Problems with Lopi Leyden

[JJDEW1]

I am having some issues with my 4 year old Lopi Leyden. Had combustor and bypass plate replaced by dealer before this season (bypass clip and gasket warped, repair man said combustor was "shot"). Stove worked fine until recently. Now when closing the stove down for an overnight burn (bypass closed and air flow knob pushed all the way in) stove appears to not get ANY air. Small puffs of smoke escape from under lid. House smells of smoke overnight. Have had to leave bypass plate open slightly. Any thoughts?

 

[Heatsource]

is the chimney cap clean?

 

[JJDEW1]

planned on checking that today when I get home from work. I was waiting for the snow to melt off the roof to safely get up there. Thanks.

 

[webby3650]

My Leyden did the same thing, sometimes.
That's the unpredictable part of a down draft stove in my opinion, will it burn, or blow smoke out? We have it burning right now in the store, it's very sluggish and when it's turned down, it smells like smoke is leaking somewhere. Bummer, it's a pretty stove.

 

[JJDEW1]

A1Stoves: cap was dirty. took it off and cleaned it, ran my brush down the ss liner also and vacuumed out debris. burns better but still have puffs from top of stove when both bypass and airflow are closed for a slow burn. still appears to be starved for air or unable to vent. going to take side and combustor bricks out this weekend and see if any ash buildup to vac out from combustor. I cut my own wood so I know its well seasoned. burning ash and locust now. wouldn't think it would need cleaning this early in the season with a brand new combustor.

webby 3650: thanks for the info. it burns fine until you close bypass and air flow for a slow burn. it just seems strange that it has never done this in previous seasons. I wonder if it has somethig to do with the new combustor. I have seen posts on this site about having to replace combustor multiple times with this stove, hopefully thats not the case for me, but one never knows....

 

[begreen]

It's not just the Leyden. The combustor assembly appears to be the Achilles heel of downdraft stoves.

 

[webby3650]

The sales Rep looked at my Leyden today at the store. He says that he thinks the combuster is collapsed.
The smoke smell is coming from a leak where the flue collar mounts and also possibly a leak from under the top. They are sending the new parts and gaskets. It will upgrade it to Revision # 400 or so.
It's pretty sad, I only burned it for about 2 months.
Even after the work, I don't think it will fix anything. As, Begreen said, it's a down draft stove.

 

[JJDEW1]

Just a quick update. Stove burning much better now. Must have been the cap. I didn't take out bricks and clean out sides of combustor as it is so new. I can hear combustor working but not on all burns, even if I follow same procedure.....gotta love it!

Thanks for advice. I'm sure I'll be back.