This is normal in my stove . . . and the stove is very controllable still. I've had to change out some of the gaskets (not the side yet though) once since I bought the stove in 2008.
Dollar bill test question on door gasket
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This is normal in my stove . . . and the stove is very controllable still. I've had to change out some of the gaskets (not the side yet though) once since I bought the stove in 2008.
Burnmeister
Member
Can I pick your brain about the stove? At what temp does your Oslo cruise best? It seems my secondaries dont get firing until around 450-500°, also, at what temp do you usuly reload? And what is your preferred method of loading the stove?
I have always raked all the coals fwd leaving bare grille in the back on which I place my largest split. Then I stack to the front trying to keep a flat face to the window.
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I'm clearly still learning this stove
I’m still on stock gasket from 2010 and still easily passes the dollar bill test. Stove operates the same as it did back when new.
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Burnmeister
Member
Well, Im running the stove right now and as begreen instructed, I started closing the air right away. And before my gasket problems began I would close the air and back it off a hair and that would do fine, but right now I have the air all the way closed and I can see the fire getting bigger and hotter and the glass getting black.
Somethings still not right
I generally rely more on my Condar probe style thermometer in the stove pipe -- I start to cut back the air when it reaches 400-500 degrees typically. Usually the stove top temp is around 400-500 degrees. I tend to shut down things earlier rather than later so the stove doesn't go thermo-nuclear on me.
I don't really reload based on the temps so much as I do by the condition of the coals and my heating needs. I do know that usually when I reload the stove top temp is well below the "optimum" temperature setting. In the first year the biggest mistake I made was reloading too early in the burning process as I equated heat with flames . . . eventually I realized that one gets as much heat from the coals and the stove which has stored thermal mass. In terms of the level of the coals, generally I reload when they are the size of plums or nectarines . . . baseball sized if the temps are extreme.
I load the stove according to the expected heating needs. If it's relatively mild outside (30 degrees or up) I will do a partial load, use my lower BTU wood such as some pine and/or use some punks, chunks and uglies (punky -- but dry -- wood, short pieces of wood or pieces that are bent or not nice and straight) since I do not need to fill the stove to the gills. If it's much, much colder I break out the "good" wood and try to maximize the space, although I've never been particularly fussy about filling up every cubic centimeter with wood. I rarely rake the coals these days except to stir things up just enough to level out the ashes and coals.
And no worries about the questions . . . we're all here to learn from each other . . . heck, I'm still learning.
I agree . . . if you are closing the air and the fire is still growing AND the glass is getting black I would think air is being introduced somewhere either through an exceptionally high draft or (more likely) a leak in the stove.
Usually when the stove is up to temp and you dial back the air you will get an intense fire as the secondaries kick in AND the glass stays clean or even burns off any black that may be on the glass . . . well either that or the fire dies and the glass goes black because the fire isn't hot enough yet or there is too little air.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
I think it's time to find out where that air is getting in. Get some incense or other smoke source and go around each door - side load, front, and the ash pan and see if you can find where it's leaking.
With my old VC Defiant I used a lit wooden match to test and you will see the flame getting sucked in where it's leaking - just watch your fingers!!
Don't know if this has been mentioned but was your gasket thick enough per spec for that? If that's not the issue then would have to say you have a warp in the door or hinge is not right somehow.
CentralVAWoodHeat
Minister of Fire
Same here. My Castine and my F600 have both been like this and been very controllable.
And crusty, clogged stacks
BK door glass should come laminated with a photo of a fire on the outside of the glass.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
And crusty, clogged stacks
BK door glass should come laminated with a photo of a fire on the outside of the glass.
OK - Now that is really funny
Burnmeister
Member
Burnmeister
Member
Which is the hinge side to the ash pan door. WHICH I just frikkin' changed the other day.
Sorry for that, but my frustration level is an 11
Place a known straight edge (like a 24" level) on the door edges and check for flatness. Do the same on the stove body.
Burnmeister
Member
One thing I do see is: The doors are knife edged. The stove is the knife edge, the door has . It does not striking in the middle of the door and gasket, ALOT of places its striking the side of the gasket and not creating that U seal
Probably an exceedingly stupid question . . . but I'll ask anyways.
There is no ash build up behind the ash pan, correct? I found once that with the Oslo ash can accumulate behind the ash pan and while you can shut the ash pan door and latch it, the door does not seal correctly.
Again . . . probably a very stupid question on my part.
There is no ash build up behind the ash pan, correct? I found once that with the Oslo ash can accumulate behind the ash pan and while you can shut the ash pan door and latch it, the door does not seal correctly.
Again . . . probably a very stupid question on my part.
Burnmeister
Member
No, I vac it out every time I empty the ash pan.
CentralVAWoodHeat
Minister of Fire
Different Jotul doors have different washers between certain door pins and hinges. My Castine was missing the one on the front door and appeared crooked (same not even edge placement on gasket you are seeing). I spoke to the dealer and they got me the correct washer/placement and it took care of it.
Your dealer should be able to direct you to what washers go where on all the doors.
Your dealer should be able to direct you to what washers go where on all the doors.
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
I've been in touch with Burnmeister on this in a PM. I sent him the parts breakout for the Oslo showing the two washers for the side load and front door. He said that there were no washers. After reading your comment ... the plot thickens!
The parts diagram shows that the two washers are the same part #. That's probably not right! Before I installed my Oslo I went over it with a fine tooth comb. You only get one chance to see it brand new and unburned, so I wanted to take advantage of that. I took both doors off to lighten the stove before bringing it into the house and it was by pure luck that I noticed a washer just barely hanging on the side load door pin when I removed it! I carefully kept that with the door. Then when I took the front door off, I was watching for a washer - sure enough, there it was and I carefully kept that with that door. However, the washers are different sizes ... by a fair amount. The side load door washer is very thin, the front door washer is fairly thick - almost the thickness of a typical washer for a nut and bolt.
Could the assembler at the factory be choosing the right thickness washer during assembly to compensate for differences in the castings? If so, then any Jotul owner would have "custom" washers for his/her stove. A really good dealer *might* know about this.
And I think that many stove owners could easily have lost door washers - you take the door off for some reason, most likely gasket replacement, and the washer falls to the floor and is gone. I picture the guy or gal the next time they vacuum the floor hearing a little click in the vacuum and thinking, "I wonder what that was?"
I'd read somewhere that Jotul uses the washers to protect the enameled stoves. Without the washer, you have "glass on glass" when you open and close the door and it's going to chip. Maybe there is a second reason and that it to adjust the door height so that the gasket is aligned with the knife edge on the stove.
I think the washer is mainly to align the gasket with the knife edge . . . seeing as I have a matte black painted stove and it had a washer . . . or two.
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
Gotta agree with you there FireFighter. My guess is that the person that wrote about the washers being there for that purpose had an enamel stove and that does make sense. With an enamel stove they are probably doing double duty, but I do think their main duty is alignment of the door.
This is the sort of thing as an Oslo owner, I'd have liked to see included in the Owners Manual. The washers do seem to be pretty darn important and they would be really easy to lose, so put a section in the manual on Door Removal and address the washers. This whole missing washer thing makes me realize how lucky I was that I didn't lose one or both washers when I first removed my doors. And what if they had both fallen off and I found them ... which one went to which door?
All of this makes me wonder of the average Jotul dealer knows all of this - they should, but do they?
