Cleaning burn tubes

[realstihl]

Do burn tube need cleaning on the inside? I've never cleaned mine and wondered if there could be a buildup of something. I wouldn't think there would be anything but who knows.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Air should be moving out of them. I doubt you'd find much in them.

Matt

 

[ScotO]

I don't think it is really necessary, like EBL said the air is moving OUT not IN them. But, while I had my stove apart this past summer, I used the compressor and blew them out. VERY messy (I did have a shop vac there sucking most of the dust up, but still some made it into the house). I got a small amount of dust out of the primary air side, but the secondary tubes yeilded almost nothing at all.

 

[topoftheriver]

I don't think it is really necessary, like EBL said the air is moving OUT not IN them. But, while I had my stove apart this past summer, I used the compressor and blew them out. VERY messy (I did have a shop vac there sucking most of the dust up, but still some made it into the house). I got a small amount of dust out of the primary air side, but the secondary tubes yeilded almost nothing at all.

Never had to clean them. Still working good.

 

[turbocruiser]

I don't think it is really necessary, like EBL said the air is moving OUT not IN them. But, while I had my stove apart this past summer, I used the compressor and blew them out. VERY messy (I did have a shop vac there sucking most of the dust up, but still some made it into the house). I got a small amount of dust out of the primary air side, but the secondary tubes yeilded almost nothing at all.

I do that exact thing with the compressor and it always makes a helluva mess but as far as I can tell it isn't stuff in the tubes that I'm blasting out but ash that settled somewhere else within the secondary burn system. So that sort of tells me the tubes themselves are clean but the secondary burn system internally can slowly capture some stray ash and if that is removed theoretically things are a bit better. I do the same thing on the openings for all the air controls, the airwash system, the baffle behind where vacuum won't really reach, etc. I'm typically running three vacuums all at the same time to try to capture all the ash that "POOFS" out from every corner and crevice of the stove but when it is cleaned it is clean!

 

[wkpoor]

Why are you guys using compressed air with the stove door open? I blow the tubes clean by blowing into the inlet with door closed. Wait till dust settles and then just vac off outside them. I do it once a yr when I give the stove a good cleaning.

 

[topoftheriver]

I do that exact thing with the compressor and it always makes a helluva mess but as far as I can tell it isn't stuff in the tubes that I'm blasting out but ash that settled somewhere else within the secondary burn system. So that sort of tells me the tubes themselves are clean but the secondary burn system internally can slowly capture some stray ash and if that is removed theoretically things are a bit better. I do the same thing on the openings for all the air controls, the airwash system, the baffle behind where vacuum won't really reach, etc. I'm typically running three vacuums all at the same time to try to capture all the ash that "POOFS" out from every corner and crevice of the stove but when it is cleaned it is clean!

Get the dust rag out and keep the vacuum going.

 

[WES999]

I have used compressed air to clean my stove but I do it outside.
One of the benefits of a small stove is you can wheel it around easily.
I doubt there would be any buildup inside the burn tubes.

I do get ash buildup in the dog house
frequently. When I am doing the weekly ash clean out I vacuum out the dog house to
remove the ashes ( making sure the stove is cold).

 

[ScotO]

Why are you guys using compressed air with the stove door open? I blow the tubes clean by blowing into the inlet with door closed. Wait till dust settles and then just vac off outside them. I do it once a yr when I give the stove a good cleaning.

I like to backflush the air systems. Mainly because it cleans the lower end of those systems. Like Turbo said, the dust doesn't seem to be coming from the tubes themselves, but rather down in the system. I have a pair of shop vacs there, and that gets most of the dust. I wouldn't attempt it without at least one shop vac running on the end opposite the compressed air.

 

[turbocruiser]

I like to backflush the air systems. Mainly because it cleans the lower end of those systems. Like Turbo said, the dust doesn't seem to be coming from the tubes themselves, but rather down in the system. I have a pair of shop vacs there, and that gets most of the dust. I wouldn't attempt it without at least one shop vac running on the end opposite the compressed air.

Exactly and as I already mentioned above I have three shop vacs setup all around me and also a big box fan with filter on it to help the last little bit of dust. Keep in mind that this is all being done after the firebox was fully vacuumed out and brushed with brushes all around and vacuumed out again. Also keep in mind that as soon as you get to know the stove you sort of know where the majority of the dust will be blasting out so you can put one of the shop vacs right there to catch that totally. Besides, I don't see how you could really clean out the airwash system and some of the other areas like the lips of the baffles and things around the firebox with the door completely closed? Anyways the whole thing is to completely clean the stove without sending dust everywhere and this method truly works well. I should have mentioned maybe that along with the back flush method I'm also shooting air through the openings to all the air controls, etc so it is forward flush, back flush, etc.