Desperate new member seeks professional help, Jotul QT gas Sacramento, CA

[Purzell]

glad to hear that might have been the solution

I ran the stove for three hours tonight without it shutting off once. So I'm going to called it fixed for now.

I am still thinking about the restrictor plate. I took apart the inside of the stove again and I just can't get behind the wall that the exhaust baffle was screwed into. There are no more visible screws inside. It seems that I would have to take apart the backside of the enameled portion of the stove to get there.

So for now I leave well enough alone. It's working for the first time in months! And for that I am grateful.

 

[Purzell]

OK you guys. I have been using the stove since my last post and it's been staying lit and producing nice ambiance and heat, so that issue is resolved. But the flame picture is a bit anemic and I can't stop thinking about the restrictor plate. I have taken it apart inside one more time and I can't seem to figure out how to get past that wall of metal in the back. It's hard to see it in the photo I posted above but essentially it is solid metal to almost the top inside then it has two square areas cut out on either side of the top, so it makes sort of an upside down fat T shape in the back wall. Over this is an angled piece of metal that goes from the back wall to the top of the stove. Reaching behind this I can feel the hole that is the inside of the chimney hole, but there's no sheet metal screws below this hole, that I can feel. No way to see. There is nothing inside that looks like the picture on page 8 of the manual. If anyone can advise?

 

[DAKSY]

What do you mean by "anemic?" Can you post a pic?
Have you re-positioned the air shutter?

 

[Purzell]

Thanks for your reply. I have repositioned the air shutter in quarter inch increments over a period of time. All the way to the back gives me the best result that you see here.

 

[DAKSY]

Is this burning LP or NG? I didn't see anywhere in this thread which fuel you have.
With LP the air shutter should be nearly all the way open.
With NG it should be closed down some, but generally not less than 1/4".
Generally, you will get better, more yellow flames after about 20 minutes.

 

[Purzell]

Sorry, it is burning natural gas.
I have messed around with the air shutter at about quarter inch increments but I will close it about a quarter inch from full open and see what happens. Thank you.

Is this burning LP or NG? I didn't see anywhere in this thread which fuel you have.
With LP the air shutter should be nearly all the way open.
With NG it should be closed down some, but generally not less than 1/4".
Generally, you will get better, more yellow flames after about 20 minutes.

orty it

 

[DAKSY]

Sorry, it is burning natural gas.
I have messed around with the air shutter at about quarter inch increments but I will close it about a quarter inch from full open and see what happens. Thank you.

You want it to be 1/4" from FULL CLOSED with NG.

 

[Purzell]

Ok. Today it was working fine for about an hour. Then the pilot light went out. It has done this one other time since the sealant fix but I gave it fluke status. It's breezy and raining outside...not too cold.
I haven't resolved the restrictor plate issue but I have a new question: should there be metal tape or Milpac sealant on the top of the L shaped pipe too? The part that goes into the chimney? I only put it on the part that goes into the stove. If so...I'm gonna have a heck of a time getting it in there now that the bottom is sealed onto the stove. Could I still have draft issues?
Ideas? Restrictor plate? Something else?

 

[DAKSY]

If you have a restrictor plate issue, it will be obvious to tell.
Watch your pilot flames. Are they steady, or are they agitated?
Agitation will cause the pilot to move off the T-couple & if the milliVolts
drop to the mid-20s, the pilot will be shut off by the gas valve.
The restrictor plate slows the flow of INTO the firebox preventing pilot
flame agitation. Read you manual again & see where the restrictor
plates are attached. You should not have to remove anything but
the logset.

 

[Purzell]

The restrictor plate is just not visible with just the logset out. Take a look at my photo above with the logset out and the exhaust baffle removed. Looking at the manual it seems that the restrictor plate goes on the inside back of the stove. In my stove I can't get to that as far as I can see.
As for the pilot flame, it flickers but doesn't seem to blow around.
But it's windy today and it went out again.

 

[DAKSY]

The entire frame around your burner should lift right out, including the step at the rear.
The restrictor plate will mount behind that step.
If it doesn't come out or it's too difficult,
you could hand bend a small piece of aluminum into a U-shape
that will fit in around the rear & both sides of the pilot assembly & is just a little
higher than the pilot assembly, that will probably do the trick.

 

[Purzell]

Check it out guys: I'm going crazy. The inside of my stove just doesn't look like the inside of the one in the manual! So...where would a restrictor plate go?
I actually think I can hear the wind in the chimney and mostly that's when the stove goes out.
I also want to work on making that middle Wintergard you guys recommended, but does it go above the metal trim around the burner plate? Or inside it?

