Lopi agp questions.......

[Rmxtgh]

1. I just bought a lopi agp freestanding stove and so far I'm pretty disappointed....I had a very old quadrafire classic bay stove that gave up the ghost.....I went with the lopi because I liked the look of it.....the promised higher effiency lower fuel use .....and also the larger hopper.....let's start with the hopper.....it is claimed to be an 80# hopper....yet I cannot fit 2 bags 40# of pellets in the hopper....it only has enough room for about 1 1/2 bags......how exactly does that equate to an 80# hopper? It was touted as being self cleaning....yet requires weekly maintenance......which basically means cleaning it......which I don't mind doing.....but when it is advertised as self cleaning .........well let's just say maintence should not be a weekly requirement for something that is self cleaning......and lastly for now.....my quadrafire ran off a thermostat......so far I have not purchased the thermostat yet for my lopi.....but the quad would shut down and retire with no issues......my new lopi will fire just fine after I clean it...oh sorry...I meant after I perform the weekly maintence.....but if it runs out of pellets and I reload the hopper it does not usually fire the first time......I have to hit the stop button after it misfires and usually after hitting start for the second time it ignites.......this does not seem reliable and not what I expected from a brand new efficient and not cheap stove........I use hamers hot ones pellets and I do have s metal liner in my chimney......I don't think they installed a fresh air intake......any thoughts.......?

 

[Ctwilly49]

Rmxtgf...doesn't sound like your off to a good start,(nonstart?) I have same Stove I purchased used in 2013. Everything you said is true, false advertising regarding Hopper Cap, and self cleaning? I don't believe there is a Pellet Stove that cleans itself. Self clean means you clean it yourself! How often depends on Pellet quality and burn efficiency. I do think they are a relatively easy Stove to clean. Since your Stove is new I would take full advantage of your Warranty and have a Tech do all work till it's right and you are satisfied! Any Murphey's Law BS will be on them! The AGP is a solid Stove and when it's running right it's very quiet and throws the Heat. I don't have OAK set up, but tweaking Air adjustment Rod has got mine running perfect w Okies I am burning this year. There have been other problems, but I like to tinker and have fixed all w no cost to me. I will repost some things you may want to look for in the future and any fixes I can help with...

 

[haff99]

I don't think i can offer much help. I have the AGP insert. My hopper on the insert nearly holds 2 bags(the insert hopper is adjustable). It says 70 lbs and I think that is pretty accurate. As for maintenance short of cleaning the burn pot and emptying the ash out ever few days, I don't have any issues. AFter about a ton I remove the baffles and do a deeper cleaning, but that only take a few minutes as well. I never had a misfire. This insert starts up faster then any stove I ever had.

The only 2 issues I have with the stove are the baffles are pain to put back in. I learned some tricks so it only takes a few minutes as opposed to the hour the first time I removed them. The second bigger issue, the ashes build up around the burn platform. With the sloped burn platform, the ash starts to from a mound around the platform and doesn't get blown off evenly around the ash pan. So after about 24 hours, I have to open the door and brush the ash mound away. Takes about 20 seconds. I think some people have noted their stove will shut down, and I suspect the ash build up prevents the ash from being pushed off the platform. That probably clogs all the holes on the platform or prevents the pellets from being pushed out.

I have no idea why you would have misfire after the hopper is empty and you refill, because the stove only drops a few pellets into the auger at a time. It isn't always primed. So I don't know what would be going on there.

 

[SESZOO]

I run a Lopi stove and have liked it so far ,even though doesn't live up to it's billing ,In the 2 yrs I've been using it I haven't had any problems at all , As for cleaning I have to light clean it every 3 days or it fills the burn pot and the ash bucket is about 3/4 filled .About 15 mins. total, Once a month a thourgh cleaning with the panels off and the whole bit about 2 hrs time ,.So it's not as clean as advertised . The noise level all depends on the quality of pellets being burnt . but most of the time it's fairly quiet ..I've found that this year it doesn't seem to be throwing as much heat as yrs. past even though I'm burning same brand ,( Energex regular s ) and I've had some shutdown problems recently ,about once every 4or5 days that I haven't figured out yet , But for the most part am satified with it ,especially last year with all the - 20 /-30 weather in Jan and Feb. ,Good Luck with yours though and keep us informed on how you make out ..

 

[Rmxtgh]

Ok......now for year two......I got used to the differences between my old quad and my new Lopi......it is what it is......but this year I'm noticing that my Lopi is NOT throwing out the heat that it did in its first season......its in my basement......and in season one I could get the upstairs to 80 degrees......so far this year only 70-72.....,,sometimes last year I would wake up in the middle of the night with the house too hot.......I did the deep clean removing the baffles etc.......I'm using hammers hot ones.....same brand as last year......I'm fiddling with the air restrict or adjustment.....don't remember what setting I had it at last year.......the only other difference I can think of is that I had the chimney cleaned......is it possible the chimney guy did not reconnect the liner???? And if so would that cause a roughly 10 degree difference in heat output?

 

[NYBurner]

pellet quality and output can vary year to year within the same brand from what i have seen. If youre having trouble reaching the same indoor temps with similar outdoor conditions then the only option is not the same amount of heat is being generated.

is your pellet comsumption the same?

is your flame a tall bright yellow/white?

Did you unplug your stove for 1-2 min at the beginning of the season to reset the electronics?

in my area we are significantly colder this time of year than the past 2 years, so I am burning more...lots more.

 

[Ifixjetz1]

This is my first year with my new stove as well. I don't have any issues fitting 2 bags of pellets in my stove from empty. It is a tight fit, but with pushing the pellets towards the back, 2 bags do fit. I too have been having issues with ash buildup on the platform. My first few bags were working great for re-lights with my thermostat, then after a while, the ash would clump to a hard hard crust on the left side by the igniter and prevent a re-light. I have messed with all my damper settings, and still cant get the ash to a finer consistency like I had it when I first started. I have taken the whole thing apart to see if I had a clog. Im now forced to run mine constantly, and scrape out the pot either when on low, or the stove is turned off. I have 3 tons of Indeck pellets to burn off. My Castle serenity doesn't seem to have issues with these pellets, and runs hotter than my $4k Avalon stove

 

[Rmxtgh]

I'm not sure if my pellet consumption is the same or more as last year.........I've got a gas stove in my living room.....with my old quadrafire I had it running off a thermostat and would use both stoves to heat the house.......the salesmen raved about how I would use far less pellets than the quad.......but it seems the quad was designed to shut down and refire far more reliably than the Lopi.....the Lopi seems to be designed to just kick down to low with a constant flame rather shut down completely and reignite.....last December was warmer than this December has been......but last year I hardly used the gas stove upstairs because the Lopi put out so much heat......this year I haven't gotten the upstairs to 80 by the Lopi alone.....i use 2 to 3 tons/year.....I don't think I used any less pellets with the Lopi than the quad....but in the first year since the Lopi put out more heat than the quad I used the gas stove far less......and I have been able to get 2 bags to fit.....I just didn't realize at first how tight the fit is for two full bags....and that to make them fit you need to move/distribute the pellets around.......This year I'm getting 8 hours of burn time out of one bag on high.