Older (1994) Lopi Liberty: a few questions!

[MaybeErnie]

Greetings! I found a listing for a 1994 Lopi Liberty, labeled Model 520-NT. This is a non-catalytic model and does not come with a blower. The listing is asking $2000 which seems very high, but it is in good shape and was apparently used very rarely.

I have a thing for old Lopi stoves, having had one of their older inserts, which is now removed. I like the rustic looks of Lopi stoves and they seem to be sturdily made. This is for a new installation that I've been working on for over a year, building a hearth and wall protection, running double-walled flue and chimney pipe, and so on. If I have the necessary clearances (TBD), are these old Libertys well regarded? If so, I may try to bargain a bit.

Thanks for your help!
Albert

 

[begreen]

Is this a step-top version? IIRC the 520 had no secondary combustion, just a simple firebrick baffle. These stoves are tanks but they are asking about double what it's worth in excellent condition IMHO.

The 520 had side clearances of 43" from the stove pipe and a rear clearance of 15" if double-walled stove pipe connects the stove.

 

[MaybeErnie]

In this image, I can see at least one secondary combustion tube near the top.

 

[MaybeErnie]

43" - yikes! This would be a corner install. Looking at the 520 manual (p. 7), I'm seeing 18-1/2" reduced clearance for "Connector to Corner Wall" if using Duravent DVL pipe. I assume that applies to the chimney clearance all the way from the top of the stove up to the ceiling box, right? I actually may not have that -- need to check.

But yeah, my Lopi affection aside, $2K is way too steep

 

[MaybeErnie]

This is what I see in the manual, if I am indeed looking at the correct manual:
(EDIT: I took a look at the specs in the seller's image of the stove's plaque and they match the ones in the manual image below.)

 

[stovelark]

That is an oldie but goodie. It had the bypass/startup handle to reload/start up stove, I thought that was a cool feature. We wound up going with the Quad 3100 vs the Endeavor from Lopi, but sold a number of LOPIs in my day. They eventually priced themselves out of the store I was at, and Quads sold much better too. The Liberty was quite the heater though. 2000? That sounds kinda high, but stove prices today are kinda out of whack. Good luck.

 

[MaybeErnie]

Yes, I like the stove and I’m tempted to go for it. However, that 18-1/2” clearance spec from the pipe to the corner wall (Measure F in the image above) could be a deal killer. I don’t understand why 18” would be required given that Duravent DVL pipe only requires 6” clearance. I’m still trying to figure that out.