I'm gonna try the Leyden out.

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Well, I let the stove run pretty hot all day yesterday. Last night I added a few pieces of hickory to top off the stove before bed at around 10, this morning the stove top was 475 and loaded with coals. That was about 10 hrs. It was in the upper 20's here last night and remember, this my ONLY heat source! Well, except for my other stove!::-) But, they weren't running.
 
I just thought I give a little update on the Leyden. It took a turn for the worse. After a few months of running it has been pretty unpredictable. Sometimes it works great, other times it kinda lays down on me.
First of all it always smokes out of the top when it's opened
On two occasions, I found the entire back of the stove glowing. Behind the heat shield on the outside of the stove.
One time, several hours into the burn I noticed the house smelled like smoke so I went to check out the stove. The secondary burn had stopped. I opened the air a little and it puffed bad! It blew the top open and filled the place with smoke. The air was not off in the first place.
My flue is 21' from the floor to the cap and the wood is averaging 17% MC.

I am currently running another Leyden that was a burn display from our store. It's always seemed to run a little out off control at the store. So I hooked it up here as a comparison to my Leyden. I'll update after I've had some more time to compare the two side by side.

I'm feeling like this rear combustion system is living up to the reputation of other neverburns. Unpredictable.
 
I'm feeling like this rear combustion system is living up to the reputation of other neverburns. Unpredictable.

That's a bummer! Gotta be tough after burning a BKK which are as predictable as it gets.
 
Thanks for the update webby3650. Keep us posted.
 
We've not had that experience.
I just thought I give a little update on the Leyden. It took a turn for the worse. After a few months of running it has been pretty unpredictable. Sometimes it works great, other times it kinda lays down on me.
First of all it always smokes out of the top when it's opened
On two occasions, I found the entire back of the stove glowing. Behind the heat shield on the outside of the stove.
One time, several hours into the burn I noticed the house smelled like smoke so I went to check out the stove. The secondary burn had stopped. I opened the air a little and it puffed bad! It blew the top open and filled the place with smoke. The air was not off in the first place.
My flue is 21' from the floor to the cap and the wood is averaging 17% MC.

I am currently running another Leyden that was a burn display from our store. It's always seemed to run a little out off control at the store. So I hooked it up here as a comparison to my Leyden. I'll update after I've had some more time to compare the two side by side.

I'm feeling like this rear combustion system is living up to the reputation of other neverburns. Unpredictable.

We've not had that experience. The only issues we've had was the door gasket not sealing well, and the combustor began coming apart...both items covered under warranty. As far as burning, no problems. I rarely shut the air down ALL the way, unless the stove is really HOT. Usually I have the knob just off the seat once it comes up to temp. I hope you figure it out! What kind of wood are you burning, and how old is it...just out of curiousity?
 
I am burning a mix, some hard some not. While testing the two stoves I have been using the same wood for each load, It all tests under 20% MC.
So far the best burn I have gotten from the Red Leyden is 5 hrs. I can get 10 from my brown one. The brown one is very sluggish most of the time, but is also very controllable. Once the red one gets going, there ain't no stopping it. It runs 725 with the air all the way off. All the gaskets are good, I also removed the all of the combustion package, checked it, gasketed and re-assembled with no positive results.

How can two identical stoves be so much different. I can stand in one spot and see both stoves. One barely burns, one runs away. ?
 
Well I decided to give up on the Leyden. Night before last, I had a bad run away fire. The entire back was glowing even though everything was shut down. It was very bad, everything around the stove was too hot. My thermometer reads 900 and it was pegged! I'm too scared of it to continue using it. My other leyden simply quit burning in the middle of the night, the secondary quit and the stove temp dropped like a fly. I woke up to a full, cold stove. It was around 4 outside. Not cool!

So, between the over-firing, then sluggishness and back puffing, I decided it's not safe. Either one of the Leydens I was running.

That being said, I brought home a Cape Cod to take it's place. I've got it up and running! It's very impressive so far. It burns very clean, I'm yet to see smoke even after a re-load.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeff_t
Nice.

Start a new thread and keep us up to speed. I like that stove. If I was starting over, it would at the top of the short list.
 
Nice.

Start a new thread and keep us up to speed. I like that stove. If I was starting over, it would at the top of the short list.

Last weekend I was over in Romeo by my parents where my closest Lopi Dealer is and I'm not gonna lie it took a lot for me not to stop in and check out it out. BUT I hate the way Lopi makes their bigger stoves rectangular instead of square. I want it to be a N/S loader and it's a deal breaker for me because of that.
 
Last weekend I was over in Romeo by my parents where my closest Lopi Dealer is and I'm not gonna lie it took a lot for me not to stop in and check out it out. BUT I hate the way Lopi makes their bigger stoves rectangular instead of square. I want it to be a N/S loader and it's a deal breaker for me because of that.
Ive had several of each, I don't really mind either way. You get used to it.
 
That stinks. Must be very frustrating. Our Leyden is performing wonderfully, keeping us nice and warm with outside temps in the single digits.
 
That stinks. Must be very frustrating. Our Leyden is performing wonderfully, keeping us nice and warm with outside temps in the single digits.
It does stink. There are lots of happy Leyden owners out there. I think some are great, others run like mine and still others don't know they are even having problems.
 
Ive had several of each, I don't really mind either way. You get used to it.

What are the inside dimensions of the firebox? The one thing that I feel Lopi deserves praise on is how well their convection designs work. My Endeavor pulled air across the bottom up the back and out the top. If that stove could've maintained an even temp it would've worked great. It appears the Cape using the same convection ideas which is appealing to me.
 
I didn't measure it, and I currently get close enough to it.::-) One thing that is a big plus to me is that the baffle is flat. So many other stoves have a tapered baffle, making it hard to get full use of the box.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.