New Lopi Liberty - Oil-canning - bang!

[Hoytman]

If the shields were cool to the touch, then you eliminated those.

Now eliminate a quick hot fire, as I said earlier, and see if that eliminates the problem. If not, then you know a quick hot fire isn’t the issue. The quick hot fire could still be causing it on the inside, as you said.

Regardless, it shouldn’t happen, but you still need to try and isolate it. If a slow fire still causes it, then you know it’s something else.

Try heating that stove up nice and slow.

Try a small top down fire. Listen. Let it cool to room temp.

Try a medium top down fire. Listen. Let it cool to room temp.

Try a large top down fire. Listen. Let it cool to room temp.

If you change more than one thing at a time you will chase your tail.

To me, shields have now been eliminated. So it’s time to see if a quick hot fire is doing it by trying the above top down fire steps.

You have nothing to lose by trying it.

 

[begreen]

A component that might be doing this is a too tight baffle cap. It should be a little loose and have a bit of side to side slop.
One thing you could try is to loosen the secondary tube retainer pins by backing off the 3/8" nuts a few threads and see if that releases any tension when the stove heats up.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

The stovetop was barely to 150, so it must be something close to the heat. A baffle, tube, or maybe one of the firebox panels.

 

[GreenLiving57]

Nothing has been rectified with the issue as of yet.

The stove still "bangs", as it heats up. It does however now, rarely "bang" on the way down.

I have gotten to where I can get it to "bang" - and get it out of the way - within 10 minutes - by loading the stove with dry kindling, and small splits, leaving the door cracked, air control wide open, and the bypass on top open.

My Lopi dealer, whom is 90 minutes away - after we had to cancel an appointment a month ago, as I had a previous engagement, has completely blown me off - and not rescheduled a time to inspect the stove. Needless to say, I am extremely frustrated with both Lopi's customer service who blew me off - and was quite rude doing it - and my Dealer who has blown me off - and I spent, with tax and delivery, just under $6000 for this stove. I will say, the Hearthstone Heritage that I had previously, and did have issues, but Hearthstone was EXTREMELY friendly, and quick with all my questions, completely different than my experience with both Lopi and the dealer. I have moved my Hearthstone to another area in my house, and at this point, even though it didn't put out the heat I needed - I sure miss it, the quiet operation, and side door that the Lopi lacks.

Other than the banging issue, this stove is also the noisiest stove I have ever had ( I have a lifetime of experience with many different brands of stoves) - I don't know if this is normal, or related to the banging. The clicking, and clanging is nearly non stop, it also does a lot of "small bangs" all the time. I would like to think that a simple replacement of the entire airtube assembly would fix the issues, but who knows at this point.

On a positive note, the stove does put out a lot of great heat, and I love the huge Firebox.

My dealer won't answer my questions, and Lopi won't answer my questions, I am at a dead end, this is the only place I can post and get a response. I was never rude - to either Lopi or my Dealer, I posted the exact same information I have posted here, in the same manner of speak. Yet both have completely blown me off.

I want to thank everyone that has responded to this thread, and tried to help. I really do appreciate it.

 

[Hoytman]

3rd paragraph…your words not mine…

…but I see you’re still heating this stove up super fast. I’m not says ng you shouldn’t be able to do that because you absolutely should, but I’m saying you having posted saying you heated the stove up slowly over an hour either. At least try it.

I can get my coal stove cranking in 15-20 minutes, but why? I actually started it the first time today and on purpose it took 2 hours to get it to temperature. It was sort of set it and forget it.

Not saying you should do that with h wood, but allowing it to heat slowly over an hour+ with a top down fire isn’t unreasonable…with goal being to see if you can cause it NOT to pop.

I would take a long video and send it to Lopi and demand someone come out to look at it or face small claims court. Don’t threaten them with it…in fact don’t even tell them about taking them to court. Just have an attorney send them a letter. I bet they respond then.

 

[GreenLiving57]

Thank you for your comments,

I have been starting fires twice a day for several weeks now, morning, and evening. I have passive solar heat during mid day. (when the sun shines!)

I have tried tiny slow, very slow fires. I have tried medium fires. I have tried blazing hot fires. I have tried top down fires, I have tried a lot of different ways of starting fires. Nothing makes any difference, at some point, the "bang" happens.........

Since I have been completely blown off - and treated quite shabbily by Lopi, and my Dealer - after spending the money and buying this brand new stove a couple months ago.........I can only hope this "bang" is just noise, and nothing breaking down in the mechanics of the stove. It heats very well.

 

[GreenLiving57]

To add a little positivity to this post....I bought a brand new Lopi Endeavor, 24 years ago, and lived with that stove for 19 years. It was a different dealer at that time, that no longer is in business. But it was "night and day" experience from this one. That dealer was great to work with, and I never had a single issue with that Endeavor like I am having with this Liberty and new dealer.

