Vent Cleaning

  • 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.
TimfromMA

TimfromMA

Minister of Fire
Mar 6, 2014
2,306
Central MA
My stove vent is as about as simple as you can get. A single 45 degree bend then straight out through the wall.

Up to this point, I've been scraping off the silicone sealant around the outsdie of the vent, disconnecting it from the stove and pushing it out through the wall far enough to get a brush down it.

My question is, is there a better way to clean it that doesn't involve disassembling it?

Can i just shove my ash vac hose up the vent from the outside? Will this clean it sufficiently?

2012-02-15_18-35-39_18.jpg 2012-02-15_17-43-09_725.jpg
 
I have a similar installation, and all I do is reverse my shop van and blow the air (from the inside) through the vent. I don't know if it's a perfect system, but I watch it as it's being done, and it blows a whole lot of junk out of the vent pipe. I used to run the brush through from the outside, until it occurred to me that I was probably just pushing all the ash back inside, which isn't really what I was looking to accomplish.
 
Enigma869 said:
I have a similar installation, and all I do is reverse my shop van and blow the air (from the inside) through the vent. I don't know if it's a perfect system, but I watch it as it's being done, and it blows a whole lot of junk out of the vent pipe. I used to run the brush through from the outside, until it occurred to me that I was probably just pushing all the ash back inside, which isn't really what I was looking to accomplish.
Click to expand...

Your method would still require me to disassemble the vent from the stove which is what I'd like to avoid if I can.
 
I have a pellet stove in my garage that is direct vented, it is just a two foot vent pipe. I put the leaf blower suction over the end of the exhaust, it cleans it real well.

Dave
 
Enigma869 said:
I have a similar installation, and all I do is reverse my shop van and blow the air (from the inside) through the vent. I don't know if it's a perfect system, but I watch it as it's being done, and it blows a whole lot of junk out of the vent pipe. I used to run the brush through from the outside, until it occurred to me that I was probably just pushing all the ash back inside, which isn't really what I was looking to accomplish.
Click to expand...

On the Harmans, you can access the inner vent pathway behind the ashpan & the combustion fan cover. You will want to remove the ESP from the rear first, to avoid damage to it from the brushing action. Mine are both up & out & I run the brush thru the stove to the tee & then thru the tee & up the vertical section to the jet cap.
 
X2. If yo can access your vent from inside the stove, run a soot eater through it, hook up the leaf vac and suck all the ash out. On your set-up you should still be able to remove the term cap and run the soot eater through the vent. And then do the leaf vac.
 
TimfromMA said:
My stove vent is as about as simple as you can get. A single 45 degree bend then straight out through the wall.

Up to this point, I've been scraping off the silicone sealant around the outsdie of the vent, disconnecting it from the stove and pushing it out through the wall far enough to get a brush down it.

My question is, is there a better way to clean it that doesn't involve disassembling it?

Can i just shove my ash vac hose up the vent from the outside? Will this clean it sufficiently?

View attachment 129431 View attachment 129432
Click to expand...
With such a short vent, I wonder if you have to clean it more than once a year?
 
Even once a year is a PITA with the method I currently use.

BTW It needs a cleaning every ton. I let it go more than 2 tons this time and it was quite filthy.
 
In that case, I'd just run a lint eater from the outside, and then hook up a leaf blower. No different than a regular vent clean out. No need to disassemble the pipe. It just looked to me that without a Tee anywhere, and no vertical pipe, you might not have too much to clean, but I guess I was wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mt Bob
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
Stove pipe spews smoke on stove startup
Replies
19
Views
2K
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
johneh
johneh
D
P68 Questions for the Braintrust - FINES, Bricks, Glass Clean
Replies
7
Views
673
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
mtnbiker727
mtnbiker727
H
Drolet HT-2000 - Smoke coming out of top draft intake vent when reloading fire
Replies
18
Views
1K
SBI: Century,Drolet,Osburn,Valcourt,Englander
Rancher22
Rancher22
J
mystery vent pipe gasket
Replies
7
Views
1K
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Mt Bob
Mt Bob
H
cleaning horizontal (only) harman exhaust
Replies
0
Views
228
The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces
hinmo24t
H
Top Bottom
Back