Seems like Jotul F500 is burning too hot

[Bulldogmoose]

Hey there.. got the Jotul 500 installed in the fireplace. Been burning with it for about 3-4 days now and the thing cranks. I'm concerned that it burns too well of that makes sense. I can't keep the damper open all the way for long and when the damper is fully closed, it still seems like it is burning too hot. My buddy has the same stove and when he shuts his damper completely, the fire basically goes out. That doesn't happen with my unit. Just a little concerned because it is a rebuilt stove. Here's a picture of the stove going with the damper completely closed with a full load of wood.

Let me know what you think


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[begreen]

The stove could be burning correctly. When the air is closed down secondary combustion becomes much more vigorous. That is normal. Do you have a thermometer on the stovetop at the recommended location? If the stove top is under 700-750F it's fine.

No two setups are identical. Your buddy's stove could have a different flue configuration or the wood may not be as well seasoned. As long as your stove top temps are good you are ok.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

The thermometer is on the top of my stove and it's reading 600 right now


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[Bulldogmoose]

It's in the red for too hot


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[Bulldogmoose]

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[Bulldogmoose]

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[Bulldogmoose]

I guess I'm just concerned bc I rebuilt it. Want to make sure I'm using it correctly and that it is safe


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[Bulldogmoose]

Plus won't that mean that I will be going through more wood? Bc the secondary burns are burning more vigorously


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[Bulldogmoose]

The stove could be burning correctly. When the air is closed down secondary combustion becomes much more vigorous. That is normal. Do you have a thermometer on the stovetop at the recommended location? If the stove top is under 700-750F it's fine.

No two setups are identical. Your buddy's stove could have a different flue configuration or the wood may not be as well seasoned. As long as your stove top temps are good you are ok.

I forgot to hit reply.. I posted more in the topic to show you where the placement of the thermometer is and how hot it is burning


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[begreen]

It's in the red for too hot

That's a flue thermometer, not a stove top thermometer. (Note its name - Chimguard) It will work but you have to ignore the scales on it. They are meant for surface readings on a single-wall flue pipe. The reason for the scales is that the interior flue gases will be about 1.5 to 2x the surface pipe temp reading. This does not apply to the stove top. Just read the temperature. You are doing fine. 600F is a normal cruising temp for your stove.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Plus won't that mean that I will be going through more wood? Bc the secondary burns are burning more vigorously


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Not necessarily...I have a non-cat stove and I burn significantly less wood than when it was an open fireplace, obviously.
Once my stove is hot, I get a good secondary burn show going on. That is just the stove doing it's job. However, if it feels like it is burning "too hot" with the air down, you might have an air leak. I am not familiar with Jotuls, but some of the other folks here can probably tell you some things to check. Again, as begreen said, no two setups are exactly the same.

 

[begreen]

Plus won't that mean that I will be going through more wood? Bc the secondary burns are burning more vigorously

What is happening is that the secondary combustion is burning off gases that normally would go up as smoke with a smoldering fire. You are getting more heat from less wood burned.

I guess I'm just concerned bc I rebuilt it. Want to make sure I'm using it correctly and that it is safe

That's understandable. So far it looks like the stove is burning well and correctly.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

What is happening is that the secondary combustion is burning off gases that normally would go up as smoke with a smoldering fire. You are getting more heat from less wood burned.

So you don't think it's an air leak ... what about overnight burns? If it's burning like that with damper closed.. overnight burns will be impossible


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[bholler]

It's in the red for too hot

Go get your self a stove top thermometer not a pipe thermometer and it wont be in the red.

 

[begreen]

So you don't think it's an air leak ... what about overnight burns? If it's burning like that with damper closed.. overnight burns will be impossible

Not impossible. 600F is normal cruising temp for this stove. I'm going to change the title of this thread to include your stove model so that F500 owner can see it and share their experiences running this stove.
For longer burn times, close the air down sooner and burn large splits in the 4-8" thickness range.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

Not impossible. 600F is normal cruising temp for this stove. I'm going to change the title of this thread to include your stove model so that F500 owner can see it and share their experiences running this stove.
For longer burn times, close the air down sooner and burn large splits in the 4-8" thickness range.

The pieces that were burning in the picture are about 16in and I'd say 6-8 inch thick


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[begreen]

That's fine. Sounds like you are off to a good start, but close the air control down sooner with the next fire.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

Fire has finally gone down and is running at around 525 -575 depending on how close I stand using an infrared thermometer


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[firefighterjake]

Sounds like things are running pretty well . . . with the only thing that you might want to change being shutting down the air a bit sooner and perhaps getting a thermometer made for stove tops.

