# Lopi Leyden



## muss (Oct 12, 2008)

Curious as to who else out here owns a Lopi Leyden ??     Muss


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## thekid_1 (Oct 12, 2008)

I do. It is my first year with it though.


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## derrickp (Oct 12, 2008)

I have a Lopi Yankee that I am happy with, I believe the Leyden has a similar heating capacity.

Derrick


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## richkorn (Oct 12, 2008)

Leyden installed 9/30. picked up 3 tons pellets yesterday.


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## imacman (Oct 12, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> Leyden installed 9/30. picked up 3 tons pellets yesterday.



Is that a dehumidifier I see next to the pellets richkorn?  Good idea...I did the same thing.

Sorry Muss....didn't mean to hijack your thread.


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## richkorn (Oct 12, 2008)

macman said:
			
		

> Is that a dehumidifier I see next to the pellets richkorn?  Good idea...I did the same thing.



Yes, I run it year-round in the basement to keep dampness down. Never really needed it in the Winter though.


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## staplebox (Oct 13, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> Leyden installed 9/30. picked up 3 tons pellets yesterday.



Where'd you get them pellets Rick?  How much?


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## richkorn (Oct 13, 2008)

> Where'd you get them pellets Rick?  How much?



I got them at Eastern CT Pellet in N. Franklin CT. Currently he is sold out and the only ones he has are already sold (Lignetics and Napco).

I had Corinth HW on order for $280 but they never came in for some reason. he had a shipment of Maine Woods in stock and I bought the last 3 pallets. It was expensive, but since I picked them up myself and avoided the $100 delivery (I was going to have the Corinth delivered), it ended up costing me the same, except for my time (you can do the math). Still too much $ but cheaper than oil (for now).  Next year I'll order in March/April!


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## RedHotinWesternMA (Oct 13, 2008)

any of your ever had a problem with your augers on the Leydens?


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## richkorn (Oct 13, 2008)

No, That must be your post about the auger not working. Mine has worked great right out of the crate. I'd check where you bought and tell them it's broke. Travis Ind. has a great warranty and it will get fixed if it's broke.


Also, some people with here with quads  have had problems like that and checked/reseated the circuit board connections that got jarred during shipment.


-rk


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## RedHotinWesternMA (Oct 13, 2008)

Yep that was me. We've been at this all day now and can't get that auger moving at all. We vacuumed it clean and tried a few times to get it going but no dice. 
I'm feeling like we got screwed. The top of the stove is a little bit warped and the people we bought it from are no help at all...just kept asking if we read the manual. Which we did. I have a call in to the manufacturer but it seems like the auger is seized up or something. Thanks for your reply.


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## richkorn (Oct 13, 2008)

When you move the button to manual and push the start button that auger should move within a few seconds and drop pellets. That's about it, no reading of the manual required to make that happen. Sounds broke and needs repair.

Is it new or used?


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## richkorn (Oct 13, 2008)

One more thing, you mentioned the top being warped. There is an interlock on the top under the cover that stops the auger from moving if the cover is up.  I'd check that if you haven't already.


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## RedHotinWesternMA (Oct 13, 2008)

Brand new. Just starting it for the first time.
When put it on manual and push the button I hear the fan turn on and run but that auger doesn't move at all. Tried turning it by hand and tapping on it...nothing. What do you think the chances of them sending someone out to the house are? Its getting cold up here!


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## RedHotinWesternMA (Oct 13, 2008)

Yes I wondered about that - maybe the top isn't completely compressing the button to let the stove start feeding but even when I push it all the way down with my finger nothing seems to happen.


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## firemannate31 (Oct 14, 2008)

Muss,

I have the Avalon Arbor, which is the same stove with some trim differences.

Both are made by Travis Industries.


FMN


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## Gargravarr (Oct 21, 2008)

RedHotinWesternMA said:
			
		

> any of your ever had a problem with your augers on the Leydens?



I JUST had a leyden installed by Higgins Energy in Barre MA. The auger did not work when they installed (it fired up once, then wouldn't restart). LIke you I spent HOURS trying to make it work, thinking that it was some sort of user error. 

After some threatening of letters to the attorney general, I got Higgins back out the next day to fix it (they wanted to come back 3 days later, which was unacceptable to me)... It ended up being a loose set set screw which attaches the auger shaft to the auger motor. The motor was spinning, but the shaft was not. Since then it has worked better... So I would check this. If you had the unit professionally installed, they should come back to fix this. Apparently this has happened to these units before, b/c they new exactly what was wrong (I ordered my unit in June, they didn't receive it till October, seems QC suffers when factory output increases). Also, they did have to disassemble the unit quite extensively to fix the problem...

HOWEVER, I seem to still have a related auger issue, and perhaps I should start a new thread BUT - I keep getting Pellet jams in the at the top of the auger into the feed shoot. After the stove has been running for a couple hours, my pellets will Jam, and the auger cannot push any more pellets past the jam... I then have to use a long screw driver or poker to clear the jam (a which point a torrent of pellets fall out, usually enough to FILL the burn pot)... This makes running the unit for a primary heat source VERY unreliable. My sales rep says he's heard of this with pellets of excessive length (say 2" or more) but I've never seen a pellet from my bags longer than 1/2-1". Any one else see this issue? Any recommendations? Do I have unreal expectations for the reliability for this thing? 

