F500 Surface Temperature Break-In

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Chimnoob

New Member
Nov 12, 2022
11
The Woods
Wow I have to concur with a few others on the Jotul manual. It's terribly written. Thank God for this community for providing real info. My hat's off to you all.

I'm in the break-in process now for the Jotul f500 V3 Oslo, and from the other threads I gather that the thermometer/probe that comes with the wood stove and enters into the top of the right plate is a catalytic thermometer and not what they're talking about when they say three break-in fire temps of 200, 400, and 500. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

So I plan on purchasing an IR thermometer today to take the surface temperature.

1. My question is whether it matters where I take the surface temperature. Should it be on the top middle? Or am I just searching for the hottest surface of the wood stove and keeping that just below their max recommended temps? The reason I ask is that at least for a small fire, to the touch, the stove hasn't felt uniformly hot.

2. My second question is that after the break-in, the manual recommends a most-efficient surface temp of 400-600. So can the catalytic thermostat be too hot? Or is that just a gauge of whether the catalyst is kicking in and all that matters is the surface temperature? What information should I be acquiring from the catalytic thermostat and how should it affect what I do to air flow, etc?

Thanks so much for all of your help!
 
Break-in temps are stove top temps, not the catalyst. There used to be this diagram for the thermometer placement in the F500 manual. Seems like it was forgotten.

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The catalyst would be too hot if it got over 1500º for more than a short time.