New Jotul F500 V3 Owner

[nunyabinis]

I ended up sending the Condar Watchman back and bought an Auber AT210 combo instead. I didn't like the way the Condar Watchman base unit worked. I really like the Auber. It's easy to program temperature alerts and with the wireless remote unit I can monitor the stove from any room in the house.

 

[nunyabinis]

Update 4:

The stove has been running constantly for about two weeks. It was warm here yesterday so I let the fire die out and cleaned the stove from stem to stern. There was no fly ash on the face of the Cat. I've yet to see any fly ash on the Cat. I assume that's a Good Thing. I'm running well seasoned oak and hickory.

Ever since I blocked the unregulated air holes in the Ash House the stove has purred right along with no more extreme heat incidents. It's now operating with monotonous regularity like my old VC used to run.

If this keeps up, I think she's a keeper.

 

[webby3650]

I’m glad you are now happy with it. I don’t consider a nearly uncontrollable blast furnace that’s altered to be tolerable, acceptable though. Jotul has to address this issue at some point. You’ve got a frickin heat shield between you and the stove! Getting that hot should be an option, if you want to let it rip, not just an acceptable alternative to the blast furnace you started with.
The few we have in the field have the same issue, one pretty well self destructed in the first season. Our display is unpredictable, I found that the Ashpan will latch, but not seal. If you operate the door 5 times, about half of the time it latches properly. Doesn’t Instill confidence in the product, we stopped selling them until these issues are resolved. We’ve sold Jotul for around 40 years…

 

[nunyabinis]

(Jotul has to address this issue at some point) - That would certainly be nice since this seems to be endemic to this model.

(You’ve got a frickin heat shield between you and the stove!) - My Man Chair sits about five feet from the right side of the stove. I actually had a rudimentary heat shield hanging from the warming shelf of my VC. It was made of a thin piece of aluminum with small holes in it that I bought from Lowe's. I figure it blocked about half the radiate heat. The radiate heat from the Jotul, even at the same stove top temperature, is WAY higher than the VC. I attribute that to the VC being double wall construction vs single wall for the Jotul. I never took heat readings from the side of the VC. I wish I had so that I can compare temps between the two stoves.

You're obviously a professional since you sell and install wood heaters. Have you gotten any feedback from Jotul at all concerning the over fire issue?

 

[webby3650]

(Jotul has to address this issue at some point) - That would certainly be nice since this seems to be endemic to this model.

(You’ve got a frickin heat shield between you and the stove!) - My Man Chair sits about five feet from the right side of the stove. I actually had a rudimentary heat shield hanging from the warming shelf of my VC. It was made of a thin piece of aluminum with small holes in it that I bought from Lowe's. I figure it blocked about half the radiate heat. The radiate heat from the Jotul, even at the same stove top temperature, is WAY higher than the VC. I attribute that to the VC being double wall construction vs single wall for the Jotul. I never took heat readings from the side of the VC. I wish I had so that I can compare temps between the two stoves.

You're obviously a professional since you sell and install wood heaters. Have you gotten any feedback from Jotul at all concerning the over fire issue?

No, but I voiced my concern on the design when it was unveiled at the trade show. My biggest concern was the cost of that huge, proprietary catalyst, and baffle system. Along with the lack of a bypass ..No cost was never made available… so far they’ve been replaced under warranty.

 

[daltojoh]

I finally retired my trusty VC Encore 2190 that I purchased in 1994 and plan to install it in the barn after I rebuild it.

My new Jotul was installed a couple weeks ago. Installation was painless since I took careful measurements and ordered the short leg kit with the stove. Everything mated up perfectly.

I completed the break in fires per the manual. I've now burned three normal fires. These are the results:

Fire One:

Stove puts out WAY more heat than my old VC. I'm stunned at how much more radiant heat comes out the front glass. Uncomfortably hot. My hounds used to lay in front of the VC all night. Now they jump up panting within thirty minutes and head to the back of the house. Stove top temperature is 575 degrees. Stove pipe is 550 degrees. Cat temp is 1400 degrees. I can't calm the fire down even on the lowest primary setting. Burns wood like it's free. I make sure that all doors are closed properly (especially the ash pan door) Wife complains that it's too hot in the kitchen. It's 41 degrees, cloudy and windy outside. Temperature hits 74 degrees in the living room. It never went over 68 degrees in the living room with the VC during similar conditions. I turn every fan in the house on to try to distribute the heat in our 2100 sq/ft house. End up opening an outside door to cool off.

Fire Two:

Same as fire one. Holy Smokes this thing gets hot Wondering if I have enough wood. I cut, split and stacked enough wood for about five years last winter. Wondering how long it'll last with this monster. Questioning my decision. Stayed up darn near all night reading everything I can find on Hearth.com and elsewhere to try to figure out what's going on. Watched many YouTube videos. Found nothing conclusive..

Fire Three:

Before starting the fire I cleaned everything really well looking for problems. While cleaning out the ash pan area I notice two 1/4 inch holes in each side of what the manual calls the Ash House Assembly. One on the left side and one on the right side. I shine a flashlight through the holes. Yep, they go all the way through. I start the fire and when it's once again burning hotter than the fires of Hell I put a magnet over each hole to cut off the air flow. Well, what do you know. The stove top is now sitting at 450 degrees. The stove pipe is 425 degrees. The Cat temp is now 1100 degrees. The cat is glowing a dull red instead of almost white hot. The fire is burning lazily just like my old VC and the stove isn't eating wood like it's candy.

