Jotul Oslo F500 question

[Outdoorguy45]

I have a Jotul Oslo F500 that was in the house when we bought it a few years ago (located in the basement)

My question is, can anyone give me an approximate age of the woodstove? Serial #009037. Might look into replacing as it looks a little old and noticed it’s leaking smoke from the collar.

I’d like to try and move it to the first floor so it can heat a little more efficiently (there’s 2 active fireplaces on the first floor with one spot utilizing natural gas fireplace at the moment).

Here are a few pics of the woodstove and first floor fireplace, thought I think the one on the left was built to maybe just hold wood since the top of it has plywood over the top.

 

[EbS-P]

No date on the bottom of the UL tag? Can’t help you with more than that.

Moving it. Couple thoughts. To install in fireplace the fireplace must meet fireplace code. If second opening (I’m not calling it a fireplace until you determine it is one) doesn’t meet fireplace code and the gas stove spot does, it’s probably cheaper to move the gas stove (probably to some
Other location in the house) and install an insulated liner in that spot provided it is a code approved masonry fireplace. Cheapest DIY case I can figure is probably 1000-1500$. add another 1000$ for labor. Another 1000 to relocate gas stove. Just guessing really.

If it’s in the basement and heating, that may be the cheapest option but not the most efficient. 1500$ of insulation down there could go a long way.

 

[begreen]

It looks like an early one. Does it have a cast iron baffle?

 

[Outdoorguy45]

No date on the bottom of the UL tag? Can’t help you with more than that.

Moving it. Couple thoughts. To install in fireplace the fireplace must meet fireplace code. If second opening (I’m not calling it a fireplace until you determine it is one) doesn’t meet fireplace code and the gas stove spot does, it’s probably cheaper to move the gas stove (probably to some
Other location in the house) and install an insulated liner in that spot provided it is a code approved masonry fireplace. Cheapest DIY case I can figure is probably 1000-1500$. add another 1000$ for labor. Another 1000 to relocate gas stove. Just guessing really.

If it’s in the basement and heating, that may be the cheapest option but not the most efficient. 1500$ of insulation down there could go a long way.

The woodstove we currently use in the basement used to be where the gas stove is actually from what they said. The only reason I use the woodstove is to attempt to heat the house, but usually takes a solid day to get the temp climbing on the first floor.

 

[Outdoorguy45]

It looks like an early one. Does it have a cast iron baffle?

Yes it does

 

[begreen]

Yes it does

Ok, that makes it prior to around 2005 IIRC. Check the baffle condition. They had a tendency to crack and Jotul switched to vermiculite for that reason. If you have the manual the printing date may help narrow in the mfg date a bit more.

 

[Outdoorguy45]

Ok, that makes it prior to around 2005 IIRC. Check the baffle condition. They had a tendency to crack and Jotul switched to vermiculite for that reason. If you have the manual the printing date may help narrow in the mfg date a bit more.

No manual, baffle and the inside looks pretty decent actually! Took the pipe apart and there was a fair amount of creosote buildup in there and we had it swept roughly 3 months ago. Probably see what I can do with it tonight and clean it all out and see where we are at with it.

Is it normal to have little plumes of smoke leak out of the pipe coming out of the woodstove? Air controls were: stove itself, halfway open between the - and +, and the flue was maybe 1/4 way open and noticed little whisks of smoke coming from
Where the Flue pipe meets the woodstove, I’ll try and bend the flue pipe a bit for a tighter fit today as there was a tiny gap where the screw was inserted.

 

[begreen]

Is it normal to have little plumes of smoke leak out of the pipe coming out of the woodstove? Air controls were: stove itself, halfway open between the - and +, and the flue was maybe 1/4 way open and noticed little whisks of smoke coming from
Where the Flue pipe meets the woodstove, I’ll try and bend the flue pipe a bit for a tighter fit today as there was a tiny gap where the screw was inserted.

