woodburning season w/the Oslo. Cracked the bottom inside bottom plate right corner in Season 1. Vertical crack also on outside back edge but not bottom and structure seems sound. Have fully used stove despite crack for four winters since. Thanks to your forum I now know the exact same crack is common, how to replace the part w/the crack, and why it happened. Can I please get some feedback (not a guarantee!) on whether folks would go another burning season beyond four. What precisely are the risks based on your experience given the crack isn't widening?

 

[begreen]

Welcome Dave. That looks like the infamous 'ashpan door used as an air supply' crack. Is it?

The risk is that the crack gets worse. That would admit uncontrolled air right below the fire bed. The consequences would depend on how seriously the crack opens up. Personally I wouldn't want to contemplate the worse case scenario. Especially if happens late at night or when away from the house. The base needs replacing IMO.

 

[dave kay]

Welcome Dave. That looks like the infamous 'ashpan door used as an air supply' crack. Is it?

The risk is that the crack gets worse. That would admit uncontrolled air right below the fire bed. The consequences would depend on how seriously the crack opens up. Personally I wouldn't want to contemplate the worse case scenario. Especially if happens late at night or when away from the house. The base needs replacing IMO.

I'm afraid so. The infamous ash pan door open for draft is the culprit. I wish the Jotul drafted better ( a Regency I had was perfect in this regard). But most of all I wish I hadn't cracked the thing! Thanks, begreen.

 

[begreen]

Bummer. How tall is the flue on the stove and how is it connected?

 

[firefighterjake]

Welcome Dave . . . sorry to see this . . . but perhaps your photo and post may serve as a warning to the folks who invariably come on here from time to time and talk about using their ash pan to start the fire and when called on it say that folks here are being overly safe and that they've done it for years without problems.

To answer your original question . . . me . . . I would fix this or replace the whole stove and chaulk this up to a learning experience . . . then again in my business I tend to err on the side of caution and would not sleep easy knowing that there is a big crack in the bottom on my stove . . .

 

[dave kay]

Bummer. How tall is the flue on the stove and how is it connected?

Begreen: Flue goes straight up 40" then 90 degrees at a distance of 36" to thimble in new brick, lined chimney. It's double insulated with sections screwed together.

 

[dave kay]

Welcome Dave . . . sorry to see this . . . but perhaps your photo and post may serve as a warning to the folks who invariably come on here from time to time and talk about using their ash pan to start the fire and when called on it say that folks here are being overly safe and that they've done it for years without problems.

To answer your original question . . . me . . . I would fix this or replace the whole stove and chaulk this up to a learning experience . . . then again in my business I tend to err on the side of caution and would not sleep easy knowing that there is a big crack in the bottom on my stove . . .

 

[dave kay]

Jake: You're right. Faced with big cost and wanting to fire up the stove, people throw caution to the wind. I can fix this thing and still recover most of the heating season.

 

[begreen]

Begreen: Flue goes straight up 40" then 90 degrees at a distance of 36" to thimble in new brick, lined chimney. It's double insulated with sections screwed together.

The connecting portion sounds fine. Is this an exterior or interior chimney? What are the chimney liner interior dimensions. How tall is it to the top of the chimney?

 

[dave kay]

The connecting portion sounds fine. Is this an exterior or interior chimney? What are the chimney liner interior dimensions. How tall is it to the top of the chimney?

Interior chimney: from thimble 16 feet to peak inside with 8" round ceramic flue, then 4-5 feet above roof.

 

[begreen]

The chimney sounds pretty good. It not ideal sizing but it sounds like it should draw ok. Is the draft weak all winter long or just during milder weather? Is there a cleanout door at the base of the chimney? If there is, is it sealed or gasketed?

 

[dave kay]

The chimney sounds pretty good. It not ideal sizing but it sounds like it should draw ok. Is the draft weak all winter long or just during milder weather? Is there a cleanout door at the base of the chimney? If there is, is it sealed or gasketed?

Draft weak all season but maybe the Regency spoiled me (in a different chimney). Maybe you're on to something with cleanout door at foot of chimney. It fits loosely and is neither sealed nor gasketed.

 

[begreen]

Some stoves breath easier than others due to the air intake design. Take some duct tape and seal the cleanout door shut. Or take some silicone and put a good bead on the door rim, then close the door on it to form a gasket.

 

[disamatic]

Looks like some good prep.work and a few welding rods and she is good to go! 7018.

 

[xman23]

Dave is that the front or back of the floor? Isn't the ash box under that area? If so I think it's not open to the outside. What would be the issue with leaving it. It looks like the floor. I don't know, but think you would have to dismantle the stove to replace it. I would look it to welding it.

 

[dave kay]

Dave is that the front or back of the floor? Isn't the ash box under that area? If so I think it's not open to the outside. What would be the issue with leaving it. It looks like the floor. I don't know, but think you would have to dismantle the stove to replace it. I would look it to welding it.

