All last winter I struggled with the gaskets on my stove and had to replace them 2 times ! After a long trial and error I finally discovered from the factory rep that it was bad gasket cement and that an entire batch of stoves had gone out that way. I used rutland adhesive glue and walla no more issues at all. The stove runs very very well this year and I can see the air is instant in response to where I set it. This year I am using Raybonz method which is similar to how I ran the old smoke dragons we had. Put a 1/8 super cedar on bottom a little kindling some wood light and shut the door ! Within 15 minutes it's going and I can forget about it. If your having any issues with your stove burning correctly and having random hotter moments then its most likely your gaskets. This may also apply to other stoves however the rep did not tell me that at the time. Hope this helps someone out. Pete
I'm surprised they didn't issue a recall kind of notice to the owners of the stove. You would think that would be a really big deal having bad gasket problems. Especially, on a higher end stove I would think they would make good on it.
There was a notice sent to the stove dealers and they where supposed to fix it however mine did not receive any notice. I believe the dealer for the simple fact that they went way way above and beyond to figure out the issue so far in fact that they bugged Jotul so much they sent the regional manager to my house to figure out the problem. He was a very nice gentleman and I can honestly say Jotul had very good customer service response to us. They even offered a winter grill attachment as an apology and mailed us a full refund for the service call. We are happy and satisfied customers after all the great support and response.
Pete, that is good to hear. I know they are a great stove. In fact, I had looked at the Rangeley. Beautiful stove, but the price and clearances led me to the Endeavor. It is great when a dealer and manufacturer stand behind the product. Stove shops come and go. Ours went out shortly after we got our stove. The other dealer is about 20 miles away. He is supposed to honor the warranty. Lopi uses their dealer network for anything like warranty service or parts. That is one thing that annoys me. They do not want to deal with the customer directly. I guess that's why Woodstock stoves are so loved. The stove is great, and the customer can always call for assistance. Glad you got the issue resolved, and that Jotul stood behind the stove.
Can anyone tell me why the Jotul Rangeley gets creosote looking in the ash pan area and door, especially the inside handle? My dealer thinks it s normal because it gets cold on the bottom of stove. I cannot find any leaks on the ash pan door with smoke pellet or smoke test outside or light test or dollar bill test.
My first question would be how dry is your firewood? I think the dealer is possibly on to something although the stove is so hot that it should burn off the creosote in the box before it went out the door. I’d take a look at the inside of your chimney that would be a good indicator of what’s going on. If it’s built up with creosote then the wood is probably still a somewhat wet. We don’t have any creosote coming out the ash door although I think we did at first till I got the air controls figured out properly. We dry around 3 years split and stacked and it makes a tremendous difference in heat output and clean burning. I’d say it’s been at least 3 years since we have needed to clean the chimney. We do clean it but I got about 1/4 cup of creosote out of it last time after a full winter and it was spotless inside.
Dealer said chimney ok. Wood is not 2 years, but meter says under 20 and usually 16 percent and less...clanks pretty well. I bought it from a dealer that said kiln dry in March 2020. I have been burning a lot and never adjust the air inlet more than half way. I usually get it up to 450 500 on stove top and then turn down half way. And this is how i leave it when i go to bed and wake up next day...let coals burn out and start a fire around 3-5 pm again. I burn with no smoke out chimney (except start up) reload or or dirty glass. I tried turning down sooner and some loads of of kiln dry and it still get it. I tried leaving ash in pan vs empty ever day. I guess time will tell. Where do you leave the stove top temp gauge? I think manual says corner of griddle. I found the right side of stove, the back right corner t(off the griddle) to be hotter than the left by 80 degrees or so . The stove vent output area is the definitely the hottest. Griddle take time to heat up. When at full burn my draft was is usually .12 and even tried a damper to adjust to .08 but still get creosote on ash pan door area.
I’ll get a picture of my setup tonight for you. We use a flu prob for the most part and I have two stove top thermostats as well.
