Lopi Endeavor: Air control crazy loud. Fix?

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Glad to hear it all went well. My Endeavor had no springs in it either. I also used air to finish off the cleaning. Not sure how they let these things out to the public making that kind of noise, it was really loud.
 
Glad to hear it all went well. My Endeavor had no springs in it either. I also used air to finish off the cleaning. Not sure how they let these things out to the public making that kind of noise, it was really loud.

You know, I have to report back that unfortunately, a modest amount of the noise has returned… I knew I should have gone and bought a high presser air compressor to blow everything out. I only had canned air like one uses for computer stuff.

It was a bugger to take that thing apart so I'm not likely to do it again unless it becomes unbearable.
 
We have had our Lopi Endeavor for 4 years now. Thinking that I'm the only one bugged by the air valve noise until tonight when I went to look it up and found this thread. Thank you for all the info you guys have posted. Now for me...That's it! I'm drilling out my rivets and cleaning it out!

As far as hinge noise... I use vegetable oil because regular oil and silver grease stinks up the house when it burns off. I get about 3 burns out of it then I re coat. Is there a good heat proof grease that won't stink when it heats up?
 
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Is there a good heat proof grease that won't stink when it heats up?

What you need to use is graphite powder. You can get in in the lock and key department at hardware stores. Hit it with that and your problems should be over.
 
We have had our Lopi Endeavor for 4 years now. Thinking that I'm the only one bugged by the air valve noise until tonight when I went to look it up and found this thread. Thank you for all the info you guys have posted. Now for me...That's it! I'm drilling out my rivets and cleaning it out!

As far as hinge noise... I use vegetable oil because regular oil and silver grease stinks up the house when it burns off. I get about 3 burns out of it then I re coat. Is there a good heat proof grease that won't stink when it heats up?

Ok so I drilled out the rivets.
Cleaned the air valve.
A little vacuuming and a little compressed air.
Reassembled faceplate with sheet metal screws.
Now to sit back and enjoy quietness!
20 minutes.

All I can say is WOW! It really is whisper quiet now! Thanks again for all the info!

FYI: There are No springs and I bought this Lopi Endeavor new in 2010.
 
A little vacuuming and

Keep the vacuum cleaner away from the air inlet unless you're ready to disassemble again. On mine, the vacuum draws ash from the stove back onto those sliding plates and makes everything worse. I've used the puff-type graphite with some success but there is a liquid graphite lubricant/antisieze intended for engines that I used last time and it has held up much longer. I can't find the stuff but it was permatex brand. It's in the auto parts store with the thread lockers.

TE
 
Keep the vacuum cleaner away from the air inlet unless you're ready to disassemble again. On mine, the vacuum draws ash from the stove back onto those sliding plates and makes everything worse. I've used the puff-type graphite with some success but there is a liquid graphite lubricant/antisieze intended for engines that I used last time and it has held up much longer. I can't find the stuff but it was permatex brand. It's in the auto parts store with the thread lockers.

TE
Strange, the liquid type usually attracts dirt and debris much more than the powder. Glad it worked for you, but this is not a typical result. The powder usually does the trick!
 
The liquid is just a solvent that dries to leave the graphite behind, so it's easier (but much, much messier) to apply.

TE
 
I realize this is an old thread, but perhaps I can clear up a few things. I had the same issue as many others with a noisy damper control. I spoke to my dealer about it and he told me to drill out the three rivets, two in front and one on the bottom, which I did. Then:

1 - I pulled out the damper assembly and found some splatter from the welding was the culprit. I then took a piece of hard wood, about 1 1/2 inches wide and used that to scrape all the splatter.

2 - I wrapped some paper towels around the end of the stick and swept out the splatter and dust.

3 - I then dampened the paper towels and cleaned the damper area to get out the remaining particles.

4 - I then took the damper assembly out to my shop and de-burred any rough edges and cleaned it.

5 - I applied a liberal amount of Copper Anti-Seize Lubricant (from NAPA), it's good to 1500 degrees F.

6 - Put everything back together and secured the damper assembly in place with some self drilling lag screws and painted the heads with a Sharpie.

Everything is now happy and I don't wake my wife up when I get up early and light the stove. I hope this answers any remaining questions out there on the issue.
 
Please do come back and update us after you've burned for a while with the anti seize in there. Mine is also very rough, lots of weld spatter.
 
I actually did this at least two years ago and the damper is still working fine.

I also used it in the on the door hinges and the door latch. I'm going to redo the door today, it's starting to squeak a bit. I also modified the door latch so I could latch it open about half an inch when I first light the stove so I wouldn't have to be there to monitor the fire. Once the fire is going good I close the Bypass and latch the door closed.
 
Just an update on my upthread recommendation of Permatex lubricant. It worked great for a few months, but at some point I must have exceeded its operating temperature, and it turned into sticky crud on the sliding plates. It may have been caused by an near-overfire situation, but I won't be using any more of that. It wasn't high a temperature product, but I didn't expect the air intake area would get very hot.
On the upside, by the time I had scrubbed the plates clean with IPA, acetone and 220 grit sandpaper, they were as smooth as silk again anyway.

TE
 
Graphite powder is a safer lubricant to use there.
 
Graphite is pure carbon. It is certainly fine in a wood stove but what about when it burns off? I'm sure it would be great outside the firebox though.
 
This is in the intake which is a cooler location. I used it in the Castine's doghouse to lubricate the slider valve and it worked well.
 
This is in the intake which is a cooler location. I used it in the Castine's doghouse to lubricate the slider valve and it worked well.

That's why I thought it'd be perfect for mine too, but there's obviously some other ingredients in there that aren't simply carbon.

TE
 
I meant that I used graphite. I think that would be fine for your application as well. No harm trying. It won't gunk up anything and has an ignition temp of 1346 deg F. I strongly doubt the intake manifold will get anywhere close to that.
 
What brand/type of graphite lubricant did you use, because it's clear from my experience that some products described as graphite lubricant contain something that turns to gunk far below 1346.

TE
 
Not sure the brand. It's just normal door key lube, dry graphite powder, no additives. Something like this.

graphite.jpg
 
Better check the label. Door key lube contains graphite but it is not pure graphite. Pure graphite contains only one thing, carbon crystals. Because of the way pure carbon crystallizes it produces single molecule thick layers that easily slide over each other. That means if you get a layer of more than one molecule it will be very slippery but will not trap any dirt or other contaminants. Lots of other stuff is added to lock lubricant in the hopes of matching whatever need exists at the time. An example is chemicals to melt ice in a frozen lock. No place on that lock lube label does it say it only contains graphite.
 
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MSDS lists one material only - graphite. Good lock lube has no other ingredients, especially not for car locks. Anything else may attract dust which will gum up the lock.
 
Please forgive me but I don't see the problem of a little bit of squeaky during air control adjustment
 
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