How often do you guys clean the combustion blower?

I am anal about cleaning my stoves, but the fact is that I had never cleaned the exhaust fan on the big Whit at any time since we bought it used back in 2010

A couple weeks ago I was getting a poor draft so decided to yank the fan.
Fan impeller great, but farther up the exhaust passage, between the inner ash baffles and the fan it had become real ugly.
Just over time the rough edges in there had gathered enough crap to really start things clogging up.

So, a used stove, then 5 years with us.

Now, the best thing is to buy a couple of the high temp silicone gaskets, as these are reusable.

Listings on ebay often.]

Silicone will work, but getting it off is going to be a beotch next time.

The silicone gaskets are very nice and should be good for many removals.

DO NOT TIGHTEN THE SNOT OUT OF THE BOLTS AS IT CAN WARP THE BACK PLATE ON THE FAN UNIT.

Just a good snugging is all that's needed

Good luck and happy cleaning

I have used silicone but then I apply a layer of foil over the silicone and assemble but not tighten for a day to let the silicone set up. Then tighten, allows for easy removal as you have only applied to one surface and the foil meets the other.

I just cleaned one after last season, 3 ton +. I was amazed at how dirty things were, gasket was shot. Thanks for the tip on different types.

bob

The manuals for both the PDV and it's little brother the PDVC, suggest removing the blower and cleaning it once each season. I do mine at the end of the season, replace the gasket with homemade replacements, from Lytherm sheets bought on Ebay. I made templates for gaskets from heavy cardboard. I clean the motor windings with compressed air. My particular motor has no oiling port. After carefully cleaning the fins and base plate with a small wire brush, I coat those areas with graphite dry lube to discourage buildup on the fins. As Snowy says, reassemble carefully, no need to overtighten.

Chrisnow86 said:

Thanks! I figured I would need to scrape off sealant the next time to do a cleaning.. I'm anal about my cleanings as well. My wife thinks I'm nuts but I tell her it's part of running a pellet stove

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UH HUH

Just a little insight into the mentality of some folks.

Buddy of mine scored a NEW Thelin Parlour stove at a garage sale for $50
Owner said it did not work.
"I pushed the button and it made noise, but no heat came out"
My buddy looks in the hopper and it's totally clean with the owners manual still taped to the inside of the lid.

Pellet stoves around our house are a part of the very fabric of our existence in the winter.
This is not a casual thing or just for ambiance in the den after dinner.

IT IS A WAY OF LIFE
Do or be very cold.

Good on ya for loving your stove.

Great ideas there

I found a 2x2 sheet of boiler gasket from the local Heating supply house is inexspensive and can make a hightemp gasket for anything.

That's an interesting though.

Should not do that, but, I suppose anything is possible.

Or not enough air through the pot to produce a good hot fire that creates less heat

Happy balance in there somewhere.

I was also annual on blower (actually everything) on the old unit. Break it down and blow it out..
But on that one, I also dumped the ash pan with every other load of pellets.
Very dirty stove... So happy I upgraded!

This one I'm now curious about and wanted to see also what others are doing.
The pan now gets emptied every 3rd week, whether it needs it or not.
A decent cleaning happens, no where near what I used to do...

This season just a 'blow-out', and running great!
The reason I was curious,,

Chrisnow86 said:

Every other week I would do that but also clean out the heat exchanger with a 3ft pc of hose, and put a few drops of oil on all the motors bearings.

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If possible, check out oiling reccs in your manual. Many recc 1-2 drops per YEAR. Too much can invite excess dirt capture. Just a thought.

I remove both blower motors from my Whit at the beginning of every burn season. I blow it out with compressed air, inspect, oil and reinstall.