First burn!

[tamure]

Well, the inspector came out today and signed off on my stove. So tonight I fired it up for the first time. It is a Lopi Declaration. Manual says to open all the doors and windows for the first burn to cure the paint / burn off the oil and let the fumes out.

Lit up the fire with no problem. Let it burn with the door slightly ajar for about an hour. (Manual also warns about gaskets sticking to the inside of the door if you don't leave the door cracked the first burn). Then I closed the damper and then it got smokey / fumey. But no big deal. Even with the windows and door open, and the ceiling fan running, it's a comfy 75+ degrees in here.

Only one thing... the fan won't come on. The manual says that the fan is supposed to come on when the stove gets up to temperature. Given the heat it's putting out without a fan, I can't believe it's not up to temp yet. Power is good, I just tested that. Any ideas on the fan?

Wish I had a camera... batteries just died on me, 12 hours to recharge. It's nice seeing the flames dance in the stove.

 

[Dix]

Congrats !

Could be that the stove didn't get hoyt enough for the sensor to pick up on th heat. Just a thought.

Recharge them there batteries

 

[ROBERT F]

Well I do know your supposed to break in in stages, smaller fires at first. So maybe thats why you havent reached temp. I have one Lopi that the fan comes on alot sooner than my other lopi. Its just the thermo disc that they use, yours might be needen more heat. I would do the break in fires then really lite er up to see what happens and how it burns.

 

[tamure]

Thanks guys. Turns out it was operator error with the fan. I had the knob turned almost to OFF, which I thought was "high." Turns out it is the opposite. So after actually turning the fan up, lo and behold it came on. Everything seems to be working fine now.

 

[tamure]

Here are some pics. One with the flash, one without.

 

[szmaine]

Great looking stove!
What is your hearth made of? I like it - looks interesting and different.

 

[Fsappo]

Great looking stove!
What is your hearth made of? I like it - looks interesting and different.

x1 that is an unsual hearth. grats on the insert as well

 

[tamure]

Thanks, guys. I don't know exactly what the hearth is made from. As far as I can tell, it's just what it looks like: some kind of red rock chips. The rock appears to naturally be that color, i.e., not dyed or painted.

LOL I actually don't like it. I think it's ugly. I prefer clean, crisp lines, rather than what looks like a broken driveway to me. However, I do like that it is reddish to match the brick. I would have preferred a brick hearth or something. But hey, I wasn't around when it was built 60 years ago, so I didn't get a say in the matter. haha