Older Whitfield Quest / lazy flame

[Ricks]

DexterDay.

I forgot to mention I did hit the back of the firebox with a mallet. I did run the vacuum at the same time, but did not seem to pick up any soot. Blowing canned air down did not seem to produce lots of soot either.

Next steps would be to find some bottle brushes or dryer lint brushes. Plus take the leaf blower to the vent.

I don't have an air compressor hence the canned air. And yes I understand the air compress is better than the canned air.

Smokey, I won't run the stove till I replace the gasket. I do understan about CO2, but was hoping I could get a get test to determine if I had made any improvements in running the stove.

I will touch base when I clean out the area behind the firebox and take a leaf blower to the vent.

thanks for all the help.

Rick.....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

DexterDay.

I forgot to mention I did hit the back of the firebox with a mallet. I did run the vacuum at the same time, but did not seem to pick up any soot. Blowing canned air down did not seem to produce lots of soot either.

Next steps would be to find some bottle brushes or dryer lint brushes. Plus take the leaf blower to the vent.

I don't have an air compressor hence the canned air. And yes I understand the air compress is better than the canned air.

Smokey, I won't run the stove till I replace the gasket. I do understan about CO2, but was hoping I could get a get test to determine if I had made any improvements in running the stove.

I will touch base when I clean out the area behind the firebox and take a leaf blower to the vent.

thanks for all the help.

Rick.....

Nothing to stop you from running it outside.

 

[stellep]

DexterDay.

I forgot to mention I did hit the back of the firebox with a mallet. I did run the vacuum at the same time, but did not seem to pick up any soot. Blowing canned air down did not seem to produce lots of soot either.

Next steps would be to find some bottle brushes or dryer lint brushes. Plus take the leaf blower to the vent.

I don't have an air compressor hence the canned air. And yes I understand the air compress is better than the canned air.

Smokey, I won't run the stove till I replace the gasket. I do understan about CO2, but was hoping I could get a get test to determine if I had made any improvements in running the stove.

I will touch base when I clean out the area behind the firebox and take a leaf blower to the vent.

thanks for all the help.

Rick.....

That's because there is nothing behind the firebox. The exhaust runs down each side of the firebox vertically and one tube across the bottom of the firebox horizontally. The left side vertical connects to the left side of the horizontal. The damper is at the far right of the horizontal run. The right vertical connects to the horizontal in front of the damper, closer to the left than the damper. You can't see it. These hor and vert tubes are what you want to clean with the bottle brush. This is a closed system, there are no access plates like on the Advantage. This is annoying at first but once you figure it out, you'll be rockin.

You can get maybe 1/2 inch diameter bottle brush at most into the exhaust. Has to have a long wire on it. These are small tubes. Nix on the dryer brush. Way too big.

Gotta have the gasket if running in the house. Buy 2 or maybe 3.

Leaf blower is always good, excepting the neighbors. Wait till they are out.

 

[Ricks]

Nearest neighbor is a quarter mile away, don't think the soot will bother them.

I am on the hunt for a bottle brush. Got an ideas?

Rick........

 

[wwert]

I found mine at the local hardware store. Try the Aubuchon in Paris. used to be Swanns. I have a place in Poland so I am up your way from time to time.

 

[stellep]

I use the Harbor Freight brushes, but they seem just a little short, 16 or 18 in. You'll hit the exchanger with your fingers, and you can't see the end of the brush by looking in the damper. The stove seems to breathe fine though. The vertical runs. like the vertical Duravent, don't seem to gather much ash. The horizontals fill up over time. The HF brushes work fine on the hor.

 

[DexterDay]

DexterDay.

I forgot to mention I did hit the back of the firebox with a mallet. I did run the vacuum at the same time, but did not seem to pick up any soot. Blowing canned air down did not seem to produce lots of soot either.

Next steps would be to find some bottle brushes or dryer lint brushes. Plus take the leaf blower to the vent.

I don't have an air compressor hence the canned air. And yes I understand the air compress is better than the canned air.

Smokey, I won't run the stove till I replace the gasket. I do understan about CO2, but was hoping I could get a get test to determine if I had made any improvements in running the stove.

I will touch base when I clean out the area behind the firebox and take a leaf blower to the vent.

thanks for all the help.

Rick.....

That's because there is nothing behind the firebox. The exhaust runs down each side of the firebox vertically and one tube across the bottom of the firebox horizontally. The left side vertical connects to the left side of the horizontal. The damper is at the far right of the horizontal run. The right vertical connects to the horizontal in front of the damper, closer to the left than the damper. You can't see it. These hor and vert tubes are what you want to clean with the bottle brush. This is a closed system, there are no access plates like on the Advantage. This is annoying at first but once you figure it out, you'll be rockin.

You can get maybe 1/2 inch diameter bottle brush at most into the exhaust. Has to have a long wire on it. These are small tubes. Nix on the dryer brush. Way too big.

