Spare parts?

[49er]

We are into our second season with a propane fueled Jotul Sebago that replaced our old wood stove and it's the primary source of heat for a couple of rooms that we spend most of our time in. It is working fine but I've been thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to have a few spare parts on hand just in case. I was going to order a spare thermocouple and thermopile and was wondering what others here might think about having spare parts on hand. Does this sound like a good idea or are these generally reliable enough that you don't need spares and are there any other items that we should have on the list? The gas valve itself is awfully expensive so I was going to take my chances with it and not order a spare unless strongly advised otherwise.
Thanks guys, I will appreciate all thoughts and suggestions.
Randy

 

[Heatsource]

Hi Randy,
gas valves rarely fail, so i'd say you are safe there. I'm not too familiar with that model, but main parts would be:
pilot assembly (which includes your t-pile and t-couple and the feed line and pilot hood)
Main burner- again not familiar with stove model or its burner
Blower motor (and the snap disc and rheostat)
burner and blower may be a bit overkill though

 

[DAKSY]

Hi Randy,
gas valves rarely fail, so i'd say you are safe there. I'm not too familiar with that model, but main parts would be:
pilot assembly (which includes your t-pile and t-couple and the feed line and pilot hood)
Main burner- again not familiar with stove model or its burner
Blower motor (and the snap disc and rheostat)
burner and blower may be a bit overkill though

You are correct as usual, Dave... To the OP, rarely have I seen anything fail on the Jotul gas units except the thermal generators. A spare ThermoPile (T-P) & Thermo-Couple (T-C) are good to have, ESPECIALLY the T-C. While you can probably make do with a True Value Hardware universal millivolt generator for the T-P, the T-C is another story. I've found that the Nova SIT thermocouples aren't usually stocked by anyone but a hearthshop. As far as the newer generation burners, go, Jotul has switched from a Stainless Steel burner tube to a combination pan type burner that has an SS cover with a Cast Iron base. To the best of my knowledge, these pans carry a lifetime warranty & keeping a spare is not prudent, as it'll have to be paid for. HTH...

 

[49er]

You are correct as usual, Dave... To the OP, rarely have I seen anything fail on the Jotul gas units except the thermal generators. A spare ThermoPile (T-P) & Thermo-Couple (T-C) are good to have, ESPECIALLY the T-C. While you can probably make do with a True Value Hardware universal millivolt generator for the T-P, the T-C is another story. I've found that the Nova SIT thermocouples aren't usually stocked by anyone but a hearthshop. As far as the newer generation burners, go, Jotul has switched from a Stainless Steel burner tube to a combination pan type burner that has an SS cover with a Cast Iron base. To the best of my knowledge, these pans carry a lifetime warranty & keeping a spare is not prudent, as it'll have to be paid for. HTH...

Thanks so much for the replies Dave and Bob, I'm going to follow Dave's advice and order the complete pilot assembly. I'm most concerned about the parts that can fail without warning and leave us in the cold, it wouldn't be so bad if the parts were readily available locally but that doesn't seem to be the case. That's a good tip about True Value though Bob and I would definitely try that in an emergency. I called our local Jotul dealer and they said they would have to order parts like the T-P and T-C and it could take a week or two to get them in. The main reason we switched from wood to gas was the no wood burn days that our local air board seems to be calling more and more often in this area. It was bad enough having to go 3 or 4 days in a row without our wood stove but I think my wife would move into a hotel if I told her the gas stove was going to be out of commission for a couple of weeks.
Thanks again for the information guys, I always enjoy your posts and have learned a lot here over the last couple of years.
Randy