Lopi Leyden's First "Annual" Cleaning

[defield]

Finally did the Lopi Leyden's first annual cleaning.

The stove was installed in early January ( glad of that for the tax break).

Burned about 1.5 tons of a mixture of the dreaded Athens pellets and the excellent Lignetics hardwoods through April, then ran a few bags of "early buy" LGs through the stove to test them.

The stove is free standing, installed in front of an existing masonry fireplace. 4" SS liner in the flue.

I do a daily quick cleaning and a weekly or bi-weekly more thorough cleaning ( removing interior baffles ) when the stove is in use.

This was the first time for checking the flue and exhaust fan.

Went to the Lopi Leyden store and waited for 30+ minutes while they found the proper exhaust fan cover plate gaskets and went to Sears for strap wrenches for the cleanout T.

What I found in cleaning, was about two cups or so of densly packed fine gray ash in the bottom of the cleanout T. Checked the flue with a light and mirror and saw just a very light dusting of light gray ash in the liner. Could see every spiral joint. Absolutely no cresote, which as a long time wood burner made me very happy. Will use a "Lint Eater" for the next cleaning.

That chimney has always had a VERY GOOD natural draft.

The exhaust fan blades had just a very light coating of ash and no build up to speak of in the fan cavity.

So, I have not burned many tons of pellets yet, but am pleased with the initial looks of things.

Will update for the December and next spring's cleaning.

Would be interested in reading about the findings of others for any of the brands and types of installs.

Ranger

 

[Dr_Drum]

Couple questions. I was considering placing my Leyden in front of my fireplace, would you post a picture of yours? I'd be interested in seeing your install. I cleaned my Leyden back in the spring, and found similar results. Most of the ash was in the fire box behind thos side chambers, a fairly easy clean up. I still need to get a new exhaust blower gasket before I can fire it up. I have an almost direct vent through wall installation with Excell vent pipe. Excell uses a rubber like, reusable gasket at the joints, so I pull the entire exhaust off and clean it brand new. I didn't touch my room air blower, did you?
Mike -

 

[defield]

Mike,

I also did not touch the room air blower.

In response to your question about posting a picture, I still do not own a digital camera ( shame on me ), but will try some pictures with my cell phone, if you would like to PM me contact information.

For many years we had a Franklin Fireplace ( wood stove) and then a Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stove in front of the fireplace. Always liked the looks of each, and that was, at the time, a not an uncommon upgrade for an energy wasting fireplace. Got rid of the Vigilant because the fireplace flue was too large and we had creosote problems because of the air tight stove's slow burn. Went back to a fireplace that we did not use and installed a wood boiler. That was before pellet stoves. The pellet stove, with proper liner has solved the cresote problem and is much safer in terms of required clearances.

The description of the install appearing below is from a post I did last February:

We selected the Lopi Leyden for many reasons, but looks and quality were important. The stove looks much like the Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stove we used to have there and liked very much.

The fireplace is moderate in size, 59” wide overall and 46 1/2 “ from floor to the underside of the stained wood mantle. Built with typical New England faded red brick. The fireplace opening is 36” wide and 31” to the top center of a slightly arched opening.

The mass of the fireplace and the Lopi are in the proper proportion for good looks.

The fireplace hearth itself is the width of the fireplace and protrudes only 16 1/2 inches, so an extension was needed. A hardwood floor goes up to the front and each side of the hearth.

I wanted the back of the stove to be 2” to 3” out from the face of the fireplace for ease of maintenance and access to the cleanout tee. Ended up being 2-3/4 inches out. Just right.

Made a cardboard template with the outline of the stove as well as the back, side, and front clearances drawn on it. From that template, I could determine the size hearth extension that was needed.

The hearth extension ended up extending out two full bricks ( with 1/2 inch mortar joints), or about 17” from the edge of the existing hearth. Did not go the full width of the existing hearth, just nine bricks wide . . . . .just looked right . . . . .

