How often should you clean out the stove tee?

[Stentor]

How often do you take off the cap at the bottom of the tee (some silicone on it now) and clean out the ashes? I'm almost at two tons this season and expect to finish a total of four tons by the end of March. I'd like to leave the tee until the annual end of season cleaning.

1. Is four tons too long between tee cleanings?

2. If I wait too long, what happens? Stove stops working and I get an error code?

3. If I wait too long, any hazards, like fire or carbon monoxide?

 

[trylon]

Just for reference I burned about 1.5 tons of lignetics and o'malley's wood pellets (3" duravent outside tee) - opened up the tee and had about .5 - 1" of ash. Probably could've waited for another ton or 2 of pellets but just converted to corn due to the cold weather. Took about 5 min to cleanout tee so I'd do it every 2 tons. but that's just me. Sorry, not sure what'll happen if tee fills to the invert. must not be good though-probably blow back into stove somehow.

 

[cncpro]

I'd say that if you have 4" pipe and a relatively short run you can go 4 tons no problem...

If you have a long run or 3" pipe you would be wise to do it more often.

 

[mnkywrnch]

I would guess it all comes down to what pellets your burning and how much ash they produce,me personaly I do it after 1 ton if it needs it or not I like to be on a routine,with that being said there's never much buildup in my vent do to the frequent cleanings.IMO a clean stove and pipe is a happy stove.

 

[Bigjim13]

The T, thats where the vent pipe is cleaned out right? How tuff is it to get off? I checked out mine, have to clean it, and it looks like there are screws on it that once removed I should be able to just pop off the bottom part.

 

[mnkywrnch]

The T, thats where the vent pipe is cleaned out right? How tuff is it to get off? I checked out mine, have to clean it, and it looks like there are screws on it that once removed I should be able to just pop off the bottom part.

It depends on what brand of vent you have some twist off and like the selkirk vent that I have it just pops out after removing 1 screw.

 

[cold front]

I don't think there should be a silicone seal on that T clean-out cap. I took the screws out of it so I can quickly pry it off and check the build up from time to time. I have about a 3.5' rise after the T.

I might be a bit of a clean nut, but I run a 4" fiber brush through my 3" pipes and take out the combustion blower to clean the fins off every 1 - 1 1/4 tons burned. Even with good pellets there is a fair amount of build up in the pipes and on the blower fins. Last year I burnt some poor pellets and got a lot of build up on the fins of the blower after a ton or so.

When in doubt clean it out!

 

[cncpro]

I don't think there should be a silicone seal on that T clean-out cap.

I'd agree if we're talking about a T outside the home... But for folks that have a T inside they are probably going to want it sealed...

 

[cold front]

I don't think there should be a silicone seal on that T clean-out cap.

I'd agree if we're talking about a T outside the home... But for folks that have a T inside they are probably going to want it sealed...

Good point

 

[ChandlerR]

I did a quick cold cleaning the other day. I've run almost a ton through the stove. Pulled the T cap off, expecting to see tons of ash and was surprised to see almost nothing. I've burned Lignetics, Oakies, and a few assorted "trial" brands. I was surprised to see that the whole stove was relatively clean

By the way, there was no silicone on my T and I put it together without any. No smell yet.

Chan

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Ts need to be sealed one way or another if inside a building. Mine has a compression gasket that completely fills the cap. It is a royal pain to get it back on the pipe after replacing it. It is rare for the gasket to last past one reuse as it tends to get cut by the interior pipe. It is also a pain to get the T cap back on the T, tight quarters, an upside down compression fitting, and only two hands results in screws dropping. I finally wised up and got the magnetic quick connect adapter on my drill. Now the air is less blue when I clean it out.

I clean mine every ton, but only drop the cap every other ton. I alternate between dropping the cap and cleaning via vacuum hose from the combustion blower cavity. I had less than a half inch of crud in it when I cleaned it on December 23.

I also use the revered leaf blower method which results in most of the really light stuff having already been removed before I clean the T.

 

[cold front]

Ts need to be sealed one way or another if inside a building. Mine has a compression gasket that completely fills the cap. It is a royal pain to get it back on the pipe after replacing it. It is rare for the gasket to last past one reuse as it tends to get cut by the interior pipe. It is also a pain to get the T cap back on the T, tight quarters, an upside down compression fitting, and only two hands results in screws dropping. I finally wised up and got the magnetic quick connect adapter on my drill. Now the air is less blue when I clean it out.

I clean mine every ton, but only drop the cap every other ton. I alternate between dropping the cap and cleaning via vacuum hose from the combustion blower cavity. I had less than a half inch of crud in it when I cleaned it on December 23.

I also use the revered leaf blower method which results in most of the really light stuff having already been removed before I clean the T.

Man, I'm glad my T is on the outside of the house! Sounds like a big pain in the a$%.

 

[Stentor]

Useful answers. Thanks.

The question that did not get answered is what happens if I do get too much ash in the tee (which is indoors). If the stove stops running in late March, that's just annoying. But if there will be a safety hazard or permanent damage to the stove, that is much more serious.

I got Okanagan pellets because they are not supposed to produce too much ash. The stove's working fine so far but it's not mid-season yet. If I can stretch it to the end of winter and do one major seasonal cleaning, that would be good. I just don't want to play with a hazard, like a fire in the hopper or carbon monoxide in the house.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Eventually your stove will error out with a vacuum/obstructed exhaust system indication --- the dreaded all inclusive 6 blink code on Harmans.

It would only be a safety issue if the stoves safeties have been bypassed (and you wouldn't do that, correct?), bad, or you failed in properly maintaining the gaskets.

Likely you'd notice the degraded burn long before any other effects occurred, you do check your stove according to the manuals recommendations, correct?

 

[Souzafone]

If you wait too long before cleaning the tee you will see a degradation in performance, the stove won't be able to exhaust enough to burn cleanly. Eventually the stove will only run for a short period of time and you will get an error code. I have 3 in. vent, only good fuel, and I do mine mid season and end of season. Since I've got a leaf blower I'll probably clean the tee more often since that's my access point. I'll be doing mine this weekend as part of a cleaning, in prior years I've only done the stove at this point. I guess how much accumulation you have is dependent on the fuel used, if you use fuel from a box store you may need to do this more often.

 

[Stentor]

Thanks. If I see performance going down, I'll figure that ash in the tee might be the problem's cause. I've not bypassed any safeties (wouldn't know how) and the gasket at the feeder seems fine. The stove's new enough - - second year.

 

[Xena]

I would suggest getting in the habit of pulling the t cap and checking after a couple of tons.
If there's ash in the T then most likely there is also ash buildup in the blowers as well as
the hidden passages inside of the stove. If there's not much in the T then that's cool but
at least give it a quick check.
Imperative to remove/clean the blowers at least once a year imo. I had to replace a blower due
to excess crap buildup that caused bearing failure. Tried oiling but didn't work. $120 later
I learned my lesson. Take a couple minutes to at least check these things - if they need cleaning
then so be it. Can save you time, money, and aggravation in the long run. Enjoy your stove.

 

[Stentor]

Good advice, Xena. I'll check for ash soon and be very sure that I do a total season cleaning later, blowers and all the interior.