Is Pulling The Blower Motor A Must Every Year

[sante fe]

I've had my stove 7 years never pulled the blower motor.My once a year big clean is pulling panels and fire brick real good vac. Brush the pipe real good followed by the leaf blower trick with the vac switch hose off.make sure vac switch hose is clear.Dollar bill the door gasket.Vac hopper real good.
Brush vac heat exchanger tubes real good.Is pulling the blower a must ?

 

[subsailor]

If you're 7 years without pulling them with no problems, then why start?

 

[sante fe]

Yeah no problems, was just wondering what the rule of thumb was.Thanks for reply

 

[subsailor]

Some people pull them after every ton!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It really depends upon ash build up on the blower's impeller and between the impeller and the mounting plate.

It would be rare to put a lot of fuel through the stove and not have a reduction in air flow due to ash buildup on the blower.

 

[DexterDay]

I would pull it? After that long... Its less than $20 for a gasket ($10 in most cases).

The blades on the blower become caked and the area behind the blades cakes up and lowers the CFM capacity.

I do it yearly. I used to do it twice a year (end of year amd middle of season). But now its just end of year (My Classic Bay has a cleanout where I can actually open amd reach in and clean the blower blades).

 

[sante fe]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look.I have a small hose attachment on my vac that I always stick down in there And vac out.I also think this is where the leaf blower trick does its job. But I think I will do an open and inspect on the blower.Thanks for the advice

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Shh

I don't know what the shipping is but some combustion blower gaskets are really cheap like here : http://breckwell.com/index.php?page...ion=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

Check the size you need.

 

[imacman]

.....I also think this is where the leaf blower trick does its job......

That's not correct. The main purpose for the leaf blower is to pull LOOSE ash out of the stove, in particular the area you can't reach with a brush or vacuum (hidden areas in ash traps).

Will it get some out of the comb. blower? Yes, but only a very small amount, if any. As Dex mentions above, the vanes of the comb. blower have ash that is caked on from high temps.....CFM HAS to be affected. The only way to remove it all is to remove the blower and get to work with a wire brush and a putty knife.

I used to pull, clean, and re-gasket the blower after every ton, but since I started spraying the blower vanes with graphite spray, the buildup is much less and I now only do it after every 2 tons, and at the end of the burning season.

 

[imacman]

Shh

I don't know what the shipping is but some combustion blower gaskets are really cheap......

The BEST deal I have gotten on pre-made gaskets was from Eric at Kinsman Stoves. He gave me a great price on a quantity of them, and the shipping was minimal.

 

[thedude110]

I've been thinking the same thing -- the long bolt on the combustion blower on the XXV is such a PITA, and last year I got a however many flashing light error because I re-hung the blower improperly.

It's annoying, you know?

 

[sante fe]

With my stove I can see the impeller vanes with a flash light and mirror. Nothing caked on them, What i cant see is inside the housing, Thats where I vac out with the small hose attachment.I guess I should take a look thow.

 

[MCPO]

I've had my stove 7 years never pulled the blower motor.My once a year big clean is pulling panels and fire brick real good vac. Brush the pipe real good followed by the leaf blower trick with the vac switch hose off.make sure vac switch hose is clear.Dollar bill the door gasket.Vac hopper real good.
Brush vac heat exchanger tubes real good.Is pulling the blower a must ?

7 yrs? You can bet there is a buildup of dust sticking to the vanes on the impeller reducing the cfm`s

 

[smoke show]

I pull mine once a year after doing the LBT, and every year I say I'm not gonna next year cause its spotless.

Probly depends on the quality of fuel, and quality of your burn. IMO

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It depends on a lot of things including the length of the exhaust path from the burn pot to the combustion blower, now why would that be, oh yes, temperature drop, exhaust air flow, and number of angles. Funny thing about ash it falls out of the exhaust where the conditions are just right. Some of these conditions you can control some you can't. Check and you'll know but don't rely on something like the leaf blower to pull out all of the ash that isn't already loose.

 

[flynfrfun]

I used to pull, clean, and re-gasket the blower after every ton, but since I started spraying the blower vanes with graphite spray, the buildup is much less and I now only do it after every 2 tons, and at the end of the burning season.

AWESOME TIP I will do that next time I pull mine. On my M55, once yearly is plenty (I burn about 3tons/year).

