Great video of a dirty Pellet exhaust...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Tonyray

Minister of Fire


This blew me away .. how efficient could the stove have been all winter?. looked damn near blocked up to me. Said he burned 3 tons..
Don't miss the 4 minute mark. he put's his hand in the Horizontal pipe and the Crud was even worse pourng out..He's actually cleaning it in the fall for coming winter.Thank god he cleaned it.
 
Last edited:
Hello

The pipe going straight out and up the side of the house looks better inside the house. The issue is that the cold air cools off the gases prematurely and clogs the exhaust pipe much more often. I usually install the vertical rise inside the house. This keeps the pipe cleaner and is more efficient. If you really want to get more efficient Selkirk DT that warms the burn air around the flue pipe is an event better way to go. That is just my 2 cents.

I like your toilet brush cleaner. Cool! Very nice video.
 
Last edited:
For 3 ton and not knowing the stove or how they ran it looks just a little over normal for an outside vertical.
 
For 3 ton and not knowing the stove or how they ran it looks just a little over normal for an outside vertical.
ok...
I was going by mine which had mostly grayish powder fall out when I cleaned it..
maybe burning better pellets is the key? 3-3/half tons this winter.
 


This blew me away .. how efficient could the stove have been all winter?. looked damn near blocked up to me. Said he burned 3 tons..
Don't miss the 4 minute mark. he put's his hand in the Horizontal pipe and the Crud was even worse pourng out..He's actually cleaning it in the fall for coming winter.Thank god he cleaned it.

I'll be cleaning mine this weekend I believe. It looks like we are done burning here on Cape Cod except maybe for some odd evening here or there. I've never waited to clean the vent for more than 1-1/2 tons but I don't get a whole lot then so in the video it makes me wonder what pellets he was burning and also how long the horizontal run is. I get basically nothing out of that section but it's a short run then up the chimney 23 ft.

Also I bet different stoves push more soot up the stack. The P 61 seems to contain it fairly well inside the fire box and in the ash pan. My horizontal always has just a film of tan powder. It collects some granules at the T, inside the cap. i get maybe a cup of ash from the vertical. These Energex I've been burning ( about 40 bags have been burned) are pretty ashy, the horizontal has still been tan even with the low burns. I will be curious how the vertical looks this time.
 
That's about what I'd expect for 3 tons.
 
So he is satisfied that everything is clean? Not going to check the vertical pipe from the inside?
I was wondering about horizontal from inside as well. On the p61 actually you would brush it from inside out if it needed it. I never find much there though but I look every couple of weeks too. No big cleaning needed there yet, I can ser from inside the stove right to he T with a flashlight shining in there. Its always just tan in there.
 
I was wondering about horizontal from inside as well. On the p61 actually you would brush it from inside out if it needed it. I never find much there though but I look every couple of weeks too. No big cleaning needed there yet, I can ser from inside the stove right to he T with a flashlight shining in there. Its always just tan in there.


Yes that is exactly why it is so much better to have the vertical run on the inside wall!
 
Yes that is exactly why it is so much better to have the vertical run on the inside wall!
I have a piece of 12" straight off the stove to the T inside my fireplace then 23' up the chimney. All 4" pipe, Rain cap on top. Never a problem with wind direction changes, no down drafts, always pretty clean with a good draft. Get a cold day in the winter with the stove cranking you can see heat rays emitting from the vent. So I guess the heat gets up that far.
 
I have a piece of 12" straight off the stove to the T inside my fireplace then 23' up the chimney. All 4" pipe, Rain cap on top. Never a problem with wind direction changes, no down drafts, always pretty clean with a good draft. Get a cold day in the winter with the stove cranking you can see heat rays emitting from the vent. So I guess the heat gets up that far.

Yes, that vert rise is still inside so it works better.

In fireplaces, I usually run a second 3" SS liner for the fresh air with a separate chimney cap. Then stuff the damper shelf and all around the liners with 100 % fireproof roxul insulation to keep the heat in the room from escaping up the chimney. :)
 
Yes, that vert rise is still inside so it works better.

In fireplaces, I usually run a second 3" SS liner for the fresh air with a separate chimney cap. Then stuff the damper shelf and all around the liners with 100 % fireproof roxul insulation to keep the heat in the room from escaping up the chimney. :)
Gotta tell you I had all I could do to stuff a single 4" in that chimney. Getting around / through the S wave at the smoke box sucked! I can't imagine stuffing yet another 3" down there. Logistically by measurements it should be possible but man fir a bit there I thought we were stuck. This is an unlined chimney so every brick seemed to want to catch the liner we stuffed in. But it is insulated at the base. Fresh air will have to go elsewhere, we ran without that this past winter.
 
Gotta tell you I had all I could do to stuff a single 4" in that chimney. Getting around / through the S wave at the smoke box sucked! I can't imagine stuffing yet another 3" down there. Logistically by measurements it should be possible but man fir a bit there I thought we were stuck. This is an unlined chimney so every brick seemed to want to catch the liner we stuffed in. But it is insulated at the base. Fresh air will have to go elsewhere, we ran without that this past winter.

