Jotul Oslo clunking sound

[olerose]

Hi everyone,
I have been reading old posts on here concerning cast iron stoves making noises when heating up.People described it as a pinging sound.I'm aware of the expanding metal sounds stoves make but this is different.It sounds like a log suddenly shifted.It is a thud sound & louder when the stove is really hot.I don't mind saying it scares the heck out of me.It did not do this last year.or this season until last couple days.
It did do it one other year when the stove was newer.The styrofoam looking baffle got damaged & we replaced it with a metal one. Also a bolt wasn't tight & caused a tube to drop down.Thought all this might have caused the clunking noise in the past.The stove looked OK when it was cleaned good before this heating season.We replaced the asbestes blanket that is in the top.I asked the dealer 1 time & he had never heard of anything like I described but said not to worry.
Anybody have a clue what the clunking sound could be? It just started a couple nights ago when we put in the heavy duty wood on account of this cold snap.
PS If a stove could purr it would be purring like my cat now.It is dang cold out & stove is ready for an all night burn. All clunked out & settled down for the night.
Rose.

 

[semipro]

I've heard mine clunk loudly before on occasion when running hot. I attributed it to metal expansion.
It hasn't seemed to affect performance and rarely occurs so I've pretty much ignored it.

 

[pen]

Are you certain the stove is sitting perfectly flat on the hearth pad? If one leg isn't as well supported as others because of unevenness in the hearth pad surface, you could have extra noise like you describe.

pen

 

[ArsenalDon]

Are you certain the stove is sitting perfectly flat on the hearth pad? If one leg isn't as well supported as others because of unevenness in the hearth pad surface, you could have extra noise like you describe.

pen

My Cast Iron stove does it too. It heats up with the normal ticks and pings....gets up to cruising speed...stays there for an hour or more and then bong! like you said, scares us when it happens...it is just one loud clunk or bong and then usually no more for the night unless we let it cool down and then heat it back up.

 

[olerose]

My Cast Iron stove does it too. It heats up with the normal ticks and pings....gets up to cruising speed...stays there for an hour or more and then bong! like you said, scares us when it happens...it is just one loud clunk or bong and then usually no more for the night unless we let it cool down and then heat it back up.

 

[olerose]

I meant to reply to person wanting to know if stove is level. Well,I can't be sure of this but it was installed by dealer. Also I don't feel clunks would be so sporatic if this was the cause.
Didn't really notice it this morning.I have a fresh load in now.I suppose it will start clunking good since I'm here alone.
Oh well,I don't think the bottom is going to fall out & help is mere minutes away.
You would think after solely heating with wood for 40+ years I would be used to about anything.I will say that using the Jotul is entirely different than the VC Encore. The filling the screen with crackling flames on startup can be unnerving! And then add the clunks !
Thanks guys,
rose

 

[Butcher]

Maybe I missed it but what stove you got? And when you say filling the screen, whatcha talkin about?

 

[olerose]

Maybe I missed it but what stove you got? And when you say filling the screen, whatcha talkin about?

Butcher,It is the Jotul Oslo. Sorry about my remark "filling the screen".I mean when the flames fill the glass completely.,when you are starting a new load.You don't notice that as much in the Encores.
rose

 

[remkel]

Does the Oslo have a decorative center plate on the top? I have noticed that my center plate makes a loud clunk as the stove is heating. I attribute it to expansion as the center plate heats up.

 

[olerose]

Yes,stove has that decorative center plate on top.Clunking noise could possibly be coming from there.It is when it is hot & flames are reaching high.Last night I happened to be standing up on the hearth & it gave a loud thud & I jumped 3 feet.It is usually not just 1 noise but several until stove is shut down.
rose

 

[oldogy]

Mine gets the usual clicks when rapidly heating or cooling but into the second year of operation I've heard nothing unusual as you describe. Mine is the std black model with std top plate. How is your outlet configured, horizontal or vertical and what are the distances to joints. Perhaps the pipe sections moving?
I assume you replaced the ceramic plate in the top of the stove? Is this replacement a Jotul authorized replacement or a modification? If it is a modification are you sure it fits correctly and has the correct expansion? Interesting, indeed.

