Jotul 8 air control

[Tree scruff]

Hi. I have a 1990 jotul 8 which I picked up a couple of years ago and it's been keeping us nice and warm the last two winters. It throws out a great amount of heat and I'm generally chuffed to bits with it. The only thing I'm slightly disappointed with is the extent to which the air intake can be controlled. Even with the top slide vent and bottom spin valve closed off the burn still seems to be quite aggressive and often burns hotter than I would like. On my other stove I'm able to slow the flame right down and almost kill the fire completely.

So I've made sure all the joints are sealed (some needed some attention) and also fitted new rope seals to lid, door and blanking plates so the culprit has to be the vents and how much air they let in. I can always hear the air rushing through the top vent even when closed. Does anyone know if they can be tweaked to tighten everything up and slow down the intake?

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[TheMarsVolta]

I have a 1986 Jotul #8 with the pinwheel draft on the door, no top slide vent. If my pinwheel is closed it will completely smother the fire within 30 seconds. I'd take a look at your vents and see what gap remains when they are full closed. You might be able to adjust it.

 

[Tree scruff]

Thanks for reply. I actually took the vents apart last night. I was able to slightly tighten the lower spin wheel. There's nothing that can be adjusted on the top vent as its just a single piece of metal that sides across over the air holes. It seems to cover them fine. The only thing I could do was to replace the small stove rope at the top of the vent which I did.

I also fitted a thicker bit of stove rope to the lid as I was not sure if that was sealing well enough.

Anyway, all this made a marginal difference. I'm pretty sure I've covered all bases in terms of sealing the stove so I'm just wondering if I've just got too much draw.?.. . I've had a bit of a read and I think if I might just have the perfect recipe for too much. The chimney is newly lined and therma wrapped, it's an inside wall and the house is 4 storeys high out the back. We are also very high up on a hill.

 

[Tree scruff]

Thanks for reply. I actually took the vents apart last night. I was able to slightly tighten the lower spin wheel. There's nothing that can be adjusted on the top vent as its just a single piece of metal that sides across over the air holes. It seems to cover them fine. The only thing I could do was to replace the small stove rope at the top of the vent which I did.

I also fitted a thicker bit of stove rope to the lid as I was not sure if that was sealing well enough.

Anyway, all this made a marginal difference. I'm pretty sure I've covered all bases in terms of sealing the stove so I'm just wondering if I've just got too much draw.?.. . I've had a bit of a read and I think if I might just have the perfect recipe for too much. The chimney is newly lined and therma wrapped, it's an inside wall and the house is 4 storeys high out the back. We are also very high up on a hill.

Also I have a friend with the older #8 with the bigger spin vent on bottom. That seems to work better than the little spkn vent on mine. I guess I could pick up an older door with the different vent on..

 

[fbelec]

i was just on another thread about a stove that was a jotul knock off. it had two doors and two spin drafts one on each. i was on the second floor with it and it worked fine. so the chimney was not tall. those double air inlets are nice for starting fires. i liked it better for that i don't think i would have traded it for a single spin draft

 

[Tree scruff]

Interesting. Yup I bet it does start well with two vents. This one starts very well too and can blast through the kindling very quickly. It's the turning it down that's the problem. Anyone had experience of fitting a damper?

 

[begreen]

I'm pretty sure I've covered all bases in terms of sealing the stove so I'm just wondering if I've just got too much draw.?.. . I've had a bit of a read and I think if I might just have the perfect recipe for too much. The chimney is newly lined and therma wrapped, it's an inside wall and the house is 4 storeys high out the back. We are also very high up on a hill.

I think you have answered your own question. This setup has the ingredients for an exceptionally strong draw. You could probably hook up a whole house vacuum system to the flue.
It's going to take one or maybe two key dampers on the stove pipe to tame the draft.

 

[fbelec]

i agree i ran 1 in the pipe and it was only 18 feet from the stove to the top of the chimney

 

[Tree scruff]

Thanks for replies. Only just seen them! So..... since I last posted (happy Christmas by the way!) I ordered and fitted a damper into the black flue pipe. I was slightly disappointed that it didn't totally slow things down but it has definitely made a difference and I can now shove more in the fire box without worrying too much about things getting too hot as I can shut it down enough to get a slightly smoother, slower flame. You can actually hear the air slow through the top vent when engaging the damper.

I've definitely gone through less wood these last few days. Ideally I would like a little more control. I'm wondering about modifying the top slide vent on the stove as this seems to be the one that does not entirely seal..... Then again.... Maybe I'm asking too much of a 30 year old stove.

 

[fbelec]

by the way very nice fence setup

 

[Tree scruff]

by the way very nice fence setup

2 years late - thanks. A definite necessity for the youngest! Having used this system for two winters now I can confirm it's running very nicely. I may add another damper if I ever have enough time. What a cracking stove these jotul 8s are. Very glad of it with the current cost of gas!