Englander Carbon Removal

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rottiman

Minister of Fire
Sep 23, 2009
1,249
Ontario Canada
Anybody come up with a better way to remove the carbon build-up on the feed-auger end. Using the" old screwdriver, chip away @ it"is okay, but with the creative powers on this forum I figure someone has come up with a faster,easier way. Any thoughts?
 
Not so far . But I use a small pry bar the bent end seems to work better .
 
I'm curious as well. chipping away seems hard on the underlying metal, maybe even chipping it off. thought about trying oven-off but haven't yet.
 
rottiman said:
Anybody come up with a better way to remove the carbon build-up on the feed-auger end. Using the" old screwdriver, chip away @ it"is okay, but with the creative powers on this forum I figure someone has come up with a faster,easier way. Any thoughts?

At your own risk :

When I had my dual auger Englander, I used my cordless ryobi sawzall with a short worn out blade on it. The teeth were worn down on the blade so it wouldn't cut metal anymore, but would chip carbon nicely. The blade would fit between the tube & the auger & I could twist the sawzall around & could go around the auger in the tube & the carbon would just flake off. I got good with it & could completely decarbon the auger in less than a minute. Previously I had tried about everything & all other methods was slow going at best. If I still had this type of stove, I was thinking of cutting 1/2" off the end of the auger to keep the end out of the fire. I think it would've still pushed the pellets into the burnpot anyway.

Tom
 
I use a Stanley FatMax 1/4" 6mm wood chisel - Hardened, tempered high-chrome carbon alloy steel blade for edge retention. Now that sounds like something straight from the Stanley Web site. Where the Auger stops is like playing Roulette sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. If the Auger stops with it's edge at the bottom touching the carbon build-up a quick push of the start button followed by the Off button will spin the Auger out of place so you can scrape and chip the carbon off very easy. - I found that my tube only has carbon build-up from the 9 oclock position downunder to the 3 oclock position on the other side. Never had to scrape any from the top yet. Works great on the area next to the tube where the ignitor is located also.
 
Arnold said:
rottiman said:
Anybody come up with a better way to remove the carbon build-up on the feed-auger end. Using the" old screwdriver, chip away @ it"is okay, but with the creative powers on this forum I figure someone has come up with a faster,easier way. Any thoughts?

At your own risk :

When I had my dual auger Englander, I used my cordless ryobi sawzall with a short worn out blade on it. The teeth were worn down on the blade so it wouldn't cut metal anymore, but would chip carbon nicely. The blade would fit between the tube & the auger & I could twist the sawzall around & could go around the auger in the tube & the carbon would just flake off. I got good with it & could completely decarbon the auger in less than a minute. Previously I had tried about everything & all other methods was slow going at best. If I still had this type of stove, I was thinking of cutting 1/2" off the end of the auger to keep the end out of the fire. I think it would've still pushed the pellets into the burnpot anyway.

Tom
This is the best one yet . I like it and will be doing that from now on . I don't think that I will cut the auger off though . I would be worried about a hopper fire .
 
I just knew there was creativity lurking out there.......................Thanks for the suggestions
 
i havent tried this yet but i intend to , "slide lock" is a spray graphite which is an inert lubricant (it cannot burn) ive been told it will keep the impeller on the exhaust blower clean if applied annually i was thinking it may also provide a "nonstick" surface to the feed tube as well. as i said i intend to try it as soon as i can pick some up but if ya happen to have some , it wouldnt hurt the stove trying it
 
Thanks Mike, is slide lock a brand name? Never heard of it up here, I wonder if any spray graphite would work. I have some out in the shop, might have to do a little testing.
 
stoveguy2esw said:
i havent tried this yet but i intend to , "slide lock" is a spray graphite which is an inert lubricant (it cannot burn) ive been told it will keep the impeller on the exhaust blower clean if applied annually i was thinking it may also provide a "nonstick" surface to the feed tube as well. as i said i intend to try it as soon as i can pick some up but if ya happen to have some , it wouldnt hurt the stove trying it

