Jotul Series 8 rebuild

[tom in maine]

I picked up a Series 8 with a warped inner back plate and damaged back burn plate. 4/7 cat and assembly looks okay and nothing else is damaged. Since these parts appear to no longer be available, this seems like a fun project to mess with. I will be disassembling and cleaning and resealing, although it is otherwise still intact. What I am thinking is using vermiculite refractory bricks to replicate the damaged back parts that pass through to the cat. Has anyone retrofitted orhpaned stoves with newer refractory? Seems a shame to scrap.
We used to develop wood boilers, so I am not a neophyte to this but would like to hear if anyone has been down this road.
tom in maine

 

[begreen]

Check Woodsman's

Jotul Series 8 | Jotul Series 8AP | Available Parts

Jotul Series 8 wood stove available parts include gasket rope, ash pan, catalytic combustor, catalyst insulation, and much more

www.woodmanspartsplus.com

 

[tom in maine]

I did check Woodmans. They have one available. The other is no longer made.

 

[stovelark]

Good luck with the old girl. I liked the original 8 non-cat version, but remember very clearly when the Oslo F500 first displayed in the store in Nov 99, replacing the 8 series. Wow, what a home run stove, the Oslo. The 8 did have a nice look to it though. Good luck with her, espec if its a Blue Black finish.

 

[tom in maine]

Quick update. I decided to get some vermiculite refractory bricks and panels to line the firebox on this old Jotul 8 catalytic stove. Bricks are standing on end, 8" tall. I then cut two diagonally to create a support for the larger 1/2"vermiculite baffle which is at the top. Nothing that new here, this is similar to the much newer Hearthstone stove that I recently had.

Love working with vermiculite bricks. I cut them on my regular table saw. It was like a hot knife through butter.

Used retort cement to hold it all together. Did a small test fire to cure the cement after a day.
After a couple days, did a regular firing.

It seems to work well. Of course, it is not winter, but springtime in Maine is a lot like winter in some places. It works better than most stoves I have used that were of more recent manufacture.

The refractory is not as rugged as cast iron or firebrick but its low mass seems to allow the stove to get to operating temperature very quickly.

It is not as rugged as original but the refractory was inexpensive and everything looks good. The $40 Jotul 8 took about $150 worth of Ebay vermiculite and some retort cement to bring it back to life. And it lights off like a dream and throws out a lot of heat. Stack temps are about 250F.

 

[bigealta]

You have any pics of the new interior?

 

[tom in maine]

My apologies for the photo quality. I will be cleaning it and checking it with the top off. Will post more photos. I am using this to replace an AGA that burned propane. Would have kept the AGA if it was a wood burner. Was 20 + years old. Interesting to disassemble even though it was propane. The AGA shell is all cast iron. It is filled with loose vermiculite and then you get to the cast iron innards for the burner and ovens. Breaks down into manageable pieces. Unfortunately it was not convertible to wood.

First photo is the warped bits. Then the Vermiculite baffle. Side view and straight in the door.

 

[begreen]

Quick update. I decided to get some vermiculite refractory bricks and panels to line the firebox on this old Jotul 8 catalytic stove. Bricks are standing on end, 8" tall. I then cut two diagonally to create a support for the larger 1/2"vermiculite baffle which is at the top. Nothing that new here, this is similar to the much newer Hearthstone stove that I recently had.

Love working with vermiculite bricks. I cut them on my regular table saw. It was like a hot knife through butter.

Used retort cement to hold it all together. Did a small test fire to cure the cement after a day.
After a couple days, did a regular firing.

It seems to work well. Of course, it is not winter, but springtime in Maine is a lot like winter in some places. It works better than most stoves I have used that were of more recent manufacture.

The refractory is not as rugged as cast iron or firebrick but its low mass seems to allow the stove to get to operating temperature very quickly.

It is not as rugged as original but the refractory was inexpensive and everything looks good. The $40 Jotul 8 took about $150 worth of Ebay vermiculite and some retort cement to bring it back to life. And it lights off like a dream and throws out a lot of heat. Stack temps are about 250F.

A revival like this may be needed when parts aren't available, but it negates any tested clearance standards. The stove must be considered unlisted a this point with 36" clearances in all directions. This can be reduced to 12" with proper NFPA wall shielding.

 

[tom in maine]

Not sure but the original clearances were large for the original model. This location is fine. Nothing close. I suspect the insulative aspect of the refractory would make them smaller. Regardless, it does not matter here.