Lopi Leyden auger dump fills the firebox after adding pellets

[supapally]

Hi.

I have a Lopi Leyden my Dad bought, but he has passed away and I'm trying to take up where he left off with it.

He had only burned on medium heat with this stove because he could never could get the restrictor set right to burn the pellets fast enough without pellets piling up in the firebox. Now that I have pulled the restrictor out pretty far, I can burn on the lower of the 2 high heat settings. I have had very good luck with this as long as I keep the ash dump pretty clean and the ash swept out of the inside each day. Now that I have that working right, I have one more issue and if I could resolve that, I'd be running perfectly.

I can't seem to fill and pack the hopper. If I pack it in and level it off, sure enough, the auger goes nuts in minute or two afterward and fills the firebox and eventually the stove will not be able to blow the embers out quickly enough and the fire will go out. I have found that if you catch this quick enough, you can switch the control to OFF and then back to AUTO and if I then clear the pellets out of the firebox, the stove can keep up again and it will get a good flame going and we're off again, burning. The method of filling the hopper is to just use a scoop that has a rectangular tongue on it. As the pellets fill the hopper, I've just pushed them down gently with the scoop itself. My Dad made a kind of "plunger" out of a stick of 3/8" plywood about 30" long for the handle with a 3"X6" rectangular piece of plywood screwed to the end, perpendicular to the handle. You can use such a device to gently push the pellets back into the far side of the hopper so you can pack the whole thing. Sometimes this causes a pileup and sometimes it's fine.

What can I do to avoid this? If I don't pack the hopper before bed, the stove never makes it through the night. So then, I'm stuck and my expensive kerosene heater comes on when the Lopi goes out.

Any suggestions welcome.

-thx

 

[muss]

Well, i had the same problem but switching pellet brand cured that. Good luck. Muss

 

[supapally]

Hmmm. I am using the Corinth pellets that are supposed to be better than what we were using (the Athens pellets). I'll try and see how it goes from now on if I try different techniques (filling the stove when it's off/running, tamping the hopper down or just plowing the pellets back.) Thanks for the reply. Any others out there with ideas?

 

[tumbles]

What you can do is manually prime the auger to get extra pellets into the burn pot. This will get you fire burning good and hot and it will give you a little extra time to add the pellets to the hopper. I pour my pellets into the hopper with a compound bucket and I manually push down on the gold button as I'm filling the hopper. This seems to work most of the time. I keep pushing back the pellets, but I never pack the stove too tight. I play with the damper a lot to get the fire about 4-8 inches high. The stove (like most) works better on medium to high. I can tell as the ash texture is more powdery and the glass doesn't get as dirty. I hope I understand you problem. Lastly, you could just take a screwdriver and push down the gold button so it doesn't stop the auger from turning when your filling the hopper. I just deal with putting a few more pellets (using the manual auger button) and this works for me.

 

[supapally]

Oh, thanks! So the issue is that the gold button on the hopper door is open, so the auger stops and the fire dies down? I will try to hold it down with a small anvil I have. Maybe that will do the trick...?

 

[defield]

If I understand the issue . .. .

I was told by the stove shop people that the gold button on the Lopi Leyden loading door is on a 30 second timer. If the button is released ( loading door open) for more than 30 seconds the auger feed shuts off for safety purposes.

When I load the Lopi, I pour from a pellet bucket until the pellets are even with the top of the hopper, set the bucket down, use my right hand to gently push the pellets toward the back of the hopper while depressing the gold button with my left hand. Pickup the bucket and top off the hopper. I sort of count the seconds off in my head . . . . One one thousand, etc. Compulsive I guess . . ..

I do not pack the pellets in, just completely fill the hopper by gently pushing pellets toward the back of the hopper and top off once or twice to completely fill.

 

[imacman]

......hold it down with a small anvil I have. Maybe that will do the trick...?

Maybe. It's possible (although unlikely) that the lid switch is no good? You could unplug the stove, and run a jumper across the switch leads. See if that cures it.

 

[richkorn]

Oh, thanks! So the issue is that the gold button on the hopper door is open, so the auger stops and the fire dies down? I will try to hold it down with a small anvil I have. Maybe that will do the trick...?

Yea, that's an interlock button that stops the auger from turning while to lid is open. Either pour the pellets in quickly or hold down that button while lid is open.

 

[supapally]

I know the cover switch is working. I'll give that all a try & thanks again, Folks!
Happy heating with no fuel oil...!

 

[Dr_Drum]

I pretty much do the same as everyone else mentioned. I don't hold the button continuously. I think if you just push it before the 30 seconds is up it resets. I've never had it shut down. I found a sweet spot on my air adjustment so I try not to mes with it.
Mike -