Thanks


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## Utilitrack (Oct 21, 2008)

I had my Leyden installed on 10/10. So far so good. It heats our two story 1,900' cape very well. We installed it in the dining room, thank goodness, as if we had put it in the living room it would have been too hot. We are currently working out the bugs- heating levels, dryness, pellet storage, cleaning etc. The glass has been getting stained brown fairly quickly by the stove, anyone else experience this. I have been cleaning with glass stove top cleaner, works with some elbow grease.

Still early though, optimistic for a dependable unit that pays for itself in s few years. I feel comfortable witht he dealer that we bought through, they were great to deal with and suspect that their customer service continues after the sale. Good luck all.


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## richkorn (Oct 21, 2008)

Gargravarr,

What kind of pellets are you using. I just had this same problem, crappy pellets.


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## Gargravarr (Oct 22, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> Gargravarr,
> 
> What kind of pellets are you using. I just had this same problem, crappy pellets.



LG Inc.

It's been running all day today on Auto, so maybe I just had a bad bag... I was just worried there might be a lingering issue with my stove, given my initial problems with it....

did you hook up the remote thermostat to yours?


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## richkorn (Oct 22, 2008)

LG pellets are supposed to be real good.

I'm running mine in manual mode only right now. Running fine so far with different pellets.


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## flamegrabber (Oct 22, 2008)

I assume you're talking about Lignetics.

I have 2 tons of LG's and 1 ton of the crappy Maine Woods.

The LG's are great.  Very little ash, glass stays cleaner, much better than the Maine Woods.

I'm going to burn through the MW's first and save the good stuff for the real cold weather and into spring.

FG.




			
				richkorn said:
			
		

> LG pellets are supposed to be real good.
> 
> I'm running mine in manual mode only right now. Running fine so far with different pellets.


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## Utilitrack (Oct 22, 2008)

I spoke too soon, last night I not only had my burn pot overfill but later in the evening the chute backed up and starved my stove. I adjusted the air intake for the first problem, and the second problem resolved fairly easily when i opened up the chute. There seemed to not be a jam at all, there was no resistance with the chute opening up and the pellets just streamed out. Anyone else experience this?

Also any suggestions that other Leyden owners have to keep pellets moving in the shallow part of the hopper would be appreciated. 

Marc


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## richkorn (Oct 22, 2008)

flamegrabber said:
			
		

> I assume you're talking about Lignetics.
> 
> I have 2 tons of LG's and 1 ton of the crappy Maine Woods.
> 
> ...



I'm returning my 3 tons of Maine Woods (M and M Ltd. bags) to supplier this Sat. for a refund. I borrowed some Heat LLC. pellets from relative to use until I can get some, they burn pretty good, about the same as the NEWP that stove dealer gave me.

I'm staying on the list for Lignetics with my supplier and putting in an order of NEWP with local HW store just in case Lignetics don't come in. Local Tractor Supply is first come first serve (no orders) and none in stock right now.

-rk


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## pkryan (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi, OK Newbie here, my husband & I just installed the Lopi Leyden back in July, so this is all new to us, Pellets & all.. I guess my first question is does anyone who has the Lopi have trouble with it running on med/low.  We put it in our main room(living room) the house is all open living room/dining/kitchen w/ bedrooms in back of the house.when running it on high its just too hot(for now) so when we put it on med or even low it seems to set off our smoke detector, and that is with playing with the air intake. Not sure what we are doing wrong. Also, & I know this may sound absurd, but do you run it all day(while you are at work). Im a bit freaked out about it running all night/day. This past weekend was the first real weekend that we let it just run overnight & I didnt sleep a wink, just getting up & checking on it. I guess the whole "fire" freaks me out a bit.


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## richkorn (Oct 22, 2008)

pkryan,

I had the smoke detector in 1st floor hallway going off a few times. I believe this is the vapor/gases from the new paint burning off--mine only did it while running on high though. I still get that burning-in smell if I crank it up to high. So, keep running it and the smell and setting off smoke detectors will go away (unless you have another problem).

If we're going to be gone all day we're going to turn it off and, if it's cold out, turn the oil heat on to about 50-55 while we're gone. We're not running it all night yet because we're limited on pellets right now, but when it gets real cold and I have a full pellet supply (again) it will be running on low to medium all night.

Pellet stoves are way more safe than running a fire in an open fireplace.

Enjoy that Leyden, it's nice unit!


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## Uconn411 (Oct 22, 2008)

I had a Lopi Leyden installed this summer, and have run about a dozen bags of pellets through it so far this Oct.  Been very reliable, I leave it on all day, on the low setting.  I have one tower fan pushing cold air towards it from one room, and then another fan I hung with a hook from a doorway that sends the warm air from the ceiling out to the other rooms.  I also have the ceiling fan running backwards.  Heats the downstairs very well, but not much heat travels upstairs (where the doorway fan is pointed to).  Possibly would do better if I turned up the heat setting, but this way I only go through one bag of pellets every 24hrs.  My house is 2100 sq.ft.

