Looking at used Jotul F500 serial#37912

[toasty5]

Currently looking at this Jotul F500 serial number: 37912

Owner said house was built in 2005 and this stove was used as primary heat since. I tried to see what year the stove is from, but couldn't find anything on the serial number.

Any potential issues from what you can see in the pictures? Would getting a stove 20+ years old be an issue -in terms of parts or performance? Is $1,900 a fair price? Appreciate any input! This is my first wood stove and I know some of what to look for when buying used, but not everything.

 

[stovelark]

So, that is a blue black enamel finish (the chrome handles signify that its an enamel color), if the interior looks ok, its a nice stove. 1900 is probably fair, but 1500 would be better... things to check would be the secondary air chamber in top of stove, make sure its not loose or hanging down and the ceramic baffle and blanket are in place on top of secondary air chamber. I believe the cast iron plates for the baffle was gone by 2015... I had an early (2010) BBE Oslo, wonderful heater. Parts are still available, but like any stove now, they have gone up too. Do not burn this stove with ash pan door open, it can lead to serious damage to stove's baseplate. Good luck with her, good dry wood a necessity.

 

[toasty5]

So, that is a blue black enamel finish (the chrome handles signify that its an enamel color), if the interior looks ok, its a nice stove. 1900 is probably fair, but 1500 would be better... things to check would be the secondary air chamber in top of stove, make sure its not loose or hanging down and the ceramic baffle and blanket are in place on top of secondary air chamber. I believe the cast iron plates for the baffle was gone by 2015... I had an early (2010) BBE Oslo, wonderful heater. Parts are still available, but like any stove now, they have gone up too. Do not burn this stove with ash pan door open, it can lead to serious damage to stove's baseplate. Good luck with her, good dry wood a necessity.

Awesome, thanks so much for the input!

 

[begreen]

It's a good workhorse and looks to be in decent condtion. I also think the price is too high. It's about what they paid for in in 2005. This is a painted stove, not enameled. The stove will likely need its joints resealed and new gaskets throughout, in the next few years, if not now. Definitely look it over closely. Examine the inside base around the grate area for any cracks, same for the area around the flue collar.

 

[stovelark]

Begging to differ BG, that is blue black enamel, its just not cleaned up. The Chromed handles only went on enameled stoves. Matte black would be more grayed out, especially if not cleaned up and painted. Agree with you on the original price though in 2005, around 2K.

 

[begreen]

Begging to differ BG, that is blue black enamel, its just not cleaned up. The Chromed handles only went on enameled stoves. Matte black would be more grayed out, especially if not cleaned up and painted. Agree with you on the original price though in 2005, around 2K.

I had 2 blue black enameled Jotuls. The one pictured is painted. There's a day and night difference. Can't say about the handle, It may not be original .

 

[John Lehet]

Offhand, seems a bit expensive to me based on what I’ve seen on Craigslist (VT, NH) over the past couple of years, but it may be a different market and a different time. My unscientific and purely recreational take on the used stove market is that there are fewer stoves out there for sale this year. And if it’s the stove you really want, which I could understand, then the price is not bad compared to a new and possibly worse version of the stove.

(I don’t know why I look at used woodstoves on craigslist still, even though I’m absolutely happy with my current stove and would never replace it with anything. I also look at chainsaws even though I have three, but that’s a different story. Anyone have a good Stihl 261 for sale?)

If you get it, don’t overfire it. And depending on your chimney and climate, not overfiring might be a trick sometimes

 

[stovelark]

Ok Mr authority- if you insist, you must be right.