Warning for Lopi AGP Pellet stove's

[MikeM]

Hello All, been a lurker here since acquiring my Avalon AGP in Fall 2012. I too had significant lower feed problems with the unit when first installed, but Travis and the dealer got it sorted out and over the last two seasons it has performed very well. Yesterday however the unit failed after a pellet top off; of course this happens on the first really cold single day of the season . Turns out that the output shaft from the lower feed motor was sheared clean off, telltale black grease outside the gearbox seam is also evident. I will circle back here to report the warranty resolution for the part. Thanks

 

[Lake Girl]

Sorry to hear that but welcome to the forum! Hopefully your warranty experience is better that the norm I usually experience ... to bad, warranty just expired Kubota was the only manufacturer that I have encountered that came good on warranty due to moisture in the instrument panel.

Let us know...

 

[MikeM]

Sorry to hear that but welcome to the forum! Hopefully your warranty experience is better that the norm I usually experience ... to bad, warranty just expired Kubota was the only manufacturer that I have encountered that came good on warranty due to moisture in the instrument panel.
Let us know...

Sorry to hear that but welcome to the forum! Hopefully your warranty experience is better that the norm I usually experience ... to bad, warranty just expired Kubota was the only manufacturer that I have encountered that came good on warranty due to moisture in the instrument panel.
Let us know...

Stove is up and running, no warranty coverage, $148, hi torque motor from dealer (shipped from distributor USPS took 3 days). Electric motor is about 1/3 thicker but the gearbox and most importantly the output shaft is the same 3/8". Time will tell. Here is a photo of the split shaft:

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad to hear you are up and running again!

 

[phil from barrington]

My AGP has been banging and clunking ever since I had it installed in August '15. I called my dealer and they said the new upgraded motor was installed before I bought it. Have any of you that have had it changed out still experience all the banging and clanging? Also, for any of you that have posted here and asked about pellets.....Try Olympus brand if you can find them, or any other brand that is 100% Douglas Fir. It's the best material to burn in a pellet stove, period. You'll pay a bit more but those are the best I've come across in the 10 years I've been burning pellets.

 

[stovelark]

Hi Phil- just started burning a pellet called Percell at the store, a douglas fir pellet a distributor here in CT sells for 310 a ton delivered, an excellent burning softwood pellet. I usually burn Spruce Pointe or La Crete softwoods, but this percell is really a nice hot burning pellet too. Take care.

 

[phil from barrington]

Does anyone post here anymore? The saga continues with my AGP insert making all kinds of banging and clanging noise. I've had the dealer over here a couple of times and we think we know what it is, but not what's causing it. With the left side panel removed you can see the metering motor turn the rotary disc. When the rotary disc gets filled with pellets it seems like the unit has trouble cutting the pellets to size. You know this by observing the motor as it turns. You can actually see the motor hesitate/bind/torque a bit and then release quickly when cutting the pellets, causing the the bang and clang. Sometimes it's loud and sometimes not. This motor is connected to the shaft of the rotary disc and is held in place by a set screw only. Seems like a design problem to me, the motor just hanging there with no stiffening to keep the motor from twisting on the shaft when cutting. Has anyone out there had anything close the problems I describe? (The dealer replaced the metering motor last week but the banging continues).

 

[SESZOO]

Third year with our lopi , using it as our main heat here in northern NY ,with no problems at all mostly have burned Energex through it but am changeing this year as they don't seem to burn as hot ,, Only complaint I have is that they are dirty stoves and you have to keep up with the cleaning ,every 4 days here ,no excuses , and a once a month deep clean along with a summer top to bottom end of season ... Other than that have been pleased with it ,..Like to hear some other up to date reports..

 

[Lake Girl]

Can't find exploded parts diagram for the stove so a shot in the dark as it is not a stove I'm familiar with .... Are there bearings that need to be replaced as they do wear over time and fit will become sloppy or is there a way to sharpen the "cutter".

PS Best I could find was a pic of the cutter here: (broken link removed)
Looks like the blade can be removed by two screws...

 

[phil from barrington]

Can't find exploded parts diagram for the stove so a shot in the dark as it is not a stove I'm familiar with .... Are there bearings that need to be replaced as they do wear over time and fit will become sloppy or is there a way to sharpen the "cutter".

PS Best I could find was a pic of the cutter here: (broken link removed)
Looks like the blade can be removed by two screws...

