Jotul C350 - air control stuck

[grahamk]

I have a jotul C350 insert.

Burning pine this stove just never got hot enough to heat the room it is in (about 1200 sq feet) -- so it never really bothered me that the air control was stuck in the wide open position.

This year I bought some nice seasoned oak for this fireplace to see if i can get a hotter fire, and boy, can I ever. It was cranking WAY hot and I decided to try the air control, which was always stuck - and viola! It was sliding from side to side with no problems at all. So I turned it all the way down and........ now it's stuck again but it's turned way down and I cannot get a fire going with it in that position without leaving the door open.

Very odd. Perhaps it "unstuck" when it had an extremely hot fire burning. Problem is, I can't tell because with it stuck all the way down now I cant get a hot fire going. Argh.


Anyone ever run into this before? I can't move it even if I hit it with a hammer.

Thanks!

 

[jotulguy]

This could be a dealer response needed type of issue. I would recommend removing the front face plate. Its is held in place by 4 bolt 10mm if memory serves me right. Once its off you will be able to see if there is an obstruction or slag on the slide itself.

 

[firefighterjake]

I know the Oslo's air control often gets bound up from fly ash that gets into the mechanism . . . typically I take apart the doghouse a few times each burning season and sprinkle some graphite powder along the metal track to free things up so that the air control moves easily with the graphite lubrication . . . however, this sounds a bit different . . . I would take Jotulguy's suggestion and take it apart and take a look once the stove is cool to see if there is something causing it to bind . . . even with the ash I can still move the air control lever -- it's just a bit harder -- this sounds different.

 

[Philipmumbles]

Wondering, I have a new jotul350 insert myself and I am only on my third break in fire. I am having a hard time even getting the stove to 400 degrees, and to get there I need to leave the door slightly open by an inch and it honestly doesnt seem to be pushing a whole lot of heat out and it is only October in a 260 square foot room. What am I missing? Any suggestions or thoughts? I am just impatient? Thank you.

 

[firefighterjake]

Wondering, I have a new jotul350 insert myself and I am only on my third break in fire. I am having a hard time even getting the stove to 400 degrees, and to get there I need to leave the door slightly open by an inch and it honestly doesnt seem to be pushing a whole lot of heat out and it is only October in a 260 square foot room. What am I missing? Any suggestions or thoughts? I am just impatient? Thank you.

Measuring the temp where out of curiosity and how . . . magnetic thermometer, infrared thermometer?

With break in fires and small loads as suggested in the break in I wouldn't be surprised you haven't got the stove up to a high temp.

As for the heat . . . pretty normal to keep the door ajar a bit to get things going. I assume the wood supply is truly seasoned . . . and by that I mean you know it was cut, split and stacked a year prior or have measured the moisture content vs. just buying "seasoned" wood and assuming it is good to go . . . if you have a lot of sizzling or spitting with the wood it may not be seasoned . .. which could be part of the problem with the lack of heat output.

Also, if you have read the manual or poked around here you may realize that once the stove has come up to temp to really get the heat out of the unit you need to slowly close down the air since the air control left all the way open = a good draft, but also a lot of the heat going up the chimney. Slowly closing the air control a bit at a time should result in more heat if the wood is good and temps are hot enough.

I should also mention that running a wood stove isn't like turning up the thermostat -- it does take a while to get the stove up to temp and warm up a room. I usually figure on 30-60 minutes before the stove is really going well.