Jotul firelight 12 problem. Not burning as long as last season

[skirby1212]

Hi guys
I’m noticing that my stove won’t burn as long as it did since I’ve gotten it. This year I replaced the gaskets and put a new steelcat in it. In previous years I could load with wood before I went to bed (between 9-11pm) and wake up in the morning and still have a little wood so just reload and was fine. This year seems to be burning through wood much faster. I have loaded at 12-1 and woken up to just ash in the morning. Not having any issue with over firing. Temp usually in the 400-475 range. Have actually never really been able to get stove over 500. Not sure what has happened. I do also notice that the stove is also a lot harder to get going this year too. I did have the liner cleaned. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know ashfull is very experienced with these stoves. One thing that I noticed this year is the damper on the front isn’t moving as freely as normal but does work. Not sure how to take that apart to check and not sure if that could be part of the problem or not.

 

[skirby1212]

Anyone? Any ideas?

 

[NHcpa]

Air getting in and getting out - somewhere. All closed up (including cat), can you get a lazy or ghost flame turning the air control valve down? I get the flame described at 1/4 air control. You indicate you replaced the cat, I would recheck the install - that chamber door/lid is secure, back damper plate gasket is holding...door gaskets correct... A new cat should actually restrict airflow. So...something is getting through (air).

 

[skirby1212]

I can get a lazy flame and I can choke the stove all the way down to barely have any flame at all. I did re check all the gaskets. I will re check the cat and cat housing once weather warms up a bit. When I replaced the cat I did see a piece of the cat chamber that is about 1”x 12” that was behind the rear burn plate that looked like it belonged on the bottom (floor) just behind the burn plate but wasnt positive about that. It fit it there and I couldn’t find any other place for it to go. I’ll let you know what I find when I can take it back apart. Thank you

 

[skirby1212]

So I let the stove burn out and looked for cracks and air leaks. I did find a small crack in the rear burn plate but it is still strong and intact. Could that cause a faster burn? The cat and cat housing are fine. I’m going to have to use the existing burn plate until I can find a replacement

 

[NHcpa]

Your back plate is similarly cracked to mine. Although not good, I don’t believe it’s the problem as I still get a decent burn. Did you check the damper door gasket and also the ash pan door gasket? Either area will push air through. There are a couple others here with past and current F12 experience that may offer additional advice. Hate to say, but you may also want to put a halegon light in the box and check externally for warpage or cracks.

 

[skirby1212]

I did recheck all the gaskets. The only one I didn’t replace was the one in between the two doors but I did replace that one today. I did look in quickly with a light and didn’t see any damage or cracks except for the burn plate but it being so cold out I didn’t do a very thorough inspection. I did at the beginning of the season. I would have thought if there was an air leak somewhere I would have trouble with over heating the stove. I’ll see how it works now with the new door gasket. I was able to for the first time get the stove up to 600 degrees. Usually it would only go to 450-500. Hopefully that was the issue but time will tell

 

[NHcpa]

Hmmm...air leak would definitely raise the temp.... Now I’m thinking wood... This year I have 2 yr old oak. I order 4-6 cut, split, delivered each year and the delivery is predominately oak - I’m scrambling to mix it to get a good burn as I think the oak could use another year of drying.

 

[skirby1212]

That may be a possibility. I’ve ordered 3 cords from the same place this season. I don’t have a moisture meter but wood seems well seasoned. In past seasons it really didn’t matter where I got my wood the stove wood still burn a lot Longer than it seems to be this year. Granted this is only the 3rd season with this stove. That was one of the best parts was not worrying about the stove being out or almost out in the morning. It had a really long burn time and I want that back. Lol. Most of the wood I have is oak right now and there’s a little bit of cherry mixed in

 

[NHcpa]

Oak...definitely giving me issues... A gold standard for sure, but if not properly dried, will drag down my stove. I recall several years back before I started on my 2 year cycle of maintaining 10 cords (burn 5) and other 5 is ready following year, I got a batch of really wet wood. Killed my cat and the stove was basically useless that season. Seasoned wood is not good enough. Anyway, wish you the best and hopefully begreen, joful aka, and others will chime in.