Jotul Castine's Air Flow Control

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I've been burning my new Castine for a few nights and things seem good. But I don't always notice a difference between opening the air flow all the way and shutting it down. If I've just put a new log in, the flames are whipping. It doesn't really slow down by moving the air control. Is this ok? Does it just take some time to calm down?

Thank you.

 

[gpcollen1]

Not sure if you have an issue or not but I do know that that air control lever can become disconnected and you may not actually be doing anything by moving the lever. Take it apart and take a look - I think it is 2 bolts.

 

[BJ64]

Mine is a different brand of stove but when I have the stove hot and running a good draft - the lag time between making a big air adjustment and seeing a difference could take 20 to 40 seconds.

 

[begreen]

When you say "flames are whipping", are they mostly at the top of the stove, pouring out in blue and orange from the holes in the secondary manifold? If so, that sounds fairly normal, especially if once they start dying down, you feel like the stove responds well to the air control.

It sounds like you might be seeing secondary burning. When you put a fresh load of wood in on a hot bed of coals, it is going to outgas strongly for 15-30 minutes. But the stove should still be somewhat responsive to the air control after a minute or two.

If the stove never responds to the air control then by all means make sure the slider is being moved by the air control lever. You can remove the two bolts that hold down the doghouse cover to expose the air valve slider.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Thank you, folks. I'm pretty new to modern non-cat stoves, so maybe I'm just not understanding how my stove works. If there are big flames coming from beneath the wood and I shut the damper down, shouldn't those flames die down somewhat?

 

[chad3]

If you wait too long the flames will actually increase (from what I have seen in my Oslo). You need to step down once you get to the temps that you want. Remember with these stoves as you are stepping down the air, you are holding heat in the box and that will increase heat. My "tries":
Wait till the temp is around 350-400, turn the air down to about 1/2
Wait for about 5 minutes, turn down to about 1/3
Give a few more minutes, drop down again to almost none. I usually put to just below the last mark on the ash plate.
Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

New information, hence new question:

The air flow thing was bothering me all evening. A few minutes ago I checked the ash compartment door and found it was not fastened tightly whatsoever, so lots of air was flowing in through the opening. When I first got the stove I followed Jotul's instructions for breaking in the stove with small, low temperature fires. As blazing as the stove was at times today, it was never blazing wildly for longer than an hour, if that. DId I damage my new stove?

I am very grateful for the kind and generous assistance offered by people on this forum.

 

[begreen]

Ah, that will do it for sure. I was going to cover air leaks next. The stove is pretty tough, I suspect you are fine. Always be sure that the the ash pan door is secured before burning.