Lopi snap disk "turn on" temp

[samhoff2]

Still watching this spot. Have had a fire blazing for the last two hours and the fan on mine still hasn't turned on. I complained two weeks ago when the install guys were here doing some stuff, and "we tested it and it's ok." But this is just silly.

They did say that since the snap disk was down low, it would take a while to start. Can I splice the wires and move the snap disk to a different location, closer to the fire itself? (or above it so it will heat faster).

It's an RSF Delta 2.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[maverick06]

You can move it anywhere you want, and replace it with another one if you want. Mounting it may be hard as it is likely held in place by screws and drilling/tapping new holes in there is probably pretty hard. But if you are going to cut the wires and move it, you could also just cut the wires, twist them together, and put a wire cap on them and call it a day. Thats what i did.

But sure, move it wherever you want. Its just a switch, cold = open, hot = closed.

 

[samhoff2]

I found some snap disks online that I might try to replace it with. One turns on at 120 and off at 90. This seems too cool, but I don't know for sure? Another is 150 and off at 120?

Thanks for the help/advice,

Sam

 

[joefrompa]

Samhoff,

Where is your snapdisk located and where did you find the 120/90 or 150/120 snap disk online? I might try relocating mine first (I have an insert) and second replacing it with what you named. I want the stove to turn off when it cools down, but I want it on ASAP and I want it to stay on while the stove is still significantly warmer than the room.

 

[EJL923]

Do yourself a favor and buy a timer switch for your outlet, best thing i ever did. After you get used to burning your stove, you will know when and how long your stove is able to put out usable heat. I have found that the snap disc can turn off before it should, as well as turning on after it should. It is especially usable when you will be gone longer than is needed to refuel your stove. You will know that the blower was on for the entire cycle of usable heat. I barely use the auto turn on/off feature. I turn on the timer when i leave for work. In the morning, the stove is at times not hot enough to turn on the snapstat, but hot enough to put out usable heat.

 

[samhoff2]

The snap disks I was looking at are "senasys" on amazon. Unfortunately made in china. (doh!)

Mine is located underneath the firebox, but there's a wall down there between the two. I think I'm going to unscrew the unit and set it as close as I possibly can to the firebox, although I don't think I'll be able to screw it in there. Based on EJL's post, maybe I'll go for the lowest temp one.

Putting a timer on isn't an option (as currently wired), because I have a dial on the wall that just controls the fan speed (off to the left, then high in the middle, then low on the right). I think a low temp snap disk is likely the answer.

Thanks everyone for all the help; I'll keep this thread posted whatever I do.

Sam

 

[joefrompa]

Please do. I've got ~4-6 weeks before I start actively burning, so if you figure this out it'd be great.

in the meantime, I'm going to become familiar with my snapdisk

 

[maverick06]

For those interested, I have a fireplace extrodinaire / lopi declaration. The snap disc is on the bottom of the firebox, behind the blower on the bottom right. I have included a picture of where it is. The red arrow points to the yellow snap disk.

Oh wait. Silly me, thats not a snap disk, thats the wirenut I have on the wires when I bypassed the snap disk....

Seriously though, its just a few inches back from the bottom front corner. Its screwed (I think) into the metal plate from the bottom. If you get a flash light and pull the face off it will be easy to find.

 

[joefrompa]

Nice. I'm actually really liking the secondary idea of wirenutting them together and using a wall timer. Turn the wall timer on, turn the blower to desired level, walk away. Feed the fire for the night? Set it for 6-7 hours. Etc.

Not as good as a nice quick snap disk, but still good!

 

[samhoff2]

Well, I finally got the snapdisk to snap.

I removed it (see pic), took off the metal protective box that was around it. Used gorilla glue to glue two very small powerful magnets to the face itself (on the other side of what you're seeing in this pic). Let it harden overnight.

Slipped it back inside the fireplace (whoops... should have hit the breaker: I touched metal and blew the breaker instead, causing me to jerk pretty good), put it right under the firebox (and the magnets held it there perfectly).

Flipped the breaker back on.

Built a pretty good fire.

It tripped in about 45 minutes or so Nice.

I'm still going to try to replace it with the newer one I ordered because 45 minutes is a lot of heat to waste.

Sam

 

[begreen]

copied from other thread:

I would be very careful experimenting with snap-switch mods. There is a reason for the snap switch to be screwed to a springy metal base. You are dealing with hot surfaces here. Caution should be taken to protect wiring from heat. I would use screws instead of glue to attach the switch. Installed correctly, the factory setup usually works fine.

 

[joefrompa]

Sam,

Looks like you are using the freestanding stove....unfortunately, I can't tell how the snap disk is supposed to operate on the insert. Figuring that out now...

 

[tickbitty]

Joe, the manual says it comes on when it is "up to temperature" but they don't say what temperature - and they say that will typically happen within 15-30 minutes. When we first started using our stove we had not screwed the blower on but had it (I thought) securely against the stove where I thought it should have plenty of contact. Turns out I was wrong and it took forever to turn on, until I got it actually screwed on there. I can't remember if it comes on within 15-30 minutes, but it comes on in a decent period from a cold start. I wouldn't want it coming on too soon, since I want the stove to get good and hot first. And it definitely stays on a long time. I have woken in the morning to ash with just a few embers and the blower still on. I wonder if you are getting full contact, have you tried unscrewing the blower and rescrewing it in there?