I'm still trying to figure out how to best adjust the flame to get just the right amount of "angry flame" look w/o putting out the fire.  I think I have too lazy of a flame now b/c I tend to get the glass and inside the stove sooted up with black soot.


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## richkorn (Oct 22, 2008)

Uconn411 said:
			
		

> I think I have too lazy of a flame now b/c I tend to get the glass and inside the stove sooted up with black soot.



Yes, the low heat setting ashes up the glass pretty good. Ours is on low right now, been on since this AM.


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## Gargravarr (Oct 23, 2008)

So Ok... I had another Pellet jam in the chute today...  I'm not finding the operation of this unit very reliable at all...  Do I have unreal expectations here?  Or should I call the company who installed it and raise heck?  Any one think my salesman's line that its being cause by irregular pellet length holds water???

The stove _has _kept my house comfortable so far (admittedly we have not had a real cold spell yet) so I'm hopeful that I can have the kinks worked out and rely on this thing for more than just supplemental heating...

Thanks


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## pkryan (Oct 23, 2008)

They are frustrating, I let ours run last night, I heard a bit of rumble in it last night about mid-night, and got nervous, shut it down, I think its the pellets that we are using, opended up a new bag of "Instant heat", purchased from Agway, and noticed that these are a bit longer than the bag of New England pellets that the dealer left after the install. So Im thinking our is the pellets being a bit longer that are getting stuck. ANd your right, not too cold here and hoping to get all our kinks worked out before its gets real cold in NY.


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## richkorn (Oct 23, 2008)

Gargravarr,

If you're using LG Granules the auger shouldn't be getting clogged at all. Long pellets, yes, I assume that can do it, but I thought the LGs were more on the short side and very highly rated.

Mine was jamming from bad pellets containing too much dust, grit, small stuff and other blackish stuff I can't even characterize. It was creating a "cake" at the top of the auger and just bogging it right down to a stop.

Been running some 1/2 way decent stuff after that (HEAT LLC) and no problems. Besides 5 bags of HEAT I don't have anything else yet except for the 3 tons of junk in basement that I'm returning Sat.

-rk


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## brendan Essex JCT VT (Nov 4, 2008)

Just had my Leyden installed 1 week ago...It was running great until yesterday when the auger jammed. I emptied the hopper and cleaned out out (vacuumed) and had to use a screw driver to free the jammed pellets up in the delivery chute. It ran fine again until today when it went out again when I wasn't home so not sure what the issue was this time. I spoke to my dealer, Chimney Sweep in Shelburne VT, who said 2 other customers have had auger jamming problems and said it was the dust build up in the hopper that gets in the auger and to be diligent about not pouring that into the hopper when loading...Not sure if that is the issue or not..I'll post updates.


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## richkorn (Nov 4, 2008)

Brendan VT said:
			
		

> Just had my Leyden installed 1 week ago...It was running great until yesterday when the auger jammed. I emptied the hopper and cleaned out out (vacuumed) and had to use a screw driver to free the jammed pellets up in the delivery chute. It ran fine again until today when it went out again when I wasn't home so not sure what the issue was this time. I spoke to my dealer, Chimney Sweep in Shelburne VT, who said 2 other customers have had auger jamming problems and said it was the dust build up in the hopper that gets in the auger and to be diligent about not pouring that into the hopper when loading...Not sure if that is the issue or not..I'll post updates.



What kind of pellets are you using?


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## brendan Essex JCT VT (Nov 4, 2008)

Boreal from VT Pellet Stoves in Colchester VT


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## kenzmadie (Nov 4, 2008)

I had a Lopi Leyden installed in August.  I have the wall thermostat and have run it pretty much steady for the last month or so (I'm always cold).  
It turns on and off while I'm at work and at night while I'm sleeping.  I was rather anxious about it at first but so far so good.  I'm thinking if it
runs too long the pellets will eventually run out anyway.  My thermostat is a little "off" compared to my furnace thermometer but it seems to be a 
steady difference rather than a fluctuating one.  So far I'm really happy with it.


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## richkorn (Nov 4, 2008)

kenzmadie said:
			
		

> I had a Lopi Leyden installed in August.  I have the wall thermostat and have run it pretty much steady for the last month or so (I'm always cold).
> It turns on and off while I'm at work and at night while I'm sleeping.  I was rather anxious about it at first but so far so good.  I'm thinking if it
> runs too long the pellets will eventually run out anyway.  My thermostat is a little "off" compared to my furnace thermometer but it seems to be a
> steady difference rather than a fluctuating one.  So far I'm really happy with it.



What kind of tstat are you using? The one that came with it or a wireless type?

I was thinking of putting on the stock unit just to see how it works and If I like it get a wireless wall mount so i don't have to drill & snake wires through walls.