 

[Purzell]

Sorry...windguard

 

[stovelark]

Actually, the Nordic and its sister Lillehammer were designed to be rear vented straight through the wall for best performance. Vertical venting more than about 8 feet usually brought about issues, the restrictor plate will help keep more heat in the stove and not let it get sucked up the chimney. Early stoves I believe also added a pilot shield around it to stabilize the pilot and stop nuisance dropouts...That venting set up still looks unusual, Going into a chimney you normally see a coaxial to collinear (Simpson Duravent GCL) as the transition piece from pipe to collinear 3 inch liners going up the chimney to the collinear back to coaxial top plate adaptor and high wind vertical cap. I;m curious what the mv readings for the gas valve are?? The wind turbulence can certainly affect the gas valve operating normally and the flame picture. Knowing gas stoves and its' venting setups and even setting up the logs/embers for the best flame picture is kind of an art. Good luck, get a person who knows your stove.

 

[Purzell]

Thanks for your reply. In my old house the stove was vented through the wall. Since I've had it in this house I have had three different companies come out to work on it and spent almost as much as the stove cost in the first place to try to get it working. I haven't found a single person in Sacramento yet who knows how to work on a Jotul. That was why I posted this initially. I may just be stuck with mediocre performance. But I don't still don't see where a restrictor plate would go if I was to use one, because the stove in the manual doesn't look like my stove on the inside. And I would like to build the wind guard, I just need to know if it goes over or under the burner plate.

 

[stovelark]

Hi Purzell, a good gas tech is like a good auto mechanic- it seems hard to find. The exhaust restrictor plate goes under the 90 degree elbow coming off the back of your stove. You had said access to the back was restrictive, I'm thinking that's why you are having problems finding it. If you are venting vertical, you need it and the pilot shield installed.

 

[Purzell]

LIGHTBULB MOMENT!
It goes on the back of the stove, on the outside! I have been trying to figure out where it goes on the inside. That's why I keep posting pictures of the inside of my stove.Yeah getting to the outside will be even harder now that I put that red sealant on the inside of the elbow. Have to think about that one.

 

[Purzell]

But wait, if it goes on the outside of the stove why is everyone telling me to remove my log set to access it?

 

[stovelark]

Yes, I just looked at the manal too- exh restrictor pn 129344 goes inside the stove on exhaust outlet. (page 8 of manual). Its used to improve flame and heat characteristic and its required with vertical venting. Good luck with her.

 

[DAKSY]

I woud try to put two rectangular pieces of aluminum across the rear intakes.
The two holes in your pic behind the burner pan are the intakes.
The are each about 3" in diameter, correct? Make each plate about 2"
x 4" and set them on the floor of the firebox, covering the lower 1/2 of the intake vents.
Hold them in place with a small dab of RTV silicone. You won't need much & once it sets it'll hold.
Replace the sheet metal that covered them, & replace the glass. Light the unit & see how it performs.
You won't need the logs installed to test the restrictors.
Hopefully this makes some sense...

 

[Purzell]

Thanks Daksy, I will try this too if necessary.
Right now I am trying out my home made pilot shield, cut out of a tomato sauce can. Interesting to learn the ignitor won't work if touching the metal can. Notched can shield, pilot actually seems stronger and flames slightly larger(?). Stove running pretty well; no outages yet.
I will give it a few days as weather is calm, but rain expected later in the week.
If it starts to go out again I will try restricting the intakes Daksy-style.

 

[Lake Girl]

Yes, I just looked at the manal too- exh restrictor pn 129344 goes inside the stove on exhaust outlet. (page 8 of manual). Its used to improve flame and heat characteristic and its required with vertical venting. Good luck with her.

Mentioned the restrictor plate on post #2 but other issues have sidetracked the solution and there are no screw holes to secure plates to.

 

[Purzell]

Thank you Lake Girl. The restrictor plate as a solution has never left the conversation. It's just that people kept pointing me to pages 8 and 9 in the manual for where it goes, and the images on those pages in the manual don't match up to my stove interior as far as I have been able to tell. That's why I have been posting the pictures of the inside of my stove, to try to figure out where that restrictor plate goes. In the manual there is the one circular exhaust hole and you can't see that from the inside of my stove. if anyone disagrees that the pictures I have posted of my stove and the pictures of the manual don't match up, I wish someone would say so. I think that's why Daksy is saying to restrict the intakes instead of the exhaust.
At this point I'm waiting to see if my homemade pilot shield is going to do the trick.

 

[Lake Girl]

Have you tried contacting Jotul directly for an explanation of the difference while explaining all the errors you've found that techs haven't corrected ie. not real good techs...

Curious as to why the photos are different than the actual stove... something else missing?

 

[stovelark]

Hi Purzell- ok looked at your pix and realized you have a GF 100 Nordic DV II stove, found a manual online. The restrictor plate part numbers are in the manual and pix confirm that is your stove. Your flame pix look a little low, don't know if they were with the burner on hi or lo?? The restrictor plates go in the back and sides of your pan style burner. Find the correct manual, it will all make sense to you. You'll have part numbers too to order when you want. Good luck, she's a solid stove, just gotta be set up correctly.