Jotul F500 V3 - Smoke recently started coming out the door when I open it

[stonewallmike]

I'll start by saying I searched the forum and I've read dozens of posts and none of them seem to address my issue.

This is our 3rd winter with the F500 V3. This year it has started smoking when we open the side door to load. Things we have done/answers to the common causes:

• Flue is nice and hot, happens when stove has been running for hours
• Air intake is wide open, I crack the door for 5 seconds before *slowly* opening fully
• Had chimney cleaned in October
• House is 250 years old, leaks like a sieve, no exhaust fans running anywhere
• Don't have a moisture meter, but wood is 1 year dry ash and maple and smoke is clear-ish

The first thing that comes to mind is that the catalytic combustor has failed and is choking the draft. Pic attached for confirmation. We run it 24 hours a day for 5-6 months, so we'd be nearing the lifespan of 10,000 hours I found online. Last stove didn't have CC, so this is a new aspect for me.

Any other ideas?

 

[stoveliker]

If smoke comes out, then there is an issue with it's path going up .

Same happens when a window is cracked in the stove room?

That cat looks deformed to me. Is there a way to see if it's clogged?
Use a shop vac to see if it gets better. Or take it out and see if you can look through the channels?

Do you have binoculars to look at the chimney cap? With one batch of wetter wood you can quickly clog a cap.

 

[EbS-P]

That cat looks much different than this one

Jotul F 500 V3 Catalytic Combustor

Jotul F 500 V3 Catalytic Combustor (158000)

rockymountainstove.com

 

[stoveliker]

He has the metal cat rather than the ceramic in that pic.

 

[bigealta]

That cat looks much different than this one

Jotul F 500 V3 Catalytic Combustor

Jotul F 500 V3 Catalytic Combustor (158000)

rockymountainstove.com

$720 Yikes!

 

[stonewallmike]

I checked the chimney cap, and there are no obstructions. Yeah, that $700+ price tag (and the fact that I have to take the whole top off the stove) is the reason I'm trying to get confirmation that it's a likely cause before I wade in. I researched extensively, but that particular item never came up. I don't think I would have bought that stove if I'd known I'd be spending that kind of money every 12k hours, that's less than 4 years for us.

 

[Todd]

The cat is clogged with ash. Also check your chimney cap.

 

[begreen]

Agreed, the cat looks like it may be filling up with ash. Vacuum both sides and blow some air through it to clear out the center of the cat. See if that restores good behavior. Note that if the cat after cleaning still doesn't function, it should be under warranty.

 

[Dieselhead]

That cat looks trashed, if it’s not one of the dieselfoil types.

 

[bigealta]

Has that Cat ever been cleaned in the last 3 years? Looks like maybe not, so it would make sense it's all clogged up.

 

[nunyabinis]

My cat is four years old and still looks like the new cat at the link from Rocky Mountain Stove. Even if my cat collapsed I don't think it would have enough material to look like yours. Mine completely clogged with fly ash last year and looked nothing like yours. Does anyone know if Jotul used different cats in these stoves?

I'd recommend blowing low pressure compressed air through the cat just to see what happens. I have a little Dewalt pancake air compressor that I use to blow mine out.

 

[Lee Fontaine]

I had similar "smoke-coming-out-the-door" symptoms. The stove was also hard to cold start, and wood that was added to a bed of hot glowing coals took what seemed like forever to start burning. Also, even when burning, the stove burned like it wasn't pulling in enough air

I used a shop vac with a crevice attachment and a small brush to remove what appeared to be a smallish amount of fly ash that had accumulated on the face of the catalytic combustor. I finished the job with a small hand-held blower to remove ash that the vacuum couldn't remove from inside the combustor's honeycomb structure. You can easily do all this without removing the stove top. Voila! Problem solved.

Lastly, the picture of the combustor in StonewallMike's's stove looks nothing like mine. My F500 is two seasons old, a year newer than Mike's. I also burn 24x7 for about 5-plus months. My combustor looks more like the one pictured on the Rocky Mountain Stove web site with a neatly structured honeycomb grid. Mike's combustor looks damaged. If cleaning it doesn't fix the problem it might be time to pull off the top to investigate further. Sounds like a bottleneck in the draft somewhere between the stove and the chimney cap.