(Lol, that is the answer to everything with computers... uninstall, reinstall, reboot... prob won't help you but anyway...)

 

[joefrompa]

I haven't done that tickbitty, but when I took it off this morning it was VERY securely screwed in. I'v enever woken with the blower on....I don't think I've ever seen it stay on for more than 4 hours straight without a reload.

I'd like the blower to be able to come on LOW at 250 stove top - in other words, to start moving some air. For the most part, the stove is hitting 450+ before it even comes on. Compared to my FIL's Jotul (12-15 minutes) and my brother in laws vogelzang (6-8 minutes), I haven't seen their stoves have a rougher time getting warmed up.

I'm a little frustrated here honestly - I LIKE the concept of the snap disk. More than the idea of a timer or anything else. But I want this thing coming on fast too.

 

[madison]

I am not at all familiar with the stove in question, but , is is feasible to move the switch to a "warmer" spot of the stove body. Is the switch is positioned at the coolest spot to make sure the fan turns off when the (bottom) box is cool OR is it possibly to prevent the blower from cooling the spot and having the fan cycle on and off?

Just a thought.

 

[joefrompa]

I'll take pictures of mine tonight to post.

 

[begreen]

Joe, the manual says it comes on when it is "up to temperature" but they don't say what temperature - and they say that will typically happen within 15-30 minutes. When we first started using our stove we had not screwed the blower on but had it (I thought) securely against the stove where I thought it should have plenty of contact. Turns out I was wrong and it took forever to turn on, until I got it actually screwed on there. I can't remember if it comes on within 15-30 minutes, but it comes on in a decent period from a cold start.

Our stove takes 30-45 minutes depending on the starting fire size. It takes a while to get the full 585# mass of the stove up to temperature. but once it's hot, it stays hot.

 

[tickbitty]

I haven't done that tickbitty, but when I took it off this morning it was VERY securely screwed in. I'v enever woken with the blower on....I don't think I've ever seen it stay on for more than 4 hours straight without a reload.

I'd like the blower to be able to come on LOW at 250 stove top - in other words, to start moving some air. For the most part, the stove is hitting 450+ before it even comes on. Compared to my FIL's Jotul (12-15 minutes) and my brother in laws vogelzang (6-8 minutes), I haven't seen their stoves have a rougher time getting warmed up.

I'm a little frustrated here honestly - I LIKE the concept of the snap disk. More than the idea of a timer or anything else. But I want this thing coming on fast too.

Hmm. In a month or so when we start burning I'll get back to you on how long it takes and what temp stovetop. Good luck!

 

[maverick06]

my opinions and experiance with this snap disk has been previously mentioned in this thread.

BUT I dont think I would use gorilla glue. I do not think that it could take the temperature (how hot does that area get, pretty warm). What happens if power goes out when you have the stove running and the blowers arent cooling it. It may make it, maybe not. I would have suggested JB weld if you had to use an adhesive.

 

[joefrompa]

Pictures of my lopi republic 1750 insert blower:

Front:

Looking down from above:

Underneath looking up:

Note, this is exactly how it looks removed from the insert. This mounts directly under the ash-lip. I haven't done so yet, but looking at the last photo I believe the snap disk is in there under the black metal mesh and wires.

Note: if I'm right, then the snap disk on this insert is mounted up against the bottome of the ASH LIP. An interesting location to say the least. I may see about mounting a new low temperature snap disk to a piece of metal and JB welding that to the bottom of the firebox...

 

[bpm44]

Joe - I have a Revere, and as shown in your last pic the snap disk is just to the right of you thumb. That little round button with two wires going to it. The orientation should put it against the front of the body of the stove ( not touching the bottom of the lip itself, but rather the stove) mine comes on and stays on, once fires start up I'll keep track of some temps and times, but from a cold start with seasoned maple not more than 20 or 30 minutes. Maybe your blower housing needs to be tweaked a little so you get better contact between the disk and the stove body.

 

[joefrompa]

That little black circle next to my thumb? Holy cow that thing is small. I'll take a closer look this morning.

 

[bpm44]

Yep, that's it. Only the size of a dime, so good contact to the stovebody is an absolute necessity. Something else I do is when I reload I use my poker to keep ash build up away from the middle front of the stove where the primary air hole is.

At our old house one of our stoves was a Lopi Patriot freestanding stove, and the snap disk was remotely located away from the blower itself at the left front underside of the stove, in the channel where room air would circulate under the stove (like the air passages that our inserts blow the air through with the blower) anyhow, I noticed a huge difference in time when the blower would kick on based on the ash build up in the stove - the more ash, the longer it took to kick on from cold start up. Ash is a pretty effective insulator.

 

[begreen]

Thanks Jeeper. That sure looks correct. It appears that they have modified the design from the online instructions.

 

[joefrompa]

BeGreen - that blower is for the INSERT. The stuff you presented was for the standalone stove, I believe. So they are still accurate instructions online.