Help me run my jotul series 8ap...keeps going out

[rtpassini]

So this is a new to me stove (and wood stoves in general) I took it all apart and gasketed most of it (what was bad) and resealed stuff. Replaced the insulation around the cat. The cat was perfectly clean when I bought it from the previous owner. The chimney and all that is new construction.
This is after a good 30 minutes of good burn with flue temps in the 4-500 degrees according to the thermometer. I attached pictures of the different stages
Good flame is with: Damper open, Bypass open, Ash pan cracked
Next one is with: Damper open, bypass closed. Ash pan cracked
Starting to die out: Damper open, bypass open, ash pan closed
Out but glowing: everything closed except damper

The damper doesnt seem to really have any effect on it. Maybe If I had good flames it would...

Any ideas?

 

[bholler]

So this is a new to me stove (and wood stoves in general) I took it all apart and gasketed most of it (what was bad) and resealed stuff. Replaced the insulation around the cat. The cat was perfectly clean when I bought it from the previous owner. The chimney and all that is new construction.
This is after a good 30 minutes of good burn with flue temps in the 4-500 degrees according to the thermometer. I attached pictures of the different stages
Good flame is with: Damper open, Bypass open, Ash pan cracked
Next one is with: Damper open, bypass closed. Ash pan cracked
Starting to die out: Damper open, bypass open, ash pan closed
Out but glowing: everything closed except damper

The damper doesnt seem to really have any effect on it. Maybe If I had good flames it would...

Any ideas?

First off i would bet your wood is not dry enough. How long has it been cut split and covered? Do you have a moisture meter?

But from there how tall and what type and size is your chimney?

What temperature is it outside?

And lastly never start the stove by cracking the ashpan. That will crack the bottom of your stove

 

[bholler]

Also is that a magnetic surface thermometer on doublewall pipe?

 

[rtpassini]

First off i would bet your wood is not dry enough. How long has it been cut split and covered? Do you have a moisture meter?

But from there how tall and what type and size is your chimney?

What temperature is it outside?

And lastly never start the stove by cracking the ashpan. That will crwck the bottom of your stove

Wood is around 16-20% according to my meter. Temp outside is in the 50's. Chimney is about 10' of double wall up to 4 feet of triple wall that sits about 2 feet above the peak with a "deluxe" rain cap. all 6"

good to know about the ashpan, just crack the door then? the ashpan just seemed to work better without any smoke coming out a cracked door

 

[bholler]

Wood is around 16-20% according to my meter. Temp outside is in the 50's. Chimney is about 10' of double wall up to 4 feet of triple wall that sits about 2 feet above the peak with a "deluxe" rain cap. all 6"

good to know about the ashpan, just crack the door then? the ashpan just seemed to work better without any smoke coming out a cracked door

Is that 16 to 20 on a fresh split face?

 

[rtpassini]

Is that 16 to 20 on a fresh split face?

I was told its been seasoned 2 years. I pushed the tongs in as far as i could.

The magnetic surface is on the adapter, so I believe its single wall at that point. But when i had the thermometer on a double wall section, the results were the same

 

[bholler]

I was told its been seasoned 2 years. I pushed the tongs in as far as i could.

The magnetic surface is on the adapter, so I believe its single wall at that point. But when i had the thermometer on a double wall section, the results were the same

With double wall pipe your flue temp are much much higher than the reading you are getting. You need a probe thermometer. If you are taking a measurement without splitting the wood right before you are getting a misleadingly low reading.

 

[rtpassini]

okay. So you think its a wood issue? I'll split some and re-measure next weekend and see what I get. We have bought a lot of wood over the past few years (at our home just for a fireplace, non essential heat) and keep getting wet stuff even though they say "seasoned and dried". Also where would I put the probe thermometer so it doesnt leak anywhere?

Why is this so dang hard to find?!?! haha

 

[bholler]

okay. So you think its a wood issue? I'll split some and re-measure next weekend and see what I get. We have bought a lot of wood over the past few years (at our home just for a fireplace, non essential heat) and keep getting wet stuff even though they say "seasoned and dried". Also where would I put the probe thermometer so it doesnt leak anywhere?

Why is this so dang hard to find?!?! haha

What do you mean so it doesn't leak? Your pipe is under a vacume and leak will be in not out. But if you still the right size hole the amount of air leakage will be very minimal

 

[bholler]

okay. So you think its a wood issue? I'll split some and re-measure next weekend and see what I get. We have bought a lot of wood over the past few years (at our home just for a fireplace, non essential heat) and keep getting wet stuff even though they say "seasoned and dried". Also where would I put the probe thermometer so it doesnt leak anywhere?

Why is this so dang hard to find?!?! haha

These stoves are also very temperamental and hard to run

 

[rtpassini]

Sorry, forgive my ignorance, When i think probe thermometer I think smoker/oven and just run a wired prop through the door or something. So I should drill a hole through the pipe and just use a probe thermometer like this? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LZDVAU/?tag=hearthamazon-20

 

[rtpassini]

you're starting to make me think this stove is not a good option at all despite what i had read about them...oh man.

 

[LumberCity]

I just bought and rebuilt a series 8(exact same as 8ap but no ashpan) over this past month. Installed with 5 ft of single wall and 9 ft of triple wall stainless.
So far I have noticed that the stove doesn't function great without a large amount of coals and decent stove temps initially so try starting a small fire (kindling, 2-3 small splits) to get it heated up and let that rip until your stove top is in the 300-400 range. At that point, close the bypass and let it roll until you have coals. Your cat should light off around then too. It should burn down pretty quick.
After that, open the bypass and air damper, rake coals forward and load that sucker up with several 4-7" splits. Leave door cracked until it catches. Youll be able to see how wet your wood is by steam coming off it. I usually leave the bypass open until stove temp is back to 350+ degrees and the wood is caught ok. Close the bypass, then after 10-20 minutes throttle air back a third. Then another third after another 10. Then I usually drop it to full closed which still lets some air in and let it go.
I've gotten 9-10 hr burns doing that, burning clean, house at 69 in the morning ( my house is 1200 sq ft but ridiculously drafty). Also, make sure the space behind the back burn plate isn't clogged up. That could be choking your fire. Hope you work it out.

 

[LumberCity]

Also, im using 16" splits so really I'm only filling like 2/3 of the firebox at best, I would imagine with 18/20" lengths you could get more heat/longer burn times. I really can't stress enough how much wet wood will make this stove difficult to run. You can work around it to a point but you need to bake the moisture out. I find letting it burn with bypass open for a bit longer and then leaving the air damper fully open longer than normal does it.