Jotul F3 CB refurb

[Pellet_Pete]

Finally getting down to business and getting the stove together. Bought it used on CL last March, knowing I'd have to replace the rear burn plate & secondary baffle assembly. Decided last week to just do all 3 burn plates. The ash pan door gasket was basically non-functional, so that needed replacing, and while I was at it I redid the door gasket, which looked like it had the original rope in it!

Still waiting for my wife to be paid for her contract work in July confused, upon which I'll get the dang chimney liner, but otherwise I'm in good shape. Have a block off plate made and 1.5 cords of dry wood to play with this year.

Here's the workstation:


Had to gasket off the rear of the secondary assembly too - yeah, it was a little sloppy, but the baffle gets bolted into place, so it's okay


All shiny!


Fresh gaskets, aaaaahhhh


And finally a little tidbit I learned the hard way - when I got the stove, I wanted to remove the top so I did it the hard way, the really hard way, by removing the bolts from the inside-upper surface by reaching in through the vent collar! Well, fancy this, I noticed today that the brackets I removed the hard way are actually held in place with these little screws that can be backed in and out right on the side of the stove with a metric allen wrench ! I don't have any metric allen wrenches, but one of my hex/star bits fit well enough to get the job done.

 

[begreen]

Oh, sorry you were late in discovering the top screws. I found them right away because I needed to remove the top to switch the stove to rear-exit venting.

 

[Pellet_Pete]

It's alright. At least it's good to know its possible to remove the top from the inside, in case those screws get stripped or seized up. In that case, it's also good to know that you only need to loosen one side, then you can tilt the top out.

 

[Pellet_Pete]

I found them right away because I needed to remove the top to switch the stove to rear-exit venting.

Lol, I guess that means it's in the manual. Doh!

 

[begreen]

Just be sure that the top is seated correctly and level when it is put back on. I didn't get it right at first and the stove burned poorly due to air leakage. If the allen screws are not aligned properly with the threaded holes they can lift the top and cause an air leak.

 

[2biker]

Don't go crazy tight on those Allen screws. I did, and then I was getting a "popping" noise as the stove was heating up. Apparently, I didn't leave enough slack for the top to expand freely when heating. For the last 10 years, I just leave the top sitting without screwing it down. The 2 transverse screws just keep the top in place should it gets bumped while burning. They do not pull the top down on the stove. The weight of the top is what holds it in contact with the gasket.

 

[wahoowad]

Looking good! Subscribing so I can see those new secondaries spewing heat!