Jotul c550 Rockland tips thread

[EJL923]

i wouldn't plan on using the automatic fan on/off setting. Its temperamental, doesn't turn on when you want, or vice versa. Who knows if they've fixed it, as it has gone through changes since i bought the stove. First couple years i used a plug in outlet timer. Reason being, your burn times arent going to support a full work day, unless your always home. I have modified my stove to accommodate longer burns, and can just about make it 8 hrs with enough coals to make it a pain to get going. I now use a smart outlet, so i can turn the fan on/off as i please.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

The gloves are a must. I like using a fireplace poker to adjust logs when needed

 

[jatoxico]

Right on BG. One of the best things you could do is build yourself a wood shed.

 

[joeyz101]

Hey All - built myself a wood shed and lighting my first fire !!

 

[jasonparallel]

Anyone know the approximate weight of the c550 after taking off all of the easy to take off parts?

 

[jatoxico]

Anyone know the approximate weight of the c550 after taking off all of the easy to take off parts?

Always been led to believe that the 550 was given it's name because that's the weight. The bricks, door and grates weigh maybe 50lbs but that's a guesstimate.

 

[jasonparallel]

Yep the shipping weight is 550. I think I read that the surround was quite heavy.

I'm picking the unit up this week and trying to plan how much help I need to round up.

 

[ChainsawBandit]

Evening everyone!
So far, happy to be a member of this thread. I read the whole thing, learned some interesting fixes to a poor install, that I luckily have not had to pay for to date. That’s another story though. I’ll tell you this stove love to be started with a top down fire, needs to be kept hot +250 and easily leaves me hot coals after 8 hours of sleep, without much problem, and my woods still a little green. Can’t wait to see what this thing does with real dry wood.
I do have a few questions:
Lower block off plate? When I pull my stove out and install it, will this reduce or stop the drafting issue I just found at the sides of my surround shroud? I believe it will.
Also, my insert is inside what was left of an old heatilator metal fireplace box. I cut out the inside walls in the entirtry, and the flue plate leaving only the exterior wall of the heatilator, inside the masonry fireplace. The cinderblock fireplace/ chimney walls are 8” thick block with a stucco scratch coat and veneered with real stone anywhere’s from 1 1/2” to 3” thick. Any reason I should be concerned with over heating the old metal from the heatilator? I think not, should dissipate through the block or be sent back into the air gap between new and old and thus be used up by the blower fans.
Finally, how many people have had over firing issues after installing a lower block off plate? Seems like if it does what it is suppose to, it would be easy to overfire. I suspect the further up the chimney you can block off the less chance of over firing as there will be a larger air gap there.

Does anyone know if the latch is adjustable? Someone asked previously, but I don’t think this was answered. My brand new stove is failing the dollar bill test on the latch side.

This thread was awesome, thanks for starting it, and keeping it going. You flattened my learning curve!

 

[Toomb]

"drafting issue at the sides of the surround shield" ? I don't quite follow...... I have a rockland 550 in a heatilator fireplace with block off plate as well.

 

[ChainsawBandit]

"drafting issue at the sides of the surround shield" ? I don't quite follow...... I have a rockland 550 in a heatilator fireplace with block off plate as well.

I may be using the term drafting a little loosely. At the edge of my surround, there is an air gap in one spot. I need to fill it, but like i tell the wife, its on the punch list. Last night during a reload, I noticed a draft. Turns out, the old chimney is 'drafting' or pulling air. I was able to get a piece of paper stuck to the surround and wall at this spot, confirming that the draft was actually air being pulled into the old heatilator space (see pic). What this also means to me is that the 'drafting effect' that is happening outside of the liner but inside the chimney block is sucking out valuable heat from the unit, but is also sucking in cold air through any crack or drafty spot in the rest of my house. This could explain the vast temp difference from one end of the room to the other. I'm going to build the block off plate anyway, probably this weekend as the weather is supposed to warm here a little, but I guess I was looking for confirmation of my theory.

 

[EJL923]

I may be using the term drafting a little loosely. At the edge of my surround, there is an air gap in one spot. I need to fill it, but like i tell the wife, its on the punch list. Last night during a reload, I noticed a draft. Turns out, the old chimney is 'drafting' or pulling air. I was able to get a piece of paper stuck to the surround and wall at this spot, confirming that the draft was actually air being pulled into the old heatilator space (see pic). What this also means to me is that the 'drafting effect' that is happening outside of the liner but inside the chimney block is sucking out valuable heat from the unit, but is also sucking in cold air through any crack or drafty spot in the rest of my house. This could explain the vast temp difference from one end of the room to the other. I'm going to build the block off plate anyway, probably this weekend as the weather is supposed to warm here a little, but I guess I was looking for confirmation of my theory.
View attachment 215871

Dont fill that gap, it wont do anything for you. The secondary intake is at the back of the stove, so yes air will be pulled in there, What you want to is to make sure you have a sealed block off plate where your liner goes through the smoke shelf, which makes sure you are lossing heat up the chimney around the liner.

 

[ChainsawBandit]

Dont fill that gap, it wont do anything for you. The secondary intake is at the back of the stove, so yes air will be pulled in there, What you want to is to make sure you have a sealed block off plate where your liner goes through the smoke shelf, which makes sure you are lossing heat up the chimney around the liner.

EJL923 thanks for the tip. That actually makes more sense. The air pull was significant, seemingly much to great for the "draft" effect I was blaming it on. I'm collecting the necessary materials for the block off plate this week at work and plan on doing it this weekend.