 

[olerose]

THe outlet is vertical.Noise not in the pipe.This top baffle was ordered from Jotul.It is in 2 pieces.Cast iron.It is put in right.Only 1 way it can fit.When it warms up a little more & stove can cool ,husband will check it out more.This can't be the only Jotul,Oslo that has done this.

Thanks,
rose

 

[Ashful]

My newer Jotul Firelight 12 makes a bang that matches your description, and not very often. I think I've heard it 3 times in two weeks of around-the-clock use. In my case, the hearth is not flat, and one leg is indeed not seeing the same load as the other three. I actually meant to come back and make a metal shim to go under this leg but then the stove got put to use, and I never looked back. Perhaps I should?

 

[milleo]

THe outlet is vertical.Noise not in the pipe.This top baffle was ordered from Jotul.It is in 2 pieces.Cast iron.It is put in right.Only 1 way it can fit.When it warms up a little more & stove can cool ,husband will check it out more.This can't be the only Jotul,Oslo that has done this.

Thanks,
rose

I have the Jotul F3 and once it made the noise you described and yes it startled me, it has not done it since and I have no clue as to why it did it or what it was. This is the 2nd year burning this stove. Hope you have luck in tracking down why it is doing it.

 

[remkel]

Ultimately I do not think it is anything to be too concerned about. I firmly believe this is just a result of the metal expanding as the stove comes up to heat.

 

[olerose]

remkel,I think you are right.
PS I love this forum.I have been reading back posts.I have been hanging out at the wrong spots on the net.
The other stove forum seems to have about died.Yep,this beats Facebook LOL
rose

 

[Ashful]

There's another stove forum?

 

[remkel]

remkel,I think you are right.
PS I love this forum.I have been reading back posts.I have been hanging out at the wrong spots on the net.
The other stove forum seems to have about died.Yep,this beats Facebook LOL
rose

I am going to frame this and post it in my kitchen. First time anyone has told me I am right my wife and three daughters should know this

 

[eyefish2]

I hear a cluck every now and then in my Oslo. For me, it seems to occur when the wood has burned fairly good and is starting to settle or break in half. I have always attributed it to the wood. Always a lowered pitched thud or cluck and always a one time incident. Never happens time and time again. Sometimes I look and expect to see what caused it and see no evidence of what it was. I still think it is the wood. Maybe the Oslo is built with acoustics where you tend to hear the wood shift or fall more. I am not concerned about it.

 

[xman23]

Mine is 12 years old and still pings and clunks going up or down. Sometimes I find myself using the sounds as a audible temp gage, stoves getting real hot, time to close down the air. Or cooling off, time to reload. I assume the clunking stops when the stove is cruising at temp. Mine came with the 2 piece cast iron burn plate. Years later I saw the "styrofoam looking baffle" It didn't look very good to me. Good to hear you could replace it with the one I have. I found a source for a roll of the insulation blanket. For the price Jotul wants for one I can cut 10 of them. I posted the information here, If you can't find it PM me. My burn tubes are loose in the end caps. I would love to take them out for cleaning, but have never figured out how to get them out.

So I don't think you have a problem.

 

[olerose]

I hear a cluck every now and then in my Oslo. For me, it seems to occur when the wood has burned fairly good and is starting to settle or break in half. I have always attributed it to the wood. Always a lowered pitched thud or cluck and always a one time incident. Never happens time and time again. Sometimes I look and expect to see what caused it and see no evidence of what it was. I still think it is the wood. Maybe the Oslo is built with acoustics where you tend to hear the wood shift or fall more. I am not concerned about it.

