Cleaning heat exchanger

I searched through the forum but didn't find any other post similiar to what I'm experiencing. Not sure if this is normal or not but on my weekly cleaning and sometimes even before that. I shut the stove down and brush, vac, scrape everything down. What I'm noticing is that I have a deposit forming on my heat exchanger that does not come off. It is not your normal fly ash but a thin layer of some combustion byproduct. I shouldn't say it won't come off it will if you really get the scraper up there and work at it. Just checking if anybody else is seeing the same thing. Should I should be worried about it. I feel if Im just brushing off the fly ash this will continue to build. Any suggestions? Thanks.

I double checked the glass gasket as suggested. It is installed the proper way. I'm surprised to hear some of them were installed backwards. Doesn't say much for who inspected these stoves as they come from assembly.

I can't say for sure but I don't think it is creosote. It is definately not shiny or black but looks more like the fly ash has just been baked onto the metal. Light brown in color and dull. I've noticed the start of this on the first fire of the stove. Don't get me wrong the stove has been running very well even with the buildup. Hopefully it isn't something that affects heat output.

I'll run a hotter fire more often. While I'm away from home I set the stove on room temp and about 65* and when home it is set to 4 of 7 on stove temp. There is noticeably more dirty buildup on the glass when at a lower heat setting which I would except. I don't really run it on anything less than 3 since the heat output is pretty low and my house is so badly insulated it doesn't heat the room.

How well are you guys scraping your heat exchangers? Are you going until you can see the painted metal or just brushing off the fly ash? That tool provided by Harman doesn't do anything on removing any buildup for me. All I can manage is to scrap a small line clean I'd be there for hours trying to get evrything off. Maybe using a gasket scraper would work better. Hmm now just to find it in the garage.

Gio said:

I just cleaned my stove 2 days ago . I usually only use a nylon 2" paint brush to clean my heat exchanger , walls, etc.. It comes out clean and smooth. I do have to scrape a bit on the back wall only.
I always clean the stove with the combustion fan running. With the door open it doesn`t feed pellets but the fan keeps the dust controlled and it doesn`t enter the room. After a while you develop your own cleaning regimen, whatever works best for you and your style of burning.

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Yeah I do the same thing. After brushing it out a couple times and choking on the ash I tried that also. So much better than without the combustion fan on. I open the hopper lid and leave the ignitor cover off with the other doors closed and find it draws a lot of the fines through the augur tube and below it.

Lousyweather said:

mark2m said:

I searched through the forum but didn't find any other post similiar to what I'm experiencing. Not sure if this is normal or not but on my weekly cleaning and sometimes even before that. I shut the stove down and brush, vac, scrape everything down. What I'm noticing is that I have a deposit forming on my heat exchanger that does not come off. It is not your normal fly ash but a thin layer of some combustion byproduct. I shouldn't say it won't come off it will if you really get the scraper up there and work at it. Just checking if anybody else is seeing the same thing. Should I should be worried about it. I feel if Im just brushing off the fly ash this will continue to build. Any suggestions? Thanks.

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Is your flame guide in place?

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Sure is. Have you heard of any problems of buring without? Curious not that I intend on doing it.

Gio said:

newf lover said:

I brush the heat exchanger with a paint brush and/or vegetable brush. After a ton or so, I do take a putty knife and do a better job of removing this ash. To be honest, I don't know how clean it has to be. It's just a layer of ash, not creosote. Any experts out there? I was actually wondering the same thing myself.

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Sounds like you are doing what has to be done. If the brushing don`t remove it all you have to resort to a scraper. Getting off as much residue as possible makes for a more efficient heat transfer.

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I dug the gasket scraper out of the garage and removed the buildup with it. I don't have anything to measure the output temp but going by my calibrated hand it really did feel better on the same heat setting. It could have been just in my head though.