EPA stove goes out

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Is N/S loading an option on the Lopi 1250?

That would help make sure all of the wood is burned through properly.
 
Toward the end of the burn the flue cools down and the draft weakens ,thus the need to open up the air to burn down the coals ,or reload.
If you are gone a long time during the day, that's where a BK or VC thermostat would come in handy. With my small firebox, I need to get the coals burned down for more room to load wood. The ash grate helps make more room as well..
Is N/S loading an option on the Lopi 1250? That would help make sure all of the wood is burned through properly.
I think you would need some pretty short splits, from what I saw at the stove shop..
 
I have a Lopi 1750, basically the same stove just a little bit bigger. The number one thing to watch is the air control. On my stove I've found that I can't close the air all the way. On a full load of 3 year plus seasoned hardwood I close my air around 3/4-7/8. If I close it all the way my flue temps are too low.
 
You could try giving the air a path to the back. Before reloading, take your poker and make a little trench fro t to back in the coals so air can get under the front pieces. You could also toss a small split in NS first if you have one, to create a small gap under the rest of the wood.
Loading EW, the wood in front keeps air away from the back part.
 
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Why not 1st do a full burn with the air opened all the way, once the stove top creeps up to 500 deg turn the air adjuster in 1/4 and wait for 20 min and see what the flames do and more importantly what the stove top temp does, if it still continues to rise turn the air in a little more, the idea is that you want to find the dial in point of the stove, you want to cut the air back but maintain a stove top temp between 500 and 650 deg's (will vary with wood type, split size and most importantly wood moisture content)
Don't get discouraged with the stove, its just a small learning curve, the thermometer is your friend here, just make sure its a true stove top thermometer and not a single wall chimney pipe thermometer.
 
Hello all
I'm not sure if this is related but I have a
hearthstone heritage EPA stove just installed .
The stove will not burn unless the door or ash pan door is open.

I do not get any smoke in the house
Wood is very dry
I do start a hot fire before trying to close the door ( drafting great)
With a cold stove I put a blower to the air intake. Trying to clean it out. The control on the front was functioning.

I had an old stove hooked up last winter with no problems. But it wasn't an air tight stove.

Starving for air. It doesn't seem like a flu problem.
Help
 
How sure are you of your wood?
 
Hello all
I'm not sure if this is related but I have a
hearthstone heritage EPA stove just installed .
The stove will not burn unless the door or ash pan door is open.

I do not get any smoke in the house
Wood is very dry
I do start a hot fire before trying to close the door ( drafting great)
With a cold stove I put a blower to the air intake. Trying to clean it out. The control on the front was functioning.

I had an old stove hooked up last winter with no problems. But it wasn't an air tight stove.

Starving for air. It doesn't seem like a flu problem.
Help

Typically problems in burning come down to either the draft or the fuel . . . if the draft is good then quite often it's the wood.

By "dry" wood I am assuming you mean seasoned wood . . . how would you define this wood as being dry? Around here most folks suggest either using a moisture meter to be sure it is truly seasoned and ready to go . . . or cut, split and stack for a year or more. Many times folks who buy their wood are told it is seasoned . . . when it rarely is.

Rarely . . . very, very rarely . . . the issue is a fault in the stove.

Since you say you are getting little to no smoke spillage and the draft seems decent, my next suspicion would fall on to the fuel. Testing your wood for the moisture content, burning some of the kiln-dried wood sold in plastic wrapped bundles at hardware stores or busting up a pallet and burning that might help you rule in or rule out the fuel being the cause.

As a side note . . . I would highly recommend not burning with the ash pan door ajar as this can lead to serious damage to a stove in some cases.

Also, the new EPA stoves are technically not air tight as they are actually designed to always allow some air to enter the firebox.
 
Thanks
My wood i cut and stacked a year ago last fall, pile is covered and in the sun.
Just to rule out the wood as a problem im going to buy some kiln-dried wood today and try it out.
I see your photo Im also a FF in Ct.
 
