Is it OK to clean and restart your stove before it cools down?

[md2002]

When I shut down my stove it takes a good 20 minutes to cool down. I think that's what it's doing, the fans are blowing but the fire is out. I never want to wait for it to cool down so I open the door, vacuum it, clean the glass, shut the door and start it back up before the cooling process has finished. When I start it back up it turns on and reignites the stove. I don't want to break the stove so I'm wondering if this is OK to do?

I only ask because as a newbie I have read allot about having a battery back up so if you lose power the stove can shut down properly and go through the cooling cycle. Obviously by reigniting the stove before it cools down I'm not letting it complete the process.

 

[hwdemers]

as long as you dont get burnt, and the fans are still blowing while ytou are cleaning it

 

[John97]

My Quad stays pretty hot for some time. I shut it down last night to clean. After being off for 15 minutes, I opened the door and vacuumed al the ash out. All of the cast was still too hot to touch. I got a set of old oven mitts that I used to pull the baffle to I could clean the heat exchanger. By the time I had cleaned everything including the glass and put it all back together, the blowers had stopped. I pulled the exhaust blower and cleaned that as well as gave the housing a good cleaning.

 

[chrisasst]

The Ove Glove works great...

http://www.amazon.com/Glove-Surface...63DE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329225073&sr=8-2

 

[bostonfan49]

Md2002. You haven't said what kind of Vac/Ash vac you have or where you stow it after your done. I mention this because if you vac up hot ashes, all that could happen (under the right conditions) is that your ash bag will ignite and you could catch something else on fire.....like your house. Just saying.......Bill

 

[nailed_nailer]

Treat all ashes as if they were hot.
Store collected ash outside (away from combustibles)

Let the glass cool to room temp before cleaning.
Cold water on hot glass is not good.

---Nailer---

 

[md2002]

Md2002. You haven't said what kind of Vac/Ash vac you have or where you stow it after your done. I mention this because if you vac up hot ashes, all that could happen (under the right conditions) is that your ash bag will ignite and you could catch something else on fire.....like your house. Just saying.......Bill

It's a Breckwell hot ash vac, it is (supposedly) made for hot and cold ash... but I here what your saying.

 

[silverfox103]

I would wait till it shuts down completely, if you don't, you're asking for trouble.

Tom C.

 

[jmart]

I searched Breakwell ash vac and they clearly state: ** NOT INTENDED FOR HOT ASH .-- Please be careful!
Personally, I choose a warm(ish) sunny day and let it cool about 40 minutes before vacuuming.
During the i hour that it's shut down, I lose about 6 degrees this time of year.--Works for me!

 

[md2002]

I searched Breakwell ash vac and they clearly state: ** NOT INTENDED FOR HOT ASH .-- Please be careful!
Personally, I choose a warm(ish) sunny day and let it cool about 40 minutes before vacuuming.
During the i hour that it's shut down, I lose about 6 degrees this time of year.--Works for me!

Yes, when I bought it the site said it could be used for hot ash. The company says it's not made for burning or hot amber's but hot ash is OK. Whatever that means.

 

[Salty]

I let mine sit for 20 min after I shut it off. It's still pretty warm inside. I empty the ash pans into a metal bucket. There can be stuff in there still hot inside...it gets spread on the front lawn. I clean the stove with the Cheetah vac and pull plug/restart if the fans are still running. It's ok to do but be safe doing it and know you could have a hot ember in there somewhere.

 

[Xena]

You can do what you want but my suggestion is
to listen carefully to the warnings from the good
people here. I'm not in any hurry. I leave it
shut down for a few hours minimum before removing
any ash. More often than not I'll shut it down
overnight and use my furnace for that one night
which doesn't turn out to be a big deal since it's
only once in about 3 weeks I shut down for a cleaning.
I'd rather be 100% sure there's no hot ashes in there
than make a dangerous mistake that could cost lives.

 

[jtakeman]

Some say a half hour is fine, But I go well beyond 2 hrs for a complete cool down. If I have to do a quickly I don't use the vacuum. While waering gloves, I dump the burnpot into a steel bucket. I use a paint brush to brush down the inside of the stove into the metal ash pan. I use the same brush and a wide putty knife. To sweep the ash under the ash pan onto the putty knife and dump it in the ash pan. I then take the the bucket and ash pan outside and bump it in the compost pile or garden.

I have heard too many stories of people doing a quick clean on a hot stove. Setting the vacuum out on the deck. Only to later find the vacuum smoking or the deck on fire. There was one posted here this season where pellet ashes in the vacuum caught the deck and then the house a blaze. Posted by don2222.

You will hear some stop in and say yadda yadda. Pellet ashes do contain hot embers and best to play it "safety first". If your vac is plastic don't use it on a warm/hot stove. If you have a metal ash vac, Don't take the chance. Get it outside far away from the house JIC. The filter inside is not always fool proof.

