Wood stove Deep cleaning?

[skinnykid]

What are you guys doing to deep clean the inside of your stoves for the summer?

Now that the +80 degree weather is here, I should clean mine out!

Thanks

 

[BrotherBart]

I scoop out the ashes and close the door. And then I will clean the chimney later this month.

 

[wendell]

I clean out the ashes, vacuum out the stove, clean the glass and fill the ash pan with kitty litter.

I'll clean the chimney sometime in June.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Clean out ashes, clean glass, check all gaskets and seams. If all okay, close door and forget until September. If not okay, fix as necessary.

 

[firefighterjake]

Clean out ashes, clean glass, check all gaskets and seams. If all okay, close door and forget until September. If not okay, fix as necessary.

Same here . . . I also clean the outside of the stove.

 

[laynes69]

Don't you guys remove the baffle to remove any soot from the ceiling of the firebox? I remember seeing that a small layer of buildup or carbon can stop some heat transfer. I remove my tubes, the baffle and clean the ceiling along with the heat exchanger in my furnace. When I clean like that I can feel a difference with the heat output.

 

[grommal]

Don't you guys remove the baffle to remove any soot from the ceiling of the firebox? I remember seeing that a small layer of buildup or carbon can stop some heat transfer. I remove my tubes, the baffle and clean the ceiling along with the heat exchanger in my furnace. When I clean like that I can feel a difference with the heat output.

This is the end of my first year of burning with a new stove. I don't plan on removing the baffle or tubes unless some other maintenance or replacement demands it (not for many years, I'm hoping). I've already cleaned the inside of the stove below the baffle, the outside of the stove, and the chimney (top down). The only part I didn't get to yet is the stovepipe. I only have a very short run of pipe, consisting of a 90deg elbow, a 45deg elbow, and about 2 feet of straight single wall that passes through the thimble into an exterior masonry chimney. That pipe assembly pops right out for a quick brush out with a wire brush, and at that time I will gently vacuum the insulating blanket that's on top of the baffle, since I'll be able to access it through the flue collar. I don't really expect much except a little ash lying right under the collar.

The only reason I didn't clean that at the same time as the chimney is that I need to repaint the two elbows and the weather wasn't good for that task at the time. The elbows must have had defective factory paint, since every scrap of it blistered and fell off the elbows, which are now a nice blue oxidized steel color. I'm hoping the StoveBright will stick to that.

 

[laynes69]

I forgot that makes sense. I can't access the top of my firebox due to the heat exchanger above it. Our old furnace you could access the top of the firebox from the flue exit.

 

[skinnykid]

Kitty litter? to take any smell away??

 

[op_man1]

Kitty litter? to take any smell away??

I'm guessing it's for the humidity - the kitty litter should absorb it.

 

[fossil]

Shovel them out. Remove all the baffle bricks. Sweep the flues (either top-down or bottom-up, although bottom-up is more likely as I hate going up on the roof), vacuum out the interior thoroughly, including using compressed air for whatever passages I can access, inspect the firebrick and everything else inside, inspect & test door & window gaskets, fix whatever may need fixing, put everything back together, clean the windows, squirt a bit of graphite powder in the hinge pins and door handle shafts, thank the stoves for their services during the heating season, wish them well, and let them rest for the summer. Rick

 

[firefighterjake]

I clean out the ashes, vacuum out the stove, clean the glass and fill the ash pan with kitty litter.

I'll clean the chimney sometime in June.

Hmmm . . . never thought about using the woodstove as a kitty cat toilet . . . nice and cozy for the cat and once enough cat poo builds up I could light a fire and burn it off maybe . . . of course any guests coming over would have a nice view of my cats doing their business through the large glass window front.

 

[firefighterjake]

Don't you guys remove the baffle to remove any soot from the ceiling of the firebox? I remember seeing that a small layer of buildup or carbon can stop some heat transfer. I remove my tubes, the baffle and clean the ceiling along with the heat exchanger in my furnace. When I clean like that I can feel a difference with the heat output.

Actually yeah . . . you reminded me that I do this as well . . . although I don't have to remove the baffles or tubes to vacuum off the top.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Clean out ashes, clean glass, check all gaskets and seams. If all okay, close door and forget until September. If not okay, fix as necessary.

Same here . . . I also clean the outside of the stove.

We wait until fall to do that Jake. lol


It is baffling to figure out how to clean our baffles, so we leave that alone.

 

[Battenkiller]

Don't you guys remove the baffle to remove any soot from the ceiling of the firebox? I remember seeing that a small layer of buildup or carbon can stop some heat transfer. I remove my tubes, the baffle and clean the ceiling along with the heat exchanger in my furnace. When I clean like that I can feel a difference with the heat output.

Not a bad idea, I suppose, but not for heat transfer reasons. With all the baffles, insulating firebrick, Kaowool that is going into some of these new stoves, seems like keeping more heat in is the desired goal. I can't imagine a little soot is gonna affect the balance much either way.