Need help identifying a cracked part in a 2001 Lopi Liberty stove

[MaybeErnie]

I was hoping someone here could help me identify the part that has 2 vertical cracks in the attached image. I think it may be part of the "bypass" system, but I'm not sure. Also, I really need to know whether this is a bad (possibly dangerous?) flaw and if so, how I should go about fixing it. Maybe patch it with stove cement? In the image, the upper firebricks and retaining bars have been removed to see everything better.

Thanks for your help!

 

[bholler]

I was hoping someone here could help me identify the part that has 2 vertical cracks in the attached image. I think it may be part of the "bypass" system, but I'm not sure. Also, I really need to know whether this is a bad (possibly dangerous?) flaw and if so, how I should go about fixing it. Maybe patch it with stove cement? In the image, the upper firebricks and retaining bars have been removed to see everything better.

Thanks for your help!

No not dangerous now. But it will get worse an eventually could be. Hammer it flat and bolt bent stainless plate over it. Just a warning drilling and tapping that metal really sucks

 

[MaybeErnie]

No not dangerous now. But it will get worse an eventually could be. Hammer it flat and bolt bent stainless plate over it. Just a warning drilling and tapping that metal really sucks

OK. That sounds like a fun job.

But I’m still wondering what that part is. It seems like air is supposed to flow through it so if I hammer it flat, won’t that cause some kind of problem?

 

[begreen]

It looks like the secondary air manifold. It's a box tube system that branches out to the left and right to supply air to the secondary tubes. Hammer flat the curled metal just a bit so that the stainless patch can lay flat against the face of this area. Some flat, 1/8" ceramic gasket material could be cut to sit between the stainless patch and the manifold.

 

[bholler]

OK. That sounds like a fun job.

But I’m still wondering what that part is. It seems like air is supposed to flow through it so if I hammer it flat, won’t that cause some kind of problem?

Begreen explained it well. How old is the stove? Are you the original owner? It might be worth checking about warranty

 

[MaybeErnie]

It's a 2001 and I'm the second owner.

Inspecting this a bit more, I see that the main chamber (the rectangular boxy thing in the center of the picture, that the 2 cracked channels connect to) is kind of concave as if it's been banged in from years of log loading. I don't see any way of pulling that back out to what I assume was its original shape. I wish these manifold parts were removable and replaceable like the secondary burn tubes but they appear to be welded into the rear of the stove. It seems like these manifold parts would commonly degrade over time.

Anyway, I'll do what you guys suggested and screw some kind of stainless steel bar over the damaged air channels. Any recommendations on what gauge or thickness stainless steel I should look for? I'll predrill the patch bar but I believe what bholler said about it being tough to get screws into those channels.

Edit: One more question -- What kinds of screws would be best for something like this? I was thinking of regular self-tapping (sheet metal) screws but I guess those might break down after awhile.

 

[MaybeErnie]

So... I did what begreen suggested and added a 1/8" steel patch plate with a layer of ceramic insulation sandwiched between the plate and the existing manifold chamber. Before I did that, I patched the cracks by first stuffing some ceramic insulation covered in stove cement into the cracks and then putting a thin layer of stove cement over the top of that. Pic below. No telling if this will hold up but I don't know what else could be done short of cutting out the damaged parts and welding an all new manifold chamber in there.

Much thanks to begreen and bholler for guiding me in the right direction.

 

[stoveliker]

Looks quite good to me.

 

[bigealta]

How was the drilling ?

 

[begreen]

That should minimize leakage and buy some more years of service. It should burn a bit better too with the secondary air properly routed. Keep us posted on how it works out.

 

[MaybeErnie]

How was the drilling ?

Funny you should ask! I predrilled the oversized holes in the steel plate outside the stove so that wasn't bad. But as bholler said, drilling in the steel baffles was tough. I broke two 7/64" bits trying to drill the pilot holes for the self tapping screws. Plenty of bad words were spoken but the dogs only glared at me.