You could just cut a round hole in the back of the fireplace for the fresh air or run it down to the cleanout cover. Then stuff the insualtion in there. :)
 
You could just cut a round hole in the back of the fireplace for the fresh air or run it down to the cleanout cover. Then stuff the insualtion in there. :)
I probably will run it out the back. Then shoulder season hit and it just didn't seem critical at that point. But most likely in Sept I will cut a hole for it then. I don't know, the Harman dealer was telling us that most installs that's un called for. But then he was the same guy telling us to place room probe on the floor which made no sense at all!
 
I probably will run it out the back. Then shoulder season hit and it just didn't seem critical at that point. But most likely in Sept I will cut a hole for it then. I don't know, the Harman dealer was telling us that most installs that's un called for. But then he was the same guy telling us to place room probe on the floor which made no sense at all!

The Harman DVD show the room probe 5 feet above the floor! LOL

I have 2 Harmans and 2 nice OAK adapters

Below is my 3" Harman OAK adapter for a nice tight fit! ! ! :)

Also see our cast iron Vacuum Cleanout for easy vent cleaning at the bottom of the pic. :)
 

Attachments

  • HarmanOAKadapterSelkirkDT..jpg
    HarmanOAKadapterSelkirkDT..jpg
    119.5 KB · Views: 150
The Harman DVD show the room probe 5 feet above the floor! LOL

I have 2 Harmans and 2 nice OAK adapters

Below is my 3" Harman OAK adapter for a nice tight fit! ! ! :)

Also see our cast iron Vacuum Cleanout for easy vent cleaning at the bottom of the pic. :)
My probe right now is about 3' up off the floor, been there for two months and before that it was located differently and about 4 ' up. I intend to move to he dining room though which is where the house thermostat is. Its just maybe 10' from the stove location though. Then I will put up about 5' as the manual says. The probe found its way to the floor a couple time this winter, the house got a bit too toasty. My down stairs floors where the stove is are not insulated . Be crazy to put the probe there
 
Perfect example of how or why one would install a double T outside, makes cleaning the horizontal easier.
Depending on the stove, true. some have no real access from inside out. On the P series Harman stoves this is not an issue. Just drop the cap at the T, pull out the ash pan from the stove, lift the lever holding in the cover to the exhaust fan and, lift out the hatch and you have a clear view right to the T two minutes later ( my cap is a twist off). But honestly so far I have not found much in there, just a tan film very light coating. Really with an old pellet bag placed under the T you can blow it out with a shop vac. MIght want an ash vac near the bag to collect any dust that flys.
 
Depending on the stove, true. some have no real access from inside out. On the P series Harman stoves this is not an issue. Just drop the cap at the T, pull out the ash pan from the stove, lift the lever holding in the cover to the exhaust fan and, lift out the hatch and you have a clear view right to the T two minutes later ( my cap is a twist off). But honestly so far I have not found much in there, just a tan film very light coating. Really with an old pellet bag placed under the T you can blow it out with a shop vac. MIght want an ash vac near the bag to collect any dust that flys.
yep..
pretty much what I get in there,..
maybe colorblind, but my coating looks gray to me...
 
yep..
pretty much what I get in there,..
maybe colorblind, but my coating looks gray to me...
Close enough, one of us is probably wrong !!! But the point is the same, Harman got it right. Good burn, ash where it should be, easy to clean
 
As the Original Poster,
I think the main Point missing,[should have posted it] is that he is cleaning his inside and outside exhaust in the fall or pre-winter..
The large amount of ash crud has been sitting there since the past winter and that's prob not good in the long run...
 
Flue cleaning in the fall, before the heating season starts, is commonplace. The flue is all stainless steel, so when the stove is not in use, whether you clean it in spring, summer, or fall - ash buildup has no impact on longevity. If anything, the buildup serves as a deterrent to any bees, birds, or small animals that would try to live or nest in there over the summer months.
 
Flue cleaning in the fall, before the heating season starts, is commonplace. The flue is all stainless steel, so when the stove is not in use, whether you clean it in spring, summer, or fall - ash buildup has no impact on longevity. If anything, the buildup serves as a deterrent to any bees, birds, or small animals that would try to live or nest in there over the summer months.
I was thinking more of the crud that was in the horizonal pipe leading inside to the stove.
Ash attracts moisture and so on...
btw:
that may be true but willing to bet lot of pellet people here would never leave it like that all summer...
OCD or not.seems 9 outta every 10 posters does a full clean of stove and exhaust every spring and I don't think saying it's quite ok to leave it like that and a critter deterent [caping works too]would convince them to just let it go and leave all that in the're Rig till winter. Not that that was your intent I;m sure..
.Like a car, some wash every week, some let the rain do it.. It's what your comfort level is I imagine.
Obviously the video poster is fine with it as you.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.