What is the Purpose of wool blanket on a quadrafire ?

[rustynut]

Hello,… so after a search i’ve found that the wool blanket in my 5700 Quad is there to insulate the fire box. It’s a bit of a pain to clean and i’m wondering about placing a thin tin sheet on top to catch the ash and stuff that normally collects on the wool ? It would make cleaning a bit easier. What do you think ?
Thanks, … rn

 

[VirginiaIron]

Hello,… so after a search i’ve found that the wool blanket in my 5700 Quad is there to insulate the fire box. It’s a bit of a pain to clean and i’m wondering about placing a thin tin sheet on top to catch the ash and stuff that normally collects on the wool ? It would make cleaning a bit easier. What do you think ?
Thanks, … rn

I think a thin sheet o[f] anything would warp and possibly cause a restriction. There shouldn't be anything but fine ash on top and even though I clean mine every year, on my personal stove I could probably stretch it, but I never know so I clean it.

 

[rustynut]

Hadn’t thought about warping? It seems i’ve run into some wood that hasn’t seasoned enough…
I’ve been burning mostly ash for many years and the wood i have now needed a bit more seasoning. Stove was cleaned before season and i had to clean it again well before xmas. Just used a creasote log but it’s still acting like it needs a cleaning. I’m just tossing around ideas to make the cleaning a bit easier ? You are correct about mostly ash but seems to get bits of creasote. I was just thinking a thin tray might catch all and eliminate complete removal of the blanket and ceramic board… might be that adding some ribs to the tray would avoid the warping? Still considering… thanks for the thoughts… rn

 

[VirginiaIron]

Hadn’t thought about warping? It seems i’ve run into some wood that hasn’t seasoned enough…
I’ve been burning mostly ash for many years and the wood i have now needed a bit more seasoning. Stove was cleaned before season and i had to clean it again well before xmas. Just used a creasote log but it’s still acting like it needs a cleaning. I’m just tossing around ideas to make the cleaning a bit easier ? You are correct about mostly ash but seems to get bits of creasote. I was just thinking a thin tray might catch all and eliminate complete removal of the blanket and ceramic board… might be that adding some ribs to the tray would avoid the warping? Still considering… thanks for the thoughts… rn

I get very little creosote on my baffle just below the vertical outlet pipe. I'm presuming this creosote is from disturbing the connections of the vent because it's right on top at the outlet, the remaining baffle in mine has nothing combustible.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Compressing the blanket will decrease the insulation value. It may not make much of a difference though. When I pull my pipe there isn’t much on the top of the baffle. I just stick the hose of my shop vac down there and suck everything up after cleaning the pipe. Make sure you have a good filter! The vacuum blowing soot all over the room would be, well, bad.