New jotul f55 v2 questions
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This is all great info and I appreciate the help!
This mornings load went better. The magnet is in place and i tried raking the coals to one side instead of just the front.
Of course, I'm a little hesitant with the air control now so it took a while to get up to temp. It did eventually take off qith air closed all the way but it stayed under 700° STT which i like. This was a n/s load.
Its wild the way this thinf reacts. I'm loading with pretty big splits. I was having to resplit some logs before loading in the true north but not with this beast. It can handle the 6-7 inch splits no problem with air all the way down.
I'll have to keep an eye on my chimney for build up while im learning but since its rear mounted and conneced to a Tee I'm assuming I can just remove the bottom of the Tee and sweep away.
Thanks again!
This mornings load went better. The magnet is in place and i tried raking the coals to one side instead of just the front.
Of course, I'm a little hesitant with the air control now so it took a while to get up to temp. It did eventually take off qith air closed all the way but it stayed under 700° STT which i like. This was a n/s load.
Its wild the way this thinf reacts. I'm loading with pretty big splits. I was having to resplit some logs before loading in the true north but not with this beast. It can handle the 6-7 inch splits no problem with air all the way down.
I'll have to keep an eye on my chimney for build up while im learning but since its rear mounted and conneced to a Tee I'm assuming I can just remove the bottom of the Tee and sweep away.
Thanks again!
Stove top temps lag way behind what is happening in the flue. Even most flue thermometers introduce lag. This is where I find the Auber digital probe most useful. Analog thermometers lag too much. By the time the needle moves the temp in the flue may have risen 50º. A digital thermometer gives the accurate temperature with near real time response. It also allow one to see the rate of change.
Ok I'm going to suggest for the next reload to rake the coals forward.
Load E/W this time.
Put a big split in the Back (behind the coals)
Then put a good size rectangle or triangle piece in front on the coals , with the fat end towards the door.
Then fill in the space on top of the 2 splits with a few good sized splits.
The triangle should provide a trough to stop the above splits from rolling onto the glass.
Open the draft to full or at least 3/4 open. And close the door tight.
Stand by.
Start to close down the draft when the flames start to fill the firebox by maybe 1/2 or 3/4.
Observe how the closing of the draft affects the fire.
As the flames increase continue to close the draft.
If you start getting secondary flames, then just slightly close the draft a touch more
Then close the draft a bit more and see if you can stall out the secondary flames.
This will tell you if you have control or not at this point.
If there is no effect then close to draft all the way and see what happens.
I'm going to guess you may need a second magnet to block a little more air at the inlet, but the above should give us all more insight on how your set up is burning.
Load E/W this time.
Put a big split in the Back (behind the coals)
Then put a good size rectangle or triangle piece in front on the coals , with the fat end towards the door.
Then fill in the space on top of the 2 splits with a few good sized splits.
The triangle should provide a trough to stop the above splits from rolling onto the glass.
Open the draft to full or at least 3/4 open. And close the door tight.
Stand by.
Start to close down the draft when the flames start to fill the firebox by maybe 1/2 or 3/4.
Observe how the closing of the draft affects the fire.
As the flames increase continue to close the draft.
If you start getting secondary flames, then just slightly close the draft a touch more
Then close the draft a bit more and see if you can stall out the secondary flames.
This will tell you if you have control or not at this point.
If there is no effect then close to draft all the way and see what happens.
I'm going to guess you may need a second magnet to block a little more air at the inlet, but the above should give us all more insight on how your set up is burning.
I seem to be settled on 3 loads a day. My afternoon load went pretty well. I loaded some pretty big splits (pic below). Loaded at about half throttle and turned down from there. Secondaries kicked in pretty quick but stove and flue temp were still low but went outside and didn't see any smoke. Climbed to about 660° stt max. Right side still seems to hotter then left.
I can try this e/w load but I think it will be good for my afternoon load. Thats the one with the shortest time in between loads so since its just 3 splits the coals should last.
My coals are starting to last longer. I'm assuming that's because my ash bed is getting deeper but maybe the magnet over the hole is helping too.
