# Who knew a wood stove could go so wrong



## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Soooooooooooooo- I decided a wood stove was the answer. I've never used one but decided that it really was neccessary as the power goes out so much here.

I went to the wood stove stove and picked out one the right size. A Lopi Leyden. Really cute. 

It's now four years later- I've loved my wood heat. But a couple of weeks ago I noticed a crack in the ceramic blocks. 

This is when I found that my cute little stove has some very expensive parts- the one cracked piece was ordered for $60. 

When it came, I tried to unscrew the brackets holding the blocks in the order the manual said. One bracket I couldn't budge at all, another had frozen screws, even after WD40 and I sheared off two of the three of those. 

So back to the stove shop to find what tool was need fit through the brackets to get to the screws to loosen so the lift-off bracket could actually be lifted off. 

Home with a new tool, a couple of things to drill out the broken screws. Only to find another of the ceramic blocks had a big crack that only appears after the first block was finally removed. That is another $70 piece to order. 

Meanwhile the stove is in pieces and unuseable. I have been using my pellet stove, which couldn't take the strain of heating all by it's lonesome and died.

Another week and I finally got the wood stove back together. It's wonderful to have heat again.

But if I ever buy a new wood stove, looks will not be a consideration. Ease and cost of repair will be. Better yet one that will never need fixing at all. 

A cautionary tale from a now wiser consumer.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Hmmm...better to buy an old wood cookstove! My mom's wood cookstove is 79 years old and the only repair it's ever needed was a new grate. There were times that wood cookstove was our only heat. My mom still uses it for back up heat and to cook on during the winter.

Sorry your stove was so expensive to repair! Makes me glad we have a fireplace instead.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

You might want to go over the way you are using wood in your stove. I've never heard of a 4 year old wood stove cracking when used properly. The only other thing that might cause a crack is a manufacturing problem. You might have someone who knows mwtals look at the crack if there is no obvious owner error in using the wood.


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

I'm surprised by this. Lopi has a good reputation.


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## glenn amolenaar (Mar 3, 2007)

Back around 1976 my wife and I purchased a Fisher woodheater, 2012 we replaced the firebricks, no costly parts to replace, would like to buy another one for the son's home but they are no longer in business.


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## andyd2023 (Jan 13, 2012)

We bought our big wood stove a Drolet from Northern tool in 2007. it is a pretty simple stove, very basic, but it works very well. We have three wood stoves two in the house one in a attached screen shelter and have not had to replaced any parts on the stoves yet. 
Now I have replaced a few sections of stove pipe when I clean and inspect them every year. 
Andrew


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I have had my Lopi Leyden for 5 years and other than a chip in the enamel finish
(my fault) it has worked like a charm so far.
It is my very best friend all winter. (We are very close :teehee: ). 

Sorry you have had to replace bricks in yours. 
I can imagine how bad it would suck to not have use of the woodstove for days on end.


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## strawberrygirl (Feb 11, 2009)

Ravenlost said:


> Hmmm...better to buy an old wood cookstove! My mom's wood cookstove is 79 years old and the only repair it's ever needed was a new grate. There were times that wood cookstove was our only heat. My mom still uses it for back up heat and to cook on during the winter.
> 
> Sorry your stove was so expensive to repair! Makes me glad we have a fireplace instead.


Dh has been looking into buying a woodstove for next year. We would love to have a wood cookstove. The only place I would be able to put it would be the basement. I'm not sure if I can see myself lugging pots and pans up and down stairs. :awh:

Where I want to- Sorry to hear that your woodstove has cost you so much. Hopefully these are the last repairs that you have to make.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

after 42 years of heating with wood in one form or another, we had a new furnace put in .wood boiler..Empyre Elite 200..after our last one died..and this was a huge mistake.

we have had to have the seconddary burn chamber door replaced twice, and 4 other parts replaced. under warranty but the dealer is a jerk


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I put in a Drolet HT 2000 last winter. So far it has worked fine all last winter and this winter. The fire brick liner is made up of all different sizes. I expect that if I ever had to replace one, it wouldn't be a standard size. It would probably be big bucks. Something for prospective wood stove buyers to be aware of.

Another thing is that I have to remove the top two pieces of firebrick to clean the chiminy. A PIA.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Our fireplace insert is an Avalon. We've had it since 1999, I think. We've only had one expenditure for a broken window on the front of the stove. Hubby tried to force a piece of wood in that was too long. The replacement glass was $120 and hubby had to install it himself. It went in easily, but who wants to pay that much money for such a small pane of glass?

I'm so sorry that your stove has cost you so much money and effort.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

The clear window on wood stoves is usually not glass, but a clear porcelain ceramic. That is why it is so expensive. Think Pyrex, but much more robust. 

For OP, often you can find generic firebrick and cut to fit much cheaper than ising the mfg's. part.

I have 2 bricks cracked in my woodstove, but they are hairline, so I am going to leave them be, maybe will use stove cement to attempt repair this summer.


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## MoTightwad (Sep 6, 2011)

We have a Hardy wood furnace that not only heats our house but heats the water that goes thru a radiator and fan to heat us. Love it. Of course we have our own wood so that helps, but the furnace is wonderful. We put it in in 99 and so far only replaced the grate and that wasn;t too expensive. I would recommend the Hardy Wood/Water furnace to anyone.


