old Dovetec

[mustang0064]

Hi , this will be my first ? on here. I have an old Dovetec which i have been using for 5yrs.
This year was not good it has been burning dirty and smoke is trying to go up the hopper chute.
I have cleaned and vacuumed a lot but still not better, when i check behind the back wall i feel a lot of white ash
I suspect the chambers are all blocked
My question is can i take the stove outside and blow with a blower thru the back of the it to blow ash out.

any ideas on this

 

[Bkins]

Welcome. Just about all stove manufactures make a way to reach any chambers that need to be cleaned. Take a wire brush to the back panel, only if it's metal, and look for buried screws, or bolts, that will allow you to take said panel off. Do you have a owners manual, and if so does it show anything to help you out. Can you get to the chambers from the rear of the stove or maybe after you take out the combustion blower?

I've not heard or seen your stove make so I'm no help other then the above. If you decide to take the stove outside and clean it with compressed air you will need to be carefull of any switch, pilot eye proof of fire type thing and also any vacumne switch you might have.

Maybe a better way would be to try the leaf blower trick that many use here. It would most likely suck all the junk out. Do a search using the words leaf blower and be prepared to read some. Much easier then taking the stove outside if you can get to the piping outside.

Good luck.

 

[Bioburner]

The Dovetec was made for corn-wheat originally. Blowing backwards probably wont work as it will be trying to get past the exhaust fan. Air blasting with compressor and nozzle will hopefully get some of the job done but do you have a manual?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Yes get the stove outside.
Blow the stove forward, backwards, whatever it takes.
DONT DO IT IN THE HOUSE.
I will not say what we use initially as it is only for insured professionals to loosen things but if you can get enough airflow for the fire to light, once again outside, then there are soot loosening products you can burn in the pot which work fine. Then just get the product I have mentioned elsewhere and it will never happen again and it will run better than new.
You have a real relic there buddy. Look after it and it will look after you. You know Jimmy Carter had a Dovetec in the white house?

Interesting comment, can you substantiate it? I'd love a link....

 

[BrotherBart]

Carroll Buckner developed the Buck Wood Stove which is what Jimmy had installed in the Whitehouse. Buckner sold the wood stove company in 1984 and developed the Dovetec corn burner in 1987. Six years after Jimmy left office.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Carroll Buckner developed the Buck Wood Stove which is what Jimmy had installed in the Whitehouse. Buckner sold the wood stove company in 1984 and developed the Dovetec corn burner in 1987. Six years after Jimmy left office.

Bart you are a helluva historian.

 

[BrotherBart]

Had I known that Ronnie Raygun was going to have the Buck Stove yanked out and scrapped I would have driven the 40 miles to pick it up in a heartbeat. That would have been a hunk of history on my hearth.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I wonder if Obama uses a Traeger pellet grill to BBQ on? It's enviromentally correct.

 

[mustang0064]

Thanks for the reply, i will get hubby to drag it outside this summer and i will clean it up pull off the blowers and try to find a way to the chambers....i do have a manual but it has no valuable info in it.

 

[mustang0064]

she's working fine once again , thanks all

 

[Bioburner]

What all did you do to bring it back to life? I see them being pushed for sale on CL

 

[mustang0064]

What all did you do to bring it back to life? I see them being pushed for sale on CL

got a new window and gasket, also tipped it every which way and vacuum all over the place. We had this stove given to us yrs ago and we used it for 3 or 4yrs no prob and last yr it was burning dirty
i still wanna change the chimney again