Jotul Firelight 12 Flue Cleaning

[ghegenbart]

I bought a house with a Jotul Firelight 12 and want to clean the flue pipe. Disconnecting the pipe would be a challenge. I'm not sure if the dust/debris falling into the stove would be bad, or it if would get into the cat. I can clean and vacuum the stove afterwards, but I'm not sure that would be enough. Any advice or suggestions?
I have no idea when the flue was last cleaned and we are getting back-puffing. I want to make sure the flue is clean so we get proper venting.

 

[stovelark]

The Firelight is best cleaned by taking pipe out of flue outlet. Remember the secondary comb chamber down in stove behind the rear burn plate can be damaged when cleaning, especially jamming a brush down into it. I'd separate the pipe from the stove, and clean separately. I hope the secondary package is still in good shape, don't know if its still available to be replaced, parts for that stove probably will be hard to come by. I think the cat Firelight stopped production in 98-99. Is your Firelight the Catalytic Model 12? Top loading and has a kick pedal in front of stove under ashlip on the right? Good luck with her.

 

[ghegenbart]

It is the Model 12. I’ve been reading a lot on here about how hard it is to get parts. We love the stove and don’t want to replace it. I’m hoping a good cleaning will help.

The Firelight is best cleaned by taking pipe out of flue outlet. Remember the secondary comb chamber down in stove behind the rear burn plate can be damaged when cleaning, especially jamming a brush down into it. I'd separate the pipe from the stove, and clean separately. I hope the secondary package is still in good shape, don't know if it’s still available to be replaced, parts for that stove probably will be hard to come by. I think the cat Firelight stopped production in 98-99. Is your Firelight the Catalytic Model 12? Top loading and has a kick pedal in front of stove under ashlip on the right? Good luck with her.

 

[stovelark]

Cleanings usually always help. With that particular stove, smaller dry pieces of wood work the best. At one point, that was Jotul's flagship model during the cat years. They moved to the side loading and front loading, secondary burn tube model in 1999, the firebox was bigger too due to no cat package. Of course, the top load feature went away, but outwardly the stove looked the same without the foot pedal mechanism. Its a pretty stove, I have a friend who has hers, will not part with it. I and her son have rebuilt the interior a couple of times (she purchased it in 95), but I do believe most internal parts are obsolete. The non cat F600CB version was a bit stronger of a heater. Stay warm.