Or "Do what I say NOT what I do..."
I've run a ton and a half of pellets thru my St. Croix this year... one ton of Western Elite Douglas Fir and a mix of Marth Pine and Lumberjack softwoods when I ran out of Western.s... the stove gets a quick clean up about once per week when I'm home... other wise my bride empties the ash pan and does a quick vacuuming job when she can.
Most folks here know I'm a big proponent of using the world-famous 'leaf blower trick' on the stove after every ton... something I haven't done yet this year. I DID do a very through pre-season clean with the leafblower and 120lb compressed air... the stove has never had a cleaner start to the season.
I got home this morning and found my bride was idling the stove on setting #1... saving pellets I assume. She's been doing a lot of this lately... and NOT running it on 5 or 6 for 1/2 hour per day as is suggested by me, my dealer and St. Croix... so I knew what was going to happen next... and it did.
When I got home I shut the stove off to do a cleaning AND fire up the leafblower... the stove was off for almost an hour but it was still generating enough heat that the 'proof of fire' switch would not let it shut down. I peeked thru the closed door and spotted some unburned pellets in the ash pan... and a big pile of unburned and smoldering pellets in the fire pot... huh... I haven't had THAT happen in years.
Soon smoke started sneaking out of the door gasket and air wash... just to see what would happen, I turned the stove back on, pellets started feeding, lots of smoke then a big POOF and it re-lit.
Sound familiar? A plugged up stove! In the home of the self-proclaimed "Leafblower King"....It's blasphemy I tell you
So now, with my tail tucked firmly between my legs, I will do a good cleaning AND fire up the old LB and have it do what it does best...
Sometimes confession is good for the soul...
I've run a ton and a half of pellets thru my St. Croix this year... one ton of Western Elite Douglas Fir and a mix of Marth Pine and Lumberjack softwoods when I ran out of Western.s... the stove gets a quick clean up about once per week when I'm home... other wise my bride empties the ash pan and does a quick vacuuming job when she can.
Most folks here know I'm a big proponent of using the world-famous 'leaf blower trick' on the stove after every ton... something I haven't done yet this year. I DID do a very through pre-season clean with the leafblower and 120lb compressed air... the stove has never had a cleaner start to the season.
I got home this morning and found my bride was idling the stove on setting #1... saving pellets I assume. She's been doing a lot of this lately... and NOT running it on 5 or 6 for 1/2 hour per day as is suggested by me, my dealer and St. Croix... so I knew what was going to happen next... and it did.
When I got home I shut the stove off to do a cleaning AND fire up the leafblower... the stove was off for almost an hour but it was still generating enough heat that the 'proof of fire' switch would not let it shut down. I peeked thru the closed door and spotted some unburned pellets in the ash pan... and a big pile of unburned and smoldering pellets in the fire pot... huh... I haven't had THAT happen in years.
Soon smoke started sneaking out of the door gasket and air wash... just to see what would happen, I turned the stove back on, pellets started feeding, lots of smoke then a big POOF and it re-lit.
Sound familiar? A plugged up stove! In the home of the self-proclaimed "Leafblower King"....It's blasphemy I tell you
So now, with my tail tucked firmly between my legs, I will do a good cleaning AND fire up the old LB and have it do what it does best...
Sometimes confession is good for the soul...