Jotul Oslo F500 V3 Defective?

[Rav-Fire]

Honestly I have to measure I have a family member who owns a tree service so they just have a machine that does the splits and he delivers a half a cord every year so they are not consistent. I will say they are more then likely on the short side but wider on some.

 

[Rav-Fire]

Stuffing from this morning sadly 4 hours down to coals will keep an eye on it. Oddly I can no longer shut the damper all the way in the front since plugging the two ash pan holes with magnets.

After reading some other threads I have no idea if my blower in the back is set properly. I assume it comes set to auto and it is the 2nd flame up top with the catalytic when it is working.

 

[webby3650]

I have had some fires that were pretty well done after 4 hours. Different types of wood species, split size and moisture content has had a big influence on burn times. I’ve been starting out with well seasoned hickory, once I have a fire established, I’ve been using black locust that I split later this summer. It’s 30-35% mc. I’m still able to shut the air completely off while having the Ashpan holes covered within a few minutes of reloading the stove. I’ve been able to stretch burns out drastically. I don’t see this stove ever being able to get more than an 8 hour burn even with all the extra work. Maybe i’m just spoiled by the blaze kings and my FPX .

 

[Bardfark]

Hi all, new to the forum. I'm here because of problem with my Jøtul F 500 V3Oslo, which i purchased in October 2023. My experience may be pertinent to the OP's problem.

I should mention that i've been heating (exclusively) and cooking with wood stoves since 1972 here in Quebec. I am currently running three other wood stoves besides the Jotul: Vermont Castings Dutchwest Convection heater (former heating stove, now heating the stand-alone sauna), Sweetheart cook stove, and a Roxton Cadet (woodshop). I've used nine different stoves over the years and i normally go through between 10 and 15 face cords (4'x8'x16") per season.

The problem I'm having with the Jotul is that even with the air control shut, 3 pieces of firewood burns down to coals in about an hour-and-a-half. Furthermore, if i open the air control even a little the stove runs very hot - if i ran it with the air control open much more than a crack i'm pretty sure the stove would overheat.

Soon after i put the stove in operation i checked door gaskets for air leaks using a dollar bill. The side and front doors were tight, but the ash pan door gasket was pretty loose. When i brought this to the attention of the Jotul dealer after the first couple of weeks and showed him the same problem on his floor model he said that's normal, it's just the way these stoves are designed to run.

As the winter has worn on, i realize that not only am i burning wood at a higher rate than ever before, there are other indications of an air leak:

a) I pretty much have to clean the glass every day and i think this is because with the air control closed completely the "air wash" system does not function

b) I can see a "hot-spot" where air is coming through the grates

I had previously checked the ash pan gasket along the bottom - this morning i checked it along the top where the door is curved - virtually no resistance whatsoever to pulling a dollar bill out.

The OP stated that they'd checked gaskets, but I'd suggest they re-test the ash pan door gasket - all around.

Also, after reading the manual again and inspecting the latch for the ash pan door, i realize that Jotul provides no adjustment for door tightness. This is the third "air tight" stove i've used and the only one not to have an adjustment for gasket seal.

With no adjustment, i'm not sure how i can fix the problem apart from re-gasketing with larger gasket - but this just doesn't seem right.

 

[nunyabinis]

Hi all, new to the forum. I'm here because of problem with my Jøtul F 500 V3Oslo, which i purchased in October 2023. My experience may be pertinent to the OP's problem.

Soon after i put the stove in operation i checked door gaskets for air leaks using a dollar bill. The side and front doors were tight, but the ash pan door gasket was pretty loose. When i brought this to the attention of the Jotul dealer after the first couple of weeks and showed him the same problem on his floor model he said that's normal, it's just the way these stoves are designed to run.

As the winter has worn on, i realize that not only am i burning wood at a higher rate than ever before, there are other indications of an air leak:

a) I pretty much have to clean the glass every day and i think this is because with the air control closed completely the "air wash" system does not function

b) I can see a "hot-spot" where air is coming through the grates

I had previously checked the ash pan gasket along the bottom - this morning i checked it along the top where the door is curved - virtually no resistance whatsoever to pulling a dollar bill out.

The OP stated that they'd checked gaskets, but I'd suggest they re-test the ash pan door gasket - all around.

