Jotul c550 Rockland tips thread

[jatoxico]

Insufficient draft.
I installed a 550 in a masonry fireplace in my grandson's house about 3 months ago. I put a stove top thermometer in the vent about 2 or 3 inches behind the front cast iron plate. I can barely get it to 300 degrees with the draft control fully open, not getting much if any secondary burn. I leave the door ajar until I get a good fire going and the chimney is warmed up. I used a 6" fully insulated chimney liner, 13' total chimney length ( Jotul says 15' min). The wood is well seasoned Douglass fir ( it burns fine in my stove). The house is 1800 sq. feet and not very tight. We have 2 other free standing stoves in the family with the same (+/- 1') chimney length working fine. I could add another 2' of insulated pipe to the top of the chimney liner but I am not sure if that would help much since I get good draft and no smoke into the room with the door slightly ajar. Besides, it would look weird with 3' of pipe above the masonry chimney. I don't know if there is a safe way to increase the primary air supply in these stoves. Perhaps I just have too big of a stove for the chimney length and need to pull it out and find something different.

What are the other stoves your wood burns well in? If you have an active fire in the 550 cutting the air back should cause the temp to rise and 2nd to kick in. If the fire smolders and grows colder then the draft is not as good as you think or the wood is not as dry as you think it is.

 

[Markan]

I have an Avalon free standing stove that I've used for about 25 years, not as primary heat but most evenings in winter. The fir seemed to burn well with the draft closed down where I usually run it. I have closed the draft down some on the 550 but the fire died down some and kinda smoked up the glass. I've only had about a dozen fires in this stove and only got the thermometer yesterday so I'm still a newbie at it. The wood is about 3 years split, and is stacked outside under a tarp so it could be absorbing some moisture. I've also tried a little barn dried wood from my supply and it didn't seem to make any difference. I'll try keeping the splits smaller and maybe a moisture meter

 

[jatoxico]

I have an Avalon free standing stove that I've used for about 25 years, not as primary heat but most evenings in winter. The fir seemed to burn well with the draft closed down where I usually run it. I have closed the draft down some on the 550 but the fire died down some and kinda smoked up the glass. I've only had about a dozen fires in this stove and only got the thermometer yesterday so I'm still a newbie at it. The wood is about 3 years split, and is stacked outside under a tarp so it could be absorbing some moisture. I've also tried a little barn dried wood from my supply and it didn't seem to make any difference. I'll try keeping the splits smaller and maybe a moisture meter

Older stoves are typically more forgiving of wet wood. I can't say much about the Avalon but it may be you need some getting used to a newer stove and how they burn. If the wood is truly three years split and stacked in good conditions it should be dry enough and therefore it may be a draft issue if the fire is smoldering as you shut down the air. I question what you mean by under a tarp. Is that top covered or fully covered which traps moisture?

Once the fire is burning well in the 550, begin shutting the air in increments (say from 100% to 75) then let then fire recover then shut down more. The final setting depends on draft which is dictated by the chimney/outside temp atmospheric cond etc etc so can't say exactly where you should end up. As you do that the stove top temp should begin to rise and as I mentioned the extra heat secondary air should begin to show signs of lighting off. If you can't do that and you rule out the wood that extra two feet of stack may make all the difference.