Travis Ind. Lopi/Avalon reliability?

[richkorn]

I have a Lopi Leyden being installed in Sept. It looks like a nice cast iron PS and the dealer talked highly of it. The Leyden came out in 2007. While searching the NET on Lopi there are tons of bad reviews and people complaining of pellets dumping in too fast, auger problems, smoke, clogging up etc.. These complaints appear to have stopped around 2005 and way before the Leyden was released.

The question would be, are people having problems with the newer models from Travis, or have they pretty much worked out the bugs?

Same old story with me--wanted an XXV but couldn't get one till next year so went with the Leyden. I've read the manual on it like 3 times and am looking forward to getting it--and, keeping my fingers crossed it'll work good...

Thanks!

 

[muss]

Hi there Newbie & welcome to this great site. I have had my Lopi Leyden since this past winter & so far haven't had a legitimate gripe. Truth be told , i've seen quite a few gripes about the xxv . I know there are a few new owners of Lopi Stoves on here . I just set my thermostat & forget it. So far it has exceded my expectations in every way. Good luck & stay tight to this site. These people are more knowledgable than most current dealers. Any more ?'s 'bout the Lopi i will be glad to try & answer them for you. When heating season comes you'll be pleasantly surprised at all the folks on here & how nice & how helpful they are . Muss

 

[webbie]

My guess is that this brand of stove is more reliable than most. This is due to knowing the care that their engineers take in avoiding problems FOR THEMSELVES....and, as a result, for the customers. In general, Travis does their homework. I would have one of these...any day of the week (maybe they will give me one)

 

[richkorn]

Thanks for the replies guys, i'm looking forward to getting this and firing it up for the winter!

 

[coldin nh]

I have had a Lopi Leyden for two weeks. It has worked less than half the time. The auger either jams and won't release any pellets, or it dumps so many that the fire goes out. The dealer (after calling repeatedly with no response) finally says that the problem is the pellets. If they are too long the auger jams. If too much pellet dust gets in it the auger jams. They didn't mention this before we bought pellets! Frankly, if the thing is this finicky, I'm not impressed. It cost way too much and pellets are already very hard to get. Now they're saying only the ones from Agway will work in this stove. I want to send the thing back and get a refund. I am very disappointed in the quality.

 

[imacman]

Hey Coldin NH,

just saw your post and wanted to mention something.

I have an Avalon Astoria, and have read on here that the new ones (2008) have a "fuel gate" over the end of the drop tube....this has caused problems with pellets getting jammed in the drop tube. Does your Arbor have that same gate? If it does, remove it and that might solve your problem.

Travis Ind. products are usually pretty trouble free, from what I've read on here.

 

[coldin nh]

We spoke to Travis Industries yesterday and they suggested the same thing--that we remove the fuel gate and leave it off. Unfortunately that didn't help!

 

[JBlank912]

I have the Lopi Yankee and the stove seems fine (new this year). The pellet issues were the headache but I have gooten that more figured out. Although annoying, I let the hopper run almost out after a few bags, scoop out the rest and vacuum the fines. My pellets have alot of fines and this is how I control part of it. The other way is shaking the bag a little and leaving the last 2 lbs or so in the bag, then filtering that later. The combination keeps the fines and jams down. My dealer just removed the gate, and that helped make the burns more even. The fines seem to be a problem in many pellet stoves.

On the other hand, Muss, you said you are using the wireless remote, is it Travis's? The stove is fine but the Remote thermostat is buggy. It seems if we change the setting on it for different temperatures, it does not alway swork. My wife went out and just came home, the thermostat was set to 70 and the room was 79, I beleive it was because she changed the setting on the thermostat temperature and crossed over the on/off set point, when we do that is when it sometimes does not work.

 

[flame thrower]

Installed a Lopi Leyden in early March of this year, It's been good to me so far, none of the above problems. I tried differrant brands of pellets back in March before its got hard to find them and they all burnt well. I'm a newbie at this, been lurking for a while, great site I've learned a lot from everybody thanks

 

[mullet]

I love mine, saved me so much money and heats the 2,500 sqft house just fine.

