Summerizing your pellet stove

After burning all of the pellets in the hopper I perform a full cleaning inside and out, including vent with linteater and leaf blower I then cap the vent with a rubber sewer plug that has a hose clamp that fits my vent perfectly, this minimizes humidity, birds, bees intrusion. I also spray the fire box down with PAM cooking spray as a rust prohibitor. That is pretty much it for me. Good luck!

I also forgot to add to UNPLUG your stove!

put a jar of damp rid in the hopper and sit one on the burn pot. Does wonders.

And when you get the OAK installed, disconnect it from the stove and stuff a rag in it to keep the critters out!

twojrts said:

And when you get the OAK installed, disconnect it from the stove and stuff a rag in it to keep the critters out!

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My OAK had a screen installed to prevent critters. If yours does not, maybe you should install some screening to avoid problems.
I'd hate to see a mouse jump out when I open the door...

Bill

glenc0322 said:

Hi this is my first year with a pellet stove and i know its not that time yet but i am trying to find out what needs to be done to the stove when it is not being used in the summer months. i know about the full cleaning but i am looking to find out if there is anything you do to it to prevent rust and other stuff from happening i will be installing an OAK and i have a Harman Accentra with a zero clearance box thanks for your help

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There are plenty of threads on this topic....I learned last year to plug vent (put note in hopper to remind yourself to unplug vent), a little pam to prevent rust....damp rid to reduce moisture....and also you can paint the stove with stove paint....that is what i will do.

I really like that idea! Do you have 3" pellet pipe, should I look at Lowes or HD for the plug?

Utilitrack said:

After burning all of the pellets in the hopper I perform a full cleaning inside and out, including vent with linteater and leaf blower I then cap the vent with a rubber sewer plug that has a hose clamp that fits my vent perfectly, this minimizes humidity, birds, bees intrusion. I also spray the fire box down with PAM cooking spray as a rust prohibitor. That is pretty much it for me. Good luck!

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And a little note or piece of tape on the stat that says "Unplug the Vent Dummy!" never hurts either. Works for me! ;-)

I leave mine dirty to prevent the rust. Clean it when I am ready to use it.

Utilitrack said:

After burning all of the pellets in the hopper I perform a full cleaning inside and out, including vent with linteater and leaf blower I then cap the vent with a rubber sewer plug that has a hose clamp that fits my vent perfectly, this minimizes humidity, birds, bees intrusion. I also spray the fire box down with PAM cooking spray as a rust prohibitor. That is pretty much it for me. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Why did you use PAM? Why not use WD40 ??

Utilitrack said:

After burning all of the pellets in the hopper I perform a full cleaning inside and out, including vent with linteater and leaf blower I then cap the vent with a rubber sewer plug that has a hose clamp that fits my vent perfectly, this minimizes humidity, birds, bees intrusion. I also spray the fire box down with PAM cooking spray as a rust prohibitor. That is pretty much it for me. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I pretty much do the same thing. Remove all the panels, very thorough cleaning and vacuuming, clean out the pellet pipe. I hadn't thought about spraying the panels down with Pam, but that's a good idea. I usually hit the fire pot area with wd-40. I suppose I could just spray Pam or WD-40 on all the panels and heat exchanger as well. Great idea.

Mongo said:

Utilitrack said:

After burning all of the pellets in the hopper I perform a full cleaning inside and out, including vent with linteater and leaf blower I then cap the vent with a rubber sewer plug that has a hose clamp that fits my vent perfectly, this minimizes humidity, birds, bees intrusion. I also spray the fire box down with PAM cooking spray as a rust prohibitor. That is pretty much it for me. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Why did you use PAM? Why not use WD40 ??

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I think you could use either. I've always used WD-40, but Pam is basically just food grade oil. Oil prevents rust. Should work fine no matter which you use.

lecomte38 said:

I leave mine dirty to prevent the rust. Clean it when I am ready to use it.

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Never thought of that does it really work?

JoeS said:

lecomte38 said:

I leave mine dirty to prevent the rust. Clean it when I am ready to use it.

Click to expand...

Never thought of that does it really work?

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Of the subject.. I see your a Baltimore fan. Good Luck this weekend. I'm from New England but do not like the Patriots... it's more the Patriots fans I can't stand then the team itself. So, I'm rooting for Baltimore this week. I hope the can get it done. I love seeing the fans cry the next day after big losses.

JoeS said:

lecomte38 said:

I leave mine dirty to prevent the rust. Clean it when I am ready to use it.

Click to expand...

Never thought of that does it really work?

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It would depend upon the amount of moisture and what is in the crud.

It could be fine or it could not do the job.

I've done both methods...Clean it or leave it dirty for the summer.

Having said that I now give it a full clean at the end of season.
I open up the clean out T (inside in my case) to prevent anything from lodging in there.
I pull the OAK off the stove (held in place with silver foil tape)
I leave the door slightly open to allow air to circulate through the firebox.
If the innards of the stove don't have a temperature difference with ambient (room) then condensation can not form.

If you leave the stove dirty rust will form along the edges of where the ash is stuck to the metal.
The ash will crust up and hold the moisture like a sponge.
Not saying the rust will harm anything but I think it could.

Besides you never know when the temps in the Fall will change and it sucks when you have to spend a couple of hours cleaning the stove when you want heat.
Much better to be ready to go.
Boy Scout Motto....."Be Prepared"

---Nailer---

save$ said:

put a jar of damp rid in the hopper and sit one on the burn pot. Does wonders.

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ive done the same, yet still saw some rusting. i was wondering if the damp rid aka cal chloride aka ice melt aka pool water hardness, was drawing the humidity into the unit.

im considering a cheescloth sack filled w white rice this year. white rice is extremely hydroscopicl also great for protectingstored electronics from humidity.


ray

Not sure I'd use WD-40 as a long-term rust preventative. While it is mostly Stoddard Solvent (similar to kerosene) and mineral oil, it doesn't seem to last long as a rust preventer. Proof of this is to try using it on guns... they will rust, for sure.

PAM seems pretty easy to use, and when it cooks off, it won't smell as bad as a petroleum product would.

lecomte38 said:

I leave mine dirty to prevent the rust. Clean it when I am ready to use it.

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my buddy does the same thing ..but he found out the hard way that it does not protect the stove from rust .

I disconnect the vent and OAK from the stove and slide the stove forward. I cover the vent and OAK ends with baggies secured with a rubber band (after cleaning the vent). I then perform a full stove cleaning after which I place balled up newspaper and a large desiccant box in the burn chamber and pellet bin. When heating season gets close I pull off the baggies, slide the stove back, connect everything, remove the newspaper & desiccant and I'm ready to go.