Jotul 507 draft issues

I think you need to make it taller to pull a little better too. As you mentioned the Blaze King pulls ok but it's taller. Also how cold was it the day you got smoked?

Its been 40 to 45 degrees when trying to get the stove lit. Today after preheating with the hair dryer, and then quickly lighting paper balls I was able to establish a draft and fire! Been burning wood for a few hours now - probably not going to throw in any coal today...maybe I will though. Just don't want to leave it while theres coal in there the first time.

I agree in that I think I need to extend the SS higher, maybe another three feet will give me some good results.

Was the Blaze King burning while you were trying to get the draft started? You mentioned a strong downdraft. Sounds like you got the draft reversed. My brick chimney that I use for my coal boiler has a downdraft that I need to reverse. I use what I call fire balls to get it done. I roll up a dozen or son pieces of newspaper into individual loose balls. One by one I put them in the vent pipe and light them. (I have a cleanout T) They burn hot and fast and it gets the draft reversed before I light the stoker. t

The Blake King was running - but I've got an outside intake on it so I figured that wouldn't affect it so much...BUT-

This morning I let both stoves go cold, and then tried to fire the Jotul again, with no hair dryer trick (just to see). Bam, brown paper fired right up as if there was no draft issues ever! Sam temps as it was yesterday, in fact maybe a little warmer today.

Anyways, She's up and running and I can definitely say I'm very impressed with the heat output. I think I'll be able to shut down the Blaze King for a good month now.

AKShadow wrote:Its been 40 to 45 degrees when trying to get the stove lit. Today after preheating with the hair dryer, and then quickly lighting paper balls I was able to establish a draft and fire! Been burning wood for a few hours now - probably not going to throw in any coal today...maybe I will though. Just don't want to leave it while theres coal in there the first time.

I agree in that I think I need to extend the SS higher, maybe another three feet will give me some good results.

I agree, I would go higher with the stack to be sure you have proper draft even in mild conditions.

Is it possible that the wind direction was the culprit in your initial trial to get a draft going?

Its possible, when we do have wind (very few times do we have wind), its pretty unpredictable. Could be!

New thread to follow on driving lessons...