This may be of help to all woodstove owners out there, but particularly Jotul owners. When I bought my new Oslo F500 six years ago, I foolishly opted for the enamel finish in dark green, because it looked very attractive. I am now paying the price for my folly. The finish on the top is flaking off. Contrary to what the Jotul rep has to say, I have never spilled anything on the surface that has been allowed to boil, and all that Jotul, through the dealer (Friendly Fires, Kingston, Ontario) is prepared to offer me is a bottle of touch-up paint, at my expense. A very poor response and a band-aid fix. Further, that colour finish is no longer an option, so I cannot replace the entire top even if I wanted to. However, I have come up with a good solution, and which also has become a blessing in disguise. When I removed the top, (very simple, three small bolts, two front one rear), I discovered that the insulating blanket over the baffle was covered in almost two inches of ash, severely affecting the ability of the stove to draft. I am a heavy burner; continuous from late September through to May, six to seven cords. A few minutes with the shop-vac cleared all the ash out. A local metal fabrication plant is going to sandblast off the top's enamel finish and powder coat it. A far tougher, industrial finish, much better than Jotul's brittle enamel. A lesson well learnt is that maybe I should remove the top every three years and clear out the ash, replacing the gaskets at the same time.