Oh yeah,it is common to hear wood shifting as it burns. What is bad is when it shifts & a piece falls against the glass. Hate it when that happens.The noise here has nothing to do with settling wood.
I'm glad to see there are so many Oslo burners here.
rose

 

[olerose]

Mine is 12 years old and still pings and clunks going up or down. Sometimes I find myself using the sounds as a audible temp gage, stoves getting real hot, time to close down the air. Or cooling off, time to reload. I assume the clunking stops when the stove is cruising at temp. Mine came with the 2 piece cast iron burn plate. Years later I saw the "styrofoam looking baffle" It didn't look very good to me. Good to hear you could replace it with the one I have. I found a source for a roll of the insulation blanket. For the price Jotul wants for one I can cut 10 of them. I posted the information here, If you can't find it PM me. My burn tubes are loose in the end caps. I would love to take them out for cleaning, but have never figured out how to get them out.

So I don't think you have a problem.

Tom,about that burn plate.That strofoam looking one didn't last long.I think it might have been cracked when we got stove.We had to use stove without one for a couple days. We didn't burn it hard & it sure didn't throw heat wo baffle. Also I was shocked when I looked up that blanket & found they contain asbestes.
Went to the stove place to get a piece.Guy told me it is no more carcinagenic than dozens of things in our homes. Insulation in walls for instance.He gave us a piece at no charge.The stove really put out heat when it was all cleaned & new blanket put in. I think we will get a new piece for next heating season.It gathers a lot of fine ash & is impossible to clean.Our burn tubes are always somewhat loose. I hear them rattle if he fills stove way full. He said you can loosen bolts & get them out.A bolt wasn't tightened properly at the beginning & tube fell down & broke that baffle.
Nice to hear your stove is 12 years old & still burning good.We probably paid at least twice as much as you did. Got ours Fall of 07. I almost bawled when I tried to run it first week. I said #$%# it ,we paid all that $$ I'm going to get this thing to work! I was used to putting in 3 pretty big pieces for a load in the VC Encore.This Oslo takes 4 or 5 smaller pieces. It doesn't like green wood!
rose

 

[xman23]

Welcome Rose to the forum. Yes there are a lot of Oslo burners here, as well as a lot very knowledgeable wood burners. Most, like me love the stove. I can't recall anyone ever having a crack issue, or other serious problems. Mine runs the same today as it did day one. Sitting in front of mine now. It heated the house all day with no more than a few small reloads and a bed of coals. Started at 5 degrees this morning and 18 now. I to found the insulation blanket get torn up in a few years, no matter how careful you are. The replacement I found the same material as the original, just much cheaper than Jotul.

 

[olerose]

Thanks for the welcome,Tom. I haven't heard any strange noises from the stove in a few days.We haven't had to push it so hard.We have a lot of good wood & it seemed to have really dried last summer on account of heat & drought.I think the stove burns better when it is colder out than say in the 20s.Before this Jotul we had a Vermont Castings Encore.It was a good stove but too much maintainance.We didn't even know it had that"fountain assembly " until it fell apart. Hubby was able to rebuild it.Not an easy job,especially when they gave us the wrong part & kept swearing it was right.One thing you could walk down the drive & not see or smell smoke because of that catalytic converter.I can see the shadow of the smoke rolling out of this non cat stove for awhile after loading.It doesn't bother anyone.There is an outdoor burner about 1/4 mile down the road & we can smell that smoke.Course he burns all green wood,too.Actually there is another about a half mile in the other direction.I"ll go on record & say I'm not a fan of OWBs.I know it is nice to have all the dust & dirt from the wood outside but I've learned to live with it.
I need to fix me an avatar & little spiel at the bottom of my posts,too. I have a pretty good wood burning history & a tale or two to tell about it LOL
rose

 

[pushkin]

Hi OLerose , we have a 3month old jotul f3 matt black straight flue marble hearth it's our first stove,and have the exact same problem as you,we burn dry hard wood,red gum ,iron bark,spotted gum, no pine or soft woods,the strange clunk sound seems to come when there is a large build up of coals and she's pumping ,like you we found it most disconcerting ,checked all bolts and screws all o k ,We shall see as winter progresses,also on a side note, she stank for a week with paint and iron fumes still sets of the smoke alarm with the paint smell,shop tells me it's still curing,Mmm long time,lets hope this problem resolves itself Pushkin