Cleaning a Garn

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Hey All,

I just placed my order for a WHS2000H with electric backup. I'm building a home for it that will also serve as a music studio for my wife's piano lessons.

Anyway, I've read tons and watched all available video about the Garn boilers. One thing I haven't seen much of though is info regarding the cleaning of a Garn. What does that involve? How often?

Finally, I want to thank you all for your involvement in this forum. It has made my decisions regarding this project so much easier and better than if I had not found this place!

Thanks!
Chris
 
I have a 1500. I had my first burn last Nov 17 and have burned 0 oil since....in fact the oil boiler is still unpowered....have to finish up that part of the system. maybe a good idea for today! I have to clean my Garn anytime now. There are 4 hx tubes that are all accessed from the front of the Garn that you clean out with brushes. My 1500 uses a 4" and 5" brush, not sure about the 2000. Attach a couple of the standard 1/4", I think, fiberglass rods and push them into the HX pipes and remove the ash. Hopefully there isn't much....and I don't expect the mess to be too bad. One can clean the 6" chimney outside with a brush as well. Blow the dust/ash out of the blower motor....and that should be it.

You certainly want to maintain access to these cleanouts on the front of the unit, and the manhole on the top. Also on the front are the immersion wells for temp sensors and the blower. Rear access is less important, but all your plumbing is there, so you still want to have room/access. A cathedral style roof (i.e. sloped rafters) make manhole access easy. You will need some height over the top of the manhole to get things into the tank....including yourself perhaps, at some point.

Sounds like maybe you are asking how much separation you need from the piano room and the Garn from a "mess" point of view? Remember, bringing wood into the Garn is a bit messy, and ideally you'll have some storage room right by the Garn for wood. It almost seems like you want to have the rear of the Garn facing the piano room....and maybe separate these with a wall for ambiance. You certainly want room in front of the Garn and easy access to clean, and storing a cord of wood would be nice too. Then you only have to bring it in once a month (or whatever). I only have about 30" behind my Garn. When I did all my plumbing, I did have the back wall of the building enclosed, so effectively it was all open. If I had to do it all in 30", it would have been a PITA. I'd certainly plan to keep the Garn mess away from the studio, but the vast majority of all the mess is in the front of the Garn. Besides from inspection, I never look at the back or the top.....though I had to replace the anode rod through the top. I think you have two. make sure you provide access to these through your insulated box....

Congrats on the Garn and welcome.
 
Thanks for the info! We're making a totally separate room for the Garn. In fact, there will not even be a door between the Garn room and the Piano studio. I don't think dirt will be any trouble. There will be enough room for a cord of wood to be in the Garn room drying out, waiting to be used.

You bring up an interesting point, that is clearance behind the Garn. I didn't know how much room would be needed. For obvious reasons, I'd like to keep it as minimal as possible. Are you suggesting no less than 30" behind the Garn?

How about ash cleanout? How often do you need to clean the ashes from the firebox?

Thanks!
Chris
 
Hi Chris:

The plumbing has to be installed off the back of the Garn...so you need room for this and to do the install. Or the rework later. If you are doing the work yourself, I'd say think about what it takes to install the pipes. I have about 24-30" and I'm glad my back wall was all open when I did the install (by plan). But I'm 6'2" and too many pounds....so your situation may be differnet. But yes, you need to get in the back. You'll want to inspect your chimney and connection to the Garn as well.

As for ash removal, I take out a couple gallon garbage can a 2-3 during the heating season. I have been burning junk spruce wood all summer for DHW, and I have yet to clean out the ashes. Probably burned 1.5 to 2 cords of spruce....it is amazing, there's nothing left. So it is infrequent.

There's a bit of a mess in front of the Garn, otherwise it is clean.

