PDVC Gasket Replacement????

[DawgOnKing]

I didn't start burning til February of last year and prob ran about 40-50 bags through my PDVC. Do I need to replace burn pot and blower gaskets before I start burning this year? I know some of you are running 3-5 tons a year through your stoves and I got into this a little late into the season last year.

I have 2 spare gaskets for each, but if I can get away with burning another 1-2 tons before doing this cleaning, I certainly will do so. Matter of fact, I won't burn more than 1.5 tons in any year most likely as we won't start running the stove til Christmas time anyway.

I have finished all other annual cleaning including pipes, plates, and total ash removal. I'm just trying to decide whether or not to accomplish the recommended gasket replacements after only running the stove for 2 months and approx 1 ton of pellets.

Thanks!

 

[WoodPorn]

I'm no expert, but... I can't imagine you'd need to replace the gaskets unless you have removed or disassembled those components.

 

[imacman]

As long as you have cleaned everything VERY WELL in the rest of the stove, I don't think changing the gaskets on the blowers is needed at all. Put some pellets in the stove and fire 'er up!

After the next ton burned, THEN I'd pull the blowers and clean them, and install new gaskets. The one that is most important will be the combustion blower gasket.

Just curious....why do you wait so long before beginning pellet burning? Most people in the northern half of the country have been burning for at least the past 2 weeks.

 

[DawgOnKing]

As long as you have cleaned everything VERY WELL in the rest of the stove, I don't think changing the gaskets on the blowers is needed at all. Put some pellets in the stove and fire 'er up!

After the next ton burned, THEN I'd pull the blowers and clean them, and install new gaskets. The one that is most important will be the combustion blower gasket.

Just curious....why do you wait so long before beginning pellet burning? Most people in the northern half of the country have been burning for at least the past 2 weeks.

Thanks guys, that's the way I was leaning. I certainly want to stove to run at max efficiency but I don't wanna use $25 worth of gaskets just to say I did. I will hold off for now.

Mac, my stove is in an addition that also has a mini-split ductless heating system. I thought the mini would do the trick for our addition but we found out the the hard way ---- not the case. We came to that conclusion on a very cold December night. While the mini-split is great in the summer for cooling it does not adequately heat when OAT drops below 20F. Life lesson learned.

Anyway, I didn't know what a pellet stove was at this time last year. I made the decision to purchase with about 3 hours of internet research and a home depot that's 2 miles from the house. Needless to say, I'm still a little hesitant to burn the stove while I'm gone (I'm a pilot). The mini-split is perfect for Autumn and the stove will run 24/7 from Christmas to March!

Long winded, sorry. Thanks again!! I just bought two bags of Presto Logs to try out and I will prob fire her up over Thanksgiving!