(Warrenty covered) Small cracks found in Lopi Leyden stove top (fixed)

[BJ64]

Hello everybody.

I was doing a preseason check out of the stove and discovered two cracks in the stove top. The cracks are located in the back corners of the top load door opening. The cracks are about a thumbnail in thickness, about and inch long, and they go all the way through the thickness of the stove top.

The stove is a Lopi Leyden and has been used one season.

I was wondering if anyone else has had the issue and if it is any big deal.

FYI The stove is a top loading down draft stove similar to the Harmon TL300. Date of manufacture is September, 2007.

In pictures the cracks in question are circled. The other lines that appear as cracks are the "artistic" lines/cracks in the enamel coating. For some reason the picture makes the lines in the enamel appear more noticeable that they really are and I am in no way concerned about them.

(Update 9-24-09
The defective part was covered by the warranty.
Replacement part is being send from the factory and the dealer will be out to install it.)

 

[begreen]

I don't like it. Might not be a big deal, but this is a new stove. Have you been in touch with the dealer and Lopi about this?

 

[BJ64]

I'm not liking it either. I plan on calling the dealer tomorrow.

I remember last year discussing Travis's customer support. This might be a case to see how they respond.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

if you dont over fire any more is likely not an issue.

that said, if one of my Avalon Arbor(same maker, pretty much same stove..) customers had that issue i'd sent the unit back to travis for refurb or replacement asap

 

[BJ64]

Wow, this might be a bigger deal than I was expecting.

If this is the case, I hope we can get this in order before I need to start heating the house.

The hottest stove top temp that I remember from last winter was 750 to 800. That may be considered over firing but it tends to happen once in a while. I burn various kinds of wood and once in a while a load will ramp up to temp faster than expected.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

you might have issues if the factory determines this is due to over firing. IF they do, you might not be getting a replacement. Are you burning cord wood only?

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

800 is pushing it for cast stoves.... not too bad, buit pretty high!

ime travis factory is good peeps

 

[struggle]

I agree with others that you need to address that.

I looked at the Lopi before going with soapstone and the Lopi in build compared to the old VC Vigilant and left me nervous so I passed on it.

 

[BJ64]

MountainStoveGuy: Yes, I'm just burning cord wood that I cut here on the place. Mostly it is downed Pecan limbs and Hackberry wood. Oak is not as common along this creek for some reason. On the other hand we have not burned any trash, tires, or coal in it.

Well it is 10 am here. I am going call the stove shop and see what the boys think.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Please keep us up to date on this one! You must have one hell of a chimney. If it turns out that your over drafting the stove, you might consider putting a inline damper in. That stove should not be getting that hot on regular basis.

 

[thewoodlands]

Hello everybody.

I was doing a preseason check out of the stove and discovered two cracks in the stove top. The cracks are located in the back corners of the top load door opening. The cracks are about a thumbnail in thickness, about and inch long, and they go all the way through the thickness of the stove top.

The stove is a Lopi Leyden and has been used one season.

I was wondering if anyone else has had the issue and if it is any big deal.

FYI The stove is a top loading down draft stove similar to the Harmon TL300. Date of manufacture is September, 2007.

In pictures the cracks in question are circled. The other lines that appear as cracks are the "artistic" lines/cracks in the enamel coating. For some reason the picture makes the lines in the enamel appear more noticeable that they really are and I am in no way concerned about them.

This is what I sent Travis Industries, What would the Lopi Leyden stove top temps be?

That stove is going to do the best in the range of 400 degrees +. You want to get it hot during the initial fire so when you go to close down the bypass the combustor will work as designed and create a secondary burn.

Per Travis Industries
Zap

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Having gone through something similar on my Lopi Answer Insert...the warrantee for the stove only includes shipping one way back to the mfg for repair done by Travis....so, either you or your dealer is going to have to foot the bill to ship the stove back.
Had 3 cracks on my stove that was only 6 months old....never overfired.

 

[BJ64]

Please keep us up to date on this one! You must have one hell of a chimney. If it turns out that your over drafting the stove, you might consider putting a inline damper in. That stove should not be getting that hot on regular basis.

LOL I'm just running a 17 foot straight stack. I think the minimum is 15 foot. Normally the stove ran between 400 and 600. The 750 - 800 range was hit, at most 4 times, most likely 3 times. In any case it was not the usual operating condition.

I did call the shop and they intend to send someone out to look at it. I live about 50 miles away so it may be a few days before they can come out. To me that is reasonable considering it is a busier time of year for them. We took better pictures of the cracks to email to the dealer. They might be good enough to send to Travis and save the dealer the trip of coming out here.

