First Leaf Blower Cleaning....

[GrahamInVa]

Well after 52 bags burned I figured I ought to do a full cleaning. Overall went well. It's amazing all the ash that the leaf blower sucks out. I used the sooteater to clean my vent, works great!

Lead blower video...

[youtube]http://youtu.be/xC4PFtMmG7w[/youtube]

Combustion blower looks pretty good. Very little ash in there. I was able to save the gasket too..

 

[smoke show]

nice vid, not much soot.

 

[save$]

Thanks for the vid. Good to have something to compare with. I cleaned my stove's blower Thursday. I had burned 6 tons. I know, I was late getting to that part. I had done the leaf blower thing after each ton burned. While I didn't get pic's, I only saw a smooth layer of black soot on the blower fins. I had about a eighth inch of rough soot on the blower inside casing. A little dust on the motor, wires etc, but no dust bunnies. The other blower had some fine gray (edited) dust in the squirrel cage fins that I had to loosen up and vac. Running smooth now.

 

[DexterDay]

Very Nice..... Surprised at how light that was.

That 25-EP is burnin good

 

[GrahamInVa]

Very Nice..... Surprised at how light that was.

That 25-EP is burnin good

It may be due to the fact that when I do my normal cleaning each week I suck out the "T". I never know how much I am sucking out cuz I can't see it.

Also, after running the sooteater through the vent I sucked out the "T" with the vacuum before running the leaf blower.

 

[smoke show]

...fine gay dust.....

:bug: Huh?

 

[joe_pinehill]

Well after 52 bags burned I figured I ought to do a full cleaning. Overall went well. It's amazing all the ash that the leaf blower sucks out. I used the sooteater to clean my vent, works great!

Lead blower video...

[youtube]http://youtu.be/xC4PFtMmG7w[/youtube]

Combustion blower looks pretty good. Very little ash in there. I was able to save the gasket too..

is your leaf blower gas powered?

 

[imacman]

Looking at the pic of the buildup of crud on the blower fan blades, I highly recommend that you get a can of spray Graphite for the next cleaning.

Wirebrush the blades until their clean & shiny, and then give them a couple of coats of the graphite. Even better is to remove the fan from the motor shaft and clean everything, including the motor plate and spray that too. The set screw needs a T20 torx bit to remove it.

Here's the stuff to get (I got mine at Grainger): www.grainger.com/Grainger/CRC-Dry-Graphite-Lube-4JB39?Pid=search

I also noticed that Englander seems to have changed the vane design since mine was made in '08.....see pic (This pic was after the epic 63 bag no-clean run last winter):

 

[save$]

...fine gay dust.....

:bug: Huh?

Too funny,ok I edited it. New iPad. Still trying to get use to it. Sometimes changes the word,and if still a correct word, the spell ck won't pick it up.

 

[GrahamInVa]

Looking at the pic of the buildup of crud on the blower fan blades, I highly recommend that you get a can of spray Graphite for the next cleaning.

Wirebrush the blades until their clean & shiny, and then give them a couple of coats of the graphite. Even better is to remove the fan from the motor shaft and clean everything, including the motor plate and spray that too. The set screw needs a T20 torx bit to remove it.

Here's the stuff to get (I got mine at Grainger): www.grainger.com/Grainger/CRC-Dry-Graphite-Lube-4JB39?Pid=search

I also noticed that Englander seems to have changed the vane design since mine was made in '08.....see pic (This pic was after the epic 63 bag no-clean run last winter):

Good idea... I assume the graphite will keep the ash from sticking to it? I cleaned it up real good but I didn't think to coat it with spray graphite. I do have some that I have used in the hopper and auger.

 

[GrahamInVa]

is your leaf blower gas powered?

No, it is electric and made by homelite. I got it from HD. It fits PERFECTLY over my 4" Selkirk vent.

 

[smwilliamson]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

 

[joe_pinehill]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

I'm leaning towards agreeing with you Scott.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I dont remove the exhaust fan any more, just clean the stove as well as I can and then with the door open, give it the giant suckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk with the leaf blower to clear the inside passages and the fan area.

I have "walk up to" direct vents on my stoves.

I hate roof work.

Snowy

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You also won't catch me up on a roof either, those days are well past, but you will catch me using a leaf blower, if done regularly before stuff gets packed it does an excellent job of keeping the plumbing clean.

One uses what works best for them, some of us geezers also like things that are easy and keep the mess outside.

 

[joe_pinehill]

You also won't catch me up on a roof either, those days are well past, but you will catch me using a leaf blower, if done regularly before stuff gets packed it does an excellent job of keeping the plumbing clean.

One uses what works best for them, some of us geezers also like things that are easy and keep the mess outside.

You dont think the air from the blower can pop your flue cap off?

 

[Eatonpcat]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

Talk to me about the vacuum and brush...I'm not keen on heights (okay, I'm fraid), plus my chimney is free standing above my roof, meaning no roof to stand on, just ladder.

 

[DexterDay]

You also won't catch me up on a roof either, those days are well past, but you will catch me using a leaf blower, if done regularly before stuff gets packed it does an excellent job of keeping the plumbing clean.

One uses what works best for them, some of us geezers also like things that are easy and keep the mess outside.

You dont think the air from the blower can pop your flue cap off?

Huh?? Blow the cap off??? You have to remove the cap to put the leafblower on. Your not blowing... The leafblower is sucking the ash out.