I purchased and cut to size, 1/2” Durock cement board for the base of the hearth extension, and laid it on top of the existing hardwood floor, held in place with stainless deck screws. Was able to find, after searching the brick yard warehouse, bricks of the correct thickness and color. Laid the bricks using standard spacing with Thinset cement to hold them in place on the cement board. When dry, used regular mortar mix to carefully fill all the mortar joints. looks like a regular brick hearth.

We had had a sheet metal fireplace opening cover made some years ago ( by a stove shop ) to use to seal the fireplace opening after a fireplace fire to prevent heat loss after having a fire. Once the Lopi was in place, I cut a clearance slot in the sheet metal cover, using a fine metal cutting blade in a HD jigsaw to fit around the exhaust piping.

This panel painted with high temperature flat black, slides down behind the stove, covers the fireplace opening, and conceals the exhaust piping.

We are very happy with the looks of the stove set up and maintenance will be easier than with an insert.

It is not uncommon, in New England anyway, to have a wood stove installed in front of a fireplace ( for efficiency) and the classic good looks of the Lopi leyden make it a natural.

Hope this helps in lieu of a photo.

 

[muss]

Finally did mine completely 2 weeks ago, i don't like to rush into anything, and used a lint dryer brush for my vent cause it goes straight out & is about 2' long. Changed my blower empeller gasket & that was a snap . Been wanting to change that since last burn season. Just using oil right now to get the morning & evening chill out. This will be my 3rd burn season & i still learn stuff about it. Hell of a learning curve. Got my 5 ton in the garage & won't be putting any in the cellar this year. Those Maine Choice Pellets really look great & the price was right. I'm glad their rebuilding the plant as i read that in today's paper. I'm looking forward to chattin' with all you good people again this year as i have never found a better bunch . Muss

 

[sydney1963]

I started the cleaning today and what a job!! Couldn't get the T cap off to clean so had to pull off the whole T from the stove and the rest of the pipe, and need to replace it now ($65). Took off the combustion blower and when I vacuumed it I accidentally sucked up the gasket into the hose of the vacuum, so I will need to replace that as well ($11). I am not going to take off the convection/room blower this year, has anyone gone 2 seasons without cleaning that part? Wish me luck.

 

[Dr_Drum]

. . . The stove looks much like the Vermont Castings Vigilant . . . .

I was told that the Leyden design is actually purshased from Vermont Castings? I have know way of confiming this, but that's what the sales guy said.
Mike -

I appreciate all the info.

 

[Dr_Drum]

I read a lot about trying to get those tee caps off. Sounds like a pain.

I thought I was going to be able to avoid the rusting that others complain about because my stove isn't in the basement, and I sprayed inside with silicone spray and took my entire vent off. When I looked inside more closely it's rusty in some areas. Bummer :down:

Spent today painting. For the price we pay for these stoves, they should use stainless steel on the rust prone parts. Still need that gasket and I'm ready for another season.
Mike -

 

[dmario]

Did my annual maintenance this weekend on our Lopi Leydon. Wasn't too bad. The exhaust gasket only tore around the mounting studs so I was thinking of just leaving it for this year. What do you think?
I didn't touch the convection blower. It looked clean and our delivery date was 01-07-09 so it was only used for 2 months. I was upset at the time, but now due to the tax credit it worked out well. It appears that most people have skipped cleaning the convection blower. What are the thoughts on that?
Our stove vents directly into a brick hearth with a 20' chimney. I usually take the pellet stove pipe right off and run a vacuum hose through it to get it clean.
I had a woodstove there for years and didn't use it. When I pulled the stove pipe out of the thimble the thimble was rusted badly. I resleeved the thimble with metal dryer pipe and ran with that. The thimble is in a masonry chimney. I am contemplating changing the thimble but I think it could be a bear.
Great stove.

 

[imacman]

..... The exhaust gasket only tore around the mounting studs so I was thinking of just leaving it for this year. What do you think?
I didn't touch the convection blower. It looked clean and our delivery date was 01-07-09 so it was only used for 2 months...... It appears that most people have skipped cleaning the convection blower. What are the thoughts on that?.........

