Jotul F500 V3 Break-in questions

[jsmith_TCF]

Hi I recently bought a Jutul F500 V3 to sit in my fireplace opening. Since we are having a cool spell in Tennessee, I thought I get the break in done.
For the third break in fire, the instructions say to get the “surface “ temperature up to 500 degree. They don’t say what surface. I wasn’t able to get the stove top above 400 degrees, but the sides were 530+ (my IR temp gun only reads up to 530 degrees). The internal temperature prob was reading 1200 -1300 degrees so I didn’t want to keep going. Once it cools back to room temp, do you think I can consider it broke-in?

FYI, This is my first wood stove.

 

[EbS-P]

A agree that the manual does not specifically say where to measure. In other Jotul manuals ( my f400 and the F45 v2) the say to place the stove top (surface) thermometer center on either the left or right side. I’m by no means an authority but I’d give it one more smaller fire before you pack it clear full and let it rip. I would also get an IR gun that goes to 1000F. You want to know exactly how hot that stove is while you are learning it. Or better yet. Get an Auber AT200 thermometer alarm.

My first IR gun topped out at 7?? F. I’m sure a couple of times it was hotter than than that but I wasn’t really that concerned. New IR gun this year I overfired on pure secondary combustion and got the top to 900F in the center. Top Sides where they tell you measure temps at, didn’t get over 800. My liner surface temps temps never got over 725(AT200) . I was concerned but knew that while I was very much on the edge of safe I didn’t do any damage because I was able to accurately measure temps.

Evan.

 

[jsmith_TCF]

An another cool night in TN.

 

[EbS-P]

View attachment 277355
An another cool night in TN.

Looks very nice. Do you have a blower? I recommend one. I don’t use it all the time but it is nice to have to help keep temps I check when you run it harder. After the third load my stone is pretty well heat soaked and stove temps can head north of 600 with a full load of dry wood even with the air fully closed. I might even splurge for a new F500 for my basement though I don’t think I would spend enough time down there to really enjoy it /justify the extra cost.

Evan

 

[JamesGuido]

Looks very nice. Do you have a blower? I recommend one.

i have the same stove... in my opinion, the F500 doesn't need a blower... I'm in SE Wisconsin, possibly colder than Tennessee, yet my stove heats the entire house (one floor) easlily...

and jsmith, i believe your stove is "broken-in" and ready to use.

 

[begreen]

i have the same stove... in my opinion, the F500 doesn't need a blower... I'm in SE Wisconsin, possibly colder than Tennessee, yet my stove heats the entire house (one floor) easlily...

and jsmith, i believe your stove is "broken-in" and ready to use.

Whether the stove needs a blower or not depends on the home and the heat demand, not so much the stove. In some cases, natural convection does a good job. In other cases, like in a fireplace, a blower can help a lot in circulating the heat.

 

[jsmith_TCF]

I don’t have a blower. Any recommendations?

 

[EbS-P]

This came up In another thread.

Looking for quiet blower behind stove inside fireplace

After a lot of reading and digging for information for a quiet blower I can use with my setup, I'm no closer to having an answer. The fan (Englander AC-16) that came with my stove (Englander NC-13) doesn't have enough clearance behind the stove and it is very loud. While I currently have a fan...

www.hearth.com

I use this. It just sits on the floor behind the stove and blows up. It rattles some on low. It’s loud on high but at 160 cfm I only run it there for a few minutes if I’m getting way to hot. I like that the fan is not sucking air from near the air intake.

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This came up in the thread mentioned above. I really want to try it, but I’m a a little concerned that the temps back there may be to high for the unit.

AIRBLAZE T14, Fireplace Blower Fan 14" with Temperature and Humidity Controller

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Jotul sells one for the F500. I bet it’s probably 300+$. I would interested to see if the blower has any affect with the bi metallic secondary air control. I think I can run a cooler firebox thus slower combustion rate with my blower on low but if the cooler temps mean more secondary air that theory might not work for you. Probably only matters at slower burn rates, or doesn’t matter at all?

Evan