Issues with Jotul F118Cb Black Bear

[joeybroe]

I am having issues with my Jotul F118CB Wood Stove. I recently installed it this summer and have been using it since the winter started. I bought used from a dealer who had a person trade in after one season for a wider stove since they didn't like the width of the Jotul and seems like it is not getting house warm enough. I added more chimney pipe because original was below the peak of my house and was only about 8-9 feet of pipe so now it is about 2-3 feet over peak of house and 15 foot chimney to take care of draft issue using triple wall for the cold weather.

When we moved it from store to house is there a way that the baffle could have shifted forward or shifted enough that gases are escaping up before the secondary pipes are able to burn?

Is there a way to check the back for air clogs without taking back plate off since research has shown that it is cemented on instead of a gasket?

Also is the secondary fire pipes just sit in their spots or bolted in place and could those need adjusted?

We are in about 900 sqft place and this stove should be overkill since its specs are for 2000 sqft and we are getting in blazing to keep it between 75-80 degrees which seems inefficient and something is wrong.

Please let me know any idea or interior pictures of the stove without a fire going so I can see if something is shifted or not lined up the way it should be.

 

[SpaceBus]

I am having issues with my Jotul F118CB Wood Stove. I recently installed it this summer and have been using it since the winter started. I bought used from a dealer who had a person trade in after one season for a wider stove since they didn't like the width of the Jotul and seems like it is not getting house warm enough. I added more chimney pipe because original was below the peak of my house and was only about 8-9 feet of pipe so now it is about 2-3 feet over peak of house and 15 foot chimney to take care of draft issue using triple wall for the cold weather.

When we moved it from store to house is there a way that the baffle could have shifted forward or shifted enough that gases are escaping up before the secondary pipes are able to burn?

Is there a way to check the back for air clogs without taking back plate off since research has shown that it is cemented on instead of a gasket?

Also is the secondary fire pipes just sit in their spots or bolted in place and could those need adjusted?

We are in about 900 sqft place and this stove should be overkill since its specs are for 2000 sqft and we are getting in blazing to keep it between 75-80 degrees which seems inefficient and something is wrong.

Please let me know any idea or interior pictures of the stove without a fire going so I can see if something is shifted or not lined up the way it should be.

Could you post photos of the baffle and tubes? I considered this stove a few years ago but passed based on reviews of a fragile secondary burn system and baffle. The previous owner may have damaged something while running the stove hard to try and heat the larger home.

 

[begreen]

IIRC the initial design of the secondary rack for this stove was troublesome. It was easy to bump out of place and prone to warpage. I seem to recall a redesign happening a while back that was much more robust. The dealer should have information on that. @stovelark may also recall the details.

 

[mellow]

 

[mellow]

Found this from begreen back in 2015: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/updated-jotul-f118cb-information.149909/post-2014188

 

[joeybroe]

I will try to get photos when I can later tonight. I didn't see any warping in the tubes or the baffle everything looks like was minimal use for the most part. I hope its just a misalignment, thanks for the video @mellow that looks like something that will help out and that is an interesting tread. Mine is a split baffle so hopefully it is something that will last us a long time. I am hoping to get everything realigned and see if that makes a difference. Will let you know when I can get it done.

 

[begreen]

That video is helpful and it reminded me of the change that Jotul made. Does your stove have a split baffle or one-piece? This thread has details on the change to the newer two-piece baffle.

Updated Jotul F118CB information

Greetings. My name is Dow, I'm 35 and have lived in the pacific northwest since 2007, I got out of the navy up here and got a job with the railroad and decided to stay. I've used a woodstove regularly in the winter in the various cabins and homes I've lived in up here, older/smaller double door...

www.hearth.com

 

[joeybroe]

Mine is luckily a two piece baffle.

 

[joeybroe]

So this is what it looks like and I can’t get the front lined up everything else looks ok but I can’t get the baffle and front pipe in place any ideas the right is in its groove but left doesn’t look like it will line up

 

[SpaceBus]

It might be a two piece baffle, but I think they ran it too hard heating a house too large for that stove and warped it and that's why it won't line up properly. You should contact the dealer and try and get a new baffle. The tubes look fine otherwise.

 

[joeybroe]

How important is it to replace cause is going to be a little bit before I can get it replaced and don’t want to hurt anything more then it already is.

 

[SpaceBus]

@begreen will be able to better advise. If it were my stove I would look into replacing that baffle assembly before burning in it.

 

[begreen]

Yes, the tubes look fine. I think I would pull the baffles and check them for flatness. It's hard to tell from the camera angle if they are warped or got jostled out of place. If warped, replace. As the stove is, the air path will be wrong. It will disrupt the burn pattern in the firebox and may concentrate the flame in one area doing further damage.

 

[stovelark]

Hey BG- don't remember in detail, but doesn't the front air tube lock into the baffle on the right (top baffle)? I think that helps hold the front air tube in place, jotul does that in other stoves too. Those baffles def do not look right, they are warped. That would indicate someone running it hard.

 

[bigealta]

Here is the update to the new baffle replacement in the video above.
Yes, the new baffle Warped too.

 

[Todd]

I wonder if you could replace that cast iron baffle with ceramic board or even lay fire bricks across those tubes?

 

[joop]

check your woods moisture content.might be why your not getting much heat

 

[bigealta]

I wonder if you could replace that cast iron baffle with ceramic board or even lay fire bricks across those tubes?

For about $50? for the ceramic board. Seems worth a shot.

 

[begreen]

Here is the update to the new baffle replacement in the video above.
Yes, the new baffle Warped too.

That looks like a pretty leaky fix but I can appreciate the owner's dilemma. The original 118 was a nice heater, but the F118CB has been more challenging.

 

[D. Hermit]

I can almost promise you are doing the rebuild wrong. The F118 is one of the trickiest rebuilds to do. The stove needs to be completely taken apart even the bottom. It has many spots that require new OEM gaskets every time you rebuild, and spots that need extra cement.

If you miss these things, you get too much air into the stove, and you will keep burning out the internals.

 

[bigealta]

My neighbor and I were looking at an f118 Black bear a couple weeks ago. Glad we walked away from it.

 

[Todd]

Cool looking stove though! It was on my list 4 years ago when I was building my cabin.

 

[bigealta]

I have a 118 Clone so was thinking about "upgrading". Not so sure it would have been an upgrade.