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## kenzmadie (Nov 4, 2008)

I have the travis industries one that came with it with the wire.  The only problem is that they don't give you a really long piece of wire (I think they said 20 ft when they were installing it but it doesn't look like 20 feet).  It's not that far from the stove and I would have preferred it another 8-10 feet away but maybe next year.


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## richkorn (Nov 4, 2008)

kenzmadie said:
			
		

> I have the travis industries one that came with it with the wire.  The only problem is that they don't give you a really long piece of wire (I think they said 20 ft when they were installing it but it doesn't look like 20 feet).  It's not that far from the stove and I would have preferred it another 8-10 feet away but maybe next year.



Hey!  :coolgrin:  You stole my avatar (picture). That's my Leyden sitting in my Living room


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## tinkabranc (Nov 4, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> kenzmadie said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



LMAO- for a minute there I thought you were talking to yourself through
the whole thread :lol:


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## Gargravarr (Nov 5, 2008)

Brendan VT said:
			
		

> Just had my Leyden installed 1 week ago...It was running great until yesterday when the auger jammed. I emptied the hopper and cleaned out out (vacuumed) and had to use a screw driver to free the jammed pellets up in the delivery chute. It ran fine again until today when it went out again when I wasn't home so not sure what the issue was this time. I spoke to my dealer, Chimney Sweep in Shelburne VT, who said 2 other customers have had auger jamming problems and said it was the dust build up in the hopper that gets in the auger and to be diligent about not pouring that into the hopper when loading...Not sure if that is the issue or not..I'll post updates.




I got an email from Travis industries instructing me to remove the little metal flap in the drop tube - this has seemed to clear up the pellet jam problems.  Apparently this past run of stoves, this flap was new, and they are removing it from future revisions.  Looking at this thing when I removed it, and the design seemed ill conceived...  My dealer had suggested I try to remove this thingy, but I was leery of removing what looked liked a safety feature, so I wanted to hear it direct from the manufacturer...

Any way, I'm still a newbie with pellet stoves, but from my limited experience, how the heck would you limit the amount of dust that makes it into the hopper?  What are going to do, load each pellet individually?  Seems like a cop-out suggestion...


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## Mury (Nov 12, 2008)

We just got our Leyden, not hooked up yet.  That's what our dealer said too.  Remove that flap and the pellets feed fine.  We'll see come Saturday I guess.


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## sydney1963 (Nov 12, 2008)

Mury,

Let us know how it goes, send pics.  We all like pics.


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## kenzmadie (Nov 12, 2008)

> Hey!    You stole my avatar (picture). That’s my Leyden sitting in my Living room



True enough...I am a reformed Avatar thief.  The one I have now is truly my own now that I read "Posting Pictures on the internet for Dummies".  Here is a better pic of my set up.  And I hope this works or I'll have to read the book again!


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## tumbles (Nov 13, 2008)

Looks great!  How's the heat out put.  I'm getting mine in 13 days (but who's counting).


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## kenzmadie (Nov 13, 2008)

Great heat output.  I love it so far.  Warm but not a stifling heat.


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## tumbles (Nov 13, 2008)

What feed rate are you running it at?   Have you tried running both ways (Off the themostat or manual).   Did you see the post about cleaning the glass?


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## kenzmadie (Nov 13, 2008)

I never changed the auger setting...I suppose that's on whatever the factory setting was.  The heat setting is at medium.  In the early fall, I ran it on manual a couple of times just to get the chill out of the house.  Now I am running it almost contstantly on the thermostat.  I leave it on about 68 at night (I need it that high to get the heat down the hallway) and turn it up to 75 in the evening and back down again at night.  I have my furnace set for 58 degrees in here just in case the stove should go out.  I have cathedral ceilings over my living room and kitchen so run a ceiling fan to move the heat back down and around.  It's a great stove, and I love being warm and toasty while watching the Giants on Sundays 

Oh, and I did just read the post about the glass.  I've been using a razor blade and then using windex or other comparable glass cleaner.  It's worked well for me so far.


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## Utilitrack (Nov 13, 2008)

Had my Leyden installed on October 10th, after a few issues with jams-now resolved since removing the gate on the chute, we are finding the sweet spot. Just a few questions for you fellow Leyden owners though...
1) I have not yet had to scrape my burn pot, seems to be a daily occurence for other posters with other kinds of stoves, have you had to?
2) I am burning Energex pellets- I seem to get a ton of ash compared to others on this site. I've seen posts talking about a cup or two. I think that i have double that just from Tuesday to today. The ash accumulates on the front of the burn pot between the pot and the glass. Are you all seeing this as well?
3) There is a shield that keeps that ash from the glass, but there is a gap underneath it where I can see pellets are accumulating, but they are too big to fall through the holes in grate to get to the ash pan. Any suggestions/tricks to get those out? Vacuum attachments do not work, too big.
4) Any of you pellet sifters? I have not nor do I have the time. Thoughts?

Overall we are very happy, so far no issues heating our 1,800' cape.

Have not yet tried the Magic Eraser, but have high hopes as cleaning the glass is a pain in the a$$. Fly ash and water, Windex have not touched the brown burnt on build up.