Any thoughts you folks have on this would be greatly appreciated.


View attachment 288309View attachment 288310

I too had the same issue and did exactly as you said and it runs like it should. They don’t care about how much it eats wood, just the emissions it puts out

 

[Liana]

Hi, my jotul F500 just eats wood without radiating much heat, so I thought I should close the little holes, but I just looked and cannot see any. I guess my model doesn't have one, right?

 

[nunyabinis]

Hi, my jotul F500 just eats wood without radiating much heat, so I thought I should close the little holes, but I just looked and cannot see any. I guess my model doesn't have one, right? View attachment 290572View attachment 290573

As far as I know only the F500 V3 has those holes. I don't see a hole in your picture or in the parts diagram for your model.

 

[Rav-Fire]

I finally retired my trusty VC Encore 2190 that I purchased in 1994 and plan to install it in the barn after I rebuild it.

My new Jotul was installed a couple weeks ago. Installation was painless since I took careful measurements and ordered the short leg kit with the stove. Everything mated up perfectly.

I completed the break in fires per the manual. I've now burned three normal fires. These are the results:

Fire One:

Stove puts out WAY more heat than my old VC. I'm stunned at how much more radiant heat comes out the front glass. Uncomfortably hot. My hounds used to lay in front of the VC all night. Now they jump up panting within thirty minutes and head to the back of the house. Stove top temperature is 575 degrees. Stove pipe is 550 degrees. Cat temp is 1400 degrees. I can't calm the fire down even on the lowest primary setting. Burns wood like it's free. I make sure that all doors are closed properly (especially the ash pan door) Wife complains that it's too hot in the kitchen. It's 41 degrees, cloudy and windy outside. Temperature hits 74 degrees in the living room. It never went over 68 degrees in the living room with the VC during similar conditions. I turn every fan in the house on to try to distribute the heat in our 2100 sq/ft house. End up opening an outside door to cool off.

Fire Two:

Same as fire one. Holy Smokes this thing gets hot Wondering if I have enough wood. I cut, split and stacked enough wood for about five years last winter. Wondering how long it'll last with this monster. Questioning my decision. Stayed up darn near all night reading everything I can find on Hearth.com and elsewhere to try to figure out what's going on. Watched many YouTube videos. Found nothing conclusive..

Fire Three:

Before starting the fire I cleaned everything really well looking for problems. While cleaning out the ash pan area I notice two 1/4 inch holes in each side of what the manual calls the Ash House Assembly. One on the left side and one on the right side. I shine a flashlight through the holes. Yep, they go all the way through. I start the fire and when it's once again burning hotter than the fires of Hell I put a magnet over each hole to cut off the air flow. Well, what do you know. The stove top is now sitting at 450 degrees. The stove pipe is 425 degrees. The Cat temp is now 1100 degrees. The cat is glowing a dull red instead of almost white hot. The fire is burning lazily just like my old VC and the stove isn't eating wood like it's candy.

Any thoughts you folks have on this would be greatly appreciated.


View attachment 288309View attachment 288310

Finding this late as a new owner this might help me out, is there a certain magnet you used?

 

[nunyabinis]

Finding this late as a new owner this might help me out, is there a certain magnet you used?

Cheap 3/4 inch ceramic magnets from Lowes. Magnets are handy for all kinds of things so I had them on hand.

Ceramic Magnets

 

[deslpwr]

Cheap 3/4 inch ceramic magnets from Lowes. Magnets are handy for all kinds of things so I had them on hand.

Ceramic Magnets

Yup. Used these and they helped a ton.

 

[I-restore]

Look man, chimnees or stoves should not get overheated. Maximum of 250-300 degrees Celcius. You have to check multple things which you can also find online. Use decent wood, dont overload the stove, make sure your stove is air tight between parts. Check your insulating cords in all doors, if they are faulty, replace them. You have to be able to cut the airflow into the chamber. If you cant, the stove is either leaking/sucking in to much air. If so, you need to take apart the stove and build it back up. Room temps depends on your m3, insulation en amount of kw from the stove. In either way, read the manual, overheating or overfiring is dangerous and will destroy your stove in a couple of years. Windows will "burn", cast iron will rupture, chimnee fires can accur etc. If unsure let someone check it out.

 

[begreen]

250-300ºC = 482-572ºF. A good stove can run hotter without any risk of destroying it. Many run at 600-650ºF daily, some for decades with cast iron and windows doing fine. Stove temperature does not correlate to chimney fires unless the stove is burning too cool and that causes creosote to accumulate. In that case, a hot fire may trigger a chimney fire.

 

[Ant428]

Glad you found the culprit, primary boost air holes tend to do that with a strong draft. I wonder if this is the cause of the premature cat warping that has been reported on this stove? I covered mine on my F45 and have much more control and longer burn times.

I'm looking to purchase an F45 V2 this week. It burns too hot and rips through wood? Was looking for something controllable .

 

[begreen]

I'm looking to purchase an F45 V2 this week. It burns too hot and rips through wood? Was looking for something controllable .

Each installation has it's own setup and house parameters. It's better to not fret over an individual's setup. Remember, most people come here either to learn about a stove or to solve a problem. There are thousands of installations that a happily running and not reported here. The vast majority of owners do not modify their stoves.