First Fire and some Problems

I've got an endeavor but it's not an insert.
The "foggy" areas of the glass I wouldn't worry about. The air wash on mine does a really good job in the center of the door but the outer edges get a little brown especially if you choke a fire down a little too far. Get some REALLY dry wood and get the temps up a ways and most of it will go away.

That is my only complaint with Lopi at all really. I put a Revere in my mothers house quite some time ago and she was having the same issues. When it comes right down to it, I would suggest just leaving the bypass damper shut at all times. I'm not sure if it's improved or not but back in the day it was a terrible design with basically a metal fork trying to scrape a metal plate across some bricks. They also made it so you had to notch the appliance adaptor to fit around said bypass damper. As long as it is installed correctly, your chimney system is clean (lined from top to bottom) and you have good dry kindling/wood you should have no issues starting a fire in it with the bypass shut at all times, which is really imo it's only purpose. You'll get used to burning it in such a way that the airwash works. My Quad always gets a little hazy/black when the door first gets shut and sometimes for a few minutes after a re-load with long logs real close to the glass. It always burns off with an established fire.

To test your gasket, put a dollar bill between the stove body and the door in the offending area and shut the door. If you can pull it out the gasket needs to be replaced. Factory gasket jobs sometimes just need to be replaced because the stove has sat with the door shut for so long (unless the door is ordered separate in it's own box of course) that it compresses to an unusable state. I see it with all the Quad Millenium stoves more than I've ever seen it because they come with a door from the factory no matter what.

RockyMtnHigh said:

I would suggest just leaving the bypass damper shut at all times. I'm not sure if it's improved or not but back in the day it was a terrible design with basically a metal fork trying to scrape a metal plate across some bricks. They also made it so you had to notch the appliance adaptor to fit around said bypass damper. As long as it is installed correctly, your chimney system is clean (lined from top to bottom) and you have good dry kindling/wood you should have no issues starting a fire in it with the bypass shut at all times,

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I think the bypass is a big asset! Unless you have a very tall chimney, the bypass will need opened each time the door is opened. Unless you like smoke the smell of smoke in the house.

You have to notch the elbow or appliance adapter to fit around the bypass rod, it sounds like it either didn't get notched or the liner got turned so that the notch isn't in the right place. Their bypass is a very nice design, the "loose" forks are a good design and very, very rarely need any work at all! This is due to the fact that it is loose, therefore it has plenty of tolerance, which is key in this environment!

Maybe Lopis are different but the first fires should be rather small to cure the paint. You don't want to close the air completely and heat the entire house with it.

Regarding your 2. point: The air entry at the bottom of the firebox is designed that way. The stove creates two "hot zones"; one at the bottom and one at the top below the baffle. The lower zone will heat up the wood above it which will then gas out its burnable compounds. Those rise to the upper hot zone where they will mix with the oxygen and burn -> your secondaries. That is the way you get the highly efficient burn.

webby3650 said:

I think the bypass is a big asset! Unless you have a very tall chimney, the bypass will need opened each time the door is opened. Unless you like smoke the smell of smoke in the house.

You have to notch the elbow or appliance adapter to fit around the bypass rod, it sounds like it either didn't get notched or the liner got turned so that the notch isn't in the right place. Their bypass is a very nice design, the "loose" forks are a good design and very, very rarely need any work at all! This is due to the fact that it is loose, therefore it has plenty of tolerance, which is key in this environment!

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I guess each situation has it's downfalls then. We never had problems with smoke spilling into the house but we do have a great draft (19' of liner) and I keep the chimney cleaner than I keep my bathroom lol. Even with the notch ours never liked sliding in and out very easily so we just leave it.

RockyMtnHigh said:

Even with the notch ours never liked sliding in and out very easily so we just leave it.

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That's strange. The only time I've seen the bypass have issues is when there is no cap or with a slam and jam.

We get the black by the door too. We are burning dry wood (MM reads 9-14%) and not smoldering the fire and still, by the handle gets black-and a little bit on the opposite corner too. Very annoying. Happened to see A Christmas Card (the movie) yesterday and saw the Liberty they have in the movie has the same problem!

We've never missed having the bypass. I guess it might help a little when we have the ceiling fans running, they blow a little smoke in by disturbing the flow in the stove. Otherwise, air control all the way open then open the door SLOWLY, and no smoke issues.

I get the gray foggy areas in the same spots with my liberty just after a new load of wood but it burns off after an hour or so. I have thought about packing ashes around the air at the bottom of the door to see if that would improve the airwash but never have gotten around to it yet I love ordered the etched glass last week and it came in yesterday I just have to go get it and install it.

I wish ours would burn off. But no such luck, even when it's pushing 750 top temps. Had a nearly overfire the other night and still had the black spots (it pegged the thermo for a fe minutes then settled back down with the air closed all the way, to about 700).

woodsman416,
I have the same problem. Had a Lopi Republic 1750i installed by professional. When the stove is hot the bypass damper sticks.
The installer came back out and "notched" the pipe, and replaced the damper with a new fork & rod.... I believe.
However, it still sticks. When the fire is started everthing goes fine, but as the temp. increased the damper sticks at about 2/3 of the way in.
I can either wait for the stove to cool a bit, and get it to come out with a Thud, or pull it about 1/3 out, slowly open the door letting the smoke draft well, and then quickly add another piece of wood. It's pretty annoying considering I paid big money to have it proffesionally installed.
After 3 different attempts to repair, the installer finally came back out when the fire was hot to visually inspect the EXACT problem. Up to this point it was just what I told him was going on.
What we now are going to try and do is get a long 10" dill bit to pilot out the Damper Rod guide hole ( there are 2 by the way, 1 on the stove, and 1 on the Surround Trim I believe). What I think it happening is as the temp. increases the steel flexes and since the guide rod has to go through 2 holes, it doesn't line up once hot. Once it's cool it flexes back and is smooth.
I think if we enlarge the guide rod holes it will allow the rod to flex, but won't impede the rods ability to go in and out of both holes.
Seems like an issue with Travis at the factory. The installer has been very helpful, but also is frustrated because he has litterally installed hundreds of these stoves, but has never seen the problem. Stove was installed in March 2013, but only used a couple of times. I did a very good job at building a small fire, then medium, then larger for over a 2 week period to let the stove "break in" so to speak. So I don't think that was an issue with maybe a first fire kinda thing.
I am not a big fan of drilling out the guide rod holes, but if it works... then so be it.
I'll let everyone know how it goes.