One observation though, never, I mean never hit the manual start button and then decide to shutdown after 5 minutes during the initial start up. Evidently the exhaust fan shuts down immediately and whatever combustion that has begun fills the house with smoke. Sorry honey..my bad...

Marc


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## kenzmadie (Nov 13, 2008)

> 1) I have not yet had to scrape my burn pot, seems to be a daily occurence for other posters with other kinds of stoves, have you had to?
> 2) I am burning Energex pellets- I seem to get a ton of ash compared to others on this site. I’ve seen posts talking about a cup or two. I think that i have double that just from Tuesday to today. The ash accumulates on the front of the burn pot between the pot and the glass. Are you all seeing this as well?
> 3) There is a shield that keeps that ash from the glass, but there is a gap underneath it where I can see pellets are accumulating, but they are too big to fall through the holes in grate to get to the ash pan. Any suggestions/tricks to get those out? Vacuum attachments do not work, too big.
> 4) Any of you pellet sifters? I have not nor do I have the time. Thoughts?



I haven't had to scrape mine yet either....everything seems to burn well in it.  I'm not getting much ash but I am using Lignetics.  I think I know the gap you're talking about...you only see it when the doors are open?  I have an attachment to my vaccuum....a small, soft plastic tube that if you squeeze it, it'll fit in there and suck that stuff out of there.  I don't use a pellet sifter but I do put the pellets in a bucket before putting them into the stove.  This not only prevents the bag from catching fire while I'm filling it (the plastic kinda got real hot one time) but it seems to cut down on the dust which accumulates in the bottom of the bucket and gets dumped outside.  I have also waited until all the pellets burned out of the hopper and vacuumed the dust out of the hopper.  I have not had my auger stop working yet because of dust but have read in here it can happen.


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## Utilitrack (Nov 14, 2008)

Thanks for the Feedback Kenzmadie. 
The Magic Eraser is truly MAGICAL.... Trimmed 5 minutes off my glass cleaning time along with half a roll of paper towels


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## Lobstah (Nov 15, 2008)

I have a Lopi Yankee...burning Lignetics, and we've had a terrible time with jams.  Stove has not run more than 8hrs to date without a jam.
I had read about taking the tube flap off, but didn't want to do anything to "modify" the stove, but if Travis is saying to remove them, I'll give that a try.
So far, this has been a terrible piece of equipment to deal with.
If removing the flapper fixes things, then great...but if not...this thing is headed right straight back to the dealer.

Jim


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## imacman (Nov 15, 2008)

Lobstah said:
			
		

> I have a Lopi Yankee...burning Lignetics, and we've had a terrible time with jams.  Stove has not run more than 8hrs to date without a jam.
> I had read about taking the tube flap off, but didn't want to do anything to "modify" the stove, but if Travis is saying to remove them, I'll give that a try.
> So far, this has been a terrible piece of equipment to deal with.
> If removing the flapper fixes things, then great...but if not...this thing is headed right straight back to the dealer.
> ...



Jim, I think you'll find that removing that flapper will solve the jam problem....Travis found out how bad that design was, or else they wouldn't have told everyone to remove it.

If that's not the problem, then the dealer needs to get involved.


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## marblah (Nov 16, 2008)

Hello to all,

My Lopi Lyden was delivered and installed in Mid August, have enjoyed tinkering around with it and heating our home with it since that time.
Regarding the ash buildup on the glass I have used a splash of Windex and a drop of Ivory soap in 4-5 ounces of water in a Walmart spray bottle.
This has worked great as a cleaner and with 2 paper towels it takes 1- 1.5 minutes to clean off the black soot.  This gets done daily
mainly because the flames just look a lot prettier.

On the other hand have had 1 episode of brown-grey scale-like material which accumulated on the glass and that 
required a little baking soda and wet paper towel and elbow grease to remove it.  The baking soda treatment was well tolerated by the glass e.g. no scratches
etc.  Have only had to do this (baking soda treatment) one time in 20 bags of pellets over 2.5 months of use.  

Regarding that little flap door on the auger shoot, glad that my stove came without one.  I was kind of half expecting that eventually my pellets would
jam in the auger (was even gently warned about that in a tangential way by the dealer) but after 20 bags and at least five different pellet brands that just hasn't happened.

Regarding cleaning those clinkers or hard sintered ash that melts and solidifies on the burn pot, I have used a wood chisel with a 3/4 inch blade
to good effect for that purpose.  Spruce Point wood pellets provided a good learning experience in clinkerology(one bag was more than enough).

Here's to winter and a warm fire -


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## aztech63 (Nov 24, 2008)

I had the stove installed about 2 weeks ago.

My dealer told me not to use windex on the glass as it would damage the glass over time. 

I've had no jams at this time. The stove did go out once or twice but it was early on and I think I had the air set to gih and the heat set to low, hence all the pellets burnt off. Since then I've had no problems with this.

I'm still playing with all the adjustments  as the thermostat wasn't installed. I guess the therostat only turns it on and off depending onthe temperture and does not adjust anything such as air flow and auger speed. 

