Jotul f600 cracking problems

[begreen]

There is a draft damper on the stove pipe. If it is over 30 degrees I pretty much have to have it completely closed to somewhat control the stove. I can only put a few logs in at a time as well. Any idea how I get the base plate replaced? How much should that cost? I am not sure my dealer would provide that service. Thank you for your expertise.

How tall is this flue system from stove top to cap?

Have all gaskets been check? In particular test the ash pan door gasket. Also, pull the ash pan and check the back of the ash pan box for compacted ash. Build up there can move the ash pan forward preventing the ash pan door from closing tightly.

A good Jotul dealer will usually have a shop person that can rebuild the stove. I would expect this would be at least a $1K + repair.

 

[David K]

Too much air is leaking into this Jotul. You shouldn't need a pipe damper except with excessive draft.
The obvious -- gasket checks ALL around first --the dollar thing. Then....
The ash pan assembly is bolted to the base. These bolts MAY loosen with use over time and vibration moving the stove. There are 4. Try tightening them after the usual gasket check . The ash pan is a normal gasket culprit with many stoves.
And, then try to stuff coarse steel wool into the rear primary air entry to decrease the air flow if it is still too hot with the air control dropped to its lowest. This is a Jotul hack.
And, what "logs" are you burning ? Too dry ? Too small ? Too much dry softwood ? Just checking.
Rebuilding is the LAST to do.

I replace all the door gaskets and the ash pan door gasket as well last year. I have never replace the ask pan gasket itself though. I just re-tightened the 4 bolts on the ash pan. They were not loose. I removed the front tray and took another picture of the crack.Link Removed

 

[DUMF]

I replace all the door gaskets and the ash pan door gasket as well last year. I have never replace the ask pan gasket itself though. I just re-tightened the 4 bolts on the ash pan. They were not loose. I removed the front tray and took another picture of the crack.Link Removed

Boy you've done all the smart things to fix this.
One other Jotul problem is the front door ceramic 'glass'....it can move off center. Few 500 and 600 users use the front door anyhow, but the clear ceramic can move off the gaskets.
The 500 and 600 are still one of the better wood stoves ( sorry Woodstock and BK enthusiasts ) made for reliability, longevity, simplicity of operation and maintenance ( no, I don't own Jotul stock and don't speak Norweigian ).

 

[David K]

How tall is this flue system from stove top to cap?

Have all gaskets been check? In particular test the ash pan door gasket. Also, pull the ash pan and check the back of the ash pan box for compacted ash. Build up there can move the ash pan forward preventing the ash pan door from closing tightly.

A good Jotul dealer will usually have a shop person that can rebuild the stove. I would expect this would be at least a $1K + repair.

The flue system is about 30' tall.

 

[begreen]

The flue system is about 30' tall.

Yes that is likely to be the cause of the strong draft. Check thoroughly for leaky gaskets or other possible leaks.

 

[defiant3]

Sadly, 600's have sort of a fatal flaw: The front is not bolted to the sides. There is a single bolt centered near the top that goes through the manifold which holds the front in place, but as it heats up, there is nothing to prevent the front from pulling away from the sides. The cement prematurely falls out of the upper half of the seam and allows air in, the hotter the stove burn the more air gets in. Perfect storm. You could stuff gasketing in the front corner seams to help seal it.



Or just buy a P.E. Summit...

 

[David K]

Sadly, 600's have sort of a fatal flaw: The front is not bolted to the sides. There is a single bolt centered near the top that goes through the manifold which holds the front in place, but as it heats up, there is nothing to prevent the front from pulling away from the sides. The cement prematurely falls out of the upper half of the seam and allows air in, the hotter the stove burn the more air gets in. Perfect storm. You could stuff gasketing in the front corner seams to help seal it.



Or just buy a P.E. Summit...

The Summit looks like a nice stove! What does that go for?

 

[begreen]

The Summit's west coast price starts about $2100 depending on trim. The cast iron jacketed version is the Alderlea T6 which starts at $2900.

 

[David K]

The Summit's west coast price starts about $2100 depending on trim. The cast iron jacketed version is the Alderlea T6 which starts at $2900.

I have a dealer near me so I will check them out. I like to one with legs. All black is fine with me. Thank you.

 

[stovelark]

Over time, any cast stove that is furnace cemented and bolted together will eventually have to be re-sealed. This seems to be a strong drafting chimney, a damper is definitely needed it seems. I suspect too that the inner seams on the front of the stove (the inner panel bolts to the sideplates with the front panel is mated to the inner panel) and have managed to loosen up, letting air through. Total breakdown is prob best which is needed to replace the base, its cost is gonna be around 250 dollars (matte black). While you're in there, you will want to check the top plate for any crackage too and the secondary burn system (baffles and sec air tube system). Use plenty of furnace cement in the seams, it should squeeze out inwardly as the stove is bolted back together. At the top of the stove where all corner pieces mate up, be liberal with the furnace cement in those corners too. Just want you to go into this prepared. The F500/F600 are beautiful, normally very robust stoves but can be hurt if air leaks down below (intentional or unintentional) occur. This changes the air flow pattern in the stove and lead to temperature differences in the castings which cause a crack. BTW, the other new stoves mentioned all wonderful choices too, but the F600 is well worth fixing.

 

[begreen]

The draft damper should make a difference. That it isn't points to either exceptionally strong draft or leakage in the stove.

