I haven't been on the site for quite some time but thought I'd post as I just did my first major cleaning (stove has gone through two winters and probably 3 1/2-ish tons of pellets).
I had wanted to have my installer do the initial major cleaning but have been on his list for a bit over one year and have received no call to set-up the cleaning so I took today off of work to tackle the job myself. Glad I did 'cause I saved myself $150.00 !!
Anyway, since I have a fireplace insert I needed to pull the insert out of the fireplace. In my readings on this site I never really could tell if the SS pipe going up my chimney would have to come off and would I have to re-seal it somehow. Also, my hearth is about 12" off the floor, so how would I pull the insert out.
My first task was getting a "platform" to pull the insert out onto. I bullt up some items around the house to be level with the hearth. This had to be sturdy as I knew the insert wasn't light.
Once I had my platform I unhooked the latches inside the side doors and started pulling the insert out. It was VERY heavy so I looked to see what could be removed to lessen the weight. The door does not come off until you remove the hopper lid. The hopper lid can not come off until the insert clears the surround. So, I had to pull the insert out a couple of inches to get the hopper lid to clear the surround.
OK, so here is where I messed up a bit (hope this might help others to avoid my mistake). I was not able to lift the hopper lid off so I thought it might help to remove the lid latch first (the part you push to allow the lid to close). I don't know if this was necessary but after I removed it the lid/top lifted off easily. Here is where I made my big mistake...I dropped the spring loaded latch into the hopper and, of course, it went into the auger housing.
When I do this next year, if I feel the need to remove the latch I will place a rag over the opening at the bottom of the hopper. Had I done this the job would have been much less stressful and quicker as the latch would not have fallen into the auger but would have been stopped by the rag. I think if I would have lifted the lid prior to attempting to remove the lid/top it would have come off easily and I would not have had to remove the latch..
What I had to do to get that part out of the auger housing was remove the little door for access (0n the RH side). You have remove this anyway to vacuum the fines out of this area. But, I had to use a magnet and a long pair of hemostats to get the latch out. Probably added 15 plus minutes to the job to fish this part out.
My other concern the chimney pipe: I was not sure if this came off when you pulled the insert out or if it somehow stayed attached. I called my dealer and he told me that the insert pulled out and the pipe was attached to the housing and did not pull out with the insert. He told me I could clean the pipe from inside the house with a 4" brush and one section of handle.
Glad I didn't buy the brush ! Yes, the insert pulled out and the pipe did not but the pipe was attached (and siliconed into) the frame which is attached to the old fireplace. The frame that the pipe attaches to does not have a 4" circular hole but a rectangular hole about 1 1/2" x 3" (approx. I didn't actually measure it). No way are you going to get a 4" dia. brush through that opening, you would have to go up on the roof and clean from the top...and thus would need more than one handle length.
What I did was bang on the pipe with my hand until no more ash was coming out. I then pulled my compressed air hose form the garage into the house and blew compressed air up the pipe. This produced very little extra ash from the pipe. Next year I will only do the slapping of the pipe to loosen the ash.
Five wires needed to be unplugged prior to pulling the insert out. Two for the temp sensor probe. Two others that I assume were power..? and one that I think was ground, this one went to a spade on the insert.
The two "power" wires can not be connected wrong on reassembly as their connector shapes will not allow it. The sensor probe wires can go on either way. I marked the black wire but it probably doesn't matter how they are hooked back up but I didn't want to take a chance. The "ground" only has one spade to go to unless you remove more wires than necessary.
I hope this helps anyone attempting to clean an Accentra insert. I know the post is long but I made it as brief as possible...Not a hard job and start to finish was about 3 hours. I know I can probably knock that time in half next time I do it.
I had wanted to have my installer do the initial major cleaning but have been on his list for a bit over one year and have received no call to set-up the cleaning so I took today off of work to tackle the job myself. Glad I did 'cause I saved myself $150.00 !!
Anyway, since I have a fireplace insert I needed to pull the insert out of the fireplace. In my readings on this site I never really could tell if the SS pipe going up my chimney would have to come off and would I have to re-seal it somehow. Also, my hearth is about 12" off the floor, so how would I pull the insert out.
My first task was getting a "platform" to pull the insert out onto. I bullt up some items around the house to be level with the hearth. This had to be sturdy as I knew the insert wasn't light.
Once I had my platform I unhooked the latches inside the side doors and started pulling the insert out. It was VERY heavy so I looked to see what could be removed to lessen the weight. The door does not come off until you remove the hopper lid. The hopper lid can not come off until the insert clears the surround. So, I had to pull the insert out a couple of inches to get the hopper lid to clear the surround.
OK, so here is where I messed up a bit (hope this might help others to avoid my mistake). I was not able to lift the hopper lid off so I thought it might help to remove the lid latch first (the part you push to allow the lid to close). I don't know if this was necessary but after I removed it the lid/top lifted off easily. Here is where I made my big mistake...I dropped the spring loaded latch into the hopper and, of course, it went into the auger housing.
When I do this next year, if I feel the need to remove the latch I will place a rag over the opening at the bottom of the hopper. Had I done this the job would have been much less stressful and quicker as the latch would not have fallen into the auger but would have been stopped by the rag. I think if I would have lifted the lid prior to attempting to remove the lid/top it would have come off easily and I would not have had to remove the latch..
What I had to do to get that part out of the auger housing was remove the little door for access (0n the RH side). You have remove this anyway to vacuum the fines out of this area. But, I had to use a magnet and a long pair of hemostats to get the latch out. Probably added 15 plus minutes to the job to fish this part out.
My other concern the chimney pipe: I was not sure if this came off when you pulled the insert out or if it somehow stayed attached. I called my dealer and he told me that the insert pulled out and the pipe was attached to the housing and did not pull out with the insert. He told me I could clean the pipe from inside the house with a 4" brush and one section of handle.
Glad I didn't buy the brush ! Yes, the insert pulled out and the pipe did not but the pipe was attached (and siliconed into) the frame which is attached to the old fireplace. The frame that the pipe attaches to does not have a 4" circular hole but a rectangular hole about 1 1/2" x 3" (approx. I didn't actually measure it). No way are you going to get a 4" dia. brush through that opening, you would have to go up on the roof and clean from the top...and thus would need more than one handle length.
What I did was bang on the pipe with my hand until no more ash was coming out. I then pulled my compressed air hose form the garage into the house and blew compressed air up the pipe. This produced very little extra ash from the pipe. Next year I will only do the slapping of the pipe to loosen the ash.
Five wires needed to be unplugged prior to pulling the insert out. Two for the temp sensor probe. Two others that I assume were power..? and one that I think was ground, this one went to a spade on the insert.
The two "power" wires can not be connected wrong on reassembly as their connector shapes will not allow it. The sensor probe wires can go on either way. I marked the black wire but it probably doesn't matter how they are hooked back up but I didn't want to take a chance. The "ground" only has one spade to go to unless you remove more wires than necessary.
I hope this helps anyone attempting to clean an Accentra insert. I know the post is long but I made it as brief as possible...Not a hard job and start to finish was about 3 hours. I know I can probably knock that time in half next time I do it.
(learned alot on this forum). 