I don't believe it's a bearing issue. The dealer has been here and replaced the metering motor ( it drives the cutter and pushes the pellets to the auger) and the same noise occurs when the blade cuts the pellets. The motor is mounted to the rotary disc shaft and has no support except for a set screw securing it to the shaft. When pellets fill the rotary disc the blade is supposed to trim them down. My problem is this: The pellets seem to be binding up in the cutter/rotary disc causing the motor to torque/twist on the shaft. When the cutter finally cuts through the pellets the motor snaps back into place causing this noise. The pellets I use are 100% Douglas Fir, Olympus brand. I've seen absolutely no negative reviews on these pellets so I assume they're not the cause. If you were to look at this stove you'd see a sheet metal housing around where the motor is mounted. There was enough room to jam a bolt between it and the motor to try to keep the motor from twisting/torquing, but that didn't work either, and they shouldn't have to 'jury rig' it to make it work. The blade was already replaced a few weeks ago. So, after long-winded saga I was wondering if anyone else experienced this issue and what they did to fix it. I've e-mailed Travis Industries and explained my issue in detail but I haven't received a response. Sorry if I' ve repeated myself, I didn't realize I was getting long winded...again. Other than this issue the stove works fine.

 

[Lake Girl]

Unfortunately, you're the first I've heard with this issue. Hope Travis Industries has some ideas for remedy...

 

[phil from barrington]

Thank you Lake Girl, for at least responding. Their silence is deafening. Even if I use pellets that MIGHT cause the noise, they've advertised this stove as having the ability to use ALL GRADES of PELLETS, thus the moniker of AGP. If that is truly the case then I'd say they've fallen a bit short. This thing makes so much noise on a regular basis that I just cannot believe I have 3.6 tons of pellets that have metal and/or stones in them. Oh, last years' batch too. I'm getting close to demanding a new stove. Hoping someone from Travis monitors these websites. I've seen them in here before.

 

[73Charger]

Not sure if it's the same issue, but I have a freestanding AGP stove, and they had to replace the snap-disk (under warranty) during the first year. The stove would be unable to cut through the pellets at times, sounds like a similar issue to yours.

 

[Advisor]

Hi everyone. I just signed up to this forum. I have been reading it for the past few days and wanted to give my opinion on my LOPI AGP stove.

First I have to say that I have been burning wood for over 10 years. I have a LOPI Answer stove that is used as an insert. The build quality is great and all I have every had to replace are crack bricks and the door gasket. That being said. The LOPI AGP stove is just as beautiful as my ANSWER. I love the look of the bay door and the ash lip/tray. The AVALON is the same exact stove with out the fancy door and ash lip/tray. Even though the LOPI was a few dollars more, the look did it for me. It is extremely similar in look to my wood burning stove.

So due to a car accident at work I had to have my neck fused and no longer can split wood. With the way prices are now for home heating I went out to the store I brought my ANSWER and had them install the AGP.

The unit is beautiful and in a few hours I had great heat coming out of the unit. The hopper holds almost 80 LBS. They advertise that it holds 80 LBS but its just not true. I would say its more along the lines of 65-70 LBS.

So two hours later after the installer left, I started to get cold. I went down stairs to where I had the unit installed and saw that the unit had gone out. I went to the instruction manual and went through the shut down start up process. The hopper was full, the unit internal fan was running just no fire.

I called the company I brought it from. The owner walked me through all of the same things that I had did. He asked me to remove all the pellets. Not fun. Had me the hopper door switch and do the start processes. I did. The feeder motor wasn't working. He told me that he would order the part and have it delivered and repaired. I asked him for a new unit. He stated that LOPI doesn't do that and that they would have a repair man at my house on Thursday. This happen on a Monday.

In my head I thought of a returning the stove, stop payment on the check.

I wrote an email to the company who makes the stove, Travis industries. Got a response the next morning saying that the owner of the location that sold me the stove had been in contact with him and that they will fix the problem. Not happy.

Thursday comes and early in the morning the repair man comes. True to what was being said, the feeding motor/auger was seized. The repairman said a few things that really made me mad. He showed me the new feeder/auger motor. It was double the size. This is the statement that made me mad. He said, "This is the motor that is NOW IN PRODUCTION IN THE NEW STOVES BEING MADE." He also stated that the snap disk on these units are defective and he also replaced that. He left and the stove was running beautifully.