Where can I find this stuff? Is this what I hear people say to spray in the hopper for the pellets to slide better. Mine seem to get caught with the thick welds around the hopper feed area.
 
joefraser said:
stoveguy2esw said:
i havent tried this yet but i intend to , "slide lock" is a spray graphite which is an inert lubricant (it cannot burn) ive been told it will keep the impeller on the exhaust blower clean if applied annually i was thinking it may also provide a "nonstick" surface to the feed tube as well. as i said i intend to try it as soon as i can pick some up but if ya happen to have some , it wouldnt hurt the stove trying it

Where can I find this stuff? Is this what I hear people say to spray in the hopper for the pellets to slide better. Mine seem to get caught with the thick welds around the hopper feed area.
I stupidly sprayed some aerosol graphite into the nearly empty hopper while the stove was running. FOOOM....a great big fireball! The graphite may not be combustible, but the propellant sure is! I did apply a coating to the hopper this fall during annual cleaning though. Too early to tell if it helps the pellets slide down. Mike, keep us posted on the experiment, which I presume is the same graphite in a spray can that I have.
 
i use a cordless dremmel with a small sanding drum attachment on it and sand the black carbon off… works very well

I like the dremmel Idea I could plug my cordless dremmel in right beside the stove!

Instead of cutting a 1/2 inch off the auger end what if one was to trim 1/4" off the tips of the auger at 45 degrees.

Also I thought of purchasing a burn-pot and having a friend who welds, angle the burn-pot plate down away from the auger tube it would involve cutting the front of the burn pot and re-welding the burn plate supports in.
That way pellets would have a natural tendency via gravity to fall away from the auger tube and the burn would be about 1" further away from the auger and tube thus reducing the carbon build up. I bet it would work. I bet one could build in ash channels on each side were ash would be forced off over the edge into the ash pits on each side of the burn pot thus ending the 24 to 36 hour almost mandatory shut down and cleanup of the stove.
One issue could be the reduced air space below the altered new angled burn-pot but I think the new angle and ash being forced by gravity and new pellets pumping into the burn pot would make this a non issue,
OK Who wants to be the Guinea pig on this one! How about that guy in Maine who burns Cherry pits and coal can't remeber his name I called him last year and shot the chit with him for a good hour.
 
pelletizer said:
i use a cordless dremmel with a small sanding drum attachment on it and sand the black carbon off… works very well

I like the dremmel Idea I could plug my cordless dremmel in right beside the stove!

Instead of cutting a 1/2 inch off the auger end what if one was to trim 1/4" off the tips of the auger at 45 degrees.

Also I thought of purchasing a burn-pot and having a friend who welds, angle the burn-pot plate down away from the auger tube it would involve cutting the front of the burn pot and re-welding the burn plate supports in.
That way pellets would have a natural tendency via gravity to fall away from the auger tube and the burn would be about 1" further away from the auger and tube thus reducing the carbon build up. I bet it would work. I bet one could build in ash channels on each side were ash would be forced off over the edge into the ash pits on each side of the burn pot thus ending the 24 to 36 hour almost mandatory shut down and cleanup of the stove.
One issue could be the reduced air space below the altered new angled burn-pot but I think the new angle and ash being forced by gravity and new pellets pumping into the burn pot would make this a non issue,
OK Who wants to be the Guinea pig on this one! How about that guy in Maine who burns Cherry pits and coal can't remeber his name I called him last year and shot the chit with him for a good hour.

i like your thinking... how about modifying the burn pot so you would basically turn the wear plate around so the sloped side is at the bottom of the auger tube causing the pellets to roll away.. the only proble i see with this is the igniter would work because the pellets wouldn't be near it.. how much is a new burn pot?
 
I don't think the igniter would be an issue as long as one piled the pellets in the right rear corner and maybe inserting on a little bit into the igniter hole too. Not sure but I think the burn pot is about $250.00
 
pelletizer said:
Not sure but I think the burn pot is about $250.00
ok that would be an expensive trial and error test! .. anyone have an old burn pot they would like to donate to this experiment?lol
 
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