New Jotul 550 Rockland and Pics!

[soxfan13]

Here is my new Jotul 550 Rockland insert. I have been having fun breaking it and me in. It is my first wood stove although my parents have an Avalon Ranier so I am not a total noob. It is my first time with a cast iron stove. It takes a while to heat up but it does hold the heat well.

Initial thoughts……It takes a while to get this puppy up to speed. I can’t really find a good spot for the thermometer so I don't know how accurate it is. I feel it is at least 150 or 200 degrees lower then where it should be when I compare the heat output to my parents' stove. The glass has been perfectly clean the whole time.

I can't wait to see what this thing does. I am sure I will have a lot of questions for all of you.


I hope the pictures come out. If not then I will need some help.

 

[JimmyMood]

I still can't tell the difference between the 350 and 550 in pictures. Then I saw you managed to fit more than 2 logs in the stove, so that means it isn't a 350! FWIW, the thermometer is on the air intake, so it probably will read cool. I think the best place is to the left or right of the door, but I haven't found a thermometer small enough to fit there.

 

[jadm]

That sure looks nice.

Looks like you were running that fire with the primary air 75% closed. How did you manage to keep the bricks that clean?

When I tried closing down to that level my bricks got black pretty quickly.... To keep them clean I had to keep it at 50%.

At what temp. were you able to close it down? ( Looks like you were at 300* on that front panel. )

 

[soxfan13]

I can fit 5 or 6 logs depending on the size. I thought the air intake was in the bottom.? I think I might go out and buy an IR thermometer because there really isn't a good spot on this thing to place one.

 

[JimmyMood]

I assume it is the same as my 350. The air enters just above the top of the door through some thin slots in that trim you have the thermometer stuck to, then enters the stove and blows over the glass to keep in clear. The air intake on the bottom is for the fan. I am also at a loss for a good thermometer location. I have one the small hole in the fireplace above the stove that used to be for the damper control. I was wondering if I could run a probe thermometer through that and into the SS liner to monitor stack temps.

 

[jadm]

Have you read the threads on using IR thermometers? I just installed a 550 too and have been having a hard time getting accurate temps. I know the fires are hotter than what I'm reading. I posted a topic and got lots of info. on the IRs and am now toying with the idea of getting one too since they aren't awfully expensive. Like you said - no good place to put the magnet ones on these inserts.

I still can't tell the difference between the 350 and 550 in pictures. Then I saw you managed to fit more than 2 logs in the stove, so that means it isn't a 350! FWIW, the thermometer is on the air intake, so it probably will read cool. I think the best place is to the left or right of the door, but I haven't found a thermometer small enough to fit there.

 

[fugazi42]

There is a thread here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/8690/ about thermometer placement on the Jotul 450. I put a Rutland thermometer on mine in the same place and I seem to get consistent readings. Will a thermometer fit in the same place on the 550?

Josh

 

[jtp10181]

That sure looks nice.

Looks like you were running that fire with the primary air 75% closed. How did you manage to keep the bricks that clean?

When I tried closing down to that level my bricks got black pretty quickly.... To keep them clean I had to keep it at 50%.

At what temp. were you able to close it down? ( Looks like you were at 300* on that front panel. )

the bricks getting black is the sign of a dirty burn, wood probably has too much moisture in it and when you cut the air off it just smolders.

 

[Corie]

Just curious, are you keeping the logs behind the little integral log retainers?

 

[soxfan13]

Just curious, are you keeping the logs behind the little integral log retainers?

Yes I am. In the close up picture you can kind of see the small triangle shaped pieces of metal in front of the wood. Sometimes the wood shifts or ash goes in front of those but I just take care of it when I see it. There is about an inch in between these and the glass on the door and then another lip up before you hit the door and glass.

 

[Corie]

Yeah I know. I spoke, at length, with the designer about them and why he put them there. I was just curious if they were actually being useful in the real world, or if customers would just load wood right on top of them. Good to hear that you're using it the right way. It keeps a lot less heat off the hearth.

 

[soxfan13]

Corie,

I kind of like them. It is just a little extra something to prevent anything from rolling out. Like I said, the glass has stayed perfectly clear too.

 

[Corie]

Well great! I'm glad then, because he was very excited about using such a simple fix on the stove! That, and he was also super excited about the pull down flue collar. How did that work out for you?

 

[jadm]

Soxfan13 - Well I bit the bullet and ordered an IR this morning. Found a good one on tooldesk.com for 39.00 that goes up to 1000*. Now I will have 3 temps. to compare.
:coolhmm:

Phone Number for that web site is 1-877-630-6963. The one I ordered is model #ATD-701

I also ordered the LLBean short gloves but they won't be in until April.

Noticed your blowers are floor level. One of the reasons I got this unit was that the blowers were so accessible. Blower in my old unit got clogged up and burnt out very quickly and was attached behind the unit so I couldn't vacuum it without removing the entire unit. I plan on regular blower maintenance with my vacuum for this unit! My plan is to keep them clean and make them last.