When he left I felt like crap. I wrote an email to Travis industries again stating that I was not happy and that I wanted a new "NOW" stove explaining that I just brought the stove and didn't want old stock especially since the knew there was a problem. I left my phone number.

I got a call a few hours later. They explained to me that they have stop production of the AGP stove due to those motors starting to fail. Also explained to me that as soon as they noticed the problem they fired to company that made the motors. He said that they will continue making the stoves and are waiting for the motors to come in. They have a "Hand full of them" for repair and that they had fedex next day for my repair. He informed me that I was the first one that had the motor die in two hours. He said that it was happening in weeks and months or not at all.

He asked me what would make me happy. I informed him that I wanted double the warranty on the moving parts. They come with a two year. He agreed and sent me an email stating so. So at this point I am happy.

As of today my stove has been running for four days straight and it is working great. I have a split level ranch house. Total of 4 levels. I had the stove installed in my family room. An area of about 30 feet by 20 feet. It keeps that level at 78. I had them install the external thermostat option and it is set to 80. The main level is at about 72. The bedroom level is at 68-70.

I have loved my LOPI ANSWER. I really believe the company is a great company. I just wanted to warn everyone who has or is buying one to call and make sure they get the upgraded motor. I am telling you, I saw them both. The new motor is double the size. Good luck and I look forward to being a member on this fourm.

Robert

Thanks for the heads up. & happy it worked out for you in the end.

 

[phil from barrington]

Not sure if it's the same issue, but I have a freestanding AGP stove, and they had to replace the snap-disk (under warranty) during the first year. The stove would be unable to cut through the pellets at times, sounds like a similar issue to yours.

Good Morning 73Charger: The snap disc has nothing to do with the rotary disc. Snap disc is all about heat and thermostat control. My problem looks like that the blade that cuts the pellets is binding on the plate that sits just below it. You can reach in there with the hopper empty and turn the rotary disc by hand. On mine, it binds up and you can't turn it. It squealed like hell last Sunday AM. High pitched, like steel on steel. After weeks of science projects with this unit, Travis is replacing it. Top shelf customer service, I'd say.

 

[Lake Girl]

The stove going back to Travis so they can do an autopsy? Glad to hear they are fixing you up with a new one

 

[haff99]

My AGP has been banging and clunking ever since I had it installed in August '15. I called my dealer and they said the new upgraded motor was installed before I bought it. Have any of you that have had it changed out still experience all the banging and clanging? Also, for any of you that have posted here and asked about pellets.....Try Olympus brand if you can find them, or any other brand that is 100% Douglas Fir. It's the best material to burn in a pellet stove, period. You'll pay a bit more but those are the best I've come across in the 10 years I've been burning pellets.

My AGP insert bangs and clunks when it cuts the pellets. I just thought that was normal. I've had it about 2 years now and other then the occasional clank it doesn't seem to be doing anything bad. Is it supposed to cut the pellets quietly? I get the clank maybe once or twice every hour or so. SOmetimes it's louder where you can hear it cut more then one pellet.

Every once in awhile it sounds like the a pellet gets stuck somewhere(I think in the auger) and it squeals until it pushed the pellet out. I get more concerned about this.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

I see a lot of smart people on these blogs with great knowledgeable information. What i dont get is why are there so many buying these box store pellet stoves? From my experience with pellet stoves you get what you pay for. I read a lot of blogs with problem after problems with the box store stoves. If price is the issue your better off buying a used quadra, Harman , Your higher end stoves which would be less issues even used. Better parts just better made for the same price as a new box store stove. Just my opinion

 

[rich2500]

lots of people with good luck with box store stoves, read about just as many people with problems with quads and harmans etc. as box store stoves. Lopi's are not a box store stove

 

[NYBurner]

I see a lot of smart people on these blogs with great knowledgeable information. What i dont get is why are there so many buying these box store pellet stoves? From my experience with pellet stoves you get what you pay for. I read a lot of blogs with problem after problems with the box store stoves. If price is the issue your better off buying a used quadra, Harman , Your higher end stoves which would be less issues even used. Better parts just better made for the same price as a new box store stove. Just my opinion

Lopi AGP is not a cheap stove, and not a box store brand either

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

lots of people with good luck with box store stoves, read about just as many people with problems with quads and harmans etc. as box store stoves. Lopi's are not a box store stove

Maybe but most of the issues with qaud & Harman are neglected issues, people buy pellet stoves & dont clean them properly 90 percent of issues are caused by neglecting through cleaning which leads to more strain on components to break downs.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

Lopi AGP is not a cheap stove, and not a box store brand either

Okay your right i was wrong agp are in the qauilty stove making. I did more research.

