New Cast Iron (Jotul) Leakage

[BotetourtSteve]

Unfortunately for me, I just confirmed a while ago that that I have some air leakage on my new (2 wk old) Jotul F600. I thought I had glimpsed a puff of smoke during one of the initial start ups, but was never certain about it until now. Today is a marginal fire day (humid, mid-50s) and needless to say the draft is not real strong. I just put the 2nd load of the day in the stove, and when I went to cut down the air control, there was unmistakably a wiff of smoke that came out of the top left side of my 600. It appears to be leaking at the top of the seam between the front and side panels, or possibly at the top panel itself. This is only the second time I have seen this, I have not noticed any adverse burning or smokey conditions as a result of the leak.

My questions are these: Is this that big of a deal? Should I push the dealer to come and repair it (they won't be happy, it is a 90 mile one way trip) since it is obviously under warrranty, or should I just get some cement and try to do it myself, or just ignore it all together?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[STOVEGUY11]

If it was me, I would contact the dealer. Its there responsibility. And you dont want to leave it and have it turn into a bigger problem. What if down the road you need to warranty something else, if you dont point out the problem of the leak now, it could void your warranty for another problem. Also check to see if the flue collar is tight. I've seen stoves out of the factory leak from loose stove collars

 

[BotetourtSteve]

No, not the collar. I saw it up close and personal. Top left hand side of stove (top right corner if looking at it from the side). In the corner where the front, side and top panels meet.

 

[SPED]

Steve,

I was reading my documentation on my 600 at lunch, and it said something in there about having to transport the stove yourself for warranty service, seems kind of crazy to me, but might want to double check that.

 

[swestall]

The dealer should correct this right away, no questions asked...

 

[webbie]

Wait a minute folks!

Calm down.......

Has everyone here read that threads about the fact that no cast iron stove is ANYWHERE NEAR AIR TIGHT?

This is true of most steel stoves also. I have seen smoke come right through welds in steel stoves! Of course, gaskets are no way airtight - smoke will come right through them, and it will come through furnace cement also.

So, let's start with all that in mind. A stove is NOT airtight. A stove is a controlled combustion device. You should be able to drill a 1" hole in the side of the stove and still not have smoke come out of it.

When smoke comes out of a seam on a stove or stovepipe, this points not to a stove problem, but to a chimney problem. The chimney should be providing enough pull (draft) in order to pull air in through any tiny spaces and holes/gasket, etc.

SO, to answer the question - chances are that it is not a big deal. In fact, chances are that it is nothing at all. The first order of business might be to see how large the spaces are - but putting a drop light or something like that inside the stove in a dark room and checking to see if you can see light. Another way to check is to use a small butane lighter and hold it near the seam to see if it gets sucked in.

Probably at worst, the fix is some furnace cement applied from the inside of the stove, etc. - However, keep in mind that no matter how well you seal, smoke will come out if the chimney is not doing it's job.

 

[Dr Bigwood]

I had the same issue with my Castine. Had smoke coming through the seams around the top of the stove filling my living room. Really freaked me out..... Then I inspected my chimney and discovered that the mesh wire chimney cap was completely clogged with soot. Cleaned the mesh and haven't had any problems since.... So I would inspect your chimney/draft before calling the dealer. Good luck!

 

[BotetourtSteve]

As stated in first post, draft issue is a product of the weather today (humid, mid-50s, no wind). Normally it is not an issue. But back to the issue at hand. Craig, you nailed it with the lighter trick. (other than I burned my thumb - been a while since I needed to keep a lighter burning that long...) The flame is being drawn into the seam between the front and side panels for about 1 inch right at the top.

So...worry, don't worry, fix it, don't fix it, call dealer, don't call dealer....whatcha think?

 

[webbie]

Use the light to see how big it is. Inspect the inside of the stove at that place - probably nothing more than pressing some furnace cement into the seam from the inside at that point. It can break off in shipping, handling, installation, etc. or certainly possible they didn't apply enough.

Correct for it (whether fixed or not) by burning small loads of wood with more air to keep chimney moving and create less smoke (have nice flame on fire).

 

[BotetourtSteve]

Craig:

You da man! Thanks for the help. The only catch may end up being whether or not I can access that corner without a lot of disassembly, as it looks like the secondary burn system is in there pretty close (cursory inspection thru glass since fire is still burning). Now that I know that it is something minor and is easily fixed, I will probably just wait until 24/7 burn season is over before repairing. No harm in waiting is it? Thanks again for playing Xanax for me - I was kind of freaking thinking I had a big problem with my new $2500 toy - not a cool proposition.