new to burning with jotul f400. many questions

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im going to check it today. i noticed with my good burn that my glass didnt get super black. i know the f400 has this issue but some people have better luck then others. i imagine a good burn and dry wood is the best for that.
 
Yes, you are dead on about the glass.

Checking the chimney every couple weeks is a good idea as a new burner. It can only do one of two things.

1. Let you know if something needs to change in your burning practice.

2. Ease your mind and help you sleep better at night.
 
if i open it up and i looks dirty, should i sweep?
 
Yes. Light brown to gray dust that can be wiped off with your hand is fine. Black and crumbly or shiny is bad and needs swept ASAP

If you can, pics would help.
 
will do

to add, the chimney we bought was double wall made by ventis. it was very expensive IMO but want to know if its good quality. couldn't find much for reviews on it
 
To be honest, a 12oz cup or so of crumbly black creosote isn't going to hurt you but since you seem to have a grasp on things now. If you can clean relatively easy, why not start over with a clean flue.

Shiny black and tar like on the other hand would be very bad and needs attention for sure.
 
will the good hot fires burn it out like in the stove? or once there is a build up it needs to be cleaned
 
In the days of smoke dragons a good hot fire in the morning to clean out the chimney was common.

Not so much with modern EPA approved stoves. The goal here is to burn clean. This prevents build up in the flue to start with thus preventing the need to burn anything out.
 
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

Blue flames are perfect. A yellow flame means you have unburnt carbon (= incomplete combustion) and therefore smoke. What a modern stove does is not actually "burn the wood" but a 2-step process. The wood gets heated up in the bottom of the firebox that it releases its volatile components as woodgases. Those mix with preheated (secondary) air in the top of the firebox and ignite. Like a natural gas range you get a more complete combustion and therefore a more bluish flame.
 
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i imagine if my wood was better seasoned i would be able to close the damper a bit more and keep a good fire.
This is likely draft and not the wood. Normally in shoulder season weather we couldn't turn our Castine's air control down below 1/4. Then, when the temps dropped below 30F the draft was stronger and you could drop the air control all the way with a good fire.

You're getting the hang of it. Practice makes perfect.
 
In the days of smoke dragons a good hot fire in the morning to clean out the chimney was common.

Not so much with modern EPA approved stoves. The goal here is to burn clean. This prevents build up in the flue to start with thus preventing the need to burn anything out.

I still like to burn the stove hot for the first fire in the morning.
 
Took the clean out off the bottom of my chimney today. Some crud around the t opening and brown haze on the rest of the pipe. I imagin its the bad stuff but not a ton. I'm gonna sweep it out as soon as I get a new brush
 
I still like to burn the stove hot for the first fire in the morning.

I don't see anything wrong with that, won't hurt a thing. Now that I'm running a cat stove (much closer to running a smoke dragon to me) I find myself sending some flames up the stack before closing the bypass.

With the tube stove on the other hand, every load hit at least 450f out of necessity and up to 700f plus during the coarse of a winter. I found no real need to deliberately burn any hotter than needed to keep smoke at bay and keep this place warm.
 
We live in a fairly mild climate with long shoulder seasons. Low and slow fires are common and the stove often runs at 400-500F. During those times I like to give it a shot in the morning.
 
Took the clean out off the bottom of my chimney today. Some crud around the t opening and brown haze on the rest of the pipe. I imagin its the bad stuff but not a ton. I'm gonna sweep it out as soon as I get a new brush

Brown haze=good. That is what you want to see. As long as there's nothing but a thin coating of brown dust, continue on.
 
Your a fast learner, much faster than me LoL Congrats!
 
Thanks for everyones help. Some updates. I love this stove and hate it. When it's running for a few days straight it's so esay to control. But short burns like 24 hours then a relight , it's all over the place. Guess it will be much better when it's cold and good draft. We are banking 4 big splits at night and it will last all night an even wake up to clean glass sometimes. Usually clean it when the stove is still warm with the damp newspaper trick. Works great!
 
Stove is being very difficult lately . Afraid to run it at night. Woke up twice with the temp pegged a few hours after I've filled it with wood and the damper all the way down. I'll jae a good bed of coals and it's about an hour before bed , temp at 350-400 and I'll fill it to the brim. Leave the damper wide open and it gets going , then I slowly back it off over the course of the next hour until the damper is completely closed. It's been in the 20s here at night the past few nights. I'll wake up a few hours later with the fire raging with the stovetop at 700-750 with it wanting to climb. With it being colder out is there no way to back it down slower ? Is this normal?
 
Leave the damper wide open and it gets going , then I slowly back it off over the course of the next hour until the damper is completely closed.

Since the stove and flue are already hot, try dialing down the air much quicker. When I reload a hot stove with coals I only need 10 to 15 min to close the air completely. Just make sure to keep good secondaries going. The stove temps are not the best guide during the adjustment stage as they lag the actual temp in the firebox.
 
I can close off the damper , till the fire is almost out. Just lazy lazy secondary burn. 2 hours later it's raging. I feel like at night if the damper is open at all it will flair up. Even closed its gotten hotter then I want. 750 won't hurt the stove but I'm not a fan of it
 
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