 

[MikeM]

As we swing into the 2017/2018 heating season, here is a updated performance report on the Avalon AGP installed in our home in November 2012. The replacement auger motor I first wrote about when creating this thread lasted all of 15 months, failing in March 2017. This is failure # 4 for the Avalon AGP in 5 years of ownership. The Avalon/Travis OEM motor is manufactured by Merkle-Korff, and again failed at the gear shaft identical to the failure pictured in my Jan 10, 2016 post. The Dealer could order a replacement part, paid for by me in advance. Avalon/Travis’ customer service representative took offense at my suggestion of a design/engineering problem in their product. After my anger subsided and I didn’t throw the unit off the back deck, research on this forum helped me identify an alternate feed motor manufacture which so far (25+/- bags) has been working well.

 

[Manly]

As we swing into the 2017/2018 heating season, here is a updated performance report on the Avalon AGP installed in our home in November 2012. The replacement auger motor I first wrote about when creating this thread lasted all of 15 months, failing in March 2017. This is failure # 4 for the Avalon AGP in 5 years of ownership. The Avalon/Travis OEM motor is manufactured by Merkle-Korff, and again failed at the gear shaft identical to the failure pictured in my Jan 10, 2016 post. The Dealer could order a replacement part, paid for by me in advance. Avalon/Travis’ customer service representative took offense at my suggestion of a design/engineering problem in their product. After my anger subsided and I didn’t throw the unit off the back deck, research on this forum helped me identify an alternate feed motor manufacture which so far (25+/- bags) has been working well.

It will be interesting to see how long you new motor lasts. I installed a Ravelli pellet stove a couple of seasons back. Last spring the auger motor failed. It was a Merkle-Korff motor in I'm not mistaken. I replaced it with a Dayton gear motor from Grainger. The new motor was much quieter than the original. I believe the original was defective, and, or installed improperly. Anyway, time will tell. So far so good.

 

[Dedgerly603]

Hello, just found this forum and I also have a Lopi AGP. It is the freestanding unit that I purchased as a showroom model in January last season. The manufacture date on the back says it was made in January 2014.

I started heating season in NH with the stove consistently around November 1. I burn cleanfire pacific pellets only and the stove runs 24/7 as a primary source to keep my 30 y/o oil furnace from running. In the past two weeks I have gotten poor performance from my stove. Heat output seems much lower then last season and the glass is sooting up; which has never ever happened in the past.

Two days ago the stove starting making a deep harmonic hum and vibrating. I have isolated the noise to the vertical feed auger motor as described in the previous posts. Upon inspection I found the auger motor bracket was loose... was able to giggle it by hand...Maybe 1/8" of gap between the bracket and the housing it bolts too. Being a decently mechanically inclined person (gas turbine engineer), I tightening the bracket. Started the stove back up and the auger motor noise got worse. Much worse. Loud hum when it indexes and a bearing squeal when it cycles around its travel.

So I removed the pellets and the left side panel. Turned the stove back on with the left side panel open and loosened the auger motor bracket till the motor noises subsided mostly. Still louder then I remember from last season. While I had the pellets out I removed the auger chisel and sharpened it. It was not dull but not necessarily sharp. I sharpened it on a honing stone and removed a couple gouges and burs. I have been getting louder and louder clunks since November and read on this forum that the chisel gets dull and clunks real bad.

Now the stove is back together and the clunking has lessened mostly; as I presume the sharp chisel cuts the pellets much easier. But the stove seems to have a relatively loud operating hum. Much louder then I remember last season .

I clean the stove every 5-7 days; empty ash pan, clean burn pot, remove all internal panels and clean exhaust blower from the ashpan drawer, and clean the convection tubes. A pretty thorough cleaning.

So at this point and from what I have read in this string of posts that I need to replace my auger motor. How do I know when I order it if I am getting the new updated motor?
What company are you ordering it from? Part number?
I see some have ordered an alternate brand motor as well. Where could I get one of those?

Also, has anyone replaced the combustion blower yet? I think my loud operating noise is partly due to that as well. I suppose the bearings in the motor are getting tired and its getting louder and louder.

Sorry for the long post and any advice would be much appreciated.

Dan