I've been disappointed with a few things the biggest being the heat output. I live in a standard range with 3 bed rooms and the bathroom at the opposite end of the house from the stove. If I close all 4 doors (bedrooms and bath) and put the stove on low it seems like the heat gets to about 65 in the room where the stove is and maybe low 60's in the adjacsent kitchen and living room.  With all the doors closed to the bed rooms and bath I was hoping/expecting the 3 remaining rooms to be warmer. I get 1 day per bag but only on the low setting. If I go higher it seems like I'm burning maybe 2 bags per day and the stove room gets maybe  to 69 - 70. The outside temp is around 25 - 35. I have all new windows installed. 

What have other people experienced in regards to heat output and # of bags used per day?

Also I cleaned my stove this weekend for the first time. Getting the 2 plates of the inside upper surface of the stove is a royal pain in the ass. Also I seemed to have created a lot of dust on the floor around the stove. 

Can you just connect up more electricial wire to the thermostat to extend it more than the 20 feet?

Final question has anyone installed any type of programable therostat so you can be at work all day with the stove off and have it turn on an hour or two before you get home?


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## richkorn (Nov 24, 2008)

aztech63 said:
			
		

> What have other people experienced in regards to heat output and # of bags used per day?
> 
> Also I cleaned my stove this weekend for the first time. Getting the 2 plates of the inside upper surface of the stove is a royal pain in the ass. Also I seemed to have created a lot of dust on the floor around the stove.



I'm burning about 1 1/2 bags/day, sometimes a bit more. It's been pretty cold. While running on #4 heat and fan (medium/high) my living room has gotten up to 86 degrees and it's an open layout also, so yours should be able to do that. Normally I'm running it at either heat setting #2 or #3 and fan anywhere from #2 to #4 depending on the moment. After the house is up to temp I generally run on #2 heat to keep house at around 68 in the adjacent hallway and 66 in upstairs bedrooms. Living room at this point is usually about 74.

Those baffle plates do take a bit getting used to to get on/off - keep at it, they get easier.


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## Mury (Nov 24, 2008)

We've been running our Leyden for a week now.  We are using two bags a day of Granules pellets (with highs all week 28-38).  One jam so far, or it might have just not been getting enough air as the burn pot was clogged up.  Glass gets dirty fast but so far has wiped clean with just vinegar/water solution.  Why shouldn't you use Windex?
My only complaint is that our upstairs is not heating up.  It is around 57 up there.  Tolerable, but had hoped it would be a little warmer.


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## flame thrower (Nov 25, 2008)

I found that pulling the scraper for the heat tubes about half way out makes it a lot easier to install the baffle plates


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## marblah (Nov 25, 2008)

Lopi Leyden installed 8/2008, house is small new englander 1100 SFt downstairs and 500 SFt upstairs, recent outdoor temp in the 20's-30's,  Inside temp 65-80 over past 48 hrs. Using 1 - 1.5 bags/of pellets /day.  Stove is very close to stairs and curtain covers stairway by day but is open at night.

Cleaning at least daily but not always doing baffle and/ or brick and/ or plugs and/ or lower vent cover plate removal(but do try to do most all that on a weekly basis).   I try to vacuum daily and scrub the convection tubes with pipe cleaner over end of vacuum nozzle. Have removed the cover plate on the burner fan 1 time and was able to salvage the gasket but will not try it  again till I order more of the gasket material online.  Have not tried to remove or clean the convection fan and
the documentation that came with the stove is very sketchy on that subject.

Any way to make a long story short my BTU output is primarily dependent on three things: 1.> keeping the burn chamber and pot clean,clean,clean.  2.> adjusting airflow for best flame/ heat generation 3.> Using highest BTU pellets I can get my hands on.  Lignetics #1, American 
Wood Fiber #2,  Pennington #3 and Maine Woods #4 in terms of heat generation.

I do use room ceiling fans up or downstairs at various times to distribute the heat more evenly and that works very well.

I only use 1/2 tsp of windex and 1 drop of ivory dish soap in 4-5  ounces of water to clean the glass and I do that daily just because the fire looks so darn good.


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## clayfist (Nov 29, 2008)

Forum and pellet stove newbie here. 
I installed our Lopi Leyden pellet stove early Oct. Went through the auger issue and was eventually told to remove the flapper in the chute as well. I didn't really like the idea of completely taking it out so I modified mine. I cut the stationary door off and left the flapper door on then reinstalled it.
I have since went through a ton of pellets (we use "green supreme" from Canada) and have been recently having auger jams. Not sure if it's from the dust or perhaps I'm loading the hopper to full.
Other issues with the stove I'm experiencing are clinkers when I burn on the high setting. I've tried to adjust the air intake but I guess I'm just not sure if its were its supposed to be. And last while cleaning the stove I removed the brick to clean behind it and it crumbled in my hands. It seemed to have been cracked around the hole for the chute.
I'm hoping that most of this is user error and I will eventually get the hang of it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.


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## flamegrabber (Nov 29, 2008)

Hey Clay,

I have a Breckwell Big E and have burned about 18 bags in it so far.