Gotta have the gasket if running in the house. Buy 2 or maybe 3.

Leaf blower is always good, excepting the neighbors. Wait till they are out.

Maybe my lint brush was misunderstood. Its about a foot long, completely flexible and has a 1/4" steel shaft, and can fit through any 1/2" hole. Goes from 1" bristles to 2" bristles at the end and almost 3 ft in length. An invaluable tool and better than any bottle brush because of length.

I still have bottle brushes. But I have several of these in different configurations. They are the dryer trap lint brushes. For the little trap area inside the dryer door. Not a 4" dryer or pellet vent brush.

 

[stellep]

Looks good to me. I'm always paranoid that I'll get stuck in the exhaust manifold or break off or something. Where'd you get it?

 

[Brewer]

I got one similar to dex's at harbor freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/dryer-vent-brush-96163.html

 

[DexterDay]

There was a link in the pellet room for a brush place. I will.see if I can find it. Thats where I bought that particular one. But I have 4 others like it from Wal-Mart, Lowes, HD, local.Hardware stores, Etc. Its a standard dryer "Lint Trap" brush. Or some are considered refrigerator coil brushes.

 

[stellep]

Thanks Dexter. I'll get one at one of the alternate sources. Brewer. I heard that brewers have brushes that are perfect for this stuff. Thanks.

 

[Stovensen]

The brush on Dexters photo has the optimal dimensions... better than those I'm using. Yes, a store where they sell items for homebrewers may be the place to find it also where I live. I'll start looking for it now. Thanks for the tip.

Still, I think it's a nuisance that the "exhaust manifold" is such a sealed unit on the Quest stoves. Some mods could be made, and I just got inspired to this by studying how the newer Lennox stoves are made in this respect.
Below is an illustration from the owners/installation manual of the Lennox Bella. It shows clearly how smart and elegant this stove is made in order to facilitate cleaning... the lid marked "A" is simply removed by loosening two 5/32" allen screws and voila, the bottle brush has now access to all the accumulated crud ;-)

On an old Quest stove it should be possible to make an opening for cleaning approximately where I've drawn the green rectangle. See illustration below.
It will require a little elbow grease in the work shop, though. I have a jig saw with blades for metal to cut the rectangular hole in the stove. I also have some 3 mm sheet metal. From this I'll cut out the lid to cover the hole. The threaded holes for two 6 mm allen screws I have tools to make, too. Some gasket material is needed between the lid and stove surfaces... a cheap and secure material readily available everywhere is Holts Gun Gum for silencers on cars

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks Dexter. I'll get one at one of the alternate sources. Brewer. I heard that brewers have brushes that are perfect for this stuff. Thanks.

Brew supply places have all kinds of good things ;-) .

After all you have to have clean long neck bottles, carboys, and other items that require a long handled brush

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The brush on Dexters photo has the optimal dimensions... better than those I'm using. Yes, a store where they sell items for homebrewers may be the place to find it also where I live. I'll start looking for it now. Thanks for the tip.

Still, I think it's a nuisance that the "exhaust manifold" is such a sealed unit on the Quest stoves. Some mods could be made, and I just got inspired to this by studying how the newer Lennox stoves are made in this respect.
Below is an illustration from the owners/installation manual of the Lennox Bella. It shows clearly how smart and elegant this stove is made in order to facilitate cleaning... the lid marked "A" is simply removed by loosening two 5/32" allen screws and voila, the bottle brush has now access to all the accumulated crud ;-)

On an old Quest stove it should be possible to make an opening for cleaning approximately where I've drawn the green rectangle. See illustration below.
It will require a little elbow grease in the work shop, though. I have a jig saw with blades for metal to cut the rectangular hole in the stove. I also have some 3 mm sheet metal. From this I'll cut out the lid to cover the hole. The threaded holes for two 6 mm allen screws I have tools to make, too. Some gasket material is needed between the lid and stove surfaces... a cheap and secure material readily available everywhere is Holts Gun Gum for silencers on cars

St. Croix uses plugs and they even sent out a technical bulletin to add another hole in the firebox so one could get to their hard to clean spot.

ETA: You must know exactly what is where and be very careful because it is easy to puncture a hole that will allow combustion gases to exit the stove where they shouldn't.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The Quest is a cousin to the Whitfield Prodigy 2 and shares some parts.

Best way to clean that little devil out is to vacuum the stove as is normal, then as mentioned attach the leaf blower suction side to the exhaust pipe.

Leave the stove door open to allow good air flow, turn on the leave blower and the crud thats plugging the stove up will come out really fast.

You can also turn the stove on to allow the exhaust fan to run, this will help dislodge and crap thats in the exhaust housing too.


The leaf blower suckemout trick should be done about once a month for optimal performance..

The larger Whits like the Advantage 1,2, 2T and others have really good access to the ash traps.

Some of the smaller stoves were less accomodating when it comes to cleaning.