If the issue is super draft and if you keep the F600 I'm thinking maybe two draft dampers may be needed with this. Because of the exceptional draft strength I'm not sure if the Summit is a good alternative, it's an easy breathing stove that may be hard to control with that intense draft. As an alternative, if you do seek a replacement consider a Drolet or its sibling the Osburn. Reports from owners of these stoves are that they behave well on tall chimneys and remain controllable. The Drolet HT2000 or the Osburn 2400 are SBI's large stoves.

 

[David K]

The draft damper should make a difference. That it isn't points to either exceptionally strong draft or leakage in the stove.

If the issue is super draft and if you keep the F600 I'm thinking maybe two draft dampers may be needed with this. Because of the exceptional draft strength I'm not sure if the Summit is a good alternative, it's an easy breathing stove that may be hard to control with that intense draft. As an alternative, if you do seek a replacement consider a Drolet or its sibling the Osburn. Reports from owners of these stoves are that they behave well on tall chimneys and remain controllable. The Drolet HT2000 or the Osburn 2400 are SBI's large stoves.

This ia all great info from all of you. I truly appreciate your expertise and have some thinking and considering to do.

 

[begreen]

Happy to help and sorry that you're have to deal with this. I know I'd be pretty bummed.

 

[David K]

Happy to help and sorry that you're have to deal with this. I know I'd be pretty bummed.

Thank you. I sent an email to my local dealer whom I purchased it from and had it installed by to see if they can repair it.

 

[David K]

Thank you. I sent an email to my local dealer whom I purchased it from and had it installed by to see if they can repair it.

I just remembered that when I first started the stove up this season that there was smoke coming out of the left side front panel above the door hinges. Does that indicate a leak in the front panel?

 

[begreen]

Possible. When it's dark, take a bright flashlight and from the inside of the stove, shine it along the panel seams to see if light shows through. Do that for all the seams on the stove.

 

[stovelark]

David- Yes, that would be a spot I'd suspect air leakage from, both sides too. A good temporary fix to the upper seam leakage is a strip of door gasket pushed into that groove from the outside, that has been a bandaid until a fix could be performed. GL with yours.

 

[fire_man]

I have not heard any body say anything bad at all about Woodstock stoves. Are all of you Woodstock owners genuinly happy with the company and there stoves?

I have owned three Woodstock Stoves because I love their stoves and trust the company so much.

 

[defiant3]

remember though that the front corner seams have the primary air manifold on the inside, so you can't really do the light test, the dollar bill test or even the rubber chicken test. Ya just can't see it, but trust me, that's it. The upper half of the front corner seams needs a good piece of gasketing stuffed into it. You may well notice a difference right away, but there may be other issues as well.

 

[hyunsub]

This is the third year I've been burning my F600 and I haven't had any problems. I bought mine with the Majolica brown enamel porcelain finish and my only complaint was that there were a few small chips when I picked it up at the shop. However, when I told the dealer about them he ordered me a touch up kit for free and you can't even see where they were. I've been very happy with the stove.

This is the third year I've been burning my F600 and I haven't had any problems. I bought mine with the Majolica brown enamel porcelain finish and my only complaint was that there were a few small chips when I picked it up at the shop. However, when I told the dealer about them he ordered me a touch up kit for free and you can't even see where they were. I've been very happy with the stove.

Hi Nick,

It seems you have F600 blue black enamel coated one. I am considering to buy F600 . But I don't know which one is better. Matt F600 or Blue black enamel coated one. could you give me some explanations disadvantage and advantage. Matt one is 3050 dollars and enamel one 3600 hundred dollars. Thank you very much for reading.

 

[Nick Mystic]

hyunsub,
I have an F600 in in the Majolica brown porcelain enamel finish, not the blue black. I'm not sure, but the blue black enamel stoves I've seen in photos seem to show it as being more of a satin finish, while my stove is very shiny like high gloss paint. I'm not aware of any burning differences for the stove based on the finish. I've always thought it was purely aesthetic. Of course, you should never have to repaint a porcelain finished stove like a regular cast iron stove often needs every few years if you want it to continue looking new. The only disadvantages I know of are that the finish can get chips in it if you hit something hard against it. They have special touch up paint that is simple to apply and fixes these blemishes easily. I think you can damage the finish with over firing, but I don't know how hot you'd have to get to damage it. I think your stove would likely have other parts get damaged from over firing before the finish is damaged, but I could be wrong.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hi Nick,

It seems you have F600 blue black enamel coated one. I am considering to buy F600 . But I don't know which one is better. Matt F600 or Blue black enamel coated one. could you give me some explanations disadvantage and advantage. Matt one is 3050 dollars and enamel one 3600 hundred dollars. Thank you very much for reading.

The blue black is prettier . . . a matte blue-black finish which may possibly clean up easier if you spill something on it. On the flip side, the matte black paint can be repainted. Truth be told, folks that have the blue black finish say they look the look for the most part and that it is a very tough finish resistant to chipping.

So . . . really . . . in my opinion . . . it comes down to whether you want to spend $550 for the prettier finish.

I was cheap when I bought my Oslo and went with the matte black which has since become less black over time . . . I love my stove, but sometimes wish I had splurged a bit for the nicer finish . . . especially when I find myself cleaning the dust off the stove.

 

[stovelark]

Nick is indeed correct- Blue black is a satin finish, not high gloss. Baking on a certain number of layers of paint determines the gloss level, blue black is 7 coats, the high gloss finishes is 9 coats I've been told. Its also why blue black's upcharge is less (around 400 versus 500 dollars for the high gloss finishes).