 

[Hoytman]

Maybe part of the baffle hardware is slightly too long or something and binding as it expands when it heats up. Have you removed any of the baffle or tried moving the parts around to see if there is play or some gap for things to move as they heat up?

The dealer should be replacing this stove for you in my mind and sending it back to Lopi for dirtier examination. No customer should have to deal with BS like that.

I’m losing more and more faith in people…daily. This country is going to the dogs.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

You hit that one right on the head.

 

[Sealcove]

I have had a new Liberty since last November. It has been excellent so far, but mine will make a loud single ping or clank from time to time as part of heating or cooling process. Mine sounds like the heat shields and not something internal. Anecdotal observation, but mine seems to do this if heated or cooled quickly. My old Lopi Answer does a similar thing, and again I think was related to the outer shield (that stove is now 22 years old and still going strong without issue). I honestly have never given the sound a second thought.

As a side note, that is a hec of a price jump in that last year. My 2021 Liberty was $4175 for stove and 5.5% ME sales tax. I picked it up myself, so no delivery cost.

 

[GreenLiving57]

Maybe part of the baffle hardware is slightly too long or something and binding as it expands when it heats up. Have you removed any of the baffle or tried moving the parts around to see if there is play or some gap for things to move as they heat up?

The dealer should be replacing this stove for you in my mind and sending it back to Lopi for dirtier examination. No customer should have to deal with BS like that.

I’m losing more and more faith in people…daily. This country is going to the dogs.

If I am correct, you are not supposed to talk bad about brands or dealers here, so I expect a moderator to step in at some point but for now.........

I'm going to tell you I was completely surprised at how Lopi treated me (so far anyway), and my dealer as well.

I expected to have a Lopi expert - um, since they sell the darn things - out at my property within a few days, now it's been over a month, I have sent numerous long e-mails ( like I have posted here ) and phone calls. But have been blown off (as of yet).

Lopi's customer service - perhaps I just got stuck with a bad apple - was absolutely horrid. Rude in fact, and completely contradicted themselves - at first giving me a few things to try, then saying don't do anything or I would void the warranty - and finally washing their hands of me when I was CC'ing them e-mails to my dealer - they told me to stop contacting them, and only deal with the dealer. This was after I contacted them on their TECH SUPPORT box on their WEBSITE They KNEW they sold me a bad stove, and didn't want to deal with it!

I made two mistakes in this ordeal.
1) buying a Lopi
2) buying from a dealer who doesn't specialize in wood stoves - they are a huge establishment in the Southwest that mainly do home remodeling stuff. I SHOULD have bought whatever stove brand I bought from a small locally owned wood stove store. I bought a new Hearthstone 4 years ago from such an establishment and EVERYTHING from delivery, to service has been a joy from both the shop, and Hearthstone. It's the EXACT opposite with my $6000 Lopi experience.

I was so damn angry and depressed at the entire world the other day, but had a lovely reminder that not all is bad.

I went to town, and had two things done for me - a complicated Truck battery issue, in which they bent over backwards to help me with some problems I had - and them just a simple Oil Change, and again, they so friendly and helpful, they gave me hope for humanity and business, after my miserable experience the past month with this Lopi stove.

 

[Spotted Owl]

Can you find or use a different dealer?

This is apparently a known issue with Travis Industries. I asked very specifically about this before we bought and installed our Liberty this last weekend. I even had the boy pull this thread up on my phone in case they wanted/needed to see it, they did not. The dealer has heard of this problem. I had the dealer on the receipt write down and sign in acknowledgment that if this was an issue with our stove there would be a new stove as replacement and no trouble shooting.

As relayed to me through our dealer: According to Travis, this is a heat stress issue as the stove breaks in over the first season while everything settles and initial annealing and fatigue takes place. If this issue is persistent past the first season it should be reevaluated by the service team at Travis Industries.

The term annealing doesn’t make sense to me this situation. The whole thing seems vague but per the dealer, Travis is known for being vague to help in their arguments against claims.

I realize location and geography make a difference and I’m in Oregon, our out the door price was $3668. Your $6000 price is a head scratcher to me even with fuel prices and shipping times.



Owl

 

[Hoytman]

It is totally unacceptable for a company to tell you not to call them anymore when you’re trying to get to the bottom of a problem and a dealer isn’t helping you.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

At least they aren't sending him emails and offering to pay him $50 to shut up about it like sellers on amazon do.

I mean, $50 would be nice....but that wont shut me up, lol

 

[GreenLiving57]

Can you find or use a different dealer?

This is apparently a known issue with Travis Industries. I asked very specifically about this before we bought and installed our Liberty this last weekend. I even had the boy pull this thread up on my phone in case they wanted/needed to see it, they did not. The dealer has heard of this problem. I had the dealer on the receipt write down and sign in acknowledgment that if this was an issue with our stove there would be a new stove as replacement and no trouble shooting.