Another thing you can do is use an air compressor and blow nozzle. Get a helper to direct air up into the heat tubes (all around in there) while you run the leaf blower.

This will really help clear out the crap.

I have seen stoves so full of ash that they simply could not BREATH any more.

This is one of the most common issues that lead to used pellet stoves winding up for sale cheap on Craigs list.

Cleaning the exhaust fan blades with a soft brush is a good thing. but you also need to suck the thing out with the leaf blower.

Sadly the inner passages collect crap that you can't reach even with a brush.

Goos luck and keep us posted

Snowy

 

[Ricks]

My plan this weekend is to use a brush to clean out the passageways and the leaf blower trick. My leaf blower does have an attachment to suck up leaves so I will use that to attach the blower to the vent to suck out the soot.

When I removed the combustion motor the gasket broke into several parts I will need to get a new gasket before I can test the stove.

I really like the stove and don't want to replace it, so if I can get it working agian that would be great. You all have been a big help with the suggestions and given me confidnece the stove will return to its top performance.

Thanks

Rick.......

 

[DexterDay]

That gasket is more thank likely a standard gasket (depending on which one you removed). If you just removed the motor, plate, and impeller, then it should be a standard 6" gasket

Your local Stove/Hearth Shop should have it. Also, try and seal your suction/vacuum side of your leafblower to the vent as well as possible. I only use my leafblower for the pellet stoves (electric one, I have a Gas unit for blowing leaves), so I put a 3" to 4" PVC adapter on the suction side, for a good tight fit.

 

[Ricks]

DexterDay,

I just removed the motor, plate, and impeller. And it does look like a 6" gasket. I have had two different types of gaskets on this blower. the first one was cardboard like with a silver coating on both sides. When I replaced the housing, motor, plate, and impeller the new asket was a string like felt. And that is the gasket that fell apart when I took the plate, motor, and impeller off.

The local store carries Quadra Fire pellet stoves. I person I spoke to (not the most knowledgeable) said the combustion blower gaskets are shaped and have special cut outs. So I guess I will have to visit them. I am hoping if I bring in the motor, plate, and impeller I can match the gaskets up.

Thanks for the suggestion about a 3" to 4" PVC adapter. That will save me a trip to the store.

Rick.........

 

[DexterDay]

I have bought 6" Whitefield gaskets off of ebay for my Quadrafire. A 6" gasket with 6 holes os what most stoves use. Others either dont use one (Harman) or some have special rubber-like reusable ones (Mt. Vernon).

Take the motor and plate with you. The Quad one should fit. My Englander, Quad, and my Fahrenheit all use the same 6" gasket.......

As for the leafblower, if your gonna make it permanent, then use liquid nails or some other sealant, in the gap of the adapter and the suction tube. If its not gonna be permanent, then I would suggest Duct tape to get a good seal.

 

[Ricks]

Stellep,

To clean the horizontal passage way beneath the firebox it is a correct assumption I need to insert the brush in via the combustion blower (watching the damper)?

Taking the day off tomorrow to attack the stove. Clean the passageways and leaf blower trick.

thanks

Rick...........

 

[wwert]

There is also gasket that comes on a roll that is sticky on one side. It looks like flat door gasket and has a strippable paper over the adhesive side. I use it for combustion fan motors so they are removable to clean and you don't have to replace the gasket every year.

 

[DexterDay]

There is also gasket that comes on a roll that is sticky on one side. It looks like flat door gasket and has a strippable paper over the adhesive side. I use it for combustion fan motors so they are removable to clean and you don't have to replace the gasket every year.

I used a 5/8" flat (tape) gasket for my burn pot gasket on my Quadrafire. Works like a charm. Stays on the pot and doesn't need replaced every time I pull it (once a year).

Make sure you get it positioned right if you go this route.

 

[stellep]

Stellep,

To clean the horizontal passage way beneath the firebox it is a correct assumption I need to insert the brush in via the combustion blower (watching the damper)?

Taking the day off tomorrow to attack the stove. Clean the passageways and leaf blower trick.

thanks

Rick...........

Yup. Open the damper all the way and go into the horizontal passage from the damper side to the control panel side. Do both verticals from the top of the firebox down to either end of the horizontal. Vac out the vacuum inlet (1/8 inch tube or so) to the left of the damper while you are at it. Disconnect the vacuum tube first to protect the switch. You'll see the rubber tube to the left top of the damper. It can be a challenge to disconnect. There's not much room. Watch your fingers.
Happy burn.

 

[stellep]

I forgot. Disconnect the vacuum switch tube at the vacuum switch over by the control panel instead of at the damper. It looks like a sideways flying saucer with a rubber tube and a couple or wires connected to it. Saves bloodletting this way. Ask me how I know this.

 

[DexterDay]

Do we have an update yet??

Just wondering if you got the leafblower put on? And a new gasket installed??