Just got a 1993 jotul firelight 12. It’s my first stove with a catalyst. I can’t seem to get it to throw off a lot of heat. It has a new catalyst in it. I get a good bed of coals in it, then load it up and let it burn for a few minutes until stove top temp is around 400-450, then close down the back damper to let it run through the catalyst. The glass is staying clear, there is hardly any smoke coming from the chimney, but it doesn’t seem like it’s throwing any heat. I have been looking for a thermometer for the catalyst, but I’m not sure what length it needs to be or where to even find one....the plug looks like 1/4 npt but I’m not sure. Any help would be appreciated.
Jotul firelight 12
- Thread starter Tpaull
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First suspect is the wood moisture. Has it been tested after resplitting and testing on the freshly exposed face of the wood?
Negative. It was cut into log lengths about 2 years ago and I cut it, split it and stacked it up beginning of summer. I saw in another thread something about chimney heights and styles....I have a masonary chimney about 25-30 feet tall, I’m using a 4 foot piece of stove pipe to a 90 to about a 3 footer going from the stove to the chimney. I resealed all the front doors, ash pan door and top load door and smoke tested the stove before I put it in the house. I also noticed the vent lever in the front isn’t doing too much. I pulled that cover off and made sure it was actually moving the slide to expose the vents in the base of the stove and everything seems fine.
If you cut/split/stacked at the beginning of the summer it probably isn’t ready to burn. The 2 years as logs contributed very little to the seasoning of the wood. You need to get a moisture tester and check the moisture content of some pieces that have been in the house for at least 24 hour. Make sure to test the face of a freshly split piece. It should be under20% to get the most heat out of it.
I’m not getting any heat really. The stove top last night was 450 with the cat engaged....5 feet from the stove I couldn’t feel any heat. I don’t even understand how that’s possible.
mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
I looked around before I made my account but couldn’t seem to find anything. Should I be running a damper in the pipe or should I only be using the one built into the stove? I just find it odd that there is no excessive smoke inside the stove, and just a heat haze from the chimney, if my wood was wet I would assume there would be smoke.
The stove's bypass damper should definitely be closed once the cat is at temp. There is a good chance that some of the wood is still not dry in its core. Log lengths don't dry much or quickly. The real drying started after it is split and stacked. Try tossing in some known dry wood, like 2x4 cutoffs in with the splits to see if that helps. The stovetop should be reading 500-650º when burning good wood.
There are many pages of posts on the Firelight F12. Posts cover everything from operation to rebuiliding. How are you searching?
Jotul Firelight 12 thermometer location
So, with both stoves cruising at 500F, running 2.5 full loads per day, we're still barely keeping temps up to 68-70F, and often running some oil. I've also noticed how hard it is to hold these stoves below 500F with some types of wood (particularly Walnut, believe it or not!), without getting...
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I actually just put the stove back together. It was completely disassembled. The only thing that wasn’t take apart was the base. The catalyst is new and the chamber looks to be in good shape. I spoke to the original owner and I’m going to be getting the manual that came with the stove so hopefully that will clear some things up for me. I still can’t understand the lack of radiant heat even with the stove top temps over 500*.
I think the same as you do : 450/500 on the top of the stove usually would give a good and warm feeling, maybe not the highest but enough to heat the space. Did you try to monitor the temperature on many places of the stove with a IR and at the same time check if your thermometer gives you a good t* compared to the IR device one? The stove thermometers are not always as precise as we would expect them to be?
I’m going tomorrow to get one for the inside of the pipe, and I’ll see if the have and IR one while I’m there. I’m still not sure what length probe I need for the cat. Also, I have a brand new condar cat for it so I’m going to swap that out
Have been getting some heat, my thermometer was 150* off so I think my problem was that I was closing to stove down too early. Going to take some getting used to though! Does anybody know what length probe I need to check the cat temp?
mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
Using search will get you all you need to know, here is one tidbit for you, search for Ashful as he had that stove and is a wealth of knowledge till he upgraded to BK's.
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Jotul Firelight 12 Newbie
Hello everyone, New to the forum here. I will debut with many questions about my wood stove. We moved into this house 3 years ago, the wood stove sat in th basement unused since we had no idea if it was safe to use. I finally had the flue inspected and it looks squeaky clean, the tech said...
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Cat temperature probe
I ran my cat stove last year without any cat temp probe or stove top thermometer. Having always owned open fireplaces and cooked on charcoal, my belief was that wood burning was one aspect of my life that could/should remain unscientific. You folks have ruined my blissful ignorance. So, cat...
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So, I’ve been using smaller splits, it’s currently 16* outside, its 75 on the level with the wood stove, and 68 in the rest of the house. Just put some more wood in it, the outer burn plate is glowing red. I really home I’m not over firing this thing. 600* stove top in the left rear corner, 400* on the pipe. I have never had it going this good so I’m kind of nervous .
I think I’m sucking air someplace, it was closed down, luckily I put a damper in the pipe. It looks like the gasket between the damper frame and door is missing. I’m going to take the top back off this weekend and seal it up and try it again. I got the stove with every piece taken apart and I’ve never put a stove together so it’s kind of a learning curve. I appreciate the feed back and everyone’s patients with me
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