Lopi Pioneer restrictor adjustment

[scagger]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to set my restrictor for my Lopi Pioneer? The stove was purchased last year (2008) and this is the first season it is being used. My firepot seems to dirty up pretty quickly and black soot appears on the glass within 2 days of cleaning it. I've been playing with the restrictor for a while now and I just can't seem to get it right.

 

[Shane]

What burn rate do you usually use?

 

[imacman]

Yes, burn rate has something to do with it. If your owners manual is like my Astoria, they have a section on setting the air restrictor. Too little air = poor, lazy flame w/ black soot ....... Too much air = burning pellets getting blown out of the firepot.

You need to adjust the air control for the heat setting your using so your burning embers at the bottom of the burn pot are "wiggling around" a little.

 

[muss]

I found my Lopi has lousy airwash on low . Ya just hafta tweek the air adjustor a bit at a time , a little patience & she'll burn just right for ya. But a lot of stoves are tempermental as you'll deduce on your own on this site . Good luck , Muss

 

[scagger]

I usually run the stove on medium to high which would change the feed rate. So according to the replies on this post, I should be adjusting the restrictor each time I change the heat setting? The manual only provides guidelines on what the flame should look like and to change the restrictor setting based on the flame. It says nothing about how often I will need to adjust the restrictor. Basically now I am adjusting the restrictor if the flame gets lazy and I usually have to set it wide open because the firepot gets clogged so quickly.

 

[imacman]

Not sure why you need to re-adjust the air control so often. I usually set mine once each day, and that's about it. And I have NEVER had to open it all the way.....the most I have ever had it open was 2 1/2 when the stove was really dirty.

How often have you done a complete cleaning? What brand of pellets are you burning?

 

[Lobstah]

I change my restrictor when I change my "heat" setting.
I set my restrictor so that I have no embers flying out of the burnput other than when pellets drop down the shoot.
For me, that's backed down a bit from macman's pellet-wiggling setting, but I find that I get much less ash running it that way.

Jim

 

[scagger]

I'm running LG pellets. Since this is my first season with the pellet stove, I can't compare how they are to other brands of pellet. I've heard good things about Lignetics and Barefoot so I may have to switch for next season. I'll clean out the firepot today and adjust the restrictor again. I wish I didn't have to adjust it all the time but I guess that's just what you have to do to keep a nice hot flame and the firepot clean.

 

[scagger]

Lobstah...are you running a Lopi Pioneer?