Cleaning Whitfield Advantage II

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Mikefam

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Jan 5, 2016
10
Connecticut
I have two Whitfield Advantage stoves in the house and have a question for Advantage II owners in the group about cleaning them.

I am very familiar with the stoves and am not asking for instructions on HOW to clean them. I'm interested in how often you clean them. I have found that ash builds up very quickly regardless of which pellets I use and I like the glass to stay clean and have gotten in the habit of shutting the stove each evening, letting it cool a little and then vacuuming the fire-pot area and ash tray, cleaning the glass and restarting the stove. It only takes a few minutes and the glass is always nice and clean. I also dismantle the baffles for a complete cleaning once in February and again at the end of the heating season.

So my question is: how often do you clean the ash from your Whitfield Advantage stove? Will it run for days without cleaning? A week?


Mike.
 
Mikefam said:
I have two Whitfield Advantage stoves in the house and have a question for Advantage II owners in the group about cleaning them.

I am very familiar with the stoves and am not asking for instructions on HOW to clean them. I'm interested in how often you clean them. I have found that ash builds up very quickly regardless of which pellets I use and I like the glass to stay clean and have gotten in the habit of shutting the stove each evening, letting it cool a little and then vacuuming the fire-pot area and ash tray, cleaning the glass and restarting the stove. It only takes a few minutes and the glass is always nice and clean. I also dismantle the baffles for a complete cleaning once in February and again at the end of the heating season.

So my question is: how often do you clean the ash from your Whitfield Advantage stove? Will it run for days without cleaning? A week?


Mike.
Click to expand...
When using good pellets I shut it down maybe once a week or so for a quick clean, like you said, quick vacuum empty, etc. I give it a big clean with the leaf vac and baffle removal once a month or so.
 
Not running 24/7. Started when I gen home, off before I leave for work, on during the weekend.
With that,
Daily vacuum around the fire pot (before I start it) except weekends, then shutdown sunday am for vacuuming, (running from friday nite).
Every 2 to 3 weeks the side tiles come out. usually full by then.
2 times a year (maybe 1.5 ton point), take the cap of the tee in the back and get that cleaned out.
since it is not trying to heat full house, I do maybe 25 to 28 bags a month..
 
My pellet consumption has reduced since I connected my stove to a thermostat this year. Less consumption equals less cleaning.

It's also worth noting I have the older stove with two sets of ash baffles, one behind the fire brick and the other behind that accessible only after you remove the first metal baffles.
 
I run my stove 24/7. I shut it down weekly and vacuum out the burn pot, ash tray and heat exchanger. I clean the glass with a dry sheet of newspaper a couple of times a week, even if it is running. It doesn't take any time to just open the door and give it a quick dry wipe to clean the glass.

I perform the leaf blower trick after every ton.
 
It's good to hear that the Advantage will burn for a week without removing the ash. I got in the habit of vacuuming it daily and have always done that so I was wondering how I should expect it to behave if I let it go longer.

I learned a neat trick for cleaning the glass. If you get some black soot that is cooked on the glass and hard to remove just dip a wet rag in the ash and rub it on the built up gunk. It's amazing how it melts the soot and how quickly it cleans up. I'm guessing that it has to do with the PH of the ash and the fact that it is mildly abrasive.

Mike.
 
My glass really never gets black, more gray, but on the side windows. I use cinch or this Windex vinegar spray or even sometimes just a moist paper towel.
 
I just shut it down to give it a quick empty/ vacuum and took some pics of how my glass gets.
 

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