new to burning with jotul f400. many questions
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i didnt yet. it may have to wait until Saturday when i get time. we didn't burn Wednesday but did last night. i feel my wood may be causing the most problems with temperature influx. last night it was raining and cold and our power went out so when i got home i started a fire. fresh clean stove with some news paper and kindling, was up and running in about 35 minutes. i put one log on after my kindling gave me some good coals and it started to smolder a little. left the damper wide open and it took another hour to get to 500. by that time that log was down to coals so i raked it out and put another 2 logs in. temperature struggled to get above 400 after that even with the damper wide open. glass turned black too. before bed with a really nice bed of coals i put just 2 more logs in and turned the damper wide open. took almost another hour to get going good. i turned down the damper and let it cook for the night. my wood is just not good enough i think to be able to let it run more freely.
is it wrong of me to think that some of my issues are just inexperience? maybe im just have the wrong expectations of a freshly built fire without a good base of ash and coals and heat.
i know over night im not giving it enough fuel, 2 bigger splits. ill try 3 after i get a really good base and see what it does. it hasnt been cold so im just running it now to figure it out and get some free heat
thanks for your help again
thanks for your help again
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In milder weather I would burn about 3-4 medium-sized (3-4") splits in the F400. You will get better starts and relights if you try this patented Tunnel of Love™ starting method:
Rake coals forward toward the front center of the stove. Then take two ~2" short splits (about 12-14" long) and place them N/S about 4" apart centered on the middle of the stove. Then place your normal load of wood on top of those two splits. Branch material works great as a source of those short sleepers, but so does a 2x4 scrap split in half. Loading this way will allow air from the boost manifold to get under the bed of wood. This will greatly improve quick lighting.
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Rake coals forward toward the front center of the stove. Then take two ~2" short splits (about 12-14" long) and place them N/S about 4" apart centered on the middle of the stove. Then place your normal load of wood on top of those two splits. Branch material works great as a source of those short sleepers, but so does a 2x4 scrap split in half. Loading this way will allow air from the boost manifold to get under the bed of wood. This will greatly improve quick lighting.
ugh this stove is driving me crazy. last night i get home and get her back up and running. using begreen's method, i put 2 logs north/south and then 2 smaller ones on top to get running. temp go to around 500 with the damper wide open, then i backed it off to about 1/2 . the temp dropped to about 400 then raked out the coals then put 3 smaller splits in. within 2 minutes the temp was at 500 so i dropped the damper to 1/4. the temp took off to past 750. i freaked. it must have been past 800. i closed the damper and just watched it. took a big box fan and blasted the top of the stove. about 10 minutes went by as it slowly dropped. i dont know what im doing wrong to where i can never control the temperature. one minute it struggles to stay at 300 and the wood smolders, the next it spikes to 800.
Huntindog1
Minister of Fire
These stoves work by the heat built up in the fire box plus things are based on the moisture in the wood and how much of a coal bed you have and how hot it is. Your first load of wood from a cold start is going to be harder as your basically using the first load to get you a coal bed. What may have been happening, is one of the pieces could have had a little too much moisture and your smaller pieces were burning to compensate for the larger piece or two that had a little moisture in it, then by the time your put the additional 3 smaller splits in and opened it up again the stove heat is now at a higher level so things will now take off faster. Plus the second time you loaded the 3 small splits now the other wood has boiled out that extra moisture and is no not inhibiting the stove from taking off. With time you will get a feel for all the variables.
Also when you sense the stove temps are hotter on a reload or like this time you opened the stove back up and added the 3 smaller splits , With a now hotter fire box your shut down can be quicker of the input air , but turn the input air down in 1/4 ways increments and at each increment give the stove a little time to balance back out. Take note of how the stove reacts to these small increments of less input air. As you get more experience and you can sense how the wood is burning and how big and hot the coal bed is you may be able to shut the air down in a big half way adjustment but until you get a better feel just try 1/4 ways adjustments. Remember as you shut the air down this helps heat to build up in the stove as the goal is not to disrupt the fire too much as you lower the input air down as its a balance of the heat thats building up in the firebox that is allowing the stove to burn at lower input air settings. If you lower the air down to quick before the temps in the firebox come up thats when the fire wants to go out on you. Its a feel of every thing that you will learn with more time using the stove.
someone please answer this one for me because i have no idea if this is correct or not. once i have a good fire going, and i load wood and the wood seems to burn well and the temperature is where i want it, the fire seems to be burning at the baffles only. the wood will be on top of the coals, but the actual flame will be right at the baffles. am i doing something horribly wrong or is this normal? the flame is usually dark and blue, not bright with yellow and red
Not being there we can only guess, but it sounds like the last load of wood should have been thicker splits. Small dry splits can take off quickly. Also it is possible that the air should have been closed down sooner.
What you are seeing is pure secondary burn. It is quite normal and a great light show.
What you are seeing is pure secondary burn. It is quite normal and a great light show.
could you explain this secondary and primary business for me? i read about it but really don't fallow
As you close down the air control you are reducing the primary burn air supply to the fire. This air enters the firebox mostly via the air wash and boost manifold. As the primary air is reduced by you, the draft starts to suck air through the secondary manifold and introduces air and turbulence to the top of the fire into the wood gases escaping from the fresh charge of wood. That ignites these gases above the wood and is seen as hotter, yellow and blue flames coming in front of the secondary manifold holes.
This thread may be helpful. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stove-operation.132843/
This thread may be helpful. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stove-operation.132843/
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Begreen is right, without being there it's hard to say for sure but it does sound like you didn't use enough wood to get the stove burning properly on your first attempt but used enough on your second attempt. But on your second attempt the stove was still too hot to add wood causing what you added to burn uncontrollable.
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the coals were very hot and bright. should i have waited for them to burn down more and the temperature to fall below 400 before i add more wood? i guess its all about timing. i wanted to set up the stove to run over night and i want it established enough where i know i can leave it alone without the temp rising. guess i will see how it goes again tonight. we arnt even ruining it now during the day because we are unsure of the burns
Yes, before reloading, burn down the coal bed a bit by opening up the air and putting a single small split on top of them. The stove top will be more like 250F at reload. Timing is everything. Weekends are a good time for practicing overnight burning. That way you can get in a couple full 6-8 hr cycles in the daytime to develop a better understanding of the burn cycle.
Huntindog1
Minister of Fire
It sounds like rocket science now, but you'll figure it out quicker than you think. But even when you have experience, it will surprise you once in a while. I predict you will have a warm winter...
It sounds like rocket science now, but you'll figure it out quicker than you think. But even when you have experience, it will surprise you once in a while. I predict you will have a warm winter...
thanks !
so last night was a good night. best burn so far. used all of your suggestions . started a fire from just ash using some newspaper and kindling, kept feeding it kindling. once the coals were good i put in 3 decent splits. left the damper wide open until they fully engulfed. temp went to about 550. i then slowly turned the damper down 1/8 to 1/4 every 5-10 minutes making sure the flame stayed the same. got the damper to around 3/8 open and it sat and burned perfectly at 550. i imagine if my wood was better seasoned i would be able to close the damper a bit more and keep a good fire. i let it burn down completely and let the temp drop to around 325 then filled it with 3 big splits. opened the damper again but this time started dialing it back when it started to hit 400, still 1/8-1/4 at a time. temp hit 550 again and just sat there. i pulled the damper back to around 1/4 and watched it for a little while before going to bed. my wife came home after i was asleep and told me later on that when she came in the stove was burning nicely and at 500. i woke up at 530am to find the stove around 150 and some hot coals. maybe if i put in 4 splits the last time i loaded it , it would have been a better bed when i woke up
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