Gave the ole girl a good bath yesterday

[twitch]

Just wondering how often everyone does a good boiler cleaning (tubes, smoke box, etc.) with and without storage during the heating season. The last two years I did not have ideal wood (not seasoned well enough) and I was cleaning it out about every two weeks. This year with much better firewood I've only done a really good cleaning twice so far. I don't have storage, so I do get idling quite a bit.

 

[stee6043]

My boiler gets a spring cleaning every year. That's about it! Ash removal from the lower chamber is the only thing I do during heating season. And that is roughly once every two weeks, max...

 

[shoeboxlen]

My boiler gets a spring cleaning every year. That's about it! Ash removal from the lower chamber is the only thing I do during heating season. And that is roughly once every two weeks, max...

i do the same and I run without storage. however I do clean the connecting pipe between the boiler and the chimney 2 times a year as it collects alot of fly ash in there.

 

[Fsappo]

Ahh, I was thinking this would be more juicy after I read the thread title.

 

[flyingcow]

In mid-winter average about 2 weeks. Clean tubes/turbulators/etc. Only will clean when stack temp climbs 500ish. Have storage and dry wood.

 

[Birdman]

I do not have storage and have a tarm solo40. I clean tubes every 2 weeks... just a brushing during heating season. Clean out the bottom every couple of days. scoop out some ash from teh burn chamber every two weeks too.

Really thouhgt i would have storage this year . But teh 4000 to install made me stop and think.... would I rather give a nice bath to a snowmobile?.... or sit inside and look at my storage?.... I will be picking up a snowmobile this week... for half teh price of storage... and i think it may make me a bit happier.

 

[willworkforwood]

This year I've been brushing out the tubes every couple of weeks. I'm finding a thin buildup of something other than creosote on the walls. It's not fly ash, because it takes a bit of push on the steel brush to dislodge it. But at the same time it's not very solid either, because it all comes off quickly with just one or two passes of the brush. I'm guessing it's ash that gets impacted or baked onto the tube walls - does anyone know exactly what this stuff is and how it accumulates on the tube walls? After that I also clean the fly ash from the chambers, and from a 3' horizontal run of flue pipe.

 

[2.beans]

Ahh, I was thinking this would be more juicy after I read the thread title.

thats funny

 

[heaterman]

Any downdrafter should be swabbed out at least once per season for maximum performance. But so much depends on burning habits/idling and how well seasoned a persons wood is. On the other hand I have run into a lot of Garn owners that open theirs up maybe every 3-4 years.........but then.........there's my favorite farmer.....We just got a call today that his weren't putting out any heat. Now.......if someone calls and says a Garn isn't putting out heat you know there is a PROBLEM somewhere. So Andy and Gary went to check..... sure enough, there's a couple of semi loads of green wood outside the Garn barn.........in 8' sticks.......being cut up as they watched. The Garns are sitting there at 140* with a full load of wood on top of about 14" of unburned coals AND THE COMBUSTION FANS ARE NOT RUNNING!!.

What I'm saying is that how often you should or have to clean, is really dependent on a lot of things that have mostly to do with user input and system dynamics rather than the boiler itself.

 

[sdrobertson]

.........but then.........there's my favorite farmer.....We just got a call today that his weren't putting out any heat. Now.......if someone calls and says a Garn isn't putting out heat you know there is a PROBLEM somewhere. So Andy and Gary went to check..... sure enough, there's a couple of semi loads of green wood outside the Garn barn.........in 8' sticks.......being cut up as they watched. The Garns are sitting there at 140* with a full load of wood on top of about 14" of unburned coals AND THE COMBUSTION FANS ARE NOT RUNNING!!..

Good post on the cleaning....and a good story on us Michigan Folks

 

[in hot water]

Every 3 weeks I remove the back access plate and clean then tubes. Remove the blocks from the lower chamber and remove the ash. Also watch for ash build up in the flue pipe connection off the back of the EKOs.

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