Jotul F600 - Rebuild needed or bigger issues?

[Sealcove]

I have 2008 Jotul F600 that I have had since new. It has been my primary heating source each winter, and I average about 3 cord a year to heat a 2200 sq. ft. house with a very open floor plan (Maine, but well insulated and great passive solar). Two years ago I noticed reduced burn times and less control over the burn creeping in, so last year I replaced all door and window gaskets, the baffle plates above the manifold and the insulation above those. That may have improved things slightly, but the stove is clearly still sucking in air and I have been getting by with smaller fires this year (fortunately working from home these days). Fully loading the stove is at the edge of comfort and control, and I avoid doing that now.

I have done a fair bit of testing to see where air is getting in. I get the stove burning well, shut down the intake and then use incense to see where spoke is being pulled in. The gasket job I did looks to be solid, with no clear evidence of leaks around any of them. The bottom also seems to be pretty good, despite slowly seeing caulking fall out of that seam over the years. Where I am finding clear and fairly strong leaks are the joints between the sides and front above the door hinge. When the stove gets going, you can even hear one of them whistling. There certainly other spots, and I am assuming the stove needs a complete caulk/reseal job at this point.

The stove exploded view does not really provide much info about the join in question. One other details is that joint widens slightly as you move downward (about a 1/16" difference between top and bottom - image attached of joint in question). Lastly, I have strong reason to think that the stove has been overfired on at least few occasions. No point in getting into those details, but I am all but certain of it and this leaves me wondering if there is any possibility that I am dealing with warping? Has anyone seen warping of cast Jotul (I am assuming it can happen). If it happens is the stove essentially done in terms of ever being tight again?

If warping is not a concern, I was planning on pulling and re-gasketing the top this spring, and trying to get inside and check/tighten all bolts and reseal all seams. Anything else I can do to tighten this up? Thanks for any guidance.

Leak spot on both sides:


Maybe this is normal, but this is what my baffle plates looked like when changed out (at the very least I waited too long to change them):

 

[begreen]

A sneaky way for air to get into these stoves is a leak around the ashpan door. Check regularly to make sure ash is not building up behind the ashpan. Take a strong flashlight and a poker to dig out any if there is buildup. If the ashpan can't go all the way back it can stop the door from closing snugly.

 

[Sealcove]

A sneaky way for air to get into these stoves is a leak around the ashpan door. Check regularly to make sure ash is not building up behind the ashpan. Take a strong flashlight and a poker to dig out any if there is buildup. If the ashpan can't go all the way back it can stop the door from closing snugly.

Thanks for that thought. I am aware of that possibility and I completely clean that area each time I empty the ashes. I also see zero signs of smoke being drawn in around the edges of that door and the gasket tests well with the dollar bill test.

 

[schortie]

I've had the same issue with leaking from those seams. I've smeared a bit of stove cement in there with decent results. I also had the same issue with the baffle plates. I replaced them once in the ten years I used the stove (I've since moved) and it needed to be done again.
The stove was never out of control or difficult to maintain even with these issues however.

 

[Sealcove]

I've had the same issue with leaking from those seams. I've smeared a bit of stove cement in there with decent results. I also had the same issue with the baffle plates. I replaced them once in the ten years I used the stove (I've since moved) and it needed to be done again.
The stove was never out of control or difficult to maintain even with these issues however.

Thanks. I did the baffles at year 12, so that makes sense why they were that bad. I will see about sealing up those joints from the inside.

 

[Sealcove]

I've had the same issue with leaking from those seams. I've smeared a bit of stove cement in there with decent results. I also had the same issue with the baffle plates. I replaced them once in the ten years I used the stove (I've since moved) and it needed to be done again.
The stove was never out of control or difficult to maintain even with these issues however.

I took a good look at the inside of the stove this morning, and I don't see any direct access to those seams from the inside. It looks like the inter front section covers it. Is what you are doing is coating all seams with that inside cast piece? Seems like beyond that would be a major project.

 

[schortie]

No, I put a bit inside the seams on the outside of the stove. A little on both sides toward the top where you indicated the whistling.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not quite the same thing . . . but I installed my Oslo in 2008 and the baffle looks nothing like your baffle in terms of damage . . . not to mention I haven't had to do anything to the stove other than replace a couple of gaskets and replace the baffle blanket.

 

[Sealcove]

Not quite the same thing . . . but I installed my Oslo in 2008 and the baffle looks nothing like your baffle in terms of damage . . . not to mention I haven't had to do anything to the stove other than replace a couple of gaskets and replace the baffle blanket.

Thanks. I am fairly certain the stove was overfired by my ex-wife on at least a few occasions. It is even probable that the ash pan door was left opened on one or two occasions while restarting the stove. I came home after the fact and could still smell stove and chimney paint and the house was incredibly hot. Other than the baffles and what looks to be a surface only hairline crack that is about 3" long on the top, I don't see obvious signs of damage.

This is an enamel stove and I am not excited about adding visible stove cement to the exterior of the stove.

 

[Viperjuice]

Just came across your post as I’m trying to figure out the orientation on the baffles on top of the secondary burn pipes.

Ever get the stove repaired? I had the same issue with the whistling with my f600 a few yard back and ended up stripping it down and resealing piece by piece, it actually wasn’t that bad. There is stove cement on the sides that probably cracked.

 

[ratsrepus]

And they say buy a tube stove, they are simple. I ran a F500 for 10 years, seems as though I had to do something major to it every year.

 

[bholler]

And they say buy a tube stove, they are simple. I ran a F500 for 10 years, seems as though I had to do something major to it every year.

That is not at all typical for the old f500. Most I work on need no maintenance other than cleaning for many years

 

[firefighterjake]

That is not at all typical for the old f500. Most I work on need no maintenance other than cleaning for many years

I've had to replace two gaskets in the 13 years I have had my Oslo . . . I figure that's pretty darned good.