Jotul Castine, Difficulty reaching optimum temperatures

[begreen]

The Castine likes a bit stronger draft, especially if rear-vented. If the chimney is still 8" I don't think it is helping here. But first accurately test the wood for moisture on a freshly split face of the wood. If it is damp you are not going to see good temps from the stove. As a test you could gather some construction cutoff 2x4s and 2x6s and try burning them. If you suddenly have great heat then the wood is the issue.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

We have installed the DuraVent 6" Double wall inside. Still have 8" Insulated in the chase outside. It is working pretty well.

My wood is 15% - 16% on a freshly split face. We are also splitting smaller now.

 

[begreen]

Good news. What temps are you seeing on the stovetop now?

 

[Ski-Patroller]

We have been up to 650 or so, and most of the time are above 400. It does not turn down as clean as I would have hoped, but that is probably the nature of a secondary air wood stove.

Does anyone know if the 3" air intake hole is covered by the bottom heat shield? I can't look at my stove right now because it is about 60 miles from here.

 

[begreen]

IIRC it was a clear open shot to the air intake hole on the back bottom of our stove.

 

[stovelark]

Hi all absolutely the bottom heat shield doesn't impair air flow into the intake 3 inch opening in the bottom rear of stove.
Boy 15 percent moisture most of us would love that. Glad to hear the Castine is making you happy, the old Garrison was a unique heater, but you'll appreciate the Jotul through the years. The F400 is one pretty designed stove too. Keep warm. Its still in the 40s/30s later tonite in New England, no real warmth yet, saw robins the other day- that's supposed to be a prelude to Spring, we'll see.

 

[logger]

Isn't this the stove that winds up behaving differently based on the configuration of the vent? When I did research before buying the Shelburne I remember the reviews were all either wonderful or horrible and it turned out that it was mostly based on which way it was setup.

Every stove will most likely behave differently but it really shouldnt be that noticeable. Straight up is ideal for almost all stoves, but obviously that isnt always an option. My brothers 400 is top-vented, my friend's back... no difference, Ive operated both.

 

[logger]

We can see when the secondary air is working well, but it doesn't happen until the stove is up to 400-500 degrees on top. We try to run in the 600+ degs and it is much easier now. It seems to me that if you turn the stove down, near the bottom (far left) you never maintain enough temp for the secondary air to work properly.

.

You wont get secondaries until your stove has reached 400-450 so that sounds about right. I dont shut these stoves down until I get to about 550. The secondary burn will really only work with the air turned down, so Im not sure about the second part of your statement here.

 

[unhdsm]

Every stove will most likely behave differently but it really shouldnt be that noticeable. Straight up is ideal for almost all stoves, but obviously that isnt always an option. My brothers 400 is top-vented, my friend's back... no difference, Ive operated both.

I'm not sure it does anyone a service to minimize this phenomenon in the Castine, especially since this is a troubleshooting thread. There's plenty of reports that this stove in particular in some setups and environments has trouble drafting but then is better with the outlet flipped. Yes, this is the case with other stoves occasionally too.
BTW I think the castine is awesome. I was very close to buying it at one point.

 

[begreen]

With the stove on a 15-16ft chimney you may notice sluggish performance and/or smoke spillage when outdoor temps are mild, especially when rear vented. Our Castine with rear-vent straight up 20ft would spill smoke when temps were above 50F outside. Add an exterior chimney with a couple 90 deg turns and it could be much worse.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

I'm still not getting as consistent burn temps as I would expect. Some times it is easy to get to 600, and other times we struggle to get much over 400. One other issue is that once our cabin (2 story over a full basement, 1400 Sq Ft.) is warm, the stove is more than we need. While it may be more efficient we end up opening some windows to keep from getting too hot. We need all the stove we can get to heat the place up initially, and we will need it more in really cold weather. We are leaning towards just letting it burn out and re-lighting when the house gets too cool.

To clarify my question about the air intake, I wanted to know if it was accessible with the heat shield installed. I'm concerned that if we ever had a run a was stove, that we could reach the air intake and block it. After looking at it, it can be done, but it is not easy with the heat shield installed.

Incidentally when the stove is hot, we do get secondary combustion with the main air wide open. Maybe because of our 24 ft of flue.

 

[Grisu]

I'm still not getting as consistent burn temps as I would expect. Some times it is easy to get to 600, and other times we struggle to get much over 400.

Maybe your wood is not all seasoned equally. Do you get sometimes hissing when you put new splits in? Other option is changes in draft e. g. due to a bathroom fan or range hood running. Maybe crack a window close to the stove to see whether that fixes it.

One other issue is that once our cabin (2 story over a full basement, 1400 Sq Ft.) is warm, the stove is more than we need. While it may be more efficient we end up opening some windows to keep from getting too hot. We need all the stove we can get to heat the place up initially, and we will need it more in really cold weather. We are leaning towards just letting it burn out and re-lighting when the house gets too cool.

Don't put as much wood in if you don't want it that hot. A denser wood species may also help in prolonging the burn and evening out the heat output.

Incidentally when the stove is hot, we do get secondary combustion with the main air wide open. Maybe because of our 24 ft of flue.

What is the stovetop temp when that happens? It sounds like you are running the stove really hard to achieve that.