And the use of a leafblower gets much more out of certain units that have very hard to reach ash traps (with no real way of cleaning). A little vacumm only has so much pressure and volume. The leafblower (in vacuum mode) cleans like no other tool in the arsenal. Its no replacement for a full cleaning. But even after a full cleaning with a brush and a vacuum, the leafblower will still pull a lot of hidden ash you missed.

I wont go without one. Every ton it gets used and the stoves thank me for it.

 

[briggsy13]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

Talk to me about the vacuum and brush...I'm not keen on heights (okay, I'm fraid), plus my chimney is free standing above my roof, meaning no roof to stand on, just ladder.

Off topic but you have a beautiful home!!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You also won't catch me up on a roof either, those days are well past, but you will catch me using a leaf blower, if done regularly before stuff gets packed it does an excellent job of keeping the plumbing clean.

One uses what works best for them, some of us geezers also like things that are easy and keep the mess outside.

You dont think the air from the blower can pop your flue cap off?

With the stove off, cold and unplugged.

My stove vents out the wall, the install is up and out. No roof and no vertical termination cap. I remove one screw take the termination cap off attach the leaf blower in vacuum mode and hit the switch, crud gets spread over the lawn (or the snow and ice), go back inside (leave the blower going) open the door, a bit of thumping of the firebox walls, close the door, operate the exchanger scraper several times open the door and run a vacuum brush over the heat exchanger, empty the burn pot, clean the burn pot, clean out anything in the burn pot receptacle, put the pot back, close the door, go outside, turn off and disconnect the leaf blower, reinstall termination cap, plug the stove back in, hit the button on the stove and away she goes, adjust the firing rate if your stove loses it marbles when unplugged.

Less than 30 minutes and you have fire.

 

[smoke show]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

I have a top vent adapter and all my vent is inside.

If I brushed my vent then opened the door for the clean out I'd have a helluva mess in my dining/living room.

Thats why I climb onto the roof and take it all out the top.

I can't think of a cleaner alternative.

 

[joe_pinehill]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

I have a top vent adapter and all my vent is inside.

If I brushed my vent then opened the door for the clean out I'd have a helluva mess in my dining/living room.

Thats why I climb onto the roof and take it all out the top.

I can't think of a cleaner alternative.

now I see, my chimney is to high. Better to call a chimney sweep

 

[Eatonpcat]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

Talk to me about the vacuum and brush...I'm not keen on heights (okay, I'm fraid), plus my chimney is free standing above my roof, meaning no roof to stand on, just ladder.

Off topic but you have a beautiful home!!

Thank You...

Again...Is it possible to clean the pipe from the bottom without making a giant mess??

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

Talk to me about the vacuum and brush...I'm not keen on heights (okay, I'm fraid), plus my chimney is free standing above my roof, meaning no roof to stand on, just ladder.

Off topic but you have a beautiful home!!

Thank You...

Again...Is it possible to clean the pipe from the bottom without making a giant mess??

Well it depends on how well you can both operate the brush and keep the area around the tee blocked off.

I've opened up the cap on my tee from inside a plastic bag and then elastic banded the bag to the tee and then operated the brush from the outside. Got some dirty paws. I couldn't imagine brushing it from the inside and keeping things fairly well sealed up. But then I'm not a chimney sweep.

If you have a disconnect system that allows you to hold the venting in a horizontal manner such as to not dump the ash you could get a flexible shaft brush into it and with help get a strong vacuum to catch what the brush dislodges.

There is a replacement tee cap that has an attached horizontal piece of pipe that you can connect a vacuum to but any brushing would have to be from the outside.

Maybe a super shop vacuum sealed to the combustion blower housing might be able to replace a leaf blower and get both the stove and venting cleaned.

Something to think about.

 

[Eatonpcat]

You guys are nuts with your leaf blowers.....Yall understand that a vacuum and brush do the same thing and you dont need top be up on the roof with lawn tools.

Talk to me about the vacuum and brush...I'm not keen on heights (okay, I'm fraid), plus my chimney is free standing above my roof, meaning no roof to stand on, just ladder.

Off topic but you have a beautiful home!!

Thank You...

Again...Is it possible to clean the pipe from the bottom without making a giant mess??

Well it depends on how well you can both operate the brush and keep the area around the tee blocked off.

I've opened up the cap on my tee from inside a plastic bag and then elastic banded the bag to the tee and then operated the brush from the outside. Got some dirty paws. I couldn't imagine brushing it from the inside and keeping things fairly well sealed up. But then I'm not a chimney sweep.

If you have a disconnect system that allows you to hold the venting in a horizontal manner such as to not dump the ash you could get a flexible shaft brush into it and with help get a strong vacuum to catch what the brush dislodges.

There is a replacement tee cap that has an attached horizontal piece of pipe that you can connect a vacuum to but any brushing would have to be from the outside.

Maybe a super shop vacuum sealed to the combustion blower housing might be able to replace a leaf blower and get both the stove and venting cleaned.

Something to think about.

Thanks Bear...Being that mine is an insert, I did not think I had a TEE (Don't know truthfully, just assumed). Might be better off finding a buddy that's not a scaredy cat, and have him hook up the leaf blower. Or better yet, maybe check to see that the insurance is paid up and send the wifey up!! LOL

Super Shop Vac...Also might need one of these