Jotul C350 Winterport wood insert

[wmk1956]

Just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions, I have a Jotul C350 Winterport wood insert.
Have had it for 8 years and a nice unit with no issues. This year we had a few fires and as we always do, we had the chimney cleaned. After this cleaning even with the damper fully open, it seems that the fire is starved for air. The damper seems to be working when I move it to a closed position the fire seems to die out.
I don’t see anywhere the cleaning could have affected the unit. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of going to the top of the chimney and dropping a weight down to make sure the chimney is not blocked. I do see smoke coming out the top.
The only thing I see is I need to undo and look inside the air manifold where the damper is.

 

[RSNovi]

How is your wood? When I owned that insert the wood needed to be thoroughly seasoned. At least 2 year seasoning on oak.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I would try the easiest thing first- making sure they put the baffle pieces (2) back together correctly. I do it myself I can tell you it’s a little tricky. Maybe you can take a picture of inside your firebox pointed upwards so we can see if it’s correct. I have the 550 model but I believe the procedure is identical.

 

[wmk1956]

How is your wood? When I owned that insert the wood needed to be thoroughly seasoned. At least 2 year seasoning on oak.

Thank you for the idea. I thought of that too. So I had a few bio-bricks that I keep just in case and I used them with the same results.

 

[wmk1956]

I would try the easiest thing first- making sure they put the baffle pieces (2) back together correctly. I do it myself I can tell you it’s a little tricky. Maybe you can take a picture of inside your firebox pointed upwards so we can see if it’s correct. I have the 550 model but I believe the procedure is identical.

I do see the top baffle pieces are not "seated" properly and I tried to get them to lay flat. I need to work on it more. But my thinking is I would be getting too much are versus my problem now of the fire being staved out. The only other thing I noticed is normally when I crake the door I get an almost jet engine sound of air via the door. Now nothing. The only way I can keep the fire going is to keep the door open a bit.

 

[begreen]

This sounds like an obstruction in the flue system. It could be a dirty cap screen or a bee or bird nest in the pipe, or sote accumulation.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I do see the top baffle pieces are not "seated" properly and I tried to get them to lay flat. I need to work on it more. But my thinking is I would be getting too much are versus my problem now of the fire being staved out. The only other thing I noticed is normally when I crake the door I get an almost jet engine sound of air via the door. Now nothing. The only way I can keep the fire going is to keep the door open a bit.

Not sure how it may impact the fire, but worth getting to sit properly