New Stove time or no?

[nola mike]

Thinking about replacing my ancient Jotul 602 N after 14 years. It was in rough shape when I got it (looked like it had been severely overfired), and I've had to disassemble it a few times in that time. Had a pretty good overheat last year that I think broke the cement at a piece in the rear and was letting air out of the secondary manifold. Just finished partially disassembling to fix that. Have had a couple of failures of the secondary burn manifold, most recently had a custom piece of stainless made to replace it (seems to be holding up well). The stove doesn't fit together quite right; seems that everything is warped just a bit. It comes together ok and seals fine with cement...but still. Point is, it's seen better days and I'm tired of messing with it. Looking at replacing with a newer model, but was unpleasantly surprised with the cost of the 602 V3 that is coming out. Options:

1. New Jotul 602 V3. $2k for the stove pretty much everywhere that I've looked, but get the 30% tax credit. Still $1400+ though. It looks cleaner still than the V2, and near as I can tell it's almost identical to the V2 except that there's an inline cat. 10 year warranty on the cat makes me not worry about it, and I bet it burns just like the V2 without it. Hmm, I should check the 2 parts diagrams to see which parts actually differ. Nobody has it in stock yet though, looking at mid december. Not ideal, but it will take me no time to swap the stoves.
2. Leftover V2 locally. Guy says they have 5 in stock, and he's asking $1500 but "some room for negotiation" after mentioning that the new version is cheaper with the credit (V2 doesn't qualify). Guessing I can get it for $1k or so. If I'm buying new though, I kind of like the idea of buying the cleanest/newest version that I can.
3. Sticking with mine. It should now be back in working order. If it craps out again, I can think about upgrading then rather than disassembling it again. Guessing I can get $3-400 for it now.

So that $2k is I guess MSRP for the V3. What are the chances that I'll be able to find it for less than that in the off season?

 

[EbS-P]

I’d choose the V2. The new jotuls have had some issues. Just like new cars never buy the first year and f a major redesign.

 

[VermontCrapstings]

I’d choose the V2. The new jotuls have had some issues. Just like new cars never buy the first year and f a major redesign.

Agreed on the V2. The 10 year catalyst warranty used to be 20 year and even then what it really meant was they just replace your first catalyst whenever it fails. That depends on a LOT of factors. Some people manage to burn their catalyst up within the first season. Others reliably expect to go 7 seasons or so on a catalyst depending on how many cords they go through. I like the idea of increased efficiency and from what I have read the V3 does get super high efficiency. I would still wait a year or two before buying a v3 just to see what the quirks are. I say let Todd buy one first, hah.

 

[nola mike]

I’d choose the V2. The new jotuls have had some issues. Just like new cars never buy the first year and f a major redesign.

But the v3 isn't out yet? How is it having issues? Still curious if it's any different than a v2 with a cat slapped in the exhaust.

 

[EbS-P]

But the v3 isn't out yet? How is it having issues? Still curious if it's any different than a v2 with a cat slapped in the exhaust.

We don’t know if will be great or have issues. The f500 is not stellar. No reports on the F435 ( is that it).

It’s just new. I’d rather have something proven.

 

[Todd]

Agreed on the V2. The 10 year catalyst warranty used to be 20 year and even then what it really meant was they just replace your first catalyst whenever it fails. That depends on a LOT of factors. Some people manage to burn their catalyst up within the first season. Others reliably expect to go 7 seasons or so on a catalyst depending on how many cords they go through. I like the idea of increased efficiency and from what I have read the V3 does get super high efficiency. I would still wait a year or two before buying a v3 just to see what the quirks are. I say let Todd buy one first, hah.

lol, don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind. I really can’t justify a new V3 for my workshop where my CB is installed. I just don’t burn it that often.

 

[Todd]

But the v3 isn't out yet? How is it having issues? Still curious if it's any different than a v2 with a cat slapped in the exhaust.

If you removed the cat it would be more like the 602 CB since there’s no turbulators in there like the V2.

I haven’t looked around here at prices yet or if the new V2 is even available but if it was my choice I would go with the V3 unless they gave you a steal of a deal on a V2. I’m not sure how I feel about the cat yet but I do like the idea of an auto secondary air control. I think it will be much more controllable and I’m betting it will be able to get consistent overnight burns with the right setup.

If Jotul came out with a new and improved F118 Black Bear like this I’d jump all over it!

 

[nola mike]

If you removed the cat it would be more like the 602 CB since there’s no turbulators in there like the V2.

I haven’t looked around here at prices yet or if the new V2 is even available but if it was my choice I would go with the V3 unless they gave you a steal of a deal on a V2. I’m not sure how I feel about the cat yet but I do like the idea of an auto secondary air control. I think it will be much more controllable and I’m betting it will be able to get consistent overnight burns with the right setup.

If Jotul came out with a new and improved F118 Black Bear like this I’d jump all over it!

Yeah, you're right. Didn't know about the secondary air control on the V3, that is nice. Should shut down the secondaries down when it's cool? Couldn't get a good feel of it from the parts diagram. The basics of all 3 stoves look to be similar. Would be easy to convert a V3 to a V2 it seems by either swapping out the manifold assembly (or maybe adding the turbulator assembly) and (maybe? maybe you'd still want to keep) secondary valve. So agree with you at this point. I guess it makes sense to just see how things shake out this year with the old one and let someone else be the guinea pig.

Anybody aware if the jotuls ever go for less than MSRP?

 

[Todd]

I wouldn’t mine taking a look at the new V3 secondary air control and see if it can be added to my CB. In fact when the new F45 V3 comes out I’m wondering if you could retrofit the V3 parts in my V2?