Just out of curiosity, if your think im gonna need a 2nd magnet, is this a malfunction with the stove or just the way it is?
Thanks!
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It sounds like the boost air block is acting as expected. Ours has been taped over for more than a decade.
I would continue to run it with the boost air blocked and see how it goes for the next week or so. Tweak your air adjustments to find your sweet spot. There are a lot of variables in wood burning and every fire can be a little different. It sounds like you’re getting the hang of it.
Many stoves have this unregulated boost air shooting straight into the lower firebox like a blow torch. Many installs especially with stronger draft really don’t need this extra air. The air that feeds your secondary baffle is also unregulated and can sometimes be too strong.
Many stoves have this unregulated boost air shooting straight into the lower firebox like a blow torch. Many installs especially with stronger draft really don’t need this extra air. The air that feeds your secondary baffle is also unregulated and can sometimes be too strong.
Tried this e/w load this afternoon and it did no go well. Took a long time to get started and had to add some kindling and newspaper to help. It may be because the majority of the load was black locust packed super tight. I had to remove the magnet on the secondary air also toget it going. You can really hear the air (faint roar) when the magnet is removed. Had to add an old piece of ash and hickory to finally get it to take off and close th eair all the way. May be checking my chimney later... lol.
I'll need to try it again with more of a mixed load but things seem better controlled with the magnet in place and loading n/s. Didn't have to shut it down so fast this morning but more in increments like i did with my truenorth
The good news is f55 can take 20 inch logs e/w so when I come across some of those, I won't need to shorten but just set aside for that specific load.
thanks!
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So u went from 1 extreme to the other.
Yes Locust is a hard starter and needs more air and a looser spacing. I've been burning 4 year old locust for the last couple weeks and it takes more air and for longer than any other wood. But then in the middle of the burn it can get Very Hot. It can take an hour or more to get there. Definitely mix in some easier burning wood to help it get going.
If i knew you were going to load with all locust i would have suggested to put spacers between the bottom and top rows and to put a couple easier burning splits (pine, maple, ash, even oak) mixed in.
At least now you know that your stove will not always run away and is controllable.
If you are getting control of N/S loads than that's ideal. If not then E/W is a tool to get the control back.
Yes Locust is a hard starter and needs more air and a looser spacing. I've been burning 4 year old locust for the last couple weeks and it takes more air and for longer than any other wood. But then in the middle of the burn it can get Very Hot. It can take an hour or more to get there. Definitely mix in some easier burning wood to help it get going.
If i knew you were going to load with all locust i would have suggested to put spacers between the bottom and top rows and to put a couple easier burning splits (pine, maple, ash, even oak) mixed in.
At least now you know that your stove will not always run away and is controllable.
If you are getting control of N/S loads than that's ideal. If not then E/W is a tool to get the control back.
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Locust is a very dense wood that needs extra help getting started even in our stove.
Did you mean to say that the magnet was over the boost air hole? That is different from the secondary air intake on this stove.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I try to find a pine split to load nearest the ignition source. And I always use kindling (have I said that before? Yes, yes I have). I need to get something lit establish draft as fast as I can. I want secondaries lit ASAP. I want to get the air to its final setting as soon as I can. I want my load to never ignite all at one.
I did a good job on my load tonight. I nailed it. I have a damper that needs set first then the air control. Tight packed live oak with two pine splits on top. Top down start. It’s only 44 out so that’s helping me keep temps down.
I did a good job on my load tonight. I nailed it. I have a damper that needs set first then the air control. Tight packed live oak with two pine splits on top. Top down start. It’s only 44 out so that’s helping me keep temps down.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
It’s repeatable. If you have a stove that probably has too much draft the surface area exposed to heat is nearly the same each time. On hot reload good luck. Everything takes off too fast.
To the OP do you have room to install a damper? I use mine basically as a cold start bout air. Open till it established 20% kindling ignition then straight to closed. Messing with boost air(I tried ) and unregulated secondary (tried again) changes the ratio the stove was designed to run at. A damper keeps the same ratio.