Hi dmario, welcome to the forum.

As for the convection blower cleaning, if you can see inside the intake side of the blower, and the blades look pretty clean, I wouldn't sweat it. Right before I sold my Astoria a few weeks ago, I did a complete cleaning, but once I eyeballed the fins on the convection blower, I didn't bother taking it out....just got the vacuum w/ brush attachment in as far as I could. And I hadn't cleaned it since August of last year.

Now, if you have pets and a lot of hair, or run in a dusty basement, then you might consider taking it out and cleaning the fins. BTW, if you DO, be careful not to lose or vacuum up any balancing weights that might be stuck on the fins....the fan will vibrate if you lose them (like a car tire out of balance).

 

[defield]

Dr_Drum,

Pictures of Lopi Leyden install in front of fireplace posted.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/42480/

Ranger

 

[Wood Nugget]

I cleaned my leyden a couple months ago. Couple of questions. Are there any parts; blowers, or auger which need lubrication? If so, how and where? How do you really clean the top and sides of the heat exchanger tubes? the built in scraper leaves lots behind, and the wire brush that came with the stove doesn't even fit in between the tubes. I take out the baffles behind the fire brick every other weekly cleaning. Is there anything else I should be doing? I couldn't find any manufacturer cleaning instructions in the manual or online, so I just started to pull it apart and clean it. I didn't damage the exhaust blower gasket, so I reused it. maybe next year I will get new one. I found that after only 3/4 of a burn season my convection blower was a little dirty. Fine layer of dust coating and dog hair so I cleaned that in addition to the exhaust blower. Any other suggestions of things to do are appreciated. Happy burning.

 

[imacman]

......Are there any parts; blowers, or auger which need lubrication? ........Is there anything else I should be doing? I couldn't find any manufacturer cleaning instructions in the manual or online........

The only lubrication that i know of might be the convection (room air) blower. Look at the motor, and see if it has little yellow caps. If it does, those can be removed and a couple drops of lightweight oil (20w non detergent, or 3 in 1) can be put in there....it runs down a little channel and lubes the bearings. It might also say to lubricate on the motor label.....mine did. I put 2 drops in each port every monthly cleaning, about 1 ton.

Other than that, nothing else to lube.

As for the cleaning, the owners manual seems pretty detailed on what to do to clean it. Are you removing the side ash trap doors and cleaning behind those? Are you cleaning all the channels that they specify in the manual?

 

[richkorn]

Leyden blowers are sealed and require no lube. At least that's what the dealer said...

EDITED: ONLY the exhaust blower is sealed.

 

[imacman]

Leyden blowers are sealed and require no lube. At least that's what the dealer said...

He's correct about the combustion blowers (no lube needed), but I'm not as sure about the convection ones.....my Astoria had the oil ports on it.

Maybe the new stoves don't???

 

[richkorn]

Leyden blowers are sealed and require no lube. At least that's what the dealer said...

He's correct about the combustion blowers (no lube needed), but I'm not as sure about the convection ones.....my Astoria had the oil ports on it.

Maybe the new stoves don't???

I know this is old post but looks like Leyen owners here have realized that the convection blower does have the yellow plugs and can be lubed. Only problem with some of us is that the ports are on the bottom, but the motor can be turned so ports are on top (thanks DR_Drum for that info).

 

[imacman]

I know this is old post but looks like Leyen owners here have realized that the convection blower does have the yellow plugs and can be lubed. Only problem with some of us is that the ports are on the bottom, but the motor can be turned so ports are on top (thanks DR_Drum for that info).

Not sure that that's the way all of them are, as my Astoria had the yellow oil plugs on top from the factory. Could be just a mistake by the assembler in the factory, or maybe they have a reason for doing this(?). Maybe some other Leyden and Travis Industries owners can respond about this.

A call to the tech line at Travis probably would get the correct answer.

 

[krooser]

My St. Croix's are also sealed but a drizzle a little lube on 'em anyway...