Jotul F55 is clanging...

[Rusnakes]

Greetings all.

We just fired up our Jotul F55 this week for the first time. It was a 2012 manufacturer's date (we put it in storage until this year, awaiting some renovations on the house).

We've gotten all the way through our break-in fires and have now kicked it up to regular burns, to burn off the remainder of the paint smell. When the stove gets over about 300 degrees, it clangs. A lot. It's like when you cool off metal too quickly sometimes. Other times it sounds like it is a piece of metal clanging at the top side of the stove on the inside.

Any thoughts on what this could be? The installers are coming back out to cut back the roof sheathing a wee bit more to be code compliant, so I can definitely request they fix something...if I can figure out what it is.

 

[jotulguy]

Hi Rusnakes, the sides on that unit have an Allen key bolt on the bottom side to pull them down into a "V" catch on the top. If those have worked loose you can get some noises from the stove when it's heating and cooling. The other thing to be aware of is how level the unit is sitting. Sometimes an uneven surface can tension the metal and cause noises.

 

[Woody Stover]

Are you keeping the fire under control? Too rapid a change in stove temp as you are ramping up a fresh load can cause some fairly loud expansion clicks and pops but I wouldn't call these "clangs.."

 

[Rusnakes]

Are you keeping the fire under control? Too rapid a change in stove temp as you are ramping up a fresh load can cause some fairly loud expansion clicks and pops but I wouldn't call these "clangs.."

Yes, we have been very cautious about firing it up too quickly, doing a 100 degree step up up to full temps (using an IR gun to watch the temps). It has been clanging for about 5 hours today while we continued to burn off the paint smell (which seems to be taking forever to abate).

I have a video I'm uploading right now that I'll share once it's ready.

 

[Rusnakes]

Here is the first video I took of the clanging:

 

[Rusnakes]

Here is the first video I took of the clanging:

The last clang, you can hear it is like metal bumping onto metal.

Stove temps in that video were around 400-430 degrees F on the top of the stove.

 

[Rusnakes]

Hi Rusnakes, the sides on that unit have an Allen key bolt on the bottom side to pull them down into a "V" catch on the top. If those have worked loose you can get some noises from the stove when it's heating and cooling. The other thing to be aware of is how level the unit is sitting. Sometimes an uneven surface can tension the metal and cause noises.

These are good suggestions. I'll have to look at both when the stove cools off. It really sounds like metal against metal in the center top of the stove...almost like there is a piece of metal flapping in the breeze. On the video above, you can't really hear the quiet clangs, but that is exactly what it sounds like. Then, it is punctuated a couple/few times a minute by the louder clang that you hear on the video above.

 

[Rusnakes]

Here's a video of the quieter clangs, punctuated by a louder clang:

 

[begreen]

Something is expanding for the first time. Not sure what. Maybe the secondary tubes in their slots? Maybe the baffle?

 

[Rusnakes]

I was guessing something with the secondary system or the baffles, too, but I'm honestly not certain how this one is built to even know what could be the culprit. I'm going to fire it up fully again tomorrow (it's just too warm to run two stoves in the house at night right now since we are sitting at 43 degrees outside right now), so I'll update with a visual inspection and a reheating of the stove.

 

[begreen]

I just looked at the parts list. No tubes in the stove. It has a combo secondary manifold baffle box. It's the F50 that has the tubes.

 

[Rusnakes]

Was it for the new secondary combustion system or the original version? The stove installer said our stove was different on the inside than the newest F55 (the older version he preferred), but I was in such a hurry at the time I didn't probe to hear what the differences were.

 

[begreen]

That's from the 2013 manual

 

[Rusnakes]

Hi Rusnakes, the sides on that unit have an Allen key bolt on the bottom side to pull them down into a "V" catch on the top. If those have worked loose you can get some noises from the stove when it's heating and cooling. The other thing to be aware of is how level the unit is sitting. Sometimes an uneven surface can tension the metal and cause noises.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Both sides were loose, especially the right side. The left side tightened up nicely, but the right side was still loose after cranking it all the way down. So, I wedged a small piece of flashing between the stove and the right side and tightened it down snugly. Doesn't appear to clang anymore and I have the stove up to 550 degrees right now.

Thank you for the suggestion, jotulguy, and for the support on what the secondary system was built like, begreen!