Quadra-FIRE Fire pot cleaning rod.

[tonyd]

Is there anything you can put on the pot cleaning rod (linkage) to free it up. Mine works, but it seems very dry and its alittle fussy pulling the rod out and pushing it back in. Any suggestions? It would be nice if it worked nice and SMOOTH. Thanks

 

[MainePellethead]

Is there anything you can put on the pot cleaning rod (linkage) to free it up. Mine works, but it seems very dry and its alittle fussy pulling the rod out and pushing it back in. Any suggestions? It would be nice if it worked nice and SMOOTH. Thanks

Havent tried to put anything on it yet.....are you talking about the Rod and linkage for the plate at the bottom that empties the burnpot? If you are, mine kinda seized on mine....so I forced it open and then pulled it shut etc back and forth til it freed up nicely .....think some pellets or dust got in there....not sure.....but now its owrks like new

 

[tonyd]

Yes the rod for the burn pot. Mine is getting tight. Ill get in there and work it back and forth. I was thinking maybe some high temp spray of some kind to free it up. It does sound and feel very dry.

 

[offingmoot]

from quadrafire castile owners manual, same text as santa fe

http://content.hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/man castile.pdf

2. Cleaning Firepot with Cleaning Rod & Firepot
Scraper
• Frequency: Daily or more often as needed
• By: Homeowner
• Task:
a. The appliance must be in complete shutdown and cool
and the exhaust blower off.
b. Pull firepot cleaning rod OUT a couple of times to help
shake debris loose. If rod is hard to pull, it may be
necessary to use your firepot scraper to chip away
material that has built up on the bottom plate of the
firepot and to push out any clinkers. Larger clinkers
may have to be removed from the top of the firepot.
Corn clinkers can be especially difficult to break up.

 

[TboneMan]

from quadrafire castile owners manual, same text as santa fe

http://content.hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/man castile.pdf

2. Cleaning Firepot with Cleaning Rod & Firepot
Scraper
• Frequency: Daily or more often as needed
• By: Homeowner
• Task:
a. The appliance must be in complete shutdown and cool
and the exhaust blower off.
b. Pull firepot cleaning rod OUT a couple of times to help
shake debris loose. If rod is hard to pull, it may be
necessary to use your firepot scraper to chip away
material that has built up on the bottom plate of the
firepot and to push out any clinkers. Larger clinkers
may have to be removed from the top of the firepot.
Corn clinkers can be especially difficult to break up.

Yup, you probably have build-up on the sliding plate at the bottom of the pot. Don't bother with the scraper Quadra provides. Mine broke within the first few uses. I use a chisel now.

 

[Czech]

Funny you guys posted on this, I checked mine last night. Can't even budge it! That's ok though, it's all coming apart for a major preseason cleaning this weekend. Note there should be a little gap (dimes width) between the pot bottom and pot fyi, this can be adjusted.

 

[Redox]

How about some Never Seez after you get it cleaned up. It acts like graphite and is good to 1800F as I recall. I put some on the damper of my Quad to quiet down the screeching metal to metal noise when it slides. I believe there is a volatile component to N-S, but it burns right up and shouldn't cause a problem.

Chris

 

[moralleper]

On my Santafe I had to adjust the burnpot door clearance. to do this I loosened the the nut that holds the bottom of the pot up, then took the scrapper and slid it in between the pot and the bottom and tightened the nut backup. now the rod does not get stuck and I think the air flow is a bit better. just make sure the small gap is small or the stove will burn itself out before pellets feed it.

 

[tonyd]

Good stuff.

 

[jtp10181]

I have run into this a few times and found a solution to the problem. The first easy fix is as moralleper suggested, loosen the nut underneath slightly. Make sure the door does not sag or it will let too much air into the pot and cause problems. I have seen this solve the problem for a while and then it goes back to the way it was. In this case you can use something tough and flat (big flat screwdrivers works for me) and blindly jam it around on the bottom of the pot trying to get everything off. I have found this to be difficult. I decided to remove the whole bottom door of the pot and clean it that way. After doing this the homeowner stated it opened better than when it was new. It is not easy to remove and re-install the door. You need small agile hands and the proper size of wrenches the access the bolt underneath.

Hope this helps.

To help prevent this in the future do a few things. Make sure the door is as tight as it can be and still move freely. Regularly scrape the bottom of the pot as clean as you can get it from the inside. When you empty the ash dump pull it vigorously in and out multiple times to make sure everything gets scraped off.

 

[tonyd]

Thanks Guys. Anything worth doing is worth modifying.

 

[imacman]

How about some Never Seez after you get it cleaned up. It acts like graphite and is good to 1800F as I recall. I put some on the damper of my Quad to quiet down the screeching metal to metal noise when it slides. I believe there is a volatile component to N-S, but it burns right up and shouldn't cause a problem.

Chris

The only thing I'd be concerned with when using Never-sieze is that it is VERY sticky, and will attract & hold a lot of dust/dirt/fines/ash.

We use it on our dirt sprint car in a couple of locations, and it holds dirt like a magnet and has to be cleaned off after every couple of races, or the dirt will start wearing things out..

As for the heat part, we use it on the spark plug threads of the engines (within 2 inches of the exhaust headers), and never had a problem.

 

[humpin iron]

jtp is right. I always take it bolt out, anti-sieze the bolt, bushing, linkage. While out I polish the plate top with sand paper and a wire wheel. Get anti-sieze at a auto parts store