 

[sante fe]

It depends on a lot of things including the length of the exhaust path from the burn pot to the combustion blower, now why would that be, oh yes, temperature drop, exhaust air flow, and number of angles. Funny thing about ash it falls out of the exhaust where the conditions are just right. Some of these conditions you can control some you can't. Check and you'll know but don't rely on something like the leaf blower to pull out all of the ash that isn't already loose.

I use a mirror and flash light and can see the impeller vanes,I can also spin and feel with my fingers and do visual on impeller.Im not just relying on leaf blower.But I will open inspect thanks to great advice on this forum.Thanks

 

[DBCOOPER]

It really depends upon ash build up on the blower's impeller and between the impeller and the mounting plate.

It would be rare to put a lot of fuel through the stove and not have a reduction in air flow due to ash buildup on the blower.

If the airflow is reduced that much wouldn't the vacuum safety keep it from running?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If the airflow is reduced that much wouldn't the vacuum safety keep it from running?

Yes, once it gets far enough along (however the bad burn starts well before that point and that can lead to all kinds of issues) and the goal is to not have that happen at all. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cold house.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I use a mirror and flash light and can see the impeller vanes,I can also spin and feel with my fingers and do visual on impeller.Im not just relying on leaf blower.But I will open inspect thanks to great advice on this forum.Thanks

If you can see the area between the impeller and the mounting plate and it is free of ash by all means leave it alone. If you can get a tool between them and remove the ash fine, don't remove the blower.

All stove cleaning depends upon ash build up.

If it isn't building up there on your stove don't bother removing the blower.

Most stoves provide no way to access the area around the blower for a good cleaning without removing it and your stove might have issues in this area if combustion conditions are changed.

 

[Countryboymo]

On mine with a good flashlight and LED units with a bluish light really make the dirt show I can see the impeller vividly. I did take one of the gun cleaning brushes that I use for the burn pot holes and bent the end where the rod would go so it serves two purposes. It fits in two holes that are hard to get to full length on the burn pot and I hold it on the back side of the impeller with one hand with the bristles cleaning the back of the impeller while spinning the impeller with the other hand. I had burned two tons before doing this and who knows how many tons the previous owner burned and it is always clean.

I just replaced my blower and it didn't have enough residue to make a mess with a small wire brush on the old one. The only issue I could see is if a stove lives its life burning 3 tons on low. Mine is rarely on low and I have never burned more than a couple bags of junk pellets at a time and I dump the burn pot nightly and give it a good cleaning once a week when its running constant.

To me a good cleaning is pulling the top plate and brick plates attacking with vacuum and paint brush and a little wire brushing here and there. I scrape the burn pot and go around it with a small wire brush. I check the impeller for buildup and sometimes lightly hit the blades with the wire brush to make sure nothing is accumulating and wire brush the walls where the combustion blower is. I also use a paint brush on the top tubes a long with using the scraper rods. It doesn't take much time. I check the burn holes in the pot once a month or so and swab the pipe after each ton. I am also approaching the max EVL but I have a 6' rise before it turns and goes through the wall and outside which helps.

 

[sante fe]

On mine with a good flashlight and LED units with a bluish light really make the dirt show I can see the impeller vividly. I did take one of the gun cleaning brushes that I use for the burn pot holes and bent the end where the rod would go so it serves two purposes. It fits in two holes that are hard to get to full length on the burn pot and I hold it on the back side of the impeller with one hand with the bristles cleaning the back of the impeller while spinning the impeller with the other hand. I had burned two tons before doing this and who knows how many tons the previous owner burned and it is always clean.

I just replaced my blower and it didn't have enough residue to make a mess with a small wire brush on the old one. The only issue I could see is if a stove lives its life burning 3 tons on low. Mine is rarely on low and I have never burned more than a couple bags of junk pellets at a time and I dump the burn pot nightly and give it a good cleaning once a week when its running constant.

To me a good cleaning is pulling the top plate and brick plates attacking with vacuum and paint brush and a little wire brushing here and there. I scrape the burn pot and go around it with a small wire brush. I check the impeller for buildup and sometimes lightly hit the blades with the wire brush to make sure nothing is accumulating and wire brush the walls where the combustion blower is. I also use a paint brush on the top tubes a long with using the scraper rods. It doesn't take much time. I check the burn holes in the pot once a month or so and swab the pipe after each ton. I am also approaching the max EVL but I have a 6' rise before it turns and goes through the wall and outside which helps.

My routine is almost exactly the same.Im thinking quads dont have issues with build up on the impeller