Setting up a used Jotul F 100 Nordic

[KingBobo]

Greetings,

I'm a frequent lurker on hearth.com and have already learned much from this great community. And now here's my very first post:

I recently bought a Jotul Nordic on CL and am preparing to install it on the brick hearth extension in front of my fireplace (yes, clearances are okay). The stove replaces a useless set of gas logs left by the previous homeowners. The stove will rear vent into a tee w/cleanout and up the newly-linered chimney.

After picking up the stove, I noticed that the top was not tightly secured. I found that the two bolts holding down the top plate were loose. The stove was manufactured in 2008, and the top gasket is intact and looks reasonably good to my inexperienced eye. But I noticed stove cement extending up from the vertical joints where the front/rear/side plates are bolted together, and some of this cement also seems to be embedded in the gasket making it quite stiff, especially in those corners. I'm wondering if it would be best to just dig out the whole gasket, clean everything up and install fresh gasket. Also, the top edges of the front/rear/side plates that press into the gasket are pretty uneven/sharp/rough -- any risk to smoothing those edges a bit with an angle grinder? If I re-gasket, can I just pick up stove gasket locally as long as it's the right diameter? I've seen some distinctions being made between woven and braided -- but I've no clue what that's all about...

In the course of removing the top, I also noticed stove cement along the front edges of the side burn plates that form part of the firebox. These burn plates are held in position with the aid of the baffle plate that rests on top of them (the baffle has ears which fit into corresponding notches on the burn plates). Since the top baffle plate, these burn plates, and the inner bottom are all cast iron plates which can be removed through the open stove door without unbolting anything, I was puzzled to find stove cement being used. Have other Nordic owners encountered the same thing? Since those plates are not otherwise secured, it seems to me that the jolts and bumps of typical transportation would likely crack the cement joints, and that just doesn't seem to make good design sense. According to Jotul, the top baffle plate is designed for easy removal (a convenience feature to allow chimney sweepings to drop right into the firebox). Also, the UK version of the Nordic installation manual describes the process for removing/replacing the baffle, burn plates, and inner bottom -- and there's no mention of stove cement. The US documentation lacks even this information. So, I'm basically questioning whether I really need to worry about trying to cement those burn plates back into position.

Academic question: With the firebox plates removed, I also noticed a plate bolted over a small slot on the bottom of the stove. It is identifed as "valve/cover plate" on the parts list (#43). I have no idea what purpose this slot serves, but it's fully closed on my stove. Maybe it's there for use with their fresh air kit? Just seems awfully small. Also, I can't figure out how the fresh air kit could possibly work with this stove since the primary air control brings air in from the front of the stove, above the door.

If you want to see the exploded parts view but have navigation problems on Jotul's US site (I'm getting error messages), here's a link to Nordic docs on their UK site:

(broken link removed to http://jotul.com/uk/products/wood-stoves/Jotul-F-100#technical-area) (exploded view and parts list)

I'd welcome any advice. Thanks,

-bobo

 

[BrotherBart]

You are right. The side plates and baffle don't use furnace cement. The side plates are held in by the baffle and vis a versa. I haven't had the bottom plate out of my F100 in years, in fact haven't used the stove in years, But I determined back then that they bring in the baffle secondary combustion air and preheat it in the space under the floor of the firebox and it then is routed through the plate in the back of the firebox to the baffle.

 

[KingBobo]

You are right. The side plates and baffle don't use furnace cement. The side plates are held in by the baffle and vis a versa. I haven't had the bottom plate out of my F100 in years, in fact haven't used the stove in years, But I determined back then that they bring in the baffle secondary combustion air and preheat it in the space under the floor of the firebox and it then is routed through the plate in the back of the firebox to the baffle.

Thanks for confirming no stove cement on the side plates. And the info on how air circulates. Until I took it apart, I couldn't understand how air for the secondaries entered that manifold at the back of the stove. I also found my answer re: the little covered slot on the bottom of the stove in another thread -- something about it being an "ignition air" control in the multi-fuel version that they sell in Europe. Also, I found a convenient local source for the top plate gasket and have decided to just replace it.

 

[Andrewj]

I have this same stove. Now if we can learn how to best run it I'd be overjoyedI think we need a F 100 emotional support group too. Brother Bart if you have a 101 level primer on daily running this stove, I'd appreciate it! Unless it is simply chuck another chunk in ever 2 hours...

 

[BrotherBart]

That is about how ya do it. I used it in my office since I was there most of the time to feed it. Less than a cubic foot of firebox is never going to be a long burning stove. Firebox about the size of an Air Jordons shoebox.