Fixing/Maintaining Lopi Freedom Bay

[wood-daddy]

Hi, all! First post here. A few years ago, we moved into a home that was previously owned by a big wood burning stove aficionado. We have a forced air furnace, and do not rely on the stove for primary heat. However, we have a ton of seasoned wood, as we live against some forest (I split and stack it properly), and I also love to burn fires in this thing for supplementary heat, and general enjoyment. We also have a new baby, so I would like to have a backup heat source for the house.

The previous owner (not the stove wizard — this more recent owner was clearly a little cheap and negligent) did not give me much info on how to maintain our Lopi Freedom Bay (1998), and I’ll admit that I should have done some of my own homework after the first year of occasional burns. The stove now seeps smoke out of the bottom intake when the door is closed — even when my kindling has been aflame to a decent degree with the bypass open. Once I close the door, the yellow flames die, and the whole thing starts spewing smoke. It filled the whole house not once but TWICE while my in-laws were visiting. They probably think I’m an idiot 😅

What I am looking for is advice on possible points of failure, and what I can do in terms of maintenance to prevent this sort of thing. Some info for you all:

1) I know for certain the door no longer has a good seal. The fire rope is loose in parts, and the door handle cam is corroded and loose, and doesn’t pull against the door well. So I will fix those issues myself no matter what.

2) Is it possible that the lower air control assembly could be warped? My guess is that if the yellow flames die when the door is closed, then sufficient air isn’t coming in, even when it’s pulled out and fully open. Is it also possible that ash is accumulating in that vent chamber under the stove?

3) The airtubes have signs of surface corrosion, but they look structurally sound for now. I don’t think they need replacement.

4) I have not yet disassembled the baffle and cleaned out above it. I should be doing this once a year or so (as I’m not burning every day, all day), correct?

5) Damper bypass is clear, and the slider seems to work well.

6) My next area of concern is the offset box leading into our chimney liner. It seems rather narrow, and I can’t tell if it’s a custom job or not. The edges seem crimped together in a way that says to me that someone needed to create their own part. The clearances above the stove and within the fireplace are pretty tight, and the necessary angles are awkward, so it makes sense that they might need to jerry-rig a non-standard offset box. Pics below. Is this a problem? I intend to have a chimney guy come for a general cleaning & inspection, but I would love your opinions.



Thanks for your guidance — let me know if you have any clarifying questions! I really love this thing, and it would be great to extend its useful life for as long as I can!

— WD in NJ

 

[begreen]

Definitely replace the door gasket, use the Lopi OEM gasket so that the density is right. I am wondering if the offset could be replaced by a 30º starter elbow instead of the box. I don't like that they screwed into the liner instead of a proper screw clamp.

The air control may be ok. The usual suspect is the firewood. It is often not as dry as one thinks, especially if the wood was purchased. How tall is the liner on the insert?

I'm not sure about the secondary air tubes. Lopi switched to stainless steel in the 1990s, but I don't know exactly when. As long as they are intact without cracks and working they don't need replacing.

 

[wood-daddy]

Definitely replace the door gasket, use the Lopi OEM gasket so that the density is right. I am wondering if the offset could be replaced by a 30º starter elbow instead of the box. I don't like that they screwed into the liner instead of a proper screw clamp.

The air control may be ok. The usual suspect is the firewood. It is often not as dry as one thinks, especially if the wood was purchased. How tall is the liner on the insert?

I'm not sure about the secondary air tubes. Lopi switched to stainless steel in the 1990s, but I don't know exactly when. As long as they are intact without cracks and working they don't need replacing.

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, the top of the fireplace starts right above the stove's opening, so an offset box like this one is likely the only option. The center-to-center offset seems to be about 8 or 9 inches. I agree an elbow would be much, much better, but the clearances just aren't there.

Re: your question about the liner height, I'm not sure if I understand the question. The top of the offset box comes to about 3.5 inches higher than the top of the stove. The top of the "cuff" part accepting the flexible liner (the upper part with the screw) is about 8 inches from the top of the stove.

Re: wood moisture, I've only been burning wood that measures 17% or less on my moisture meter. I keep my kindling sticks inside, and those measure even less.

 

[begreen]

Re: your question about the liner height, I'm not sure if I understand the question.

How tall is the chimney? If you open a nearby window 1" does the fire brighten up and burn better?

Just to verify, for moisture testing, is the wood being split in half and tested in the middle of the freshly exposed face of wood?

 

[wood-daddy]

Ah I understand, thank you. The chimney has 20 feet of height starting from the top of the stove.

As for your window question, I haven't tried opening the window when things are going right, so I'm not sure. I can say that I turn off our forced air blower when I'm getting a fire started, and make sure no kitchen or bathroom vents are running.

And yes, I measure the split face of my wood. But my most recent smoke troubles have happened with only dry kindling, sticks about a thumb's-width in thickness.

I have since taken apart my baffle and removed all the collected ash above it. In addition to the door gasket job, I also need to replace the center T-bar supporting the baffle, as it was completely corroded, and the baffle bricks were sagging onto the airtubes.

I am feeling more and more like that tight offset box needs a proper cleaning. Maybe I'll buy (or jerry-rig) a small flexible hose attachment to get in there.

Thanks for your help -- let me know if any other things to try come to mind.

 

[begreen]

Ah I understand, thank you. The chimney has 20 feet of height starting from the top of the stove.

That's good. The draft needs to be strong to overcome the offset. Cleaning out the offset box may be the trick. Tape an 18" length of 3/4" hose to the end of the shop-vac nozzle and use that to get up in there.