For my Englander, when I re-load, I rake the coals forward, load the stove up, and leave the door cracked open (I have an old steel rod from an older stove that I used to prop the door just a bit), let that air rip in there to get everything burning, then I close the door and leave the air fully open. After some time goes by (not an exact term I know), I check stove top temp with my IR thermometer, if it's above 500 degrees I close the air down. Not all the way, maybe half. Then I check again and if it's still going good I dial it way back. I've got a 35 foot chimney and strong draft. This results in good long burn times for me (easy overnight burns) even with lesser wood types. It's worth noting that I typically load the stove N/S, and leave a little tunnel for the air to get to the back of the firebox.
 
Ok fuel is crossed off the list.
I bought some Kiln-dried and it still only burns with the door cracked.
I can see the secondary burn going on at the top of the stove.
So some air is coming in.
 
Am i correct that if it was a drafting problem i would be getting smoke puffing back.
Does my problem sound like a input problem not an out put problem?
 
Since you are new to the stove, you are certain your air is wide open? Double check, some stoves you push a rod in to close, some you pull the rod out to close. If you shut your door when using the kiln dried wood, do you have smoke running down the face of your door on the inside? I would also double check where your stove gets its primary air from to make sure there is not a plate in the way. Some stoves block off one opening when an OAK is used, and that needs to be removed when an OAK is not used.
 
Ok fuel is crossed off the list.
I bought some Kiln-dried and it still only burns with the door cracked.
I can see the secondary burn going on at the top of the stove.
So some air is coming in.
Was it actually kiln dried or just run through a kiln to kill off bugs making it legal to transport? Most of the "kiln dried" stuff is not really dry you need a moisture meter to know for sure
 
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got a lumber yard near you? get a piece of 1x4 / 1x6 pine that they sell for trim, get the cheapest grade they offer. this stuff is kiln dried. cut it to length that fits in your stove and whack it into smaller pieces like kindling and burn that. if that burns with the door shut it's your wood.
 
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If you are gone a long time during the day, that's where a BK or VC thermostat would come in handy. With my small firebox, I need to get the coals burned down for more room to load wood. The ash grate helps make more room as well..
I think you would need some pretty short splits, from what I saw at the stove shop..

I think it would be a useful experiment to cut one load of logs to 13" and try loading N/S just to see if it makes any difference. What can it hurt?
 
OK
Here is the update.
Using kiln-dried wood ( yes dried not just bug killed). I could close the door once I had a good bed of coals But with the stove on high it was running like it was on low. Secondary burn was working but very little flame near the wood. Temp on top of the stove was 500F.

Today i tried with 2x4s same result.

Im going to see how to take apart the bottom of the stove and take a look.
 
OK
Here is the update.
Using kiln-dried wood ( yes dried not just bug killed). I could close the door once I had a good bed of coals But with the stove on high it was running like it was on low. Secondary burn was working but very little flame near the wood. Temp on top of the stove was 500F.

Today i tried with 2x4s same result.

Im going to see how to take apart the bottom of the stove and take a look.

I certainly think you are on the right track BanTheSpoon, make sure everything opens like it should, etc. It wouldn't be the first time, and installer assembled something wrong, or left a temporary support block in place.

I would start with an email to Lopi Technical support as well. If they are like PE, you'll be looking at a week between responses anyway:

http://www.lopistoves.com/technical-support.aspx

Does your damper seem to have any effect on the fire at all? I would still love to see you burn a short cut load N/S. Best of luck, and please let us know what you find.
 
images.jpg
sodbuster what is N/S

LOL Sorry, it's where you load your stove with the logs running from front to back vs side to side.
 
OK
Here is the update.
Using kiln-dried wood ( yes dried not just bug killed). I could close the door once I had a good bed of coals But with the stove on high it was running like it was on low. Secondary burn was working but very little flame near the wood. Temp on top of the stove was 500F.

Today i tried with 2x4s same result.

Im going to see how to take apart the bottom of the stove and take a look.

500° on a hearthstone soapstone is doing good. What is your chimney setup? Might be best to start your own thread to get more specific help for a heritage.
 
Hello all
I'm not sure if this is related but I have a
hearthstone heritage EPA stove just installed .
Most stoves will burn like crap if they don't have a layer of ash on the bottom. It would be an easy solution if you just need a few fires to build up some ash.
What species of wood are you burning at one year of seasoning?