Also, after reading the manual again and inspecting the latch for the ash pan door, i realize that Jotul provides no adjustment for door tightness. This is the third "air tight" stove i've used and the only one not to have an adjustment for gasket seal.

With no adjustment, i'm not sure how i can fix the problem apart from re-gasketing with larger gasket - but this just doesn't seem right.

@Bardfark:

Block the unrestricted air holes on each side of the Ash House Assembly with magnets. This stove is designed to run full blast from the factory to get the efficiency numbers up. Even if you turn the draft all the way down it still sucks air in from those holes for combustion so you can only get it to run so low without blocking those holes. Alternately, you can let the Ash House fill up with ashes thereby producing the same result as blocking those holes with magnets. My stove runs beautifully after blocking those holes.

Read this thread:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-jotul-f500-v3-owner.190449/

 

[Bardfark]

@Bardfark:

Block the unrestricted air holes on each side of the Ash House Assembly with magnets. This stove is designed to run full blast from the factory to get the efficiency numbers up. Even if you turn the draft all the way down it still sucks air in from those holes for combustion so you can only get it to run so low without blocking those holes. Alternately, you can let the Ash House fill up with ashes thereby producing the same result as blocking those holes with magnets. My stove runs beautifully after blocking those holes.

Read this thread:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-jotul-f500-v3-owner.190449/

Hi nunyabinis, thanks for the reply -

I did see that thread after i posted and this morning i blocked the two holes in the ash pan compartment. Only two holes in my stove - left and right sides.

I also flipped the latch piece for the ash pan door over and reassembled - it scrapes a bit, but holds the door shut more tightly. Looks to me like there is still air bypassing the gasket, but i have way more control over combustion now.

Tomorrow morning when the stove's cool i will flip the latch back around to normal so i can judge the effectiveness of just plugging the holes.

Meanwhile, yesterday i contacted the dealer who sold me the stove and they are looking into the issue.

When i have more info i will post it here! Thanks again for the reply -

Cheers!

​

 

[PAres]

Recently purchased a new Jotul Oslo F500 V3 after I couldn't figure out my V1 and just kept like I was always burning through logs no matter what. So I pulled the trigger and got a new stove hoping for a better year.

Yet I don't seem to be getting much better burn times. Was told the Jotul Oslo F500 V3 should get roughly 7-8 hours burn time realistically vs the advertised 10 hours.

After running the stove I seem to really get 2 - 3. I have a google drive link (each labeled accordingly) of me recently stuffing my already started stove and what it looks like after intervals. I am trying to figure out if I am doing something wrong or just have a defective stove. it really pumps out heat but seems to just burn out quickly. The most recent fully stuff burn was 3 hours until hit a thick bed of coals. I can throw a log on to ignite but roughly another hour until the coals more then likely stop.

Wood: last years wood that has been sitting in the woodstove room.

Setup - Bottom floor of a raise ranch. Pipe goes up about 3 feet roughly, does a 90 bend into a shorter 11"inch pipe into the chimney. The chimney does have a liner.

Google Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T6BUGya2o31Xi46ytv_3P4zSb94sjgHk?usp=sharing Each video name is the duration and the settings it was at, then the setting I changed to after the video. The video of me stuffing the stove was too big for the forum View attachment 319707

Installed new Jotul F500 V3 Oslo back in November. Nothing but problems. Cat Combuster a nightmare. After every 2 weeks it would smoke up the whole house. Started in January, then Feb., then March again. Had dealer come in and clean Cat each time. He had to remove top plate of stove to take out Cat and blow it and clean out each hole in Cat. I did everything I was supposed to. Cut up wood into kindling pieces. Used wood 18% or less moisture. Used a couple of pieces of 20lb. weight copy paper to start fire. Same problem over and over again after 2-3 weeks of great burning. Cat on Jotuls lack bypass.

Finally contacted N.A. Jotul Manufacturer and told them they had a faulty design and faulty equipment. Causing smoke to escape seams under top plate, side of box, and out of ash pan (which I cleaned every day). Took videos of it happening. Told Jotul to take it out because it was becoming a health hazard for me and my wife who has asthma and we developed smoker's cough, even though we don't smoke. Jotul contacted dealer to fully reimburse and take out unit at no charge. They have a defective product that is a health hazard and need to fix the problem. Maybe elimination of the Catalytic Combuster is the answer, because it obviously doesn't work.