How to attach stove pipe to an old Lopi insert if there is no collar?

I have a Lopi Model X insert that has a flat top around the exhaust opening. There is no collar sticking up in which to attach a pipe. This stove has a secondary burn tube and seems to be made almost like the new Lopi model, except for the flat top. I'm fairly certain this was made in the late 80's into the early 90's given the secondary burn tube. But, I think it was made when people just set inserts into their fireplace without worrying about connecting it to anything.

My thought is to have someone weld a ring around the top but I'm told that you can't weld onto cast iron. Is that true? I'm not certain whether the stove is cast-iron or just steel.

Another issue is that damper you see in the photo. It protrudes into the exhaust opening on-top. My thought is to have a ring welded onto the top that has a little notch in it to accommodate that damper mechanism.

Any thoughts are appreciated. It's a well made insert and I'm looking forward to making it like new again.

That damper really throws a kink in things, if it was me I would put a stainless rectangle to round insert boot on it and cut a hole for the damper rod to pass through.

Thanks for the idea Rick. I wasn't expecting to find a Lopi part that would work but rather just weld on a new fabricated piece. It shouldn't be too difficult finding a ring of the right size and cutting out a notch for that damper rod. But, I'm wondering if there is a better idea I'm not thinking of.

I did find a similar post but in case it's not the one you're referring to, I'll look further on the archives. The one I remember was someone who was interested in buying one of these but decided not to because of this same issue.

Mellow, That rectangular to round attachment looks interesting. That one has a 20 degree angle to it but I'll bet I could find, or make, something similar that would work. Thanks for the idea.

3 steel L brackets
screw to stove top, and screw to pipe

That sounds like the easiest thing to do but I don't think it would create much of a seal around the pipe where it connects to the stove.

depends on the connector, it should seat just fine into the stove
that's how i've done it for many years w/o troubles
if its sloppy, milpack it up

I was envisioning your idea was to just attach a stove pipe to an L bracket and the L bracket to the stove top. But, there would obviously be a gap as the pipe wouldn't fit tight into the stove. You mention using a "connector" in your last posting. What did you have in-mind as to the actual connection between the stove pipe and the stove?

I looked up "milpack" but couldn't find anything. Is it some type of sealant?

just a basic flex connector, shouldn't be too sloppy of a fit
http://www.igscorp.com/SealantDisplay.cfm?SealantID=7
sorry my spelling was off...

Hi, I know this might be a little late but i just saw this post. I have the Lopi X and did what you are asking. When I installed the stove back in the mid 80's I just shoved the stove into the fireplace and started burning, worked great until last year when I noticed cracks in the Masonry chimney clay tiles. Not wanting to rebuild the Chimney I installed a 6" stainless steel liner. I had my son make the adapter pieces shown in the photos. He made the bottom rings out of 1/4" steel.the top piece is 14 gauge and the 6" flue slides into it.

It's been about a year and the stove works great. It also uses less wood.
Hope this helps.

Bob

Bob, Thanks so much for replying to this. Your timing is perfect!! I'm the original poster and I have not yet done this repair but was about to start this week as its getting colder here in the Seattle area.

I'm not as lucky as you to have a son who knows how to weld but maybe I could find someone on Craigslist who could do what your son did. If your son is interested, maybe I could hire him to make another one for me? If so, send me a personal reply----I think you do that by clicking on my name, choose the Information tab and then "Start a Conversation".

I'm new to wood stoves as I moved to Seattle from Los Angeles where I had never seen a wood stove before. So, fixing up this one and retrofitting the attachment is a bit challenging.

I recently finished repainting the stove and it looks beautiful. I tried to cure the paint by having some fires outside but I couldn't close the door without the fire immediately going out. I called Lopi and they said I needed to hook it to at least 10 feet of stove pipe to get it to draft enough to close the door (and not have the fire go out). So, I'm going to bring it inside and hook it up and your solution looks perfect.

Robertk, I am building one of these now as well, quick question for you.

I have been trying to find out how to get to a 6 inch tube at the top of mine. I have been looking at various pipes.

It looks like that top part of yours (the 6" collar") is a piece of sheet metal that your son has welded into a circle, is that correct ? meaning, he did not use a pipe right ?

My son is a sheet metal worker and is allowed to use his bosses shop. The top piece is 14 gauge steel that he ran thru a roller and then welded it so it would accept the 6" stainless flue pipe. The bottom is 1/4" steel and he welded tabs to the bottom of it and then drilled and tapped the top of the insert and screwed the adapter on.
I helped him cut, prep and weld the pieces, it took about 2 hours in the shop. When we got the piece home it took the rest of the day to install the flue, remove the damper in the fireplace and chip out some brick.
Some people told me that I shouldn't neck it down to 6" but if seems to draft well. I really had no choice since my masonry flue is 7"X12". I'm happy with it.