Tom (and disamatic): Welding would be cheaper, faster, easier. The hairline crack at the back, right rear (pic was taken through the front door) extends from the corner of the grate to the corner of the floor. I doubt the ash box is under all or much of it or that it's open to the outside. Replacing the cracked floor with a new floor is probably best but, yes, would require dismantling the stove. Whether welding or replacing floor I have to get the stove to the shop, as I see it, and getting a lift won't be easy.

 

[Cockshutt]

I would try to find a pipe welder with a welding rig. For a few bucks or a few beers he could have that taken care of where it sits. Just run two cables into your house. Pre heat the joint. Pipe welds are routinely x-rayed so you know he will be good.

 

[dave kay]

I would try to find a pipe welder with a welding rig. For a few bucks or a few beers he could have that taken care of where it sits. Just run two cables into your house. Pre heat the joint. Pipe welds are routinely x-rayed so you know he will be good.

Good to hear job could be relatively cheap and easy.

 

[xman23]

Dave, did you say you know it was caused by running it with the ash door open? Can you give us the details. How long did it run, how hot did it get and how many times? I ask because a few years ago my wife didn't get the ash door closed because of ash behind the drawer. She got it real hot and didn't know why. She called the FD. I'm going to look close at mine.

I to would get a pipe fitter and weld it in place.

 

[dave kay]

Dave, did you say you know it was caused by running it with the ash door open? Can you give us the details. How long did it run, how hot did it get and how many times? I ask because a few years ago my wife didn't get the ash door closed because of ash behind the drawer. She got it real hot and didn't know why. She called the FD. I'm going to look close at mine.

I to would get a pipe fitter and weld it in place.

Tom: Yeah, I had the ash door open and heard the crack but at first found nothing wrong. I've been using the ash door as draft since, bringing the stove up to 400-500 degrees before shutting the ash door and opening the side door if extra air needed. Totally against directions but it worked (if you call getting a crack working and you never leave the stove unattended on startup). When you take a closer look at your Oslo, examine that back right corner. That's where the crack commonly occurs.

 

[xman23]

Tom: Yeah, I had the ash door open and heard the crack but at first found nothing wrong. I've been using the ash door as draft since, bringing the stove up to 400-500 degrees before shutting the ash door and opening the side door if extra air needed. Totally against directions but it worked (if you call getting a crack working and you never leave the stove unattended on startup). When you take a closer look at your Oslo, examine that back right corner. That's where the crack commonly occurs.

Will do a crack search before lighting her up next weekend. I just scrubbed the inside down, but wasn't looking for a crack, so you can miss it. We had the door cracked open. But enough to burn the first load of wood hot enough to boil the water in the pot on the stove top.

 

[smokedragon]

I am gonna go with the consensus here, that I would be afraid to burn it like that on the off chance that you get a runaway stove when nobody is around to stop it. But the fact that you have burned it four seasons already and it hasn't gotten any worse........I guess that is your call. I would have fixed it after the first season, but I am a worry wart when it comes to my stove.

 

[dave kay]

About to start my fifth woodburning season w/the Oslo. Cracked the bottom inside bottom plate right corner in Season 1. Vertical crack also on outside back edge but not bottom and structure seems sound. Have fully used stove despite crack for four winters since. Thanks to your forum I now know the exact same crack is common, how to replace the part w/the crack, and why it happened. Can I please get some feedback (not a guarantee!) on whether folks would go another burning season beyond four. What precisely are the risks based on your experience given the crack isn't widening?

I am gonna go with the consensus here, that I would be afraid to burn it like that on the off chance that you get a runaway stove when nobody is around to stop it. But the fact that you have burned it four seasons already and it hasn't gotten any worse........I guess that is your call. I would have fixed it after the first season, but I am a worry wart when it comes to my stove.

I am gonna go with the consensus here, that I would be afraid to burn it like that on the off chance that you get a runaway stove when nobody is around to stop it. But the fact that you have burned it four seasons already and it hasn't gotten any worse........I guess that is your call. I would have fixed it after the first season, but I am a worry wart when it comes to my stove.

Latest on the Jotul crack: A Massachusetts Jotul dealer says cracks in cast iron aren't weldable and my local welder agrees, adding that with changes from cold to very hot the crack will reoccur along the weld. He suggests a good cleanup of the crack with refractory cement as filler but notes this is a temporary fix.
So replacement of the stove bottom is going to be the solution, with the bottom up. Can anyone identify the part number for the cracked floor? Does the job require having other things on hand--new bolts, refractory cement, etc.? All advice appreciated.

 

[Cockshutt]

Didn't realize it was cast.

 

[smokedragon]

So replacement of the stove bottom is going to be the solution,

Ouch.......