I have a F400 castine 2 door stove. 6" stove pipe, one elbow going to a 38" on center from floor 12" length from elbow then through wall to chimney. Inside the chimney is 8" galvanized pipe going up the chimney. I'm over 2' above the roof and not getting enough draft. I figure the top of the pipe is around 25' high from the ground. I have to start the fire with the ash pan door open. After a while I close the door and let it run for a while and start to close it down and if I go any lower than 1/3 closeing it down the flames go out. This is the picture of the cap I have on the top of the pipe. I ran my Jotul 507 coal stove the last few years with no problems. The chimney is cleaned out every year by a sweep. Any suggestions?
F 400 castine draft problem, Not enough draft!
- Thread starter jotulboy
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![[Hearth.com] F 400 castine draft problem, Not enough draft!](/talk/data/attachments/13/13516-2d38fb92110f4c8f6e4842fab853a23c.jpg?hash=Nsdnpt9av5)
The Castine likes a strong draft. I think the cold, oversized pipe is not getting warm enough. It would perform better with a 6" insulated liner.
The wood should also be checked to make sure it's not contributing to the problem. How dry is the wood that is being burned and how large are the splits? What is the average stove top temp?
The wood should also be checked to make sure it's not contributing to the problem. How dry is the wood that is being burned and how large are the splits? What is the average stove top temp?
the wood is oak and 2 years dry. I split it small so everyone can handle the wood. I also find it burns the wood up in a few hours. It worked fine with my Jotul 507 coal stove.
Surprised that BeG didn't jump on it, but do you really mean galvanized or do you mean stainless? If you have galvanized, STOP BURNING RIGHT AWAY
It is very bad for your health. Google it and see what comes up. You should never have galvanized going up to those temps. Seriously, make sure of this as of NOW.
Please post up as quick as you can.
We'll go from there.
Chad
It is very bad for your health. Google it and see what comes up. You should never have galvanized going up to those temps. Seriously, make sure of this as of NOW. Please post up as quick as you can.
We'll go from there.
Chad
Dear jotulboy, I had exactly the same problems with my F400. Also own an Jotul3 and burn the same wood, same type of chimney etc. Checked all was clear in the stove and then scratched my head. In the end I measured the area of all the air box holes and compared it to the area of the slide adjust and found the air jet holes to be only 50% of the controlled area apertures. So I drilled out the airbox holes to double their area (not double the diameter!). Air holes will still be the main restriction in the air supply though. Works wonderfully now.
One wotton is in the uk diffrent stove two difrent dog house set up two there is a cast iron restricter plate on top of the baffle you may want to try and remove first three most likely cause of poor draft is wet wood and getting use to running a diffrent stove chad said and you should listen to no galvi on wood stoves.
Stoveguy13. first of all i have been using jotul stoves for many years and this is the first epa stove i have ever used. what wottenman says makes a lot of sense. and I am burning 2 year dried wood, oak. Also what do you thing the black pipe is made of?
galvinized steel that has black paint on it.
galvinized steel that has black paint on it.
that is fine but the old non epa stoves and the new epa stoves work diffrent it can not be started the same way you may have started the older stoves if you just want to go drilling holes in it go for it but that is not the right way to go about things i know you think you have dry wood and i am not saying you dont but this is what i do for a living and have seen this same thing many times wood and operation tend to be the cause of most of the problems if the stove needs larger air holes in the dog house jotul would have done that. the stove does not draft the chimney does how do you start the fire in your stove?
Having had the same problem, I installed an autodraft regulator above my stove, adjusted the disk weight inside the valve, and have had no draft issues since, and I'm running about 40ft of chimney. Works great for me.
![[Hearth.com] F 400 castine draft problem, Not enough draft!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/204618523-webp.208381/ "[Hearth.com] F 400 castine draft problem, Not enough draft!")
TS
TS
That is not the same problem at all, quite the opposite. jotulboy has weak draft and potentially damp wood.
Stoveguy13 is giving good advice. Don't modify the stove. Address the issues at hand: cold exterior chimney and possibly poor wood.
Stoveguy13 is giving good advice. Don't modify the stove. Address the issues at hand: cold exterior chimney and possibly poor wood.
Hi there,
The modification I made was to Item 35 (see website manual) which can be removed with the firebox from the inside of the stove and then unscrewed from it. I gauged the holes with a decent drill set (the three rows are all different) and then selected a drill x1.4 larger. Quite easy to drill out. I won't give drill sizes because we are metric here.
Regarding other comments 1) Yes the stove is in England (and not New England) but I believe the only change is a different Item 43 2) I have dry wood and a 40 ft flue and had the problem, it is therefore possible that you have a similar situation.
I did not make the modification lightly. I had perservered for two years with different loads of wood etc before I got so fed up I thought I would do this. These stoves cost $2000 in the UK! As I originally posted I have a Jotul 3 in an adjacent similar flued chimney and know how they should operate when working well. The Jotul 3 is super, I can't say the same of the F400 but we bought the F400 to suit the size of the (350 year old) fireplace.
Proceed at your own risk if you are sure the chimney is flued correctly. Let me know what you decide to do - I'd be interested. There are other posts on this site with similar F400 problems.
(broken link removed to http://www.jotul.com/FileArchive/Technical) Documentation/Wood Stoves/Jøtul F 400 Castine/Manual_F_400_USA_P02_150508.pdf
The modification I made was to Item 35 (see website manual) which can be removed with the firebox from the inside of the stove and then unscrewed from it. I gauged the holes with a decent drill set (the three rows are all different) and then selected a drill x1.4 larger. Quite easy to drill out. I won't give drill sizes because we are metric here.
Regarding other comments 1) Yes the stove is in England (and not New England) but I believe the only change is a different Item 43 2) I have dry wood and a 40 ft flue and had the problem, it is therefore possible that you have a similar situation.
I did not make the modification lightly. I had perservered for two years with different loads of wood etc before I got so fed up I thought I would do this. These stoves cost $2000 in the UK! As I originally posted I have a Jotul 3 in an adjacent similar flued chimney and know how they should operate when working well. The Jotul 3 is super, I can't say the same of the F400 but we bought the F400 to suit the size of the (350 year old) fireplace.
Proceed at your own risk if you are sure the chimney is flued correctly. Let me know what you decide to do - I'd be interested. There are other posts on this site with similar F400 problems.
(broken link removed to http://www.jotul.com/FileArchive/Technical) Documentation/Wood Stoves/Jøtul F 400 Castine/Manual_F_400_USA_P02_150508.pdf
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