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## Fae (Mar 9, 2005)

Sorry you are having problems. I have a Lopi Endeavor and so far(2 years) no problems except it is larger than needed and it gets to hot in the house for me. DH loves it though and I can cook on top of it. Sure hope I don't have to replace any firebrick.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I am not sure what you mean by "ceramic blocks?" Do you mean fire brick? We have a Lopi Endeavor woodstove. Each fire brick is identical in size and can be purchased anywhere. The brick on the bottom are simply laid on the floor of the firebox and the bricks on the side simply slide into a bracket on top. There is no need to remove any bracket in order to remove all the firebrick.

With that said, a cracked firebrick is no big deal. If you think about, most woodstoves have many gaps (cracks if you will) between each firebrick. The purpose of the firebrick is protect the plate steel from warping or the cast iron from cracking under high temps. Small, narrow gaps (or cracks) are not going to allow this to happen.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

On the Leyden stove the firebricks are custom shaped to match the outer styling of the stove.
They have a little decorative fan shape (even inside the stove).
So yeah, they are fancy.
Now that I know how much they cost, I am gonna be extra careful. 

Oh heck, let me take a pic right now. 
See the little fan shape detailing?


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

One ceramic block (they don't call it a brick) covers the each of whole of the two sides. Then a two part block covers the whole back. So they are not fire bricks but integral parts of the stove.
While changing the blocks, I also noticed there is a ceramic (?) fire box behind, I think a recombustion box, that looked iffy. But by that time I had no patience to take off two more parts to get to it. And wait another week to get another order.
I also found that removing things frequently lead to finding more problems, so I decided to stop looking.  The Scarlett O'Hara philosophy of life- I'll think about that tomorrow.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

You are seeing iffiness in the recombustion chamber on the back of the stove?  

Do you keep the ash and cinder level below the opening on it?
The guys who installed mine said that was very important in order to keep it reburning properly.
MY DH is not real good at it. He can barely drive this stove.
It has a lot of fine tuning type controls, like a sportscar. 

I vaccuum mine out each spring and so far, so good.
Actually, I havent taken it completely apart though. 
I know inside the chamber is a sort of "foamy stuff", not hardened like firebrick or ceramic.

I totally LOVE this stove. I can get that baby cranking hot. 
It breathes like a dragon snorting flames. LOL


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

strawberrygirl said:


> Dh has been looking into buying a woodstove for next year. We would love to have a wood cookstove. The only place I would be able to put it would be the basement. I'm not sure if I can see myself lugging pots and pans up and down stairs. :awh:
> 
> Where I want to- Sorry to hear that your woodstove has cost you so much. Hopefully these are the last repairs that you have to make.


Why lug them up and down the stairs? Just keep a set down there, put a table down there and eat down there in the winter time!


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

gone-a-milkin said:


> You are seeing iffiness in the recombustion chamber on the back of the stove?
> 
> Do you keep the ash and cinder level below the opening on it?
> The guys who installed mine said that was very important in order to keep it reburning properly.
> ...


I'm glad you mentioned the foamy looking stuff- that and the front edge being a little crumbly made me think there might be a problem.
Yes, I do keep the ashes below that level. But did you know those little holes along the bottom of the curved fire block in the back lead to a gasketted place under the stove? 

That's another complication with replacing the fire blocks- there are all sorts of gaskets that need replacing too as they instantly fall into tatters when the block holding them in place is moved. Boy I almost have a personal relation to the stove person at the store, I've been in so much.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I do know about the holes. I know exactly where they are and you really cannot clean them good when the stove is hot.

It is also important to keep the channel underneath (where the lower flue lever slides back and forth) 
free of ashes. 

When I first got my stove I made the guys who installed it stand around for about 2 hours while all the gaskets hardened.
I was worried that the doors werent sealing right, and didnt let them leave until they did.

But I have had woodstoves all my life.

Maybe you got a crappy one? Bad day at the gasket station? 
As far as I know they are still using this design,
so it couldn't be TOO terrible or they would stop making them.

Which piece(s) of firebrick broke on yours? 
The back or the sides?
I will examine mine extra careful next time I let it go out.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I'm in love with my Vermont Castings Resolute. Got it used at a garage sale years ago, complete with a hearth and the triple wall pipe for about $135 iirc. It took me until a couple years ago to install it, and it's been working great ever since. I love the feeling of wood heat compared to forced air electric, and I REALLY love the difference it's made in my electric bill. 

I'm sorry you've had so much trouble with your Lopi, wiwt. That bites.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

The u shaped back panel first, the the curved back one had a large crack that was not visible until the u shaped one was removed. 

I don't know about them stopping- mine only had a problem after the warranty expired. 

How do you clean out the lower channel?


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## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

I have never lived in a house that did not have wood as its only heat, so I have been dealing with woodstoves my entire life. When we went shopping for one for Kadia's house, I would look at every display model and find something majorly flawed about it. I would point things out to the salesperson and they would try to brush it off, but I knew how awful some of the flaws would be to deal with when using it everyday. Sometimes I think I could design a really great stove. I think a lot of people look at woodstoves as back-up heat, but if you really use them for months on end, they are not to built to withstand the use.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2013)

Melissa said:


> I have never lived in a house that did not have wood as its only heat, so I have been dealing with woodstoves my entire life. When we went shopping for one for Kadia's house, I would look at every display model and find something majorly flawed about it. I would point things out to the salesperson and they would try to brush it off, but I knew how awful some of the flaws would be to deal with when using it everyday. Sometimes I think I could design a really great stove. I think a lot of people look at woodstoves as back-up heat, but if you really use them for months on end, they are not to built to withstand the use.


So , what brands would you recommend ?


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