Jotul #4 With 2 Doors?

[Alex Trebek]

I got this old wood burner from a family friend, and don’t really have any info on it. It needs some love, but I’m trying to figure out parts/if it’s worth it to fix.

It looks like an old Jotul #4, but it has two doors and no Jotul marking. Just the “Made in Taiwan” on the back. I checked the Jotul website for old stove ID and it wasn’t there. I can always email them and ask. I wanted to check here first though. Sorry the crummy pictures.

Any help identifying would be appreciated.

 

[begreen]

It's not a Jotul. It's a Taiwan special. The manufacturers were quite prolific in the early 80s. But they also made a lot of knock-offs of known brands. This brought about lawsuits and then they got shut down.

 

[peakbagger]

I agree, its a clone. If the castings having failed yet then they probably wont fail. It wasnt just one firm in Taiwan. There were supposedly multiple foundries that would make the clones and a firm like Scandia would import them to the US and market them. I think some other importers would make variations of the original design to try to dodge legal action from Jotul. They popped up at the peak for wood stove demand when folks might have to wait a year to get legit stove and more than few dealers took advantage of it. I know some folks desperate for name brand that they paid a dealer close to double the retail. Lots of the Taiwanese stoves showed up for sale in places that were not stove dealers.

 

[Alex Trebek]

Thanks for the quick responses. I figured it was a knock off, oh well. Makes sense they would put the two doors on to try and skirt a lawsuit. The doors also seem to be a little wonky, like maybe the casting on the doors in thinner and a little warped, but to be honest I haven’t got down and really went through it yet.

What would indicate a failed casting? Or failing? Just cracking? Anything else? I really would rather not burn my shop down.

Attached a few more close ups of the doors I took last time I was in the shop. They seem to be the only area that needs some love. Also the cracked, would that be considered a heatshield?, on the inside of the stove. But I wasn’t planning on touching that.

 

[peakbagger]

IMHO, it really needs cleaning up to see if there are cracks. The reputation those stoves got was poor quality castings that usually failed sooner than later as the stove was being used. Given the age I would not be worried about a critical failure. Clean it up, reaseal it and replace the door gaskets , if the gaskets can pass the dollar bill test on the doors then it can probably seal as well as it needs to. It isi after all a smoke dragon, not particularly efficient but a darn site better than those oil drum stoves that folks use in shops. Keep a fire extinguisher handy and get to know its idiosyncrasies.

 

[Alex Trebek]

I'll hit it with the wire wheel and give it a good clean to check for any cracks or damage. I would also think that by this time the ones with poor castings/quality have been weeded out, but I'll look it over anyway. Good call with the fire extinguisher. I understand the door seal/dollar bill test, but what do you mean by reseal? Is there some type of high temp seal between the panels or something that I can check for/replace? Looked on YouTube/Google but just came up with the door seals only for How-To's. Thanks.

 

[peakbagger]

Cast Iron stoves are made out of various castings. They are not precision machined so they made with grooves that line up with edges of other panels. The stove is assembled by buttering up the grooves with a specialized cement designed for this service and then assembling the stove. The excess is usually trimmed off and smoothed. The stove is then slowly heated and cooled several times with increasing temps and duration each fire and that sets the cement. Once set, the mortar is not flexible and it eventually will crack out. If the stove is moved around it can flex the cement and make it crack. If there are leaks in the cement it can introduce air into the stove in wrong spots. Some folks try to spot repair it by cleaning out the visible loose stuff and squeezing new stuff into the gap but it rarely bonds to the old stuff and the new stuff can fall out. The right way is to disassemble the stove which usually requires removing bolts that have been in place since the stove was originally assembled and frequently they will snap off. That usually means soaking things with penetrant and drilling out the old bolts. I use left handed twist cobalt drill bits but others uses different techniques. The panels are then cleaned up with wire brush using appropriate dust masks and ventilation as the cement can give off toxic dust (silica). Once its cleaned up, then new cement is applied and the stove is reassembled. Many folks paint the stove with high temp stove paint but realize that the paint has to cure and that gives off smoke and fumes so many folks temporarily set up stack outdoors and fire the stove a few times to drive off the worst of the fumes.

 

[begreen]

It looks like the firebrick is missing and like the firebrick was custom to fit the side curvature. That reduces the value and increases the risk of damaging the stove if used.

 

[Alex Trebek]

Thanks for the explanation and tips on resealing!

Regarding the firebirck, does it only need to go onto the bottom of the stove? Or is it supposed to go up the sides? I think I have the tools to cut the fire brick if it only needs to go on the bottom. If it has to go up the sides, that might be more tricky...

 

[fbelec]

definitely take it apart when i stopped using mine the piece that is above the two doors was a problem that piece that looks like the stoves chest comes off and that will have to be resealed. thats where mine was leaking air in and smoke out depending on the part of the burn cycle it was in

 

[begreen]

Looking at the pictures, there appears to be a channel for the side firebrick to sit in. It might be hard to fabricate out of standard brick and have it stay in place. This is a parts diagram for the Jotul 4 stove that also has a curved back. It might be worth seeing if these would work in your stove. I'm not sure about the floor of the stove. Some had a bottom burn plate that you put an inch of sand on top of to protect it.

 

[begreen]

Did you see this recent thread? It looks like you may have the same stove. Look at the firebrick to get an idea. It looks like there are securing tabs to hold them in place.

Anyone recognize this Taiwan made stove?

Hi all, I'm new and this is my first post. I have a customer with this wood stove that is in need of new bricks. They are curved so would be a special order. The manufacturer is unidentifiable only that it was made in Taiwan. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

www.hearth.com