Lopi Freedom Fireplace insert Pre 2004 What is this piece ?

The attached picture shows a piece of metal (next to the flashlight) that came from the inside of the firebox of my Lopi Freedom fireplace insert (woodstove). It is from the back of my firebox and covered the input air duct at the back of the firebox. It has warped and twisted over time. It seems to just be a force fit.

Is this a heat shield that should be replaced or is this a piece of shipping material that the installers never removed? The tee pieces (tabs) were horizontal and parallel to the firebox floor. They were flat up against the back wall of the firebox.

Thanks

webby3650 said:

It was a cover piece that was added to help protect the secondary air passage on the rear center of the firebox. It proved to cause more trouble than it helped. It would distort and fall out often. Lopi suggests just leaving it out once it falls apart. They’ve since quit installing this piece.

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Thanks ! This make sense because when this cover plate is removed the inside of the stove looks very similar to the newer models.

webby3650 said:

They do warp on some stoves, typically there’s also other damage from overfiring.
They make a weld in repair cover for the secondary air manifold.

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Thanks, got a dealer to send my picture to Travis. I will order a new shield from them. I inspected under the heat shield "things" look OK. In my case I believe some large pieces of wood were kind of forced into the stove when the shield was very hot. I have had the stove for 18 years so if I have to replace the shield no big deal.