As relayed to me through our dealer: According to Travis, this is a heat stress issue as the stove breaks in over the first season while everything settles and initial annealing and fatigue takes place. If this issue is persistent past the first season it should be reevaluated by the service team at Travis Industries.

The term annealing doesn’t make sense to me this situation. The whole thing seems vague but per the dealer, Travis is known for being vague to help in their arguments against claims.

I realize location and geography make a difference and I’m in Oregon, our out the door price was $3668. Your $6000 price is a head scratcher to me even with fuel prices and shipping times.



Owl

Thank you so much for your actual real world recent experience! Very enlightening. Too bad I hadn't heard of this issue before I went through this mess.

In regards to how much I paid, I knew it was a higher than elsewhere in the country, where I have seen them as low as $4200 - your $3668 price was a great deal for sure. My stove was a floor model, not even a brand new crated up stove, and I tried like heck to get them to go down, but they wouldn't budge. It was $4600. Delivery was expensive - $850, due to me being 90 minutes away, a And having to move the stove about 100 feet on a dirt path into my home, including a steep portion, which definitely took some more time and effort than a simple town type delivery. They did not have to do any sort of pipe install, simply get the stove inside my home, and on my hearth. They did have to move my Hearthstone off this Hearth, to another portion of my home. The entire delivery took about an hour.

I did get a phone call from the dealer, and they are trying to get someone to see me. They are waiting to have other service calls in my area. As I believe I already posted, they DID offer to come up after about a week, but that day didn't work for me, and that was a month ago, they have been unable since.

 

[GreenLiving57]

It is totally unacceptable for a company to tell you not to call them anymore when you’re trying to get to the bottom of a problem and a dealer isn’t helping you.

I was completely shocked, and taken aback by this. I had previously bought Lopi, and had such a good feeling about them, and spent several years debating spending this money (I'm not a rich man by any means)........and now realize I made a huge, huge mistake, and am frustrated, mad, and full of regret. Lopi has truly let me down at this point. And REGARDLESS of what the end outcome is, I will never forget what has transpired.

I could have bought the cheapest wood stove on the market locally, under $1000 at a Big Box store, and had a much better experience..........OUCH.................

 

[Isaac Carlson]

At the price you paid, your dealer should be there yesterday to take care of you. A box store stove would have been the better option.

 

[GreenLiving57]

At the price you paid, your dealer should be there yesterday to take care of you. A box store stove would have been the better option.

One note, I know I have said both two hours, and 90 minutes from my Dealer. I actually have made it there in 75 minutes before. Road construction, and/or traffic can make the time variable.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

That is irrelevant. Dealers know how far it is to the next one and there is no good reason to nearly double the price just because they have to drive to your house to deliver the stove. In the end, it's your money and you are making the choice to spend it on whatever you think is worth it. Sometimes we win and sometimes we don't. It's always a gamble. I have been burned more than a few times.

 

[GreenLiving57]

That is irrelevant. Dealers know how far it is to the next one and there is no good reason to nearly double the price just because they have to drive to your house to deliver the stove. In the end, it's your money and you are making the choice to spend it on whatever you think is worth it. Sometimes we win and sometimes we don't. It's always a gamble. I have been burned more than a few times.

Yes, it was my choice to get this stove, and it was a very, very, bad one.

Regarding price of these new Lopi models...........when they first came out a couple years ago, I said heck no, way too expensive......

Then I started watching their you-tube videos - the guys that do those videos appear friendly, knowledgeable, and totally sold me.

Unfortunately, these two you-tube guys don't handle customer service from Travis which was extremely rude to me, and totally blew me off, and told me to not contact them anymore. Their last word to me was leave them alone, it's up to their dealer. I was like, then why do you even HAVE a place for customers to contact you on your website? I know I'm repeating myself, but I am just floored at how I have been treated so far by both Lopi/Travis, and my Dealer. Unbelievable.

As I have stated before - I was never rude, or using foul language, etc when contacting both Travis/Lopi, and my Dealer,.....but wrote them the exact same style and information I have posted here.

 

[GreenLiving57]

Here is a video of the "bang". There is about 30 seconds of the "clicking and clanging" before the "bang". I would expect SOME clicking and clanging from any wood stove, as it heats. But this Lopi makes noise almost full time, and gets even worse, a buzzing/rattling sound, and them some smaller "bangs" of another part "oil-canning" at times..... Take away the bang, this is BY FAR the noisest stove I have ever had.

 

[stoveliker]

Both the clanging and the bang are louder than I have heard.

 

[Hoytman]

Deleted by Hoytman

 

[Isaac Carlson]

That's not oil canning. Thats something moving. I would have a look at all bolted items and air tubes. I heard two different parts expanding before the bang. It shouldn't be too hard to locate.

 

[Hoytman]

Some minor and less noisy clicking that goes away is tolerable but, that is excessive noise to me. Wow!