Jotul Combi #4 question or two...or three

[Boris859]

Hi there ,I am new to the forum and my name is Dave and I have a few questions about the Jotul combi #4 I have.
I have been using this stove for about 10 years to heat my small farmhouse and I love it.
Originally I had the pipe go up about 6 inches and then 90 out about 4 and a 1/2 ft to my large 10 inch steel chimney which worked ok but the draw was pretty crappy until the stove warmed but it held a fire for a long time.

I have since changed the configuration to insulated stainless straight up through the roof with no elbows but now my heat is going out faster and the fire doesn't hold as long but no smoke back at all.
someone suggested to me to put another damper in it but I don't really like that idea because of potential soot catching and buggering up my cleaning process.
My thought was to slide the stove forward about 10 inches and put a clean out T on and then run a short section to it where in 90's out of the stove to slow the draw a touch and keep the heat in a bit longer....will this work ?,,or will the 10 inch run be too short to accomplish my goal?



My other question is finding firebrick for this stove as I am missing some and cannot seem to find anything online,or any other source for curved firebrick.
I may have to make my own and if so maybe some tips on that.

 

[Boris859]

I guess I'll just figure it out and try and see what works

 

[begreen]

It's worth a try, but I wouldn't hesitate to put in a damper if it's warranted. Finding the curved replacement firebrick for this stove is very hard.

 

[Boris859]

It's worth a try, but I wouldn't hesitate to put in a damper if it's warranted. Finding the curved replacement firebrick for this stove is very hard.

It sure is hard to find the firebrick,,I tried all kinds of different retailers and my google searches brought me to this website more often than not so I figured I might as well join the forum and go from there.

I browsed quite a few Jotul #4 threads before making this one but didn't find what I was looking for so I made the thread.

Like I said I love the stove and really love the btu's it puts out,,I am guessing somewhere in the 50k range,,may put in the T and a short piece just to make cleaning it out easier ,,which is always good

 

[My_3_Girls]

I can only imagine how much $$$ it would be to replace the special curved firebrick in that machine. If you have a tile saw, or even a handheld grinder and a steady hand, maybe try a few standard firebrick, bevel the edges, and fit them in one by one. They cut pretty easily, and it's inside a stove, so it doesn't really need to be pretty. I think I picked up a box of 6 for $20 or so at the local Ace hardware.

 

[Boris859]

Lucky for me it's not all total crap yet,,it's only missing a couple inches of the top here and there,,maybe this summer I can build a mold and make manufacture it,,I have seen a few recipes online and my dad has some Foxfire books that may cover it as well.

Yesterday I was altering my pipe and discovered that my Jotul has a spring load on the damper that when you pull back while turning it to the right it locks the damper almost totally closed and to the left it stays open about a 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch,,10 years and I never knew it did that,,lol.

I didn't end up doing the T,,I used a slightly shorter pipe and a clamp type sleeve so when I want to clean I just slide it down and remove the pipe,,I would have had to move the stove to do the T and I didn't want to.