JRB, I set my thermostat to 65 to get 71 its a cheesy thermostat but I have it dialed in.

 

[muss]

I agree, it is a cheesy thermostat as is the little brush, but after 4 brands of pellets,, the heat just keeps on heatin' :coolsmile: Having only had the Lopi Leyden & no other , i really can't compare it . I might look into a programable thermostat some day . Muss

 

[Gargravarr]

I have had a Lopi Leyden for two weeks. It has worked less than half the time. The auger either jams and won't release any pellets, or it dumps so many that the fire goes out. The dealer (after calling repeatedly with no response) finally says that the problem is the pellets. If they are too long the auger jams. If too much pellet dust gets in it the auger jams. They didn't mention this before we bought pellets! Frankly, if the thing is this finicky, I'm not impressed. It cost way too much and pellets are already very hard to get. Now they're saying only the ones from Agway will work in this stove. I want to send the thing back and get a refund. I am very disappointed in the quality.

I have been having the same problems with my Lyden too! The Dealer has given me the same song and dance, long pellets can cause Jams... Which I think is BS. I've not seen a pellet longer than 1/2 inch, and there's not a lot of dust (don't know what 'fines' refer to). They said they Travis rep would be at their store on saturday and they'd bring it up with him/her and let me know what he says... Frankly I'm find the stove unreliable, the auger will jam at really inconvenient times ( like 3am, or when we're away at work), which is aggravating, because the stove is otherwise capable of heating the whole house, so I don't need to run the oil. The dealer better have some resolution for me on monday, or i'm about to become the nightmare customer...

Curious, "souther NH" who your dealer was?

 

[JBlank912]

Be curious to hear Travis's word on this. If they blame the pellet gate and what the official word is.

 

[derrickp]

I have a Lopi Yankee that I am going on my second year with overall I really like it and have had no issues with the stove. The thermostat another story.

Those of you using the thermostat provided with the stove(wall mount one). How does it work for your stove?

Mine doesnt seem to control anything. I have it set to 60 and it gets 80 in the room(burning on auto setting low). I verified that it was installed correctly and the fuse in it was replaced and appears to be good.

Does it actually turn the stove off and on? What is the normal thermostat operation like with a Travis Ind pellet stove?

Thanks,
Derrick

 

[muss]

Well Derrick, when i set it at 70' , it kicks off at 72 . But i adjust accordingly now that i know the variations. Just get a better thermostat . Muss

 

[Gargravarr]

I have a Lopi Yankee that I am going on my second year with overall I really like it and have had no issues with the stove. The thermostat another story.

Those of you using the thermostat provided with the stove(wall mount one). How does it work for your stove?

Mine doesnt seem to control anything. I have it set to 60 and it gets 80 in the room(burning on auto setting low). I verified that it was installed correctly and the fuse in it was replaced and appears to be good.

Does it actually turn the stove off and on? What is the normal thermostat operation like with a Travis Ind pellet stove?

Thanks,
Derrick

I did connect the thermostat to my Leyden, and it actually works great... Not familiar with the Yankee, but the leyden has a switch setting for auto or manual, auto being for thermostat control. There is also a little dial in side the thermostat for how long the 'cycle interval' is, and there is a setting to make it run longer. E.G., with my thermostat set to 75, the room will get to about 80 before the stove shuts off, but turn back on around 75... Maybe the cycle interval on your thermostat is set really high??

 

[derrickp]

I did connect the thermostat to my Leyden, and it actually works great... Not familiar with the Yankee, but the leyden has a switch setting for auto or manual, auto being for thermostat control. There is also a little dial in side the thermostat for how long the 'cycle interval' is, and there is a setting to make it run longer. E.G., with my thermostat set to 75, the room will get to about 80 before the stove shuts off, but turn back on around 75... Maybe the cycle interval on your thermostat is set really high??

Thanks Gargravarr, sounds like the same setup. I pulled teh cover off of the thermostat and it has the cycle interval control, funny the directions provided dont mention this. Mine was cranked all the way up which i believe would be the largest cycle time.

I am going to test it out when it cools off tonight.

Thanks again,
Derrick