That's not normal. There should be no smoke leaking out of the stove or stove pipe joints. The stove pipe is normally under a vacuum, and a gap sucks air into the pipe. What is being described sounds like negative pressure in the room where the stove is installed. This is not uncommon with basement installs.

 

[EbS-P]

With the damper open all the way do you get smoke?

 

[Outdoorguy45]

With the damper open all the way do you get smoke?

No, only when it is partially open do I get the smoke. It comes right out of the seam between the collar I think it’s called and the flue pipe if that’s what that’s called? I’m new to this so thank you guys for the help. Would getting a nee pipe potentially fix this?

I cleaned the woodstove today and found a considerable amount of ash from the inside the top, scrubbed the pipe with a wire brush and where it goes into the chimney, had some creosote buildup in there too and it’s running hotter now and seems to have better air flow…but still noticed the small plumes of smoke coming off from time to time.

I read something about the chimney cap potentially being clogged so I’ll get up on the roof tomorrow and inspect that just in case.

 

[xman23]

That's one work horse, solid stove. The smoke issue is not the stove. Get the cast iron baffle plates out. Lift and slide them out the front, past the front secondary tube. There's a insulation blanket on top of those plates, pull it out. and replace it when you put his back together. Now you can use a mirror to look up the chimney. Watch for dead animals. Brush the chimney. Almost sure the cap screen is plugged up. Examine all the inside for any over firing cracks. Check all door gaskets. but if there leaky a hot fire will not be able to be choked down.

Never run with the ash pan door open. The side door can be left cracked open to get a fire going.

 

[Outdoorguy45]

That's one work horse, solid stove. The smoke issue is not the stove. Get the cast iron baffle plates out. Lift and slide them out the front, past the front secondary tube. There's a insulation blanket on top of those plates, pull it out. and replace it when you put his back together. Now you can use a mirror to look up the chimney. Watch for dead animals. Brush the chimney. Almost sure the cap screen is plugged up. Examine all the inside for any over firing cracks. Check all door gaskets. but if there leaky a hot fire will not be able to be choked down.

Never run with the ash pan door open. The side door can be left cracked open to get a fire going.

Thanks for the tips, but regarding the insulation blanket…I pulled the cast iron plates out and there’s no blanket on top of them…I’ll have to check the cap screen tomorrow or Thursday, snowing/rain here today and the roof will be slippery due to pitch

 

[xman23]

Thanks for the tips, but regarding the insulation blanket…I pulled the cast iron plates out and there’s no blanket on top of them…I’ll have to check the cap screen tomorrow or Thursday, snowing/rain here today and the roof will be slippery due to pitch

The 1/2 blanket material gets torn up 3-4 years. Probably why it's gone. Besides keeping the fire box hotter, I always thought it kept the cast iron burn plates at an even temperature. And less likely to warp. My plates are over 20 years old and perfect. You can get the insulation blanket at as Jotul dealer, but pricey. I got a 10' roll for there price.

Can't say enough about that ash door being closed and latched. If it's left open you can over fire the bottom floor of the stove. This can crack the floor in the corners. Clean it out check for this.
Also ash gets in back of the ash pan, preventing you from closing the door.

Be careful on that roof

 

[Outdoorguy45]

The 1/2 blanket material gets torn up 3-4 years. Probably why it's gone. Besides keeping the fire box hotter, I always thought it kept the cast iron burn plates at an even temperature. And less likely to warp. My plates are over 20 years old and perfect. You can get the insulation blanket at as Jotul dealer, but pricey. I got a 10' roll for there price.

Can't say enough about that ash door being closed and latched. If it's left open you can over fire the bottom floor of the stove. This can crack the floor in the corners. Clean it out check for this.
Also ash gets in back of the ash pan, preventing you from closing the door.

Be careful on that roof

The ash pan door is definitely always closed, I checked the manual and didn’t see anything regarding a blanket being placed up top, company said my stove was manufactured in 2002/2003 so that’s a good start. Noticed that pipe is a little pushed in and plus the bends in the end are sticking out a little bit so I’ll mess with it and see if I can reposition it a little better.