Yearly cleaning took 4 hours......................

..............I`ve come to the conclusion that those guys who clean a stove, or at least the ones who do a thorough job, definitely earn their money.
I disconnected and cleaned all the motors , impellers, and the pipe too. Of course I`m getting on in years (69). Seems nothing is as easy as it always used to be. I`m kinda beat from getting into those contorted positions.
Well, anyway my son is coming over to put the brush down the chimney. I can get on the roof OK (2 stories high), but coming down is a problem since I had both my knees replaced.
The wife and I will be all set for the year now.

I'm taking that as both stoves???

I agree. My local Harman dealer cleaned my Accentra insert and P-38 this past spring and charged me $300.00. Two guys were done in under one hour.

They did not take any fan motors apart and clean them. About all they did was clean the pipes, burn pots, and ash pans.

I have two Harman Accentra pellets stoves - one insert, one free standing.

I've cleaned both myself over the years. To do it properly, and I'm pretty meticulous, it takes me about 2.5 hours for each stove.

Heh , heh, heh. Actually it was just the P-38 in the finished basement. Ok, I was in no rush and took time for lunch but there`s no way I could do it in 2 hrs.
I did give it a thorough cleaning. I`d hate to do this for a living.

That's too much. I'll pay for good work, no problem but that's a lot for a simple cleaning.

I had a technician from a reputable (expensive) company come out for service. He showed up without the right filter and told me the old one was fine, then proceeded to change the nozzle and eyball the flame. I called the company on my cell phone while he was bent over the sight port and told them to get this hack out of my house.

Whew! I take much more than 2 hrs to do mine.

Perfection takes time, Specially when you are your own critic! Hey on the bright side you have a couple of bucks in your pocket to go enjoy a nice meal or movie with.

Yeah, 2-3 hours for me depending on how dirty it was and how clean the burns were.

Saving 200 bucks from the local service is a big plus for me, but I'll tel ya; the knees and back aint what the use to be and boy are they stiff/sore after :roll:

And let your son take care of the roof stuff, one slip and its all she wrote. Close friend of mine fell off a ladder 4 weeks ago working at his farm: broke both legs (one a compound fracture), shattered a heel and damaged a disk in his back. At 67, he has a long road ahead of him. Docs are forecasting 4-6 months in a wheelchair and a year before anything close to normal. Play it safe

I feel your pain & I am only in my mid 50,s.LOL.coobie

well. i've been trying with the search function since i read this to find "sight port" or flame adjust nozzle"

so far all my "knowledge" is from just reading. don't have the stove yet.
but i'm trying to figure out if i can do ALL the cleaning and maintenance myself.
i'm not doing the install. but i'm thinking i'd be fine taking motors out and re-gasketing them if that is the only way to truly clean them (annually?).
i'm going to be asking about these things with the dealer and the installer too.

but if you could elaborate on this nozzle replacement and how the flame is supposed to be adjusted if not by sight. and also any opinions on the different motors and what is needed for complete cleaning and on what schedule (i have decided on the heatilator ps10) that would be helpful.
i'm just not having great success with the search function on these things. i may try "motor /blower maintenance" after i post this. *edit- this got some results. still curious and about the nozzle/flame adjust question too.

sorry if my question is a little unfocused. hopefully you can tell what i'm getting at.
maintenance tasks beyond the normal daily, weekly and yearly items most commonly discussed here.
even just linking to the proper threads if you know them would be helpful.
thanks.

*been reading cleaning threads most of the night since i posted this. including following all the links in the maintenance sticky thread. i can feel the knowledge begin to seep in.
just need to get hands on now. picking up the ash vac in the morning.

The poster was referring to an oil burner, I think, not a pellet stove.

excellent! i was worried there. phew.
i suppose if i'd thought it through, