New stove and new to wood stoves

[1750]

I think the part sitting on the floor is the rheostat/switch box. The thermostat should be on the underside of the stove. Follow the wires with the stove blower unplugged.

Note that even with greater tension on the snap disk spring, the fan will take a while to come on the first time. Once the stove body is thoroughly warmed up, it should then stay on.

Yes, it's the rheostat. It's unfortunate that the cord is so short because it controls on/off and blower speed, but it's probably intentionally designed like that to keep people from laying it on top of the stove and melting the components.

The big help is learning that the thermostat isn't in the controller. It's a little funny when I think about all the effort I made to warm up the control box!

Anyway, I'm optimistic that I have a much better place to start rectifying this now.

Thanks again.

 

[aansorge]

I had a Lopi and I remember how long it took to get the fan going. Part of my problem was surely insufficiently dried wood. This is the #1 issue in my book.

Still, I think Lopi's cutoff is a bit high.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Any word from the Lopi dealer yet? Keep on him with all your questions and concerns...

 

[1750]

I had a Lopi and I remember how long it took to get the fan going. Part of my problem was surely insufficiently dried wood. This is the #1 issue in my book.

Still, I think Lopi's cutoff is a bit high.

I think my wood could be drier, but I do think it's more than that. The stove can be running for hours, and heating the space quite well, without the blower coming on.

What do you mean about the cutoff being a bit high... I mean what is a/the "cut off"?

 

[1750]

Any word from the Lopi dealer yet? Keep on him with all your questions and concerns...

I talked with him today. He confirmed what begreen told me yesterday, that the thermostat is located under the box (and not in the control box as I had assumed!). I only wish I would have either talked with him (or hit this board!) much earlier. I've spent a hilarious amount of time trying to get that control box warm!

He also thought the description of the outer wall of the double wall pipe starting a couple of inches above the stove top (and smoke coming out of the gap) sounded very odd. He wants me to get him a picture of the set up so he can see it more clearly. I've got to try and get in-touch with the installer and see what he says about it.

Thanks for your interest. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Once the stove gets to a certain temperature the fan should kick on, it' should be like an oven, if the oven doesn't reach 400 degrees when it should, there is a faulty part telling it that it's not 400 degrees, service may be required to fix this issue

 

[1750]

Once the stove gets to a certain temperature the fan should kick on, it' should be like an oven, if the oven doesn't reach 400 degrees when it should, there is a faulty part telling it that it's not 400 degrees, service may be required to fix this issue

I'm going to take the diagram begreen included from the manual and see if I can increase the contact between the sensor and the stove bottom.

I'm excited to try it, but if that doesn't do the trick, I'll definitely ask the dealer to take a look. The place is quite aways from the dealer (or anywhere, really), so I'm not sure how they will handle that.

 

[1750]

I think the part sitting on the floor is the rheostat/switch box. The thermostat should be on the underside of the stove. Follow the wires with the stove blower unplugged.

Note that even with greater tension on the snap disk spring, the fan will take a while to come on the first time. Once the stove body is thoroughly warmed up, it should then stay on.

I was able to pull the blower off and find the snap disk. Interestingly, in my manual the installation of the snap disk has been changed from the illustrations you posted. It looks like they've changed the shape of the convection chamber (made it taller), and the snap disk is now supposed to go vertically up along the convection chamber in the back. The disk was placed in the lower convection chamber, but not surprisingly never got very warm. Here's a pic of where it was:

When I put it in the right place, the blower kicked on after the stove top got about 400F (about 45 minutes), but then shut back off again after 2 minutes. It did this over and over as the stove top temp got up to 650F. I pulled the blower back off and pulled the snap disk out, with the thermostat removed the blower runs forever. I think I need a new snap disk.

I mentioned also that the outer wall of the double wall pipe doesn't start for a couple of inches above the stove top. Here's a picture of that. I can't think of any reason it would have been done like that. Does this seem like a problem? (I did have smoke pushed back down out of there during a very windy night).

Thanks again for your help. Locating and isolating the snap disk/thermostat has been the key to fixing this.





View attachment 100853

 

[begreen]

In your first picture the snap disk is incorrectly installed. It needs to be squarely in the channel and flat faced against the stove body not angled as shown in the photo. This is a factory error.

 

[1750]

In your first picture the snap disk is incorrectly installed. It needs to be flat faced against the stove body not angled as shown in the photo. This is a factory error.

The new manual (the one with my stove) changes the location of the snap disk. It doesn't go in this convection chamber any longer, it goes vertically up the convection chamber in the back.

I thought about just rotating it to be flat-facing the bottom of the stove, but the shape of the chamber seems to have changed (gotten taller, I think), and the snap disk would be at least an inch below the stove body. It seemed like the intention was to have it actually contact the stove body, so I moved it back to where the instructions indicated it should go. I guess I could have set it on some tile to get it in contact with the floor.

 

[begreen]

The location will change how soon the blower switches on. Just be sure the face of the switch is in full contact with the stove body and not angled as shown in the "before" picture. That is plain wrong.

 

[1750]

The location will change how soon the blower switches on. Just be sure the face of the switch is in full contact with the stove body and not angled as shown in the "before" picture. That is plain wrong.

When I shined the flashlight in there and saw it on the angle, I smiled because I thought it would be an easy fix. Then I rotated it as it showed in the picture you posted and it was still way short of the body. I looked for that section in my manual and saw that they had changed the instruction to go in the back. This meant taking the blower off and rerouting it. When it kicked on 45 minutes after I started the fire, I was sure I had fixed it... and then it started going on and off again (which it had been doing before when it finally would turn on). So... I think a new thermostat should fix this.

Does the double-wall of the double wall pipe have any function other than insulation? I can't decide if that pipe not coming all the way down to the stove pipe is a big deal. (Though also can't think why in the world the installer would have done it that way, either.)

 

[Holiday]

The pipe does look strange, although if the flange is overly long perhaps it wouldn't seat all the way down? And isn't it supposed to have the 3 screws around the bottom? I see that one empty hole.

 

[jeff_t]

The blower is turning on and off because it is cooling quickly, as it is not in contact with the stove body. I would just hook those two wires together and be done. The only time my stove's blower shuts off on it's own is when we go to our weekend place. I could just as easily turn it off when we leave.

That pipe looks wierd, like 8" pipe over 6" pipe. What brand is it? Double wall pipe reduces clearance requirements for the pipe to 6". Single wall requires 18".

 

[1750]

The pipe does look strange, although if the flange is overly long perhaps it wouldn't seat all the way down? And isn't it supposed to have the 3 screws around the bottom? I see that one empty hole.

Yes, there's just the one screw. It's pulled over to the side. It's just a straight-up Lopi stove -- I've never seen another one installed where the stack looked like that.

The blower is turning on and off because it is cooling quickly, as it is not in contact with the stove body. I would just hook those two wires together and be done. The only time my stove's blower shuts off on it's own is when we go to our weekend place. I could just as easily turn it off when we leave.

That pipe looks wierd, like 8" pipe over 6" pipe. What brand is it? Double wall pipe reduces clearance requirements for the pipe to 6". Single wall requires 18".

I will have to remember to look at the brand. I remember the sticker on the back, but don't remember what it said. It looks odd like that because the one screw has drawn the outer wall over to one side.

Does anyone think it's a safety concern? The clearance isn't an issue at that point. I really wouldn't worry about it except for having had smoke puffing out of it a few times on a really windy night. I just can't figure out why it would have been done that way, and where the smoke would have come from.

Thanks!

 

[Holiday]

Is your double wall pipe a telescoping joint? If not maybe that's the reason it ended up that way during the install. If it is telescoping I would slide it up and see why it wouldn't drop all the way down. My thoughts anyway. If it were mine I wouldn't want it looking like that even if it was safe.

 

[1750]

Is your double wall pipe a telescoping joint? If not maybe that's the reason it ended up that way during the install. If it is telescoping I would slide it up and see why it wouldn't drop all the way down. My thoughts anyway. If it were mine I wouldn't want it looking like that even if it was safe.

It doesn't seem like it telescopes. Do you know if these sections are typically a single piece, with an inner and outer wall, or if they are two separate sections with different diameters, and one just slides over the other?

I don't mind the way it looks, but I'm going to talk with the installer and see what he has to say.

Thanks.

 

[jeff_t]

Do you know if these sections are typically a single piece, with an inner and outer wall, or if they are two separate sections with different diameters, and one just slides over the other?

I'm not sure about other brands, but Selkirk has the inner and outer crimped together and spot welded as a single piece.

 

[1750]

I'm not sure about other brands, but Selkirk has the inner and outer crimped together and spot welded as a single piece.

Thanks. I don't remember this brand. But, I wondered if maybe the installer had cut the outer layer back.

If the sections are a fixed length, do you happen to know how they manage the variable distances? It must often be the case that a partial section needs to be used.

 

[jeff_t]

There are telescoping sections, with the inner and outer pipes joined at the top and bottom.

http://www.dynamitebuys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=6543
http://www.dynamitebuys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=832

 

[Holiday]

They are 2 separate sections with one sliding over the other as you say if telescopic. You would see the seam where the 2 meet up. Also supposed to be 3 screws at this seam. I used that in my install. But it can be done with rigid lengths as well. It would be very easy to check why it's not down further if just a matter of sliding up and taking a look.

 

[Holiday]

And by 2 sections that slide over each other I mean each section is in itself double wall. So where they overlap and slide you actually have 4 layers of metal. I wasn't sure if you meant just 2 pipes slid over each other to create a double pipe.

 

[Treacherous]

+1

I use my bypass all the time during extended coaling periods. It definitely helps draw the last bit of extra heat out of the fire.

The fortunate thing about that snap disc is that it is really easy to bypass. The unfortunate thing is that the blower won't shut off if your stove goes cold frequently. That doesn't happen here, and if the weather is warm enough that I'm going to let the fire go out, I'm not using the blower anyway.

 

[1750]

They are 2 separate sections with one sliding over the other as you say if telescopic. You would see the seam where the 2 meet up. Also supposed to be 3 screws at this seam. I used that in my install. But it can be done with rigid lengths as well. It would be very easy to check why it's not down further if just a matter of sliding up and taking a look.

I'll do that this weekend.

It looks like it would be a pretty simple matter to add the telescoping section if need be.

Thanks!

 

[1750]

+1

I use my bypass all the time during extended coaling periods. It definitely helps draw the last bit of extra heat out of the fire.

I have the dealer ordering a new thermostat, but now that I understand how it works, it wouldn't take much to just jump that and be able to turn it on and off.

Thanks.