Cleaning the interior of wood stove

[vanubee]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering how often each of you clean the interior of your wood stove? I'm not talking about daily maintenance like sweeping up the ash and cleaning the glass window - I'm talking about removing any air tubes/insulation and scrubbing the ceilings or any other areas where soot may have built up?

I'm getting ready to bust out the soot eater for the first time. Was thinking about disassembling the stove pipe to funnel the rods up the chimney pipe; but then I thought to myself - why not just clean from within the stove? This would allow me (or rather force me) to clean the stove pipe and chimney pipe, and scrub the ceiling of the stove.

I welcome your wisdom.

 

[begreen]

Once a year for the T6 whether it needs it or not.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

This may be a silly question but what is the best way to sweep my chimney? I have thought about removing a section of stove pipe and putting a bucket underneath the rest and sweeping from the chimney down. I'm trying to keep all the junk from collecting on top of the refractory box.

 

[begreen]

That is one way. Or could you cut a piece of plastic sheet to cover it and use a couple magnets on the back to hold it in place?

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Ahhh. Good idea. Either way seems like a 2 person job.

 

[jatoxico]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering how often each of you clean the interior of your wood stove? I'm not talking about daily maintenance like sweeping up the ash and cleaning the glass window - I'm talking about removing any air tubes/insulation and scrubbing the ceilings or any other areas where soot may have built up?

I'm getting ready to bust out the soot eater for the first time. Was thinking about disassembling the stove pipe to funnel the rods up the chimney pipe; but then I thought to myself - why not just clean from within the stove? This would allow me (or rather force me) to clean the stove pipe and chimney pipe, and scrub the ceiling of the stove.

I welcome your wisdom.

Not like I have a choice with the insert but I would clean from inside the stove. Drop and sweep/vacuum the baffles. Brush the interior especially the top. Then vacuum the whole thing out. Gives you a good chance to inspect and creosote can insulate reducing heat transfer to the stove top so you wouldn't want to let that build up too much.

After that I actually run the Soot-eater. By vacuuming first I don't blow ash around when the drill gets close to the firebox and I can really see clearly what comes down. Interesting by sweeping from bottom up I can tell that the soot is not evenly distributed, there are zones of build up.

One tip is I place my shop vac with the hose just inside the box and run it. That sucks up any fines that are falling and keeps things clean.

Coincidentally I swept today. Got a cup of brown fluff. Not bad for 24' exterior chimney.

 

[firefighterjake]

Once a year I take off the top oval of the Oslo and vacuum the accumulated ash (some soot, but mostly fly ash) from around the blanket and in and around the flue pipe to insure a free flow of exhaust. During this one thorough cleaning I also check gaskets, clean up the hearth and glass and put some graphite powder on the air control lever.