Quadrafire MVAE cleaning questions

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BigJohnfromCT

BigJohnfromCT

Feeling the Heat
Dec 29, 2012
325
Danbury, CT
Someone on this forum has the following message posed on their page, "Take care of your stove and it will take care of you." I couldn't agree more. I clean my stove weekly and in keeping with the statement I have a couple of stove specific questions:

1. What kind of brush do you folks use to clean the fingers of the heat exchanger behind the cast baffle? Currently, I use a 3" paint brush. Seems to work pretty good but can't hurt to look for something better. I was thinking of trying a stiff spiral brush, maybe even metal to get any scale off.
2. What tool do you use to clean the carbon buildup from the bottom of the fire pot? I use the supplied tool and a screwdriver. This to seems to work well also although it's a little more time consuming than I'd like.

Thank you, good burning and may all of you have a happy holiday and a healthy, safe and prosperous new year.
 
I use something like this for cleaning between the heat exchanger pins

21W%2Bg3BuwXL.jpg

It has metal bristles and is skinny enough to to fit between the pins. I follow along with the ash vac as I am brushing so that the soot doesn't become airborne.
The pointy end of the supplied tool clears the holes in the burn pot when needed. I tried keeping the burn pot walls clean but it isn't worth the effort. I just do a light once over with the wire brush.
Make sure that you vacuum in the two vents that go downward behind the plate.
 
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BigJohnfromCT said:
Someone on this forum has the following message posed on their page, "Take care of your stove and it will take care of you." I couldn't agree more. I clean my stove weekly and in keeping with the statement I have a couple of stove specific questions:

1. What kind of brush do you folks use to clean the fingers of the heat exchanger behind the cast baffle? Currently, I use a 3" paint brush. Seems to work pretty good but can't hurt to look for something better. I was thinking of trying a stiff spiral brush, maybe even metal to get any scale off.
2. What tool do you use to clean the carbon buildup from the bottom of the fire pot? I use the supplied tool and a screwdriver. This to seems to work well also although it's a little more time consuming than I'd like.

Thank you, good burning and may all of you have a happy holiday and a healthy, safe and prosperous new year.
Click to expand...

1) I use a brush very similar to post no 2. I also have an old dust brush with hard bristles that I more often use. It's big, so I can get the whole lot of the "fingers" in a few sweeps. It takes a bit of practice to do with while keeping the dust to a minimum. I keep my shop vac close.

2) I have a wire brush (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CMFKWE/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=) that I attach to my cordless drill. I use it to loosen up most of the stuff in the bottom of the firepot. I do on occasion need to still go at it with the supplied tool or a flathead. But the wire brush really helps break things down.
 
I just use crevice tool on shop vac fits over pins and between them.
 
I use a cylindrical brush my wife had for some type of painting, that looks like a smaller version of an old shaving cream brush. Gets right between the fingers of the heat exchanger. Follow along with ash vac to minimize ash flying around. Use supplied tool for firepot.
 
The supplied tool for the firepot is useless, in my opinion. I use a gasket scraper I bought at an auto parts store. I also use the wire brush on my electric drill - got the wire brush at Home Depot - they have several sizes - the one I bought is about 1 - 1.25 inches across the bottom. As for cleaning the heat exchanger pins, the picture of the one in posting 2 is exactly what I use - bought it at Wal-Mart.
 
I use my wife. She does great at both
 
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What are people using to clean the slots at the back of the firebox?
 
scottvwgti said:
What are people using to clean the slots at the back of the firebox?
Click to expand...
I picked up a length of plastic tubing, at the hardware store, that fits into the slot. I couple it to the ash vac and lower it into the two slots until I am sure the path is clear. I works well enough and cost next to nothing.
 
Harvey Schneider said:
I picked up a length of plastic tubing, at the hardware store, that fits into the slot. I couple it to the ash vac and lower it into the two slots until I am sure the path is clear. I works well enough and cost next to nothing.
Click to expand...

Now that's a good idea ... going to Home Depot tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.
 
jimfrompa said:
Now that's a good idea ... going to Home Depot tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...
Get about a five foot length. That makes it easier to maneuver.
 
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