jotul tl50 help

[littleuing]

So i added a woodstove to my house 2 winters ago... have not had a good wood supply yet... haveing a baby slowed me down... finnaly starting to get caught up with wood. Grew up burning wood at my parents house.

So now that you have some background my first question is whats the best way to clean the top plate of my tl50? Spilled water on it a few tims last year.

My other problem is burn times i cant seem to get longer than 3 hours active burn times... even with wood i was pretty sure was good and dry... however this year i got a meter so i no longer have to guess. Not sure if it was the wood or draft or if when people say they get 8+ hour burns what they consider 8 hour burn.

Thanks... and i can get some pics added later.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Tell us more about how you load the stove, N/S or E/W, how full, the size of the splits, species of wood, etc.. Then tell us your burning procedure. Do you set the bypass damper? How do you set the air and in what increments of time do you close down the air control?

 

[littleuing]

Welcome. Tell us more about how you load the stove, N/S or E/W, how full, the size of the splits, species of wood, etc.. Then tell us your burning procedure. Do you set the bypass damper? How do you set the air and in what increments of time do you close down the air control?

I load n/s as the air blows through it beter that way... also i close it down slowly about 1/4 at a time be depends how it is reacting... but as i said alot of what i burned was not very good wood. So tring to remember exactly what i did with the wood that was good is hard to say. I just have over a year with these new type of stoves. Use to running my dads old stove with no seals or anything on the door. Boy did that thing cook

 

[begreen]

Sounds like your burning method is good. Are you closing it down as much as possible once the fire is going well? Knowing what type of wood helps. Also what thickness are the splits?

 

[littleuing]

Sounds like your burning method is good. Are you closing it down as much as possible once the fire is going well? Knowing what type of wood helps. Also what thickness are the splits?

Its been a bunch of stuff.. oak, locus, cherry, tobi, some type of maple... but the stuff i thought was dry i have no idea. I was cutting down anything dead i could find. The dry stuff i got from a friends pile. I was backing it down till it was about a 1/4inch from being the whole way... anything past that seems to put it out

 

[begreen]

That is typical Jotul setting. You probably will be able to close it all the way when it gets very cold out. How thick were your splits and how many are being burned at one time? Was the stove packed almost up to the secondary rack? Is the bypass damper closed (horizontal)?

 

[webby3650]

Burn times usually start when you light the fire and go until its time to reload. Typically there is enough coals left for an easy start. For an 8 hour burn, 3 hours of active flames doesn't sound too far off. If you get better wood you can shut it down sooner, this will extend your burn times quite a lot.

 

[littleuing]

Most splits are 3 - 5 some bigger some smaller... and yes that was packed almost to the baffold. Maybe the issue is just my understanding of an 8 hour burn... ill have to keep track soon when i start burning... i just feel like i should have been getting higher temps longer to be considered an 8 hour burn... also there is only the one air control on the tl50.

Also anyone know how to clean the top of the top plate on the tl50.... i will add pics in a couple hours.

 

[webby3650]

Hit it with some WD-40 and a wire wheel on a drill. Rinse and repeat. It'll look like new.

 

[littleuing]

Ill have to try that. Maybe this winter i can finish the.stone work behind the woodburner... when i start burning again ill update this with wood im useing and burn times... also when i get around to the top plate ill update with how it turned out... thanks.

Also are you using a tl50

 

[webby3650]

Ill have to try that. Maybe this winter i can finish the.stone work behind the woodburner... when i start burning again ill update this with wood im useing and burn times... also when i get around to the top plate ill update with how it turned out... thanks.

Also are you using a tl50

It'll turn out great! I do it all the time!

 

[begreen]

View attachment 141249 Most splits are 3 - 5 some bigger some smaller... and yes that was packed almost to the baffold. Maybe the issue is just my understanding of an 8 hour burn... ill have to keep track soon when i start burning... i just feel like i should have been getting higher temps longer to be considered an 8 hour burn... also there is only the one air control on the tl50.

Is the baffle control set to horizontal after loading?

 

[littleuing]

Yes unless you somehow break it there is no way to leave it open.

 

[begreen]

Is there a thermometer on the stovetop? If so, what kind of temps are you seeing there?