My chimney is righ at 14 ft. I don't think my draft is that great but I may be wrong.
Load did better tonight. Loaded n/s and had some bigger splits on top. Actually had to leave the air open just a little to keep stt around 600°.
My coal bed still isn't as good as it was with the truenorth. I takes a little to get going so I can see why kindling is used. Seems like cracking the door doesn't really help much either.
I may try some more with the boost air open. To see if that's helps start up. I can just cover it back up if things get dicey. Always chasing that perfect burn and wild how many things have to come together...
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
It will take time. Keep at it. 8 years and now I can run my F400 by sight. It was 3 years standing over it with an IR thermometer. And another 3 with an AT200 and IR.
And your f400 runs very different than mine. My short chimney has me "cruise" burning with the draft lever 1/4 to 1/2 open even on the super dry oak and locust. I can easily stall almost any fire (except maybe pine) with just moving the draft a little bit within that range. Fully closed draft is almost unheard of with my set up.
Are you cleaning all the ash out before fires? Keep at least 1/2 “ of ash in the firebox. This should help with your coal bed.
This afternoon id thought id try a n/s on bottom and then utilize my 20 inch splits and load those e/w on top.
Started with boost air uncovered. Started ok and shut air down all the way when stt hit about 500°. Climbed pretty quick to upper°600 so covered up boost air with magnet and turned on fan.
Temp did not slow down with blower on high. Got to 800° stt so thought i would open the door to get cold air in. Opened door and had window opens. Stt kept climbing and the Tee section and pipe above turned red. Shut stove door then, it stopped glowing and just let it ride.
I beleive max stt was 860° but paint is starting to fade bubble on bottom right corner. This seems weird because I would not think that area would get that hot? Stove top seems fine and no cracks.
Anything else I should be looking for as far as damage?
My installer left a message for jotul tech. Shocked how fast this shot up with e/w load on top of n/s load.7 pieces total. Ones on top were decent sized but 2 were party dry white ash.
Thanks!
Started with boost air uncovered. Started ok and shut air down all the way when stt hit about 500°. Climbed pretty quick to upper°600 so covered up boost air with magnet and turned on fan.
Temp did not slow down with blower on high. Got to 800° stt so thought i would open the door to get cold air in. Opened door and had window opens. Stt kept climbing and the Tee section and pipe above turned red. Shut stove door then, it stopped glowing and just let it ride.
I beleive max stt was 860° but paint is starting to fade bubble on bottom right corner. This seems weird because I would not think that area would get that hot? Stove top seems fine and no cracks.
Anything else I should be looking for as far as damage?
My installer left a message for jotul tech. Shocked how fast this shot up with e/w load on top of n/s load.7 pieces total. Ones on top were decent sized but 2 were party dry white ash.
Thanks!
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
My experience says NS on thr bottom let the boost air get all the way to the back and makes hot tunnel of fire front to back.
I’m going to say you need a damper. If it was 800 full closed you need a way to slow it down.
Is a damper possible with a fireplace install?
I get some smoke roll out when I start loading on coals or in the morning so I assumed my draft was not great.
I would be way off though
A damper in a fireplace install is more challenging. It would add some restriction even when open. At 14', the liner is already shorter than recommended by the manufacturer.
The initial issues that you ran into will become a memory eventually. It's like getting into a 600hp Vette for the first time and finding the accelerator is quite lively. Eventually one learns a lighter touch on it for driving around town. (Can you imagine what driving the new ZR1 with 1064hp is like?)
Turning down the air in a timely fashion is key to preventing overfire. I'd put in a flue probe long before adding a damper. That is a great aid to guide the timing of air control closure.
The initial issues that you ran into will become a memory eventually. It's like getting into a 600hp Vette for the first time and finding the accelerator is quite lively. Eventually one learns a lighter touch on it for driving around town. (Can you imagine what driving the new ZR1 with 1064hp is like?)
Turning down the air in a timely fashion is key to preventing overfire. I'd put in a flue probe long before adding a damper. That is a great aid to guide the timing of air control closure.