 

[gbreda]

Yeah, If using the vac, 2 hours minimum after shutdown for me. Even then I'm leery of it and put the vac outside. Best for me is to leave for work with a near empty hopper; let it run out and clean that evening.

 

[mfglickman]

I am a newbie too but I'd say respect the heat and the potential for fire of anything you take out of the stove. Meaning, OK, be careful not to burn yourself reaching inside hot cast iron - this is common sense. But also, if you're vacuuming anything that might, possibly, be hot or still smoldering somewhere inside even if you don't see it or smell it...please take your vac outside, away from your house, garage and any other combustibles, and leave it there for a while.

I had a friend years ago who heated her cabin with wood...one day they cleaned their stove thinking the ash was all cooled...then she set the bucket on her deck and went to answer the phone, forgot the bucket...and yep, burned a hole exactly the diameter of the bucket through the deck, with the bucket falling straight through below. Fortunately that was the extent of the damage...but remember this was someone who had been doing this for some time, and believed her ashes to be cool...just sayin'.

 

[kmapsrule]

My stove does not have an ash drawer and so I have to empty the firepot every day so a "Hot Clean" is a regular occurance:
I turn the stove off and let it cool for 10-15 minutes, open the door, and give the walls and heat tubes a quick brushing with a wire brush,
these brushings fall onto the "Heat Boost Plates" which are removed and dumped into the firepot using leather fireplace gloves.
Then the firepot is removed with the gloves on and dumped into the steel ash can at the back of the yard. Firepot and Plates re-inserted,
a quick wipe of the glass with a dry rag, and relight. No issues to date.

For the weekly vacuum out and heavy clean I let it cool for an hour at least before tearing into it, and the only ash that is vacuumed is what falls out of
all the nooks and crannies as it is wire and lint brushed, the fire pot and underlying tray are always dumped directly into the metal ash bin.

So as long as you are careful about vacuuming and storing the hot ashes there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[ironpony]

yes, as long as you do not set the vac on fire


very bad


do not ask me how I know

 

[thedak]

I let it cool down for about 30 minutes.

I've only lit the HEPA Filter on fire once so far.

 

[woodsman23]

AS long as you empty the vac after cleaning into a safe place it's n ot an issue. I've been doing it forever and have not had any issues, i like having the exhaust on while cleaning it keeps ash from inside the house. I live in the country so i simple empty the vac into the pond or garden...

 

[chuckster]

Seeing here where some people put their ashes on their lawn or in their garden. Is this to say that the ashes make good fertilizer or is this just a quick way to dump the ashes.
Chuck

 

[woodsman23]

Seeing here where some people put their ashes on their lawn or in their garden. Is this to say that the ashes make good fertilizer or is this just a quick way to dump the ashes.
Chuck

very good for garden not so much for grass and i also put it in my pond...

 

[Lousyweather]

I gotta say NO, let is cool before you clean it....if some yahoo here reads you can do it, the next thing you know, they are sucking up live ashes intheir shop vac, setting it afire (and god knows what else!), burning their delicate fingers that they make their living with (know a good lawyer?).....ni, I dont know of a service or owners' manual ANYWHERE that would advocate this......

 

[St_Earl]

well, since enough people here have admitted to doing this, i can hardly say don't do it.
i do it every time i clean. but i wait till the embers are gone from the ashes. and i have a metal canister on my vac.
that doesn't mean the filter can't catch on fire and then set the plastic motor housing on fire and then start my house burning and kill me or cause me to lose everything and become homeless.

i'm guessing/wondering about some stoves having more embers in the firebox than mine does.

the thing is, YOU have to be sure YOU don't vacuum up anything that will set YOUR vacuum on fire from embers in YOUR stove.

don't come crying to me if you set your house on fire and die because you aren't careful about vacuuming and then disposing of ashes.

if i had a plastic canister vacuum, i'd say hell no to hot cleaning no matter how careful i was.


and a metal canister is no sure thing either. the filter could still catch fire.

 

[jtakeman]

I gotta say NO, let is cool before you clean it....if some yahoo here reads you can do it, the next thing you know, they are sucking up live ashes intheir shop vac, setting it afire (and god knows what else!), burning their delicate fingers that they make their living with (know a good lawyer?).....ni, I dont know of a service or owners' manual ANYWHERE that would advocate this......

If they did, They'd probably blame you. Its always the dealers fault ya know! ;-)

 

[Pelletfisky]

Md2002. You haven't said what kind of Vac/Ash vac you have or where you stow it after your done. I mention this because if you vac up hot ashes, all that could happen (under the right conditions) is that your ash bag will ignite and you could catch something else on fire.....like your house. Just saying.......Bill

Amen! I see this a few times each winter! Ppl remove hot ashes either in a shop vac or bucket and few hours later..... Beep beep I have to work! Be safe and let it cool and always keep ashes stored outside! Oh it may have been said but never wet glass with rag or w/e when its hot!