Jotul F500

[Columbo]

I think I may have a problem with my stove...when I fill it up and put the air control lever all the way down the stove burns between 550-600 degrees. I think there must be a leak somewhere that is letting in too much air, but I can't seem to find it, as last year when I would turn it all the way down on a full load it would hover near 350. I've tried to find a leak by putting a bright shop light inside the stove in a dark room, and starting damp leaves on fire to create thick smoke, but I can't seem to locate any cracks, or leaks.

How hot does your stove run when you close the air controller all the way down with a full load of wood in the firebox?

I'm burning locust this year instead of oak (which I burned last year) and I've split the wood into smaller pieces than last year so that my wife can load the stove when I'm not around...could this be making that much of a difference?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[begreen]

Yes, with small sticks it will burn faster and hotter. If the locust is drier due to the smaller splits, then it might have been the oak had higher moisture last year too.

Can you describe the flue setup? How tall is the flue?

 

[elkimmeg]

500-600 is still a good safe range of operating and creating decent heat output

many here would be quite happy if their stoves ran in the range closed down

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, I'm running the same stove with damper just barely cracked with two 6' splits and a smaller piece in last night and was running 350 -400 overnight.

Jim

 

[Columbo]

Jbrown56: Your stove can run all night with just two 6' splits and some smaller pieces? What stove do you have?

Pyro Extrodinaire: It's a high quality problem for sure, but I'm afraid that I'm going to burn the house down!

Be Green: The stove was professionally installed by American Chimney, so I'm not positive of the details of the flue, but it was an insulated pipe that they fed down my masonary fireplace which is 27' from the floor to the top. I've never had any smoke roll out, so I think it's drafting pretty well. How would that effect the temp of the fire?

 

[BrotherBart]

Be Green: The stove was professionally installed by American Chimney, so I'm not positive of the details of the flue, but it was an insulated pipe that they fed down my masonary fireplace which is 27' from the floor to the top. I've never had any smoke roll out, so I think it's drafting pretty well. How would that effect the temp of the fire?

A very tall flue, and 27' is very tall, can create an overdraft that pulls a lot of air through the stove even though it is damped down. EPA stoves allow some primary air even when the primary air control is closed all of the way and the secondary combustion air inlet is a fixed non-controllable orifice. You may need an in-pipe flue damper on that setup.

Talk to the folks at American Chimney. From what I hear about them they know their stuff.

 

[begreen]

Jbrown56: Your stove can run all night with just two 6' splits and some smaller pieces? What stove do you have?

Pyro Extrodinaire: It's a high quality problem for sure, but I'm afraid that I'm going to burn the house down!

Be Green: The stove was professionally installed by American Chimney, so I'm not positive of the details of the flue, but it was an insulated pipe that they fed down my masonary fireplace which is 27' from the floor to the top. I've never had any smoke roll out, so I think it's drafting pretty well. How would that effect the temp of the fire?

I was guessing you might have a tall stack. I'm sure the installer did a great job. You have a potential strong draft situation. Not necessarily dangerous, but it might explain the hot burn. It sound like a draft damper on the flue would settle things down quickly, but that is one more thing to control.

 

[ncmallard78]

i think you are probably buring dry wood. my stove will run 600 degrees with air pulled way back, but it has a lot of good dry wood in it. i would try different wood and see if it burns as hot. when you back the air down, will the stove temp go down as well?

 

[jbrown56]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'm using the same stove as you and last night I loaded an 8" split and three 3 - 4"splits at 10 P and closed it down at 11 P and it was running at 500*. I had a nice bed of coals at 6:30 A to rekindle the fire. I use mostly white oak that is 2 years old. The problem may be with your wood. Too small and dry. Mixing big and small has always worked well for me.

Jim

 

[begreen]

Jim, just curious, for comparison how tall is your flue? Any elbows in the installation?

 

[Columbo]

I appreciate all the help. I'm going to call American Chimney and see if they can come out and take a look. I'll post the answers in this thread once we figure it out.

 

[begreen]

Ask them to bring out a tool for measuring the stove's draft. I'm guessing it will be on the high side.

 

[jbrown56]

BeGreen, you are not gong to believe this setup. I come out the top of the stove for 12" with a 90* to 12" of horizontal pipe, 45* to 4' of horizontal pipe which rises at 1" per ft. into the 22', 8 x 12 flue. I'm getting a rigid flue liner by the end of the week and at that time I will move the chimney thimble up 2'. This should help the horizontal pipe situation greatly. In theory this setup shouldn't work too well but I have been using it for 26 years. I was really nervous about getting a new stove because of the drafting issues but it seems to work well and hopefully better with the new liner.

Jim

 

[begreen]

Thanks Jim, sounds like your setup has significantly less draft than Columbo's. The F500 is a great stove and pretty forgiving. Most stoves it will start to have draft issues with flues that are too short or too tall. Ideally this would be approx. 14 to 22 ft. I think a draft damper will make Columbo's system work perfect.