sluggish draft on jotul

[RIDGERUNNER30]

Hey. my father purchased a jotul tl 50 rangley a couple of years ago. as with any first year stove purchase, getting started is rough, not having idea wood, learning about your stove and how it operates with the setup you have. I was at his house today and notice that he would leave the ash pan door crack to get his fire going good. but what i notice was how long he left it open. his wood this year is good two year seasoning, and he also installed a outside air kit, hoping to help the draft. he has a prefab chimney that goes thur ceiling, his prefab chimney height is about 6ft. how much pipe do you need for a good draft?

 

[BrotherBart]

Hey yourself. The stove is designed for a chimney with a minimum height of 15 feet from the stove to the sky.

 

[BrotherBart]

And tell Pappy to leave the door cracked to get the fire going. Not the ash pan door or he is gonna wreck a really nice wood stove. If he hasn't already. That grate is part of the whole bottom casting. Crack it and it is gonna get real expensive around there.

 

[RIDGERUNNER30]

that's alot of pipe to extend at roof level. what should i do?

 

[RIDGERUNNER30]

my bad bart, 15 feet from stove to the sky, I hope he not crack the casting, but they never really let the stove get really hot. I will check and make sure. I believe i will add about about four more feet to the pipe and see if it helps.

 

[BrotherBart]

Just dry wood and just using the door cracked to crank it up should get it done. Us old farts are hard to train.

He is your daddy. Be easy with him.

 

[Grisu]

And can you take a closer look what chimney pipe he actually has there? If it is from a prefab fireplace it is most like not UL 103HT pipe. He may need to drop a liner down there or, since it is short anyway, better a complete new chimney. You don't want him to burn his house down.

 

[firefighterjake]

Starting a fire with the ash pan door open always seems like a smart thing to do . . . until you damage your stove . . . or see other folks' pictures of damaged stoves due to that practice.