 

[BJ64]

Having gone through something similar on my Lopi Answer Insert...the warrantee for the stove only includes shipping one way back to the mfg for repair done by Travis....so, either you or your dealer is going to have to foot the bill to ship the stove back.
Had 3 cracks on my stove that was only 6 months old....never overfired.

I seen that in the book. I wonder what is the chance they just send a replacement part?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Please keep us up to date on this one! You must have one hell of a chimney. If it turns out that your over drafting the stove, you might consider putting a inline damper in. That stove should not be getting that hot on regular basis.

LOL I'm just running a 17 foot straight stack. I think the minimum is 15 foot. Normally the stove ran between 400 and 600. The 750 - 800 range was hit, at most 4 times, most likely 3 times. In any case it was not the usual operating condition.

I did call the shop and they intend to send someone out to look at it. I live about 50 miles away so it may be a few days before they can come out. To me that is reasonable considering it is a busier time of year for them. We took better pictures of the cracks to email to the dealer. They might be good enough to send to Travis and save the dealer the trip of coming out here.

Ask them to bring a monometer on there trip out and measure draft, they should have one on there truck. Im NOT making excuses for travis, they might have had a bad run of castings or something. But the situations seems like you have a great draft, maybe too good.

 

[branchburner]

Normally the stove ran between 400 and 600. The 750 - 800 range was hit, at most 4 times, most likely 3 times. In any case it was not the usual operating condition.

I'm assuming 400-600 is cruising in downdraft mode with the bypass damper closed, and you hit 700-800 with the bypass open? If that's the case it sounds pretty normal. No way a few times at those temps should result in cracks.

 

[BrotherBart]

The top plate cracked on both sides right by the hinges that hold the weight when the top is fully opened. No mystery here. Bad casting.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

but i love a good mystery!

 

[BrotherBart]

but i love a good mystery!

You. You. You. You stove dealer you!

"Hi Fred. This is the guy that bought the stove from ya yesterday."

"Oh Hi. How is the stove doing?"

"Well, we haven't burned in it yet but it split down the middle when we turned on the central heat last night."

"Hmmm.. Obviously over-fired when you turned the central heat up too high. Warranty is void."

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Now BB, don't put words in my mouth. He said he has seen 800* temps on his stove. That could mean that it has actually gotten hotter then that at some point. Over firing stoves is not uncommon. I was trying to tell the OP that if lopi gets the stove back and they say it was over fired, he will be SOL. This was to prepare the OP for what was coming up, not tell him what happened. I would like to see what the draft reading on that stove is. Defective or not, its hard to get stoves up to that temp with out allot of draft.

 

[branchburner]

Sometimes those warranties worry me. They seem to be saying, "We've listed a number of covered items, but they will not be covered if the stove is overfired. How will we determine if the stove is overfired? We've decided the only way the covered items could fail is by overfiring the stove." I exaggerate, but for example it seems my Oakwood combustion package has a narrow range of acceptable operation: too cool a fire and it doesn't work, too hot a fire and it works but will get toasted (and not be covered, re: overfiring).

Speaking of Harmans, MSG, have you seen an Oakwood push 700-800 with dry wood in the updraft mode? Mine will, even without primary air, but maybe my draft is stronger than I think. That's why I was wondering if the Lopi was in up or down mode when it hit 800. To hit that during downdraft would be a real problem (ala VC Everburn?). But at least for me, I have no doubt I could kill this stove by leaving the bypass open too long with a full load of good food.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I wish i knew how manufactures can tell if something is overfired. It seems like a good scapegoat to me. That wording gives them the option to warranty it or not. If the OP where my customer, i would fight to get it squared away. If it happened again, i would start to ask more questions. Good customer service tells you to take care of your customer as best you can, not to make excuses why not to warrant something. IF the dealer has a good relationship with the manufacture, then the dealer might have some pull if the manufacture claims over firing. If the manufacture did not want to help, i would take the stove back, order the part, fix it and put it on my floor for sale. I would put the customer into a different stove.

 

[daryl]

Hmmm made in China castings?

 

[branchburner]

If the manufacturer did not want to help, i would take the stove back, order the part, fix it and put it on my floor for sale. I would put the customer into a different stove.

Righto! Customer word-of-mouth lets people know which dealers are on their side, and a good manufacturer will listen to both the dealers and end customers. (I have found increasingly even big chains like Lowe's have figured out it really pays to treat their customers well.) I know a store that dumped VC on that basis. They are quite happy now to be putting their customers into Jotuls.

 

[Todd]

Hmmm made in China castings?

Yep.