New jotul f55 v2 questions

[Flashback87]

I just went from a true north tn20 to a jotul f55 v2. I have this mounted in front of my fireplace and flue is rear mounted. Stove was purchased new.

I did the 3 break in fires like the owners manual advised over a couple of days. I had my first real fires today and this thing is ripping!

I did a medium size top down burn ro get a coal bed established first. I reloaded off of that with stove top temps around 500.
I let the fire get established at wide open throttle for about 15 minutes before turning down the air control. I had it turned all the way down in a half and hour and the fire was still ripping. It stayed right under 700 stt but the flames never got really lazy and just at the top like in the tn 20.

So, I thought maybe i waited too long to lomg to turn air down. I reloaded later when stt was around 300°. I had air all the way down in 10 minutes and fire was building. This time it got all the way up to 760° stt which i did not like. This was at the 45 minute mark. And again flames were really never lazy or just at the top. My tn20 never burned this easy. I normally had to leave air just a little open to get stt to 700°.

I'm concerned I have air coming in somewhere. The door does latch as strongly as my tn20 but maybe this is just how the jotul is. Also, the aire control lever has a little play. What is mean is the leave will move slightly before engaging the actual mechanism. But, maybe this is normal?

I'm pleased with the heat its putting out but again, it almost seems uncontrollable and burning wood fast. I don't like the temps its climbing too. I thought i would get longer "flame time" than my tn20 too but it does not seem like that so far.

1st load was red oak, locust, ash and cherry. 7 logs not filling the whole fire box, pic attached. Splits are 4-6 inches so decent size.

2nd load was the same mixture of hardwood but 8 logs. Packed pretty tight but not jammed full.

I know this post was long and winded but hoping someone can chime in with experience of the stove if this is normal operation or does something seem off.

I'm lucky if chimney is 15ft so I don't think its a draft issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

This stove has a third larger fuel capacity. That has the potential to create significantly more rapid outgassing of the wood load when it's placed on a hot coal bed. Try turning down the air much more aggressively as the wood catches fire.

 

[EbS-P]

Turn down the air sooner and pack it tight. It’s way easier to to close it too soon and loose the flames and open it back up. Than it is to sit there looking at a raging inferno with air closed and see the temps still climbing. Ask me how I know. 😉

 

[Todd]

New stove, it will take some trial and error to figure her out.

 

[Flashback87]

Thanks!

The 2nd fire i had the air turned all the way down in 10 minutes.

I guess I can load with air turned down?

Does this just seem like normal behavior for this stove?

I'm at 2 hours for the 2nd burn and flames are still going.

It is -1 out so maybe that is effecting my draft some even though the chimney is short.

The heat output is pretty top tier though! Its definitely raising the temps in my house significantly more then the tn20.

 

[begreen]

A bigger stove with more fuel in its belly has greater heat output potential. There will be a learning curve at first but a new routine will develop. Enjoy the warmth!

 

[stoveliker]

One aspect is to test the doo r gasket with a dollar bill. The handle feel is not a good measure for proper gasket sealing.

 

[bigealta]

You can also let the coals burn down further before you reload. If you are getting such good heat then a longer burn cycle may help you out. You will find the sweet spot on the reload timing after a while.

 

[Flashback87]

Still trying to dial in this new stove. My ash bed is growing which seemed to be helping keep the stove in a good temp range.

But my load tonight got a little sketchy. Thought id try a smaller load of just 5 splits. Stt was around 3 hundred when i reloaded. I can get my infrared gun pointed up my chimney liner where it goes into my block off plate. Once that hits 250 I turned the air control all the way down. Again, it ended up taking off and hovered around 700.
I had my fan on the highest speed to keep it there.

As ive mentioned, ive wondered if the door is sealing well. I did the dollar bill thing and I had to tug a little to get it to move so that seems ok, but I checked it against the old tn20 and the bill ripped a little when I tried getting it out of that door.

So, I decided to check the temp of the door and around the door when this fire was going. Never really checked this before but the temps seemed high. Some spots were 700 on the door and parts close to the door were in the 600's

Is this a normal temp or could it indicate a leaking gasket?

Trying to determine if I'm concerned over nothing or if I should get my installer and dealer involved.

Thanks!

