I have a Jotul Allagash, I got it used. It runs on propane, the local stove company installed it.
It works ok, slight gas smell every so often. But the damn thing needs new thermocouples and thermopiles every season, if not more frequently.
Is there something wrong with the stove? The stove company is kind of crappy so I was afraid that maybe they didn't properly convert it to propane from nat gas (I hear you need to fiddle with the air/gas mix) and would that burn through the thermo couples/piles quickly?
I really have no idea what the deal is but I've never had a gas appliance that needs those parts replaced more than once every few years.
Also - is there any brand that actually makes those parts with reliable quality? All the reviews seem mixed. I'd happily pay for quality but if I need to replace them every year regardless, I don't want to spend $50 each time.
I have Jotul 3DVII "Allagash" stove purchased new approximately 2003. After a year or two it became erratic; the pilot lite
would extinguish, shutting down the stove.
Trouble shooting was a mystery because I, (and most troubleshooting procedures assume that the wiring is good.
This basic assumption was wrong!! When I finally turned my focus onto the wiring I found that the crimping of the terminal lugs (the ring connecting hardware at the end of each wire) was at fault. A mild pull test done only with my hands and fingers resulted in the wire easily coming out of the terminal lug.
A quick visual inspection of the wire and the terminal lug showed that the crimping of the terminal lugs onto the end of the wire was done WITHOUT STRIPPING THE INSULATION FROM THE END OF THE WIRE. The crimping of the metal onto the wire was done overtop the insulated part of the wire. This is a big NO-NO. All crimping tools and the crimp lugs themselves REQUIRE the insulation of the wire to be removed in the area of the actual crimp forming. Further inspection revealed that all of the crimps in the stove were done in the same incorrect manner.
A professional quality crimp requires the wire to be stripped where the actual crimp occurs so there is metal to metal contact between the copper wire and the terminal lug metal AND the insulation stripping process MUST NOT damage the copper wire with 'nicks' into the surface of the copper wire.
If the copper is nicked it increases the probability that the wire will break at the 'nick'. Once I replaced all of the terminal lugs in the stove wiring, the intermittent problem was solved. No more mysterious pilot light extinguishing occurred.
I did not replace any of the wire. Only the terminal lugs needed to be replaced.
Reference:
Regarding the slight gas smell, it might be caused by improper assembly of the glass/frame window causing the gasket to not cover all of the surface of the glass edge. Putting the glass back in after replacing or cleaning the pilot light assembly requires careful attention to the gasket of the glass window assembly as you slide it into position. You must visually verify that the gasket stays in place while sliding in the "glass frame" and locking down the two clamps at the top. If the fiber glass like gasket develops a fold, or falls off the actual glass, or the two ends do not meet, leaving a gap a good seal between the room air and the firebox air will not be achieved.
