What do you use to scrape the burn pot?

dave,

I have a P61A and for years I have used a one inch chisel that I sharpen when needed and it seems to work much better.
As a matter of coincidence I ordered this item off ebay yesterday. http://www.ebay.com/itm/191419663796

I should have it Monday or Tuesday and I'll post my opinion on it here.

I do like the standard harman tool for scraping the heat exchangers although I also get up there with various brushes as well to do a more thorough job.

I use an automotive gasket scraper purchased for a few bucks at harbor frieght.

Try a flat screw driver or a gasket scraper

I use a 7/8" wide cold chisel to scrape the pot, and a short - handled 1" X 2" wire brush to scrub the fine powdered ash off the sides and sloped section of the fire pot.

The guy on ebay is just buying the straight one for $5.25 and bending them and re-selling for $19.99, Made me think, I got a 50 ton iron worker in my shop so I ordered 4 myself and gonna custom bend them for my USSC 5660 and others like them so I can get in and out for a more effective scrape and go, It is awkward since you can't get to the bottom of the pot very well w/o getting your hand cooked.

I use a long flat head screwdriver I found on the side of the road last week. Works great! Don't waste your money. Unless money's not an issue.

Harbor freight pry bar with tip sharpened

I don't scrape ..............

This from Richards works very well

Excellent thread. I was just about ask the same thing. My agitator is chirping from a bit of carbon I can't remove with the stock scraper.

shtrdave said:

I have a Harman P43 and I am not fond of the scraper they gave me with the stove, I use it because I have not found anything else that I like.

So I figure maybe ask here and see if I get some ideas.

thank you

Click to expand...

Large flat-head screwdriver. Then use the Harman scraper to pull the leavings into the ash pan. If I have to, a few whacks with a hammer loosens the baked on crud.

I only use the standard Harman scraper to pull ash, do a light scrape while the stove is running, and to scrape the baffles. I use a chisel and flat screwdriver to get the hard stuff off when the stove is shut down.

A mini wrecking bar has that 90-degree bend at one end -- I find that useful for scraping.

I just bang the burn pot on the cement steps just outside the back door. The crud just falls off. Nothing else has any build up.

Dave

As a 'side-bar' to pot scraping brain-storming ideas. If I'm home and hear my Quad shut down, I wait until the last of the hot embers have extinguished in the pot, usually about the same time the convection blower cycles off. Then I pull the fire pot clean-out knob (insulated gloves required !), and more often than not it clears the pot w/o having to manually scrape it.

It worked great in my Quad this AM after the stove was running for 30 + hrs straight in this recent NE cold snap. Burning quality 100% softwood pellets certainly seems to help. But even if the clean out slide plate is still ash obstructed and won't clear the pot, it's much easier to scrape when the fire pot is hot than after it has 'cold welded' the ash impurities and residual fly ash.

*Disclaimer / Warning * ! Caution ! - ! Insulated gloves required ! Poking around w/ a scraper in - what, probably a 500 - 800 F chunk of cast steel and smoldering flue ash, can burn the crap out of your un-gloved hands ! It's why this is not 'sanctioned' pellet stove manufacturer fire pot cleaning SOP! It's the whole 'Caution - coffee is hot' product liability thing.

After a quick cleaning of the fire pot air holes with the appropriately sized gun bore brush or hex wrench (again, insulated gloves required), I finish with a quick spritz of non-stick cooking spray, that releases any last residual carbon and lubricates the clean out slide plate 'trap - door' hinge mechanism. The non-stick spray seems to keep the residual ash from 'cold welding' quite as much if I don't get to scrape the pot until it has completely cooled.

I get a little non-stick spray 'sizzle' from the spray propellant contacting the hot fire pot, but I've never had a 'flash - over'. * ! Use Insulated gloves when you're spritzing ! * - have I made my point clear here ?

This is what works for me. Again, as always, your results may vary.

Cold Chisel