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This is the same stove as in the first posting in this thread (April 16, 2012). Brasso worked well on the door. A previous owner had left the poor stove outside in rainy Seattle for a year so I had to cut the frozen rusted handle off and buy a new Lopi handle. The handle, new gaskets, rust remover and sandpaper, Stove Bright Metallic Black paint and new firebricks were the only things I had to buy.

Now I just have to get that collar made. Bob---did your son use a pre-fabricated 1/4" thick round ring for the bottom part or did he roll that too from a flat piece? It looks like your bottom ring is about 9" or 10" in diameter. I'm thinking it would be easier if I could find pre-fab parts and then just hire a welder to put them together.

Bob, what did you use to seal the adapter to the stove top (sealant, gasket or other)?

Your son did a great job.

It was such a tight fit I didn't use anything. The stove drafts well and I get very little creosote buildup. It should be sealed though.

Yes he did, I appriciate his help. He's fast and very accurate and..... a pleasure to work with

Thanks for the clarification RobertK, that is great work you and your son did. I am basically doing the exact thing except mine will be square at the bottom.

I do not have access to a roller to make one like that but today I found a solution online, I found a metal mart that sells all types of pipe by the inch, and they have one that should work perfect.

You did a great job, that stove looks brand new. Hard to belive its the same stove.I going to try the Brasso.

Did you have any broken parts inside the stove? I over fired mine so many times I melted the air tube above the door, cracked one of the air supply tubes at the top of the stove and burnt away most of the angles supporting the fire bricks at the top.

The bottom collar was rolled from flat plate steel. My son figured the circumfrence from the 10 inch diameter, cut it to length then ran it through the roller. He rolled it until the two ends touched and welded it together. the flat ring that sits on top is also 1/4 inch steel. He cut that on a CNC plasma cutter then welded the two pieces together.
the right tools do make the job a lot easier. You might have luck finding a 10 steel tube cut off at a steel fabricator's shop.

Yes, it came out nicely. Mine was ok inside. Nothing broken luckily. Its only abuse by the previous owner was in leaving it outside for a year. That created a lot of rust inside and outside.

I had an idea to buy a 10" diameter used cast iron pot and cut out the bottom circle by drilling a bunch of small holes (leaving maybe an inch all around) and then using a diamond blade saw to remove it. That would give me the lower piece of what you have. I could then find someone to weld on a length of stove pipe and those screw tabs. Would not be as nice as what you have but I don't have access to someone to fabricate it for me. I sent your photo to the local sheet metal shop asking for a quote on making what your son did. I'll bet it will be very expensive though. I suppose it could all be made out of 16 gauge instead of the 1/4" which would make it less expensive. Too bad Lopi doesn't make one of these for their older stoves.

What is a "10 steel tube cut off"? Do you mean a 10 inch diameter steel tube? That sounds like it would work but I didn't know they made tubes that wide.

Newer stoves just have a round collar where the stove pipe attaches so if I could find an 8" round ring of the appropriate inner-diameter, a few inches tall, that might work itself and just have that welded directly to the stove. I'm not familiar with what types of metals would be ok in such a hot environment.

The cast iron could work but you probably won't have much luck welding it.

Yes ,10 inch diameter steel tube. The cut off is whats left over after the fabricator cuts his piece out of the length of tube steel. I have a steel supply house near me that puts all the cut offs for sale. It great when you only need small pieces otherwise you have to buy the whole 22 foot of steel tube

Can someone help me please? My question involves new and old stoves so I'm putting the posting on this section of the forum hoping someone who has a modern insert can do a measurement for me.

On a modern insert, there is a round raised collar that accepts the stove pipe. I have an older insert (Lopi Model X) without one of those round raised collars so I'm hoping to buy a short piece of standard 8" wide Schedule 10 Stainless Steel 316L pipe which is exactly 8.329" (inner diameter), 8.625" (outer diameter) and weld that onto the top of my older insert. I'm concerned that the inner diameter of this standard pipe size might be too big for standard 8" stove pipe.

Will 8.329" (inner diameter) be correct for accepting 8" stove pipe? What exactly are the inner and outer dimensions of an 8" collar on a newer stove?

Here is a picture of a modern stove and a photo of my insert. I'll have to cut a groove out of whatever I weld on for the damper rod.





Thanks very much for any assistance you can provide.

I had the same problem on an older stove. I just had a guy weld a collar on it for me.