 

[EbS-P]

Trying to walk the line sometimes is hard. My insert overdrafts. I babysat it tonight. Missing turning it down by 120 seconds can be the difference between 1000F flue gas temps and a cruise at 680. Any heat on the coal bed on a reload and and it’s 900+ ad the adapter.

It would be impossible if I were not measuring flue gas temps. Get yourself an Auber AT200. ( wireless if you have another spot you spend time)

You will learn. Fastest with flue gas temps. Faster with any digital thermometer reading where you can watch how fast temps change in real time from a chair.

8th winter with my F 400 and I finally don’t need a thermometer. It would help because I’ve stalled it twice today. I like to walk the line.

 

[bigealta]

Yes i've been stalling my f400 a bunch to with the locust burns.
Locust needs a bit more air than almost all other woods at start until it doesn't sometime fairly long into the burn.

The f400 very very easily stalls these burns if you are just a touch off on your draft adjustments.

 

[Todd]

I think you’re fine. Keep playing with it. I like the idea of an Auber thermocouple but in the mean time try turning it down sooner in stages from full to medium then low.

 

[Flashback87]

Thanks! I appreciate all the knowledge and advice!

This mornings fire went a little better but I started turning the air down before the flue hit 250. This was on a weak bed of coal too from last night's fire. The flames started hitting the top of the baffles so i just turned it down then but flue temp was about 200. The stove stayed around 550. Would have liked a little more heat since its still single digits but still experimenting. There was no smoke coming out of chimney when I walked my kid to the bus stop so I guess that's good.

This is a fireplace install so my flue exposure is limited to take temps. I just use my infrared to measure where block off plate starts. It's probably not 18 inches. Block off plate may not be needed as much since the stove is almost completely out of the fireplace now with the rear exit.

Just seems like I had more control with the true north. That stove rarely rose in temp when air was closed completely but the f55 definitely does.

Just don't want to overfire this new stove and make sure it lasts.

Thanks again and any more advise is always appreciated!

 

[bigealta]

550 STT is a good reasonable cruising temp.

I go by the secondary burn visual thru the door.
Always shooting for a good solid amount of secondary "jet" flames, with minimal amount of flames down by the splits.

So good rolling fire at the top of the firebox (over top of the load) with very little "fire" on the load.

If you can get that dialed in you'd be running the stove in an ideal way.

Starting with the 1st pic and trying to get to the 3rd pic and cruise there if you can.

 

[EbS-P]

550 STT is a good reasonable cruising temp.

I go by the secondary burn visual thru the door.
Always shooting for a good solid amount of secondary "jet" flames, with minimal amount of flames down by the splits.

So good rolling fire at the top of the firebox (over top of the load) with very little "fire" on the load.

If you can get that dialed in you'd be running the stove in an ideal way.

Starting with the 1st pic and trying to get to the 3rd pic and cruise there if you can.

I would add that this method is the low burn rate. Posted lowest one can achieve.

 

[Flashback87]

550 STT is a good reasonable cruising temp.

I go by the secondary burn visual thru the door.
Always shooting for a good solid amount of secondary "jet" flames, with minimal amount of flames down by the splits.

So good rolling fire at the top of the firebox (over top of the load) with very little "fire" on the load.

If you can get that dialed in you'd be running the stove in an ideal way.

Starting with the 1st pic and trying to get to the 3rd pic and cruise there if you can.

Thanks!

I still haven't gotten where I just have flames at the top. That would happen a lot with the true north but I had to have the the wood packed right under the tubes.

I haven't stuffed the f55 this full yet so maybe that is why. So far, secondaries in the f55 have been accompanied by flames ripping off the logs pretty intensely

 

[begreen]

Check the glass gasket for snugness. It shouldn't be overtightened but the gasket needs to seal all around. If it is not sealing well, there may be a persistent sooty area where it's loose.

If all is ok with the door and glass gasket seals, then the stove may benefit from a bit less air. There is a secondary intake port on the back of the stove and the primary I think pulls in from the front bottom. Can you see the air control action using a mirror to look at the underside of the firebox? While looking, see if there is a small (1/4-3/8"?) hole near the primary intake. If you can, post a picture.

The fire is going to burn better with the wood close together with minimal air gaps. If you want to try and slow down the burn, try running it filled E/W for a load.

 

[Flashback87]

Check the glass gasket for snugness. It shouldn't be overtightened but the gasket needs to seal all around. If it is not sealing well, there may be a persistent sooty area where it's loose.