You do want to have dry, seasoned wood in the Garn...not wet/green. If it is green, you'll dump lots of heat into getting rid of all that water and you'll burn more than you'd think. Generally you want to be a year ahead, at least, so that wood is nice and dry. Very easy to start fires in the Garn, I was worried about that. The majority of our fires my wife actually does. Her goal is to get to 190 on the storage, and she gets pretty close every time. It takes a bit to get the hang of, but not long. There are many threads, last year a few of us here had our first year with the Garn. I think all our happy....we are.
 
You will find that there is very little ash buildup in a Garn. They just seem to burn everything up. When ashes do accumulate it's a simple matter to push hot coals to the side and scoop out the ashes with a shovel. I think the two tools I see most often around the Garns I run in to are a short handle round point shovel and a regular garden hoe.

AFA cleaning the flues is concerned, you'll need a 4" and 5" chimney brush, about 10' of rod to attach to them and a shop vac. Have a spare set of cleanout gaskets on hand when you pull the covers. I have not run into anything that is easier to clean than a Garn.
 
Chris, I have about 18†behind my Garn. It was a tight squeeze for me when I was insulating but otherwise adequate. The wall behind my Garn has a removable 4’x8’ panel for access if I should have to service the rear fittings. I also have a removable panel inside to access the rear of the Garn. I just finished talking with Keith Kelly at Garn about cleaning Friday. He said I would probably not find anything as like many others, I burn dry wood. He said some just push a rod with a towel attached like a gun cleaning swab and then start up the blower and blow out the loosened dust.

He did suggest blowing out the motor with an air hose monthly, something that I was not told before. He also recommended when replacing the gasket material on the clean outs and fan that I place a piece of aluminum foil between the Garn and the gasket so it will release without damage the next time I want to clean out the flues. This is something you could do before you start your Garn and save the expense of buying replacement gaskets.

As Heaterman stated, I have a small ash shovel in a bucket and a small 4 tine rake to pull the clinkers to the front before I remove the ash.
 
bpirger said:
Hi Chris:
As for ash removal, I take out a couple gallon garbage can a 2-3 during the heating season. I have been burning junk spruce wood all summer for DHW, and I have yet to clean out the ashes. Probably burned 1.5 to 2 cords of spruce....it is amazing, there's nothing left. So it is infrequent.

Bruce, do you think the ash is blowing out the flue? I have gotten in the habit of using a firebrick placed in front of the nozzle to reduce puffing. I have been burning slabwood (spruce, balsam, pine) this summer also and still have to remove ash occasionally. I do tend to shut down the fan when the flue is ten degrees below the water temperature when I am nearby.
 
Hi George:

I have to clean the beast soon, so I will find out. I don't see a "dust" coating the ground behind the garn, so I don't think it is blowing out. I noticed Saturday that the ash is starting to accumulate....Maybe some of the seemingly low ash level is due to a fire every 3 to 4 days! Does seem like it burns up to a very fine, small amount however.
 
Thanks for all the words of wisdom guys. Hopefully, I'll have it up and running by Christmas.
 
I know this post is a little old but I found it doing a search as I am about to clean my WHS 2000. How do you clean the elbows and verticals in your units?

My air flow seems considerably lower this year than last even after cleaning the horizontal runs, which by the way there wasn't much to clean. I think I may have retrieved a couple cup's worth of soot, and that was after some serious elbow grease. I also checked the intake and it's clean as a whistle at least as far as the front collar. My radial blower wheel looks like the day I installed it, albeit a bit darker green perhaps. Too bad it isn't easier to check if there is an obstruction in the air collar. An access port for the intake at the front of the garn seems like it would be a good idea and I may make one in mine so it will be easier to check for any possible obstruction in the air collar.

What is the approximate air velocity with an empty fire box at the flue exhaust for a standard horizontal install supposed to be for a WHS 2000, WHS 1500 ? If I knew that measurement I could compare it to mine.

Even though this is my first post I congratulate all the people involved for developing this site including the mods, and postee's as it was and is an invaluable tool for learning.

Happy burning and happy hunting...back to the blind for me...good luck hunters!
 
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