Cleaning your Pellet Stove

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MacP

Member
Dec 10, 2011
148
Southeastern MA
What is your routine to clean your pellet stove? How often do you clean it?

I just wanted to make sure I'm doing everything I can to make sure the stove is running efficiently.

Any feedback, input, or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.
 
jdege said:
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.

Me too. Harman says you can go a ton between cleanings, but for me there is just so much more mess if I do it every ton. About 1/2 hour a week and a big cleaning at the end of the season.
 
PJPellet said:
jdege said:
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.

Me too. Harman says you can go a ton between cleanings, but for me there is just so much more mess if I do it every ton. About 1/2 hour a week and a big cleaning at the end of the season.

And since it is my first year I plan to have a tech do the year end, when you play with numbers all day you are best to leave the bigger things to those in the know
 
Again?
 
jdege said:
And since it is my first year I plan to have a tech do the year end, when you play with numbers all day you are best to leave the bigger things to those in the know

Wasting your money IMO. There's nothing complicated or technical about it.
 
76brian said:
jdege said:
And since it is my first year I plan to have a tech do the year end, when you play with numbers all day you are best to leave the bigger things to those in the know

Wasting your money IMO. There's nothing complicated or technical about it.

The main thing for me is I feel more comfortable seeing how it is done before I try on my own.
 
Once a week for basic stuff and a full tear down after the 1 to 1 1/2 ton mark.

You manual should have a schedule for you to follow.
 
I clean the burn pot and glass every week, the heat exchanger and vacuum under the burn pot every other week. I seem to get more heat if I do the heat exchanger regularly. I try to clean the exhaust fan every couple of months.
 
I've been cleaning the stove every 2 days. I clean the burn pot, glass, and use the ash vac to suck out the ashes. I haven't emptied the ashes in the pot yet or done anything with the blower. I'll look through the manual and I'll do whatever I can. I'll call someone to come out at the end of the season to give it a good cleaning. This way I can watch to see what he does. This way I'll know what to do. I like the idea of giving it a good cleaning every ton that I burn.

Any recommendations to clean the glass? I remember reading that someone used a newspaper. I've been using Rutland glass cleaner.
 
Quick XXV cleaning question.

Can I access the exhaust pipe on a Harman XXV without unbolting the flange ?

I want to run my brush through the horizontal pipe outside to the T.
 
j-takeman said:
Once a week for basic stuff and a full tear down after the 1 to 1 1/2 ton mark.....

Agreed, although I have been known to stretch it a little longer on occasion. :)
 
thedak said:
Quick XXV cleaning question.

Can I access the exhaust pipe on a Harman XXV without unbolting the flange ?

I want to run my brush through the horizontal pipe outside to the T.

Did you read the cleaning procedures in your manual? It covers this.
 
jdege said:
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.

Like, empty empty the burn pot? Per the manual, I leave some stuff in the burn pot when I scrape.

Do others empty the burn pot completely when scraping?
 
I do a thorough clean on mine every sat or sun....shut it down, pull baffle and ash covers....shop vac them out...

Last night I had some issues - burn pot overflowing.... So I did routine cleaning, and also opened access cover on top of heat exchangers - WOW it was caked with fluffy soot!!! Burning like a beast today!!!

Pellet stoves/furnaces sure do like a nice cleaning!!
 
Here are a few pictures of what i clean on my Enviro Empress
 

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I have more pictures but this forum won't allow me to post more, sorry
 
more picutres
 

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thedude110 said:
jdege said:
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.

Like, empty empty the burn pot? Per the manual, I leave some stuff in the burn pot when I scrape.

Do others empty the burn pot completely when scraping?

Not sure what the manual says but each time I restart the stove I pull most of the loose ash out over the front of the burnpot lip into the ash pan and then use the scraper end of the tool that came with the stove to scrape the burnpot. I leave all the small chunks of carbon buildup and dust in the bottom of the burnpot. Seems to be working ok for me so far.
 
Once a week I vacuum my Accentra FS and clean the glass with a dollop of Madame Defarge's ceramic stove-top cleaner. Every other week I take out the plates and the other removable parts and scrape/vacuum them as well. So far so good.
 
Hello.

Room temp 24/7, for me, and low Feed adjuster (3 1/4, 'cause little home and ~ 68°F setting) :

- I scrape pot once a day and clean heat exchanger and combustion fan every 15 bags (225 kg ~ 496 lb),
- I remove feed cover and vacuum feeder weldment after ~ 40 bags, now…

Au revoir.
 
mepellet said:
thedude110 said:
jdege said:
I clean once a week, empty & scrape burn pot, empty ash bin, vacum everything & clean glass. Only in my second month so nothing else to date.

Like, empty empty the burn pot? Per the manual, I leave some stuff in the burn pot when I scrape.

Do others empty the burn pot completely when scraping?

Not sure what the manual says but each time I restart the stove I pull most of the loose ash out over the front of the burnpot lip into the ash pan and then use the scraper end of the tool that came with the stove to scrape the burnpot. I leave all the small chunks of carbon buildup and dust in the bottom of the burnpot. Seems to be working ok for me so far.

After I clear the lose ash out I scrape and then vacume, the burn pot is pretty cleaned out by time I go to restart.
 
I usually clean my stove weekly. Vacuum it, clean the burn Pot, empty the ash drawer, and clean the glass. Mid way through the season and at the end I use the leaf blower on suction to clean out the flue. This doesn't produce much soot as I burn my stove with the damper adjusted to burn clean.
Due to recent surgery I went 5 Weeks without cleaning it. It gave me no problems. I cleaned it yesterday and was amazed that it was not any worse then it was.
 
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