Half ton cleaning and...

THE ROOSTER said:

Had very little ash build up while using Country Boy's and Somerset's... Cleaned all the tubes and plates but feel like I could go longer, so do most of you guys go over 25 bags before cleaning???

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1 - 1 1/2 tons is pretty normal before a major cleaning (50-75 bags)......at least that's what I do. Seems to work, as I've had no "dirty stove" related problems with 2 different makes of stoves.

I clean the stove after 1 ton, a little more or less really dosent matter.

I note the bag count when it is getting close to 50 through the stove I start paying attention to the outside temps, first good day with decent afternoon temp gets chosen to do a full vent clean out.

I like to be warm and not freezing my hind quarters off when doing the outdoor part of things.

So the stove gets cleaned kind of piece meal depending on the weather.

So far this has worked fine for me. Thirty bags until next weather check.

I have burned 3.5 tons and did 4 major cleanings and 2 minor,
The first season I cleaned every weekend, what was I thinking

No need to clean till season is done!, as long as you don't move the stove and make ash drop inside the exhaust pipe your fine!
My experiance doesnt matter how many tons burned.

Actually only problems i ever had were not cleaning before Fall and firing it up before a cleaning and having the exhaust clogged, due to ash dropping after sitting all summer.

I bet most of us when we first purchased our stoves had no idea about cleaning them inside and behind baffles or the ash filling up the exhaust pipes.

Thats why this site is priceless!!

I clean mine weekly and leaf vac the venting monthly. 1800sf house and almost 2 tons and 600lbs of corn. The cleaner the stove the less fuel you use. heating since end of oct and t-stat at 72.

Hey guys, I just bought my Toro leaf blower tonight and will clean my pellet stove soon. I was wondering, do you leave the leaf bag on or hook a pipe to it and direct it somewhere else?

61snowrider said:

Hey guys, I just bought my Toro leaf blower tonight and will clean my pellet stove soon. I was wondering, do you leave the leaf bag on or hook a pipe to it and direct it somewhere else?

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Find the neighbor who is a Viking fan and blow it his way. I take the bag off and blow it towards my neighbor who is a bears fan.

61snowrider said:

Hey guys, I just bought my Toro leaf blower tonight and will clean my pellet stove soon. I was wondering, do you leave the leaf bag on or hook a pipe to it and direct it somewhere else?

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No leaf bag, make certain there is nothing nor no one even close to the direction you point that puppy, they'll get plastered in soot and likely inhale so much they'll need the services of EMTs.

will it destroy the bag? Why not use the bag to collect it?

Likely it will blow through the bag as it isn't a hepa filter.

I have a Quad CB1200 insert and I clean my stove weekly as it does not have any ash pan and requires a vacuuming to empty. Every other week is a major clean removing the plates to get to the heat exchangers for a quick vac and the cavity below the exchanger ( I call it the convection fan cavity) I have 20' of vent going up the cimney to the roof so I havent done the leaf blower yet. Where I have only burnt a ton and 1/2...Im not to concerned...may wait till spring...may do it todayits nice out and it would be good to throw the ash on my lawn!! :lol:

Every stove make and model seems to be slightly different. The Quads can chew up ton after ton and do fairly well. The heat exchanger fins start to get plugged up and then its time to clean the beast.

I use a shop vac with an external exhaust hose that I hang out a closeby window.

The results of not using the external exhaust are not pretty.

I have not used a leaf blower to clean the chimney as all my stoves are direct vent and a quick suckemout with the vacuum works well.

I agree 100% with SMOKEY though, pick a moderate day to do the outdoor stuff.

Around here I can shuffle the heating duties off onto one of the other stoves if I need to have any one down for more than a short time even in nasty weather.

Keeping things clean is important for sure. As the ash builds up, the drafting ability and the effectiveness of the heat exchangers fall off as they become covered with fly ash.


Depending on what you are feeding the stove the times between cleanings can vary some.

You will fall into a routine that works well for you and your stove.

Personally I base it on stove performance and the weather.

If the weather is such that I can't afford to take a stove "off line" I will wait until the weather moderates unless the need to clean is really pressing.

Keep us posted and enjoy the stove.


Snowy

Yes, ash is a very good insulator. Was cleaning every ton but the last cleaning amazed me as to how bad things were. Going to every 1/2 ton.