If all is ok with the door and glass gasket seals, then the stove may benefit from a bit less air. There is a secondary intake port on the back of the stove and the primary I think pulls in from the front bottom. Can you see the air control action using a mirror to look at the underside of the firebox? While looking, see if there is a small (1/4-3/8"?) hole near the primary intake. If you can, post a picture.

The fire is going to burn better with the wood close together with minimal air gaps. If you want to try and slow down the burn, try running it filled E/W for a load.

Here is a pic of the underside. This is with air control all the way closed. Still seems like some pretty big gaps even with air all the way closed.

I'm assuming you are referring to the little whole toward the back?

In regards to the glass and door gasket. I have not really had any soot on the glass yet. It has kept quite clean. The dollar bill test seemed to do ok. It did not just slip out.

Should that air control "door" still have that much gap with it all the way closed?

Thanks!

 

[Todd]

Try placing a magnet over that round hole. I believe that is the unrestricted boost air that comes into the lower front of the firebox under the glass. That may give you a bit more control.

 

[begreen]

Try placing a magnet over that round hole. I believe that is the unrestricted boost air that comes into the lower front of the firebox under the glass. That may give you a bit more control.

Beat me to it but yes, that is the boost air hole. Covering that with a magnet or metal tape may be all that's needed to tame the beast.

Should that air control "door" still have that much gap with it all the way closed?

Yes, there needs to be some minimum air for the air wash and so that the fire doesn't smolder. Thanks for posting the pictures!

 

[Flashback87]

Thank you both! I will try the magnet tomorrow!

Loaded off a bed of coals from my 3:00 fire at 9. Stt was just under 200° but I had a pretty good coal bed so I tried just loading with air closed all the way (1st pic). It lazily build up but never really took off so i opened the air control a tiny bit at about 35 minutes. And closed the air again after about 1 minute (pic 2). This had stt at about 550°,and flue at 250° where I can measure.

The temp never really rose more at the one hour mark so i opened the air again just a tiny bit for about 1 minute and then I closed it again. Temps rose steadily now and I've maxed out at 770°stt and 322° flue temp(3rd pic).

Its cruising now at this intense level. Blower is turned up on high.

I'm just amazed at how this thing shoots up in flame intensity and temp by moving the air control less 1/2 an inch for about 1 minute.

I was uncomfortable leaving the air all the way closed from the beginning because of the creosote potential but maybe I should have?

Not comfortable with this temp it shoots up to.

 

[Flashback87]

Well... actually climbed to 794°... not cool. So i went ahead and grabbed a magnet and covered the hole.

Temp is falling now but not sure if that's the magnet or just the burn is winding down.

This is at the 1.5 hour mark of this burn.

The right side is burning hotter but that may be because I had a really dry piece of cherry and locust on that side. But the door is measuring hotter on the right side too, in the 700's.

Is this pointing to anything that could be wrong?

 

[begreen]

It's ok, we all go through a process of learning a new stove's personality. It takes a month or so of burning under different conditions and with different wood loads to see what she will do. Eventually it will be more routine. I think you will find the stove a bit more predictable with the boost air hole closed. That helps with startups, but if one has dry wood and loads N/S, then startups are usually easy with a bit of kindling, even with the boost air hole blocked. It is on our stove too.

 

[EbS-P]

You’re learning to walk that fine line. Waiting as little as two minutes to turn down can make a huge difference on max temps. A reload on hot coals is hard to control. I like to use kindling to get a fast but not hot flame. Some on the bottom. A couple sticks on the top. The faster I can get a fire the faster I can turn the air way down.

Rake the coals all to one side for a N/S load or front or back for E/W. I’ve not tried back. But the logic is that they only touch one or two splits so the whole load doesn’t start off gassing at the same time.

 

[bigealta]

Very little moves with the draft in the f400 can dramatically change how the fire burns. My situation is tiny moves can stall the flames vs your situation where you are trying to control vigorous flames.

I'm adjusting in the 1/2 open to 1/4 open range with tiny adjustments within that range. I have a short chimney.

With you adjusting at closed and just above, you must have to much air feeding the fire.
The magnet is the best place to start. See how much it helps. If you still need more air restriction you could probably get an additional magnet that can partially block the rectangular opening (below the round hole) where the air slider is. Just make sure you don't block the slider from freely moving.