FYI: Stove cleaning highlights

[woodsman23]

I was cleaning the Afton bay today and while i had the leaf blower attached outside i got my portable air tank and made up a nozzle with a flexible 1/8" piece of copper line and attached it to the nozzle. I stuck it inside the ash trap door areas to get behind the fire box and i turned on the leaf blower on low and came back inside and began spraying inside the stove with the door open just enough to work the air hose.

The ash that came flying out the exhaust was impressive, with each blast of air from the gun ash was coming out and this continued for almost 10 minutes before i seen it begin to clear. This was after i vacuumed the stove out. I kindof thought there was some ash hiding in there but it was way more than i would have thought. Cleaned everything up and closed up the stove and fired it up and it's just like new again, flames is nice and sharp/hot/small/ very nice.

Just an FYI...

PS: you have to do short blasts from the nozzle while moving it around or you may have ash escape from the stove into the house!!

 

[geek]

good tip, i actually thought about this but don't have an air compressor, yet........

 

[Wachusett]

I did the same thing with my leaf blower and compressor. Attached a section of plastic tube to the compressor nozzle, reached all the nooks and crannies.
One more tip, I ran the leaf blower extension cord in thru the window so I could power it up and down without having to run back and forth ot turn it on.
Short blasts of air worked best.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Good Idea.

I use a 3" pellet stove brush for the ash trap chambers. Works Great see pics here:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65611/

 

[heat seeker]

Great idea! I'll keep it in mind for my Afton Bay.

I'm also wondering if running the combustion blower while using the air gun would work. I run it while doing my daily cleaning, and it seems to help, and it does keep the ash from getting into the room. I know it doesn't have the power of a leaf blower, but just maybe the power isn't needed. I have a horizontal run directly out from the stove, so no vertical run to deal with. I think I'll give it a try soon.
My ash traps have little to no accumulation in them, and my airflow is good. The stove is used, and I've run over 1 ton in it so far.
I don't have the third cleanout behind the ash pan, but am considering adding one. I would like to add the two small cleanout holes for the ash trap area, but don't know where to drill them.