Can someone help me identify the model # of a LOPI stove I looked at yesterday? Itl ooked to be black ast iron with two doors that opened from the center of the stove with an interlocking handle mechanism. Lopi was branded in large letters under the doors. There also was an outdoor scene etched in the glass..I could not get the model number off the stove since it was in a garage flush against the wall. Anything else you could tell me about the stove would be greatle appreciated. Thanks!
LOPI stove ID help
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Not likely it's a cast iron stove. More likely it's a welded steel plate stove. Doors on the front might have cast iron frames. Is it a step-top type stove? Can you post a pic of it? Does it look anything like the old Lopi stove in the pic I've attached? We need more info...especially a picture! Rick
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It is a step top stove and it looks very similar to what you have posted except it does not have the gold trim. I will work on posting a pic, but it might take a few days...I bought it from the guy at a bargain...I wasn't anticipating him having a Lopi for sale...I did not have a trailer to haul it so I had to leave it at his residence. What year is your Liberty? THe ones I see pictured in the LOPI brochure only have the single handle door. Thanks for the help!
The trim is just that..."trim". Same stove could come in a different color, and with with different trim. Whether or not you got a "bargain" remains to be seen. Get us some pics here, and we'll try to help you figure out what you've gotten yourself into. Be careful...it's real heavy! 
Rick
RickThanks..I'll work on getting the pic out...I am new to wood stoves so any help in the future is appreciated!
domino2332 said:
The old Lopi stove in the pic I posted is not a Lopi Liberty, it's a 30+ year old Lopi M530 that was in our house when we bought it. Undoubtedly the ancestor of the Liberty, but not at all the same stove. The old M530 was a pre-EPA wood-eating smoke dragon with an 8" flue. Our Liberty (ca. 2007) is a modern, efficient, EPA approved appliance, with which we are very pleased. You're very perceptive, the Liberty has but one door. Pic attached. Rick
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The old double-door Lopi that I posted the first pic of and identified as an M-530 is actually an M-520. If it turns out that the stove you're looking at is that model and you decide to take it home and you want a copy of the original owners' manual, lemme know. Don't have the stove anymore, but today I came across the book for it. It's pre-EPA, 8" flue, but it actually does have a baffle and secondary air/combustion. Sort of an "evolutionary" stove. I burned this one for a few months, and it flat put out some heat. Rick
crazy_dan said:
That old Lopi was something like a "transition" stove, for want of a better term. It was in our home when we bought it, but we wanted a new stove in a different location. The old M-520 had both primary and secondary air controls, manually adjustable. It had a baffle and secondary combustion. It had airwash. It was UL tested/listed, but it was pre-EPA. It had about a 2.8 cubic foot firebox. It had an 8" flue collar. I suppose for its time, it had the potential to be a pretty clean-burning and efficient beast, if properly operated. Yes, the windows stayed as clean as does the window on my new Liberty. When we were ripping things out for a home remodel, I gave the old stove to one of my trusted firewood suppliers, who's also a scrap metal dealer...in Oregon it would be illegal for me to sell it for re-use. My bet would be that it's burning in his house right now. He owes me some wood for that, and other stuff I gave him, which I expect to see in the spring to process for future years' burning. It's a pretty cool old stove, actually. Rick
EDIT: What you see that looks like dirt or fog in the window of the pic of the old Lopi is actually a sand-blasted wildlife scene that was etched into the window material as part of the original stove...not a dirty window.
BJ64
Minister of Fire
crazy_dan said:
Did I see some custom fab connection pipe on that old Lopi of Rick's? I may be wrong but it looked like that pipe was wielded at the angle. If so that was quite the install for it's time.
The etched scene on the windows of that old Lopi was a factory option. You can still order a Lopi stove with decorative scenes like that. That pic was taken when I came out to close escrow, the house was empty and thoroughly cleaned. After we moved here, I burned that stove a bunch until the new Liberty was installed on the other side of the room. That was one good old stove. Yeah, Bobby, that was 8" steel well casing all welded together. It took three of us to lift that pipe up & out of the flue collar. Rick
madrone
Minister of Fire
My '99 Endeavor has the exact same etching. Ducks in flight over a moonlit swamp. It's actually a little weird. I've considered replacing it with my own etched design. Maybe a volcano, or a little pitchfork wielding devil.
BJ64
Minister of Fire
fossil said:
I think that scene would better fit on one of those Harmon stoves with the grill basket in the top.
RickRick...Thanks for the offer on the manual. I am planning to pick up the stove this week...I'll check out the model number and if it is the M-520 I will take you up on the offer. BTW...Do you know if the M-520 is the same as the 520/96 model?
Sorry, no, I don't know. All I know is what I see from the manual I have, and that is that the M-380 was the "poor man's" M-520. Same basic box, but without the M-520's secondary burn capability, apparently. What you want to see are two loading doors, two primary air controls just beneath the doors, and a single secondary air control on the right side above the doors. Primary air comes through two slots beneath the doors, secondary air comes through a series of holes arrayed horizontally above the doors. What the difference between a 520 and a 520/96 might be, I've no idea. Anyway, this little book is yours if you want it and it would be of use to you, lemme know. Rick
Quickest way is to contact Travis Customer Service . The stove should have the safety tag on the back with the Model Name and Serial number.
From the looks it is a 520 from the 80's. Double Doors, Air Slide controls above and under the door.
Contact them at 425 609-2500 and ask for Customer Service.
Gary
From the looks it is a 520 from the 80's. Double Doors, Air Slide controls above and under the door.
Contact them at 425 609-2500 and ask for Customer Service.
Gary
This thread may have become a bit confusing without a real careful re-read. We don't yet have a pic of the stove in question that the OP is looking at. The only two pics in this thread are of my old M-520 and my new Liberty. Still waiting for a pic of the OP's stove. RIck
Will Do...Hoping to get a pic posted today or tomorrow. I still need to pick the stove up from the seller, but I appreciate all the insight (and drama created).
gawebster said:
Well, I just picked up the stove...still working on the pictures, but it is a LOPI Model 520 and looks like it was made in 1984. Now I just need to determine if this will actually work for me. It has the clearance requirements on the back which may give me some difficulties for space given the size. A couple other questions for the group...I have a house ~ 1500sq ft single story ranch with an open concept...I am trying to determine if this is too much stove for me and if I would be better off with something else...I am trying to stay low budget by getting something used if possible...I heard this being called a "smoke dragon" and that they chew through the wood, but then I also hear that this may be one of the better manufactureres and stoves of that time and its efficiencies were pretty good...Any comments?
Another interesting nuance of my stove is that, unlike the picture on the M-520 manual...My stove does not have a secondary draft controls or the holes that run lateral to the secondary draft control. My stove also does not seem to have a masonry baffle...Can that be right? I sent this info to Travis customer service who has been very helpful so far.
If it has no masonry (firebrick) baffle assembly in the top of the firebox, and it has no secondary air controls, it sounds more like an M-380 than an M-520. Does it have the convection chamber...like a double box where air enters beneath the firebox, travels under then up behind, and comes out from slots just beneath the upper surface of the step-top? Rick
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