I'm now burning Maine Woods pellets.  I have ~30+ bags left and will go thru those before I burn the 2 tons of Lignetics I have stored in the breezeway.

The Maine Woods are 80/20 hardwood/softwood and are smaller than the LG's.  Also quite a bit softer.  I can break the MW's with my thumbnail fairly easy but the LG's are alot harder.

I burned a few bags of the LG's before I bought the MW's and found they leave much less ash and no clinkers.

The Maine Woods leave a big clinker every 24 hours.  I've tried adjusting the damper, stiring the burnpot a few times per day, etc., but the clinker still shows up.

So I've concluded in my case it's the MW's pellets.

I've been told that clinkers are due to moisture in the pellets and that there's no way to tell if the pellet manufactures had stored their pallets outside or not.

They are covered up either way but there's really no way to keep out the moisture when they are outside for a long enough period.

The MW's also dirty up the glass quicker.

FG.




			
				clayfist said:
			
		

> Forum and pellet stove newbie here.
> I installed our Lopi Leyden pellet stove early Oct. Went through the auger issue and was eventually told to remove the flapper in the chute as well. I didn't really like the idea of completely taking it out so I modified mine. I cut the stationary door off and left the flapper door on then reinstalled it.
> I have since went through a ton of pellets (we use "green supreme" from Canada) and have been recently having auger jams. Not sure if it's from the dust or perhaps I'm loading the hopper to full.
> Other issues with the stove I'm experiencing are clinkers when I burn on the high setting. I've tried to adjust the air intake but I guess I'm just not sure if its were its supposed to be. And last while cleaning the stove I removed the brick to clean behind it and it crumbled in my hands. It seemed to have been cracked around the hole for the chute.
> I'm hoping that most of this is user error and I will eventually get the hang of it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.


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## marblah (Nov 29, 2008)

Lopi Leyden 2008: Mine was delivered without the auger chute flap and has never had the auger jam in 12-1500 pounds of pellet use so far this year.
I have read that others are having auger jamming issues due to this flap and that the company decided to do away with that feature as a result.
I was fearful that if a lot of fine pellet dust were allowed to accumulate in the chute and the flap was absent that the dust might ignite
while still in the chute.  I have included vacuuming the chute and the hopper to get rid of this fine material and have had no problems to date.

Regarding ash buildup, if I had sufficient supply of low ash pellets eg. lignetics or AWF(american wood fiber) that would be a non-issue.  With MaineWoods pellets it
is a nuisance by day since it must be cleaned so often, while at night it can extinguish the flames completely (by blocking the burnpot air induction ports)
resulting in a cool and early awakening for the fire-tender.  Burning Lignetics at night has solved the problem.

That light brown coating on the glass may occur more at lower burn settings and I have used a little baking soda powder on a damp cloth
to gently remove it.  At medium to high temperature the material that adheres to the glass is much easier to remove with 3 mls of windex
and 1-2 drops ivory soap in 4-5 ounces of tap water applied using a small spray bottle.  The cost is pennies / bottle, I use it daily
with a paper towel, and I see no adverse effects on the glass.

The brick work is fragile and the baffle is tigthly wedges just above the top edge of the brick and I at first tried to force the baffle into place there
after a cleaning and was surprised to see a bit of crumbling brick at the very top.  Now I gently maneuver those brick panels forward or backward
a millimeter or so and can expertly slide the baffles back into place in a jiffy, but it is an art rather than a science and calls for a light touch
or an extra set of brick panels - -


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## Utilitrack (Dec 1, 2008)

Hey Clayfist-

Lopi Leyden's from 2008 have cast iron brick panels, you may want to check with your dealer. No crumbling bricks, no handlig with kid gloves.


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## richkorn (Dec 1, 2008)

Utilitrack said:
			
		

> Hey Clayfist-
> 
> Lopi Leyden's from 2008 have cast iron brick panels, you may want to check with your dealer. No crumbling bricks, no handlig with kid gloves.



Really? I have an '08, made in September - has the brick panels and fuel gate.


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## Utilitrack (Dec 1, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> Utilitrack said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Mine had the fuel gate as well, but had cast iron brick panels. I assumed that all 2008's had them. Mine was delivered on 10/10/08.


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## clayfist (Dec 1, 2008)

FG,

Thanks for the info. I'm going to try the Lignetics pellets and see If that will help the clinker problem.



Utilitrack,

I checked with my dealer and they are going to give me the cast iron panels for free. Do the baffles sit on top of the iron brick like with they do with the fake brick? The guy at the dealership said it looked like a different setup.







			
				flamegrabber said:
			
		

> Hey Clay,
> 
> I have a Breckwell Big E and have burned about 18 bags in it so far.
> 
> ...