Every stove set up is different (not to mention the quality of the wood) . . . depending on the chimney length, number of bends, install (straight up or up and out), etc. you may or may not be able to close the air all the way without suffocating the fire.

Seeing the Oslo do its thing is a wonderful (and somewhat scary thing) the first few times. When that secondary burning starts off it can look like you've somehow managed to open a portal to Hell. Hell, the first time it happened to me I thought for sure ol' Beelzebub was about to pop out of the top of my Oslo at any minute despite the thermometers showing that it was running well within the correct range of temps.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

Sounds like things are running pretty well . . . with the only thing that you might want to change being shutting down the air a bit sooner and perhaps getting a thermometer made for stove tops.

Every stove set up is different (not to mention the quality of the wood) . . . depending on the chimney length, number of bends, install (straight up or up and out), etc. you may or may not be able to close the air all the way without suffocating the fire.

Seeing the Oslo do its thing is a wonderful (and somewhat scary thing) the first few times. When that secondary burning starts off it can look like you've somehow managed to open a portal to Hell. Hell, the first time it happened to me I thought for sure ol' Beelzebub was about to pop out of the top of my Oslo at any minute despite the thermometers showing that it was running well within the correct range of temps.

It just seems like something isn't right. Maybe I'm over thinking things. Thought I'd get a longer overnight burn time also


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[Bulldogmoose]

Sounds like things are running pretty well . . . with the only thing that you might want to change being shutting down the air a bit sooner and perhaps getting a thermometer made for stove tops.

Every stove set up is different (not to mention the quality of the wood) . . . depending on the chimney length, number of bends, install (straight up or up and out), etc. you may or may not be able to close the air all the way without suffocating the fire.

Seeing the Oslo do its thing is a wonderful (and somewhat scary thing) the first few times. When that secondary burning starts off it can look like you've somehow managed to open a portal to Hell. Hell, the first time it happened to me I thought for sure ol' Beelzebub was about to pop out of the top of my Oslo at any minute despite the thermometers showing that it was running well within the correct range of temps.

As soon as I put a new batch of wood with the damper open it instantly ignites... so after a few minutes I drop it to about half then drop it down a little more to about 1/4 but it seems like I did nothing by dropping the damper down

I am in a fireplace install with the flexpipe coming straight down into the stove


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[Nick Mystic]

I have a Jotul F600, which is very similar to the F500, but slightly larger. When I move my primary air lever all the way to the left I can definitely tell the difference. In fact, if the room is quiet I can actually hear the air shut off. There will be a clear streaming sound of air flowing into the doghouse even with the air just slightly open, but as soon as I slide it to a full stop the air sound also stops. Perhaps you can try listening very closely as you do the same with your stove to listen for a difference. If you don't hear one then perhaps the mechanism inside the doghouse isn't working properly. You mentioned it was a rebuilt stove, so it's possible something didn't get put together correctly. Like your buddy with his F500 I too can cause my stove to go completely out if I shut the primary air all the way down too soon into a bourn.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

I have a Jotul F600, which is very similar to the F500, but slightly larger. When I move my primary air lever all the way to the left I can definitely tell the difference. In fact, if the room is quiet I can actually hear the air shut off. There will be a clear streaming sound of air flowing into the doghouse even with the air just slightly open, but as soon as I slide it to a full stop the air sound also stops. Perhaps you can try listening very closely as you do the same with your stove to listen for a difference. If you don't hear one then perhaps the mechanism inside the doghouse isn't working properly. You mentioned it was a rebuilt stove, so it's possible something didn't get put together correctly. Like your buddy with his F500 I too can cause my stove to go completely out if I shut the primary air all the way down too soon into a bourn.

That's what concerns me. There is small difference from all the way open to all the way closed. Any stove I've ever seen when shutting damper off basically takes the fire away and basically chars the wood.

What is the doghouse that you speak of?


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[Nick Mystic]

On the F600 the doghouse is inside the stove directly behind the primary control lever. It looks like a hump at the bottom front of the stove with five holes in it where the outside air enters the stove. If a log is placed within an inch or so of the doghouse you can actually see it burn five holes into the wood as the air enters the stove and hits the split. As I move my primary control lever I can feel resistance from it sliding something back and forth inside the doghouse to open and close these holes.

 

[Bulldogmoose]

On the F600 the doghouse is inside the stove directly behind the primary control lever. It looks like a hump at the bottom front of the stove with five holes in it where the outside air enters the stove. If a log is placed within an inch or so of the doghouse you can actually see it burn five holes into the wood as the air enters the stove and hits the split. As I move my primary control lever I can feel resistance from it sliding something back and forth inside the doghouse to open and close these holes.

That may be a possibility... perhaps the bar that slides to shut off the sir was installed incorrectly?


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