new jotul 370 - troubleshoot?

[jotul370woodstoveowner]

New jotul 370 - would like some feedback. I'm burning about 15 full size oak logs every day for heat.

1. Seem to be getting lots of ash or at least, from reading posts, maybe more than others get - fills the ash pan every two days. Does this sound OK?
2. Getting a drip of something, possibly creosote, from back end of right side - impossible to clean, can't see at all where it's coming from; I can see nothing on the bottom of the stove itself. Any ideas?
3. Last night, had a weird, strong "swoosh" of smoke come up out of the top of the stove. It was not overly windy outside. Out top pipe is not "glued-in"; it's only set in. But never had this swoosh before. Cleaned the stove entirely today to see if i can replicate.
4. Lastly, getting a black burn mark on the glass, top left front. Impossible to clean with simple glass cleaning product.

Am I allowing too much ash to build up inside the stove?
Am I keeping the air control too closed? And if so, I'm concerned about the amount of wood I'm going through, though not sure that really is a problem.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. The black drip is probably from the stove cement baking in. It should go away once the stove has had a bake in period at 500F or higher. If not it could be a creosote drip.

Based on what has been posted so far it sounds like the stove is being run too cool, possibly due to partially seasoned wood. Has the oak been split, stacked and covered for at least 2 years? If not it could still be damp inside. That would explain the dark sooty marks on the glass. The swoosh sounds like a back-puff, probably from running the fire with too little air. Was the fire smoldering at the time this happened?

Question: can you describe the entire flue system on this stove? How tall is the chimney? Can you post a picture of the stove + flue and another of the backside of the stove showing the flue connection? Or is it top connected?