 

[bigealta]

Hey SWMike did you ever figure this out?

 

[woodburningwillie]

I'll start by saying I searched the forum and I've read dozens of posts and none of them seem to address my issue.

This is our 3rd winter with the F500 V3. This year it has started smoking when we open the side door to load. Things we have done/answers to the common causes:

• Flue is nice and hot, happens when stove has been running for hours
• Air intake is wide open, I crack the door for 5 seconds before *slowly* opening fully
• Had chimney cleaned in October
• House is 250 years old, leaks like a sieve, no exhaust fans running anywhere
• Don't have a moisture meter, but wood is 1 year dry ash and maple and smoke is clear-ish

The first thing that comes to mind is that the catalytic combustor has failed and is choking the draft. Pic attached for confirmation. We run it 24 hours a day for 5-6 months, so we'd be nearing the lifespan of 10,000 hours I found online. Last stove didn't have CC, so this is a new aspect for me.

Any other ideas?
View attachment 345099
View attachment 345100

I have the same Jotul wood stove model, the same age (about 2 years in service), and the same issue - I've had success using a soft (Square style) trim paint brush and brushing the Catalytic Combustor, but now I think it is going to require vacuuming. I run the stove with either the door fully open (until it lights the wood - about 20-30 minutes) or closed and locked, but my wife tends to run it with the door cracked or not properly locked. That causes a very fast draft which can send ash into the CC, and that is my concern. Now the CC looks fine, the CC is under warranty, and ultimately it is replaceable. I do wish the door were easier to latch closed. also it is much colder now and I am trying to pre- heat the flue through the CC and that seems to help. I make a hand torch with paper and burn it high near the CC for about a minute.

 

[EbS-P]

I have the same Jotul wood stove model, the same age (about 2 years in service), and the same issue - I've had success using a soft (Square style) trim paint brush and brushing the Catalytic Combustor, but now I think it is going to require vacuuming. I run the stove with either the door fully open (until it lights the wood - about 20-30 minutes) or closed and locked, but my wife tends to run it with the door cracked or not properly locked. That causes a very fast draft which can send ash into the CC, and that is my concern. Now the CC looks fine, the CC is under warranty, and ultimately it is replaceable. I do wish the door were easier to latch closed. also it is much colder now and I am trying to pre- heat the flue through the CC and that seems to help. I make a hand torch with paper and burn it high near the CC for about a minute.

Have you tried a top down fire with lots of kindling?

 

[woodburningwillie]

Yes! Top down fire with kindling and a little paper and one fatwood stick every time. Nothing out of the ordinary. Last night I brushed the CC very well and it was much better - but I think it is not as good as it used to be. I will try compressed air? (I don't want to make a mess) I will probably just try vacuuming the CC next. Can ash be clogged above the CC?

 

[Todd]

If you use compressed air to clean your cat make sure it’s low pressure like air in a can.

 

[davemill]

Things we have done/answers to the common causes:

• Flue is nice and hot, happens when stove has been running for hours
• Air intake is wide open, I crack the door for 5 seconds before *slowly* opening fully
• Had chimney cleaned in October
• House is 250 years old, leaks like a sieve, no exhaust fans running anywhere
• Don't have a moisture meter, but wood is 1 year dry ash and maple and smoke is clear-ish

Like the other responses above, I also suspect your cat is clogged. However, you did not mention if airflow through the house has changed. We recently installed a new range hood in the kitchen. If the hood fan is running on high, the updraft sucks smoke out of the woodstove door when we open it. Open windows, and bathroom fans can have the same effect.

 

[woodburningwillie]

The daily brushing is definitely helping. Draw is good for about 10 min with door open now

 

[bigealta]

What's the wood moisture content? Open door for 20-30 minutes is a long time to wait for the fire to light up. I'm betting your wood is not dry enough. The last fire pic shows lots of smoke and the splits look pretty fresh.