I guess I'll have to go around checking my weather seals on all my doors and windows to stop this cold air from being pulled in. Next issue, moving hot air around the rest of my house, but that is definitely covered in depth throughout this forum.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I find that with my Rockland, while I don’t seem to get fires that runaway, the stove often cruise in off gassing phase at 750, sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit lower. I know this unit runs a little hot, but high 700’s seems too much.
I’m measuring with stovetop therm located in front center of where warm air cones out. Temps consistent with my IR therm aim at very top of face of stove.

 

[jatoxico]

I find that with my Rockland, while I don’t seem to get fires that runaway, the stove often cruise in off gassing phase at 750, sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit lower. I know this unit runs a little hot, but high 700’s seems too much.
I’m measuring with stovetop therm located in front center of where warm air cones out. Temps consistent with my IR therm aim at very top of face of stove.

I sometimes had trouble moderating temps until I modd'ed the primary air. If you can't keep it where you want by cutting air earlier you may want to do that.

Is your wood split stick thin or heavy side. A load of thin splits isn't easy to control either.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/jotul-550-primary-air-modification.120412/

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Range in wood sizes. Definitely see difference with thinner splits.

 

[Maine_girl]

Hello-

I'm a new owner of a 550 (~ 1 wk since installation). I've read all 24 pages of this thread over the last few days and gathered a lot of helpful information and tips! I got my Condar 'inferno' stove top magnetic thermometer and an Etekcity IR thermometer in the mail today. I placed the magnetic thermometer on the center 'top' of the insert where the air blows out. It is horizontally flat, so the numbers face up towards the ceiling. Is this right? As for the IR gun, where should I be aiming? At the pipe in the back? or on 'top' right next to the magnetic one? The magnetic thermometer is reading much hotter than the IR... it's showing that the insert is nearing / in the 'too hot' range while the IR says it's in the 425 - 450 range. Any insights?

Also, at what temp should I re-load? I'm under 2 hrs into the first burn of the day (started around 4:15pm) and it's already dropped down to high 300s with the wood mostly burned ...

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I find the Rockland doesn’t allow good access to take a IR reading. I also have the condor stovetop thermometer placed on stove top (centered). I routinely get readings 700 to 750 and have questioned if this is too hot. Bigger splits of wood has helped bring temps down a bit.

 

[jatoxico]

I placed the magnetic thermometer on the center 'top' of the insert where the air blows out. It is horizontally flat, so the numbers face up towards the ceiling. Is this right? As for the IR gun, where should I be aiming? At the pipe in the back? or on 'top' right next to the magnetic one? The magnetic thermometer is reading much hotter than the IR... it's showing that the insert is nearing / in the 'too hot' range while the IR says it's in the 425 - 450 range.

Welcome MG. Thermo placed 3-4" in, facing up is the only way to get a stove top temp. Hard to read so I have a flash light handy and scratched some marks on the side of the thermo for easier reference to the temp gradiations.

Don't know what kind you have but many are marked for stove pipe which are meant to be 18" or so up so forget about the zones and focus on temperature. Stove top of 600-700 is fine, I cruise normally between 450-550 after the initial heat up.

Try to be aware of how the fire is burning. Should be bright and lively. You can reload at mostly any temp IF the stove is controllable. Be careful about loading on a heavy load of coals especially until you get used to it. I reload mostly around 400 if I need the heat to keep secondaries active but much lower if I have been running for several hours and demand is low.

I shoot my IR lots of places but the vent (right on the weld) is my favorite. The bigger angle you try to read with IR the less accurate it will be.

 

[Patmosphere]

Hello - third burn season with my rockland 550 and hoping this thread still has active users.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Hello - third burn season with my rockland 550 and hoping this thread still has active users.

Active user here.

 

[Patmosphere]

Active user here.

Excellent CTwoodtick Was just adjusting the coals of mine before reloading. Going to hit -2F tomorrow and -10 Saturday. Have had the 550 running for a few weeks straight! Cold cold cold.

What is the average wood split size you feel works best? The big linker pieces are a pain in the rear to get hot enough for 2ndary burns. What do you think?

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I tend to split on the small to medium side due to only being able to keep 2yrs of wood stacked, due to space restrictions. What works the best for split size to me depends on situation. Will use my bigger splits for overnight burns in weather like this. I prefer Smaller splits or medium size when I am going to be around and don’t mind more frequent reloading. I am mindful not to load stove up if mainly small splits. I find the 550 runs pretty hot, so I don’t want to give it an excuse to overfire.

 

[Patmosphere]

I tend to split on the small to medium side due to only being able to keep 2yrs of wood stacked, due to space restrictions. What works the best for split size to me depends on situation. Will use my bigger splits for overnight burns in weather like this. I prefer Smaller splits or medium size when I am going to be around and don’t mind more frequent reloading. I am mindful not to load stove up if mainly small splits. I find the 550 runs pretty hot, so I don’t want to give it an excuse to overfire.

Wish I was two years out with wood. I collected and split close to a cord this past August and have a green recently fallen oak broke down to rounds that I’ll split this spring for seasoning.

Thanks for feedback on split size. Seems similar to my experiences. Been trying bigger splits but nit finding it S easy to control the heating and cooling of a successive loads.

Still learning. I finally got a IR thermometer. That and a magnet mount on the top left front help me monitor temp. I’m aware that the front plate has a layer of air behind it and it’s not the actual flame box.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

While I have the space for 2yrs, most of the wood I burn us in the 1 yr old category. This is why I try to find the less dense hardwoods. not sure how much time you dry your wood, but keep an eye on creosote buildup if you’re much under a year. Do you have the ability to take a look from top? (Not in this weather, of course)

 

[Patmosphere]

I haven’t climbed up my extension ladder yet but want to be able to assess the liner myself.

Didn’t have it cleaned this season, but the past 2 seasons have had my chimney assessed and cleaned. He said we’re birnin well with little to no build up prior to cleaning.