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## Utilitrack (Dec 1, 2008)

Clayfist-

My baffles sit on a lip on top of bricks and just under the heat exchange tubes. As someone posted earlier perhaps on another thread, you may have to pull out the heat exchange tube scraper about half way to more easily return the baffles to their proper position. Good luck. Marc


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## marblah (Dec 2, 2008)

Cast Iron sounds more durable than the ceramic brick material all right.  The ceramic brick material seems like a better insulator though.
Being that the hopper is located at the rear won't more heat loss occur from the burn chamber once the insulating brick is replaced
by the much more conductive cast iron material??  Also the burn chamber air flow occurs behind those bricks so won't that mean
a little more heat will be lost up the chimney after the change-over to cast iron material?  Any heating or engineering folks out there with a take on this?


Lopi Leyden - August 2008


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## Lobstah (Dec 2, 2008)

I can't see it losing more heat.  The heat you're getting out of that stove is the result of having a fire in the burn pot fed by forced air which is located directly below the convection tubes.  The heat from the fire not only rises, but is being blown up onto the tubes.  The fact that the backing plate is cast instead of ceramic may radiate a bit more heat from the burning chamber, but I can't see it making a measureable difference in the temps around the convection tubes.

But I've been wrong before 

Jim


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## richkorn (Dec 2, 2008)

My dealer has offered me the new cast ones as replacement but I need to bring back the brick ones to them.

What do these cast ones look like? Are they the same color as the stove or are they painted a brick color, anyone have pics of these????

Should I return the refractory brick for these cast panels?


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## Utilitrack (Dec 2, 2008)

The cast iron is painted to look like bricks, i would take a picture but I don't believe that you would be able to tell given the amount of ash currently accumulated on them, sorry not time to clean right now. I would make the change given what I have read about the crumbling ceramic ones being so fragile.

Marc


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## aztech63 (Dec 2, 2008)

I just got my stove a few weeks ago so I'm pretty sure I have the cast iron ones and you can't tell they aren't brick by looking at them.


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## molar (Dec 4, 2008)

I had a Lopi Ledyen install on 10/30/2008. I had nothing but problems with the auger jamming for about two weeks.  I called the dealer and they informed me that Travis industries recently issued a bulletin. They remove a plate by the auger that was restricting the feed and jamming the auger. They removed the safety plate on the front feed shut. I have not had a problem since.  As for the glass turning black, there is not enough air being allow in. You should have a orange-yellow flame that is being pulled towards the top.  You should also use a fireplace glass cleaner they say regular glass cleaner will break down the heat resistance glass.


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## imacman (Dec 4, 2008)

molar said:
			
		

> I had a Lopi Ledyen install on 10/30/2008.



Hey Molar, welcome to the forum.  Where are you in the valley?  I'm near Newburgh.


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## molar (Dec 6, 2008)

macman said:
			
		

> molar said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## molar (Dec 6, 2008)

Hi macman, Thanks for the welcome. I'm down by Woodbury Commons.


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## jtcm05 (Dec 8, 2008)

richkorn said:
			
		

> My dealer has offered me the new cast ones as replacement but I need to bring back the brick ones to them.
> 
> What do these cast ones look like? Are they the same color as the stove or are they painted a brick color, anyone have pics of these????
> 
> Should I return the refractory brick for these cast panels?



These are the cast iron ones in my new stove.


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## kenzmadie (Dec 8, 2008)

That is exactly what mine look like.


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## Lobstah (Dec 8, 2008)

Gee...that must have a "cute" <snicker snicker> little ummm.....hopper?



Jim


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## Utilitrack (Dec 9, 2008)

Gee...that must have a “cute” <snicker snicker> little ummm.....hopper? 

Supposedly 50 pound hopper, I can only get a bag + a few scoops in....


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## Lobstah (Dec 9, 2008)

Actually...that's not going to be markedly different from my 80lb when it comes down to the way I use it.

I figured 80lbs was great, because it could take 2 bags, which it can, but only if it's pretty much bone dry empty.
So what usually happens is I wait for it to get down below the point where it'll take a bad, and I dump another bag in.
I could dump in a partial bag, but then I've got the rest of the bag on the floor in the living room, or back to the cellar stairs landing, and why bother with that?

Jim


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## zrtmatos (Jan 14, 2013)

Can someone post pictures of the new cast iron firebrick for the 2008 and up models? I am hopeful that I will get my old ceramic bricks replaced by Travis with the newer cast iron type.


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## Mike D (Jan 14, 2013)

zrtmatos said:


> Can someone post pictures of the new cast iron firebrick for the 2008 and up models? I am hopeful that I will get my old ceramic bricks replaced by Travis with the newer cast iron type.


 
My stove is burning so I can't get a pic of my cast iron brick, but here is a link to a supply shop that shows the cast iron firebrick.  The one in this picture seems to have a red (brick) coloring to it, but mine are more sandstone colored.  Good luck!

http://rockymountainstove.com/lopileydenavalonarborfirebrick.aspx


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## zrtmatos (Jan 15, 2013)

Mike D said:


> My stove is burning so I can't get a pic of my cast iron brick, but here is a link to a supply shop that shows the cast iron firebrick. The one in this picture seems to have a red (brick) coloring to it, but mine are more sandstone colored. Good luck!
> 
> http://rockymountainstove.com/lopileydenavalonarborfirebrick.aspx


 Thanks Mike D.


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