cleaning out the burn pot

[msjks]

Hi All, so my husband and I are having an marital moment on how to clean out our burn pot in our Harmon XXV....

I open the door while still running and quickly scoop out the ash and stir the pot, while getting a little smoke/fumes in the house.

While he... shuts down the unit until it bearly has any embers in it and then cleans out the pot.

I think he is wasting time and unnecessarily making the ignition come on to start back up the stove once he turns it back on.

So to quell this moment. How do you all do it .. and what do you think is the best way?

thanks!! J

 

[bigeclipse]

I am completely new to this but on the Harman DVD that came with my P68 they keep the stove running while doing that type of clean out. They even state that this will cause the blower to stop blowing temporarily to help prevent fumes escaping into the house. Not sure about the XXV but id think it would be similar.

 

[jackman]

I'm with you J. I only shutdown about once a month.

 

[Peterfield]

Leaving it running. If you feel some speed bumps (carbon deposits) when you scrape the burnpot, you probably want to shut it down for some serious scraping.

 

[TStark]

Yeah, I concur, and I suggest he try decaf

 

[alternativeheat]

Have a look at the official way, but I just open the door and scrape personally:

 

[bags]

J,
You win! You are correct and going about the pot scrapes correctly. Guys only need to know two words.....Yes Dear. LOL! He should know that by now. I just open my door while running and hit the pot scrape quickly, shut it, and forget about it. Shutting down for a daily pot scrape is way overkill.

Use the search bar here and look up pot scraping tools too. That official Harman pot scrape video has two major flaws in my opinion. 1). The stove is off. Maybe for instructional purposes only. 2). They are using that ridiculous OEM Fisher Price toy scraper. That thing is a waste of time for anything other than pulling a bit of ash dams off of the lip of the burn pot and it does come in handy scraping the baffles up top with the pointed end during the monthly cleans. Other than that it's a novelty. Borderline useless IMO.

 

[alternativeheat]

Actually they don't shut it down in the video, he turns it down to heat level 1. I don't bother, I figure that's what the gloves are for.

 

[bags]

Actually they don't shut it down in the video, he turns it down to heat level 1. I don't bother, I figure that's what the gloves are for.

Yes, thanks. The turn down is what I meant. I kind of confused the turn down to 1 on the video with the OP saying her husband shuts it down. Then I caught the pic of the video you posted and it shows the OEM scraper with no fire. Too many things for my boggled mind to process right now with all that's been going on here. Glad you pointed it out.

 

[articcatbill]

I just leave mine running, never turn it down. I just open the door pull a few ashes off the top and give it a scrape. I often do mine a couple times a day, just when I am down there by the stove. I am burning mostly Hamer pellets, they can give a pretty stubborn carbon deposit. I think it helps to scrape it a couple times a day.

 

[bags]

I just leave mine running, never turn it down. I just open the door pull a few ashes off the top and give it a scrape. I often do mine a couple times a day, just when I am down there by the stove. I am burning mostly Hamer pellets, they can give a pretty stubborn carbon deposit. I think it helps to scrape it a couple times a day.

Same here except I burn Somersets mainly. I think the hardwoods are more prone for the carbon for sure. I have never even seen any softwoods around here. I'd like to try some though. I am so overdue for a thorough clean it isn't funny. Not happening today either I've decided. I have stuff to do this afternoon and it's been pouring rain and 34* here today. I'll just scrape the pot real good and roll with it.

Most times I just do my on the fly full burning pot scrapes each time I dump a new bag of pellets. Dump, Scrape, Done!

 

[P51mustang]

I keep my stove running and give the burn pot a good scrape usually in the morning and evening. When I do my monthly cleaning I scrape all the deposits out very thoroughly and empty the ash by hand from the ignitor area. In other words, loosen the wing nuts on the plate, remove, and simply use my fingers to pull any ash from the ignitor cavity.

I also ding the sides a few times with my plastic handled cleaning tool to remove the ash that builds up right around the ignitor itself that I can't reach with my fingers. Obviously it's important that the power is off to the stove so as not to zap yourself reaching up in and around the ignitor and the wires that power it. Safety first, kids....

I also clean out the air holes in the burn pot itself with a tooth pick to make sure the necessary air flow is there for proper ignition.

 

[Tonyray]

i USE THIS BABY.... 22" LONG....
Doesn't matter how high the flames are as I attack...
http://pellethead.com/product/burn-pot-scraper-for-harman-furnace-boiler-part-mar23/

 

[alternativeheat]

I went to HF and bought a large screw driver to get the stubborn stuff off. I think even if it wasn't a Harman I'd find a way to scrape the pot with the stove running. Shutting down just to scrape seems senseless to me. On a full cleaning ya but not for everyday scraping.

 

[Tonyray]

I went to HF and bought a large screw driver to get the stubborn stuff off. I think even if it wasn't a Harman I'd find a way to scrape the pot with the stove running. Shutting down just to scrape seems senseless to me. On a full cleaning ya but not for everyday scraping.

correct.....
ist thing I do when I get home is pull any ash down to the ashpan, do a quick scrape with the tool I posted,
and that's it... 20 seconds maybe...

 

[bags]

Pick your weapons for the scrapes. I use a long pry bar also a HF special that is like some huge regular screw driver with a bend at the end similar to the bends on the OEM donkey tool for scraping. I laugh at that thing every time I look at it. As Bogie mentioned the last time I bashed it it does come in handy cleaning the baffles with the arrow end. Maybe I'll nickname mine Broken Arrow because this cleaning chief has not much use for it.

 

[alternativeheat]

I use the Harman tool every day, if I feel a speed bump ( happens ever two to three days) I go for the screw driver and that gets it out. The screw driver does the bump that form a cheek on the side walls of the pot as well. The Harman tool just bounces off that stuff.

 

[bags]

I use the Harman tool every day, if I feel a speed bump ( happens ever two to three days) I go for the screw driver and that gets it out. The screw driver does the bump that form a cheek on the side walls of the pot as well. The Harman tool just bounces off that stuff.

I get exactly what you are saying and used to do that also. Now I just hit it all with the Big pry bar scraper where it needs it of not. Sometimes I feel stuff popping off of the pot bottom and sidewalls and sometimes I don't. Plus a big reason I like this bar I use is that it is much larger and i get away without donning the welding gloves. Q & D = Quick and Dirty. Call me a slacker but I found a way to cheat. I've learned from my lazy teen girls. LOL!