I dont mean a daily cleaning of burn pot / ash removal - i am talking of removing the cast iron plates and cleaning the heat exchanger tubes and exhaust port. I find myself cleaning the heat exchanger every other week. I have only cleaned the rear chamber (via the round plate w/thumbscrew) once. I can tell usually the build up by how soft and mushy the rods feel when scraping the tubes. I really didnt plan on spending this much time with my stove - though it does seem to burn much better after a cleaning - though this might be psychological. I have only burned newp pellets - so maybe they have excessive ash? In the spring I plan a complete cleaning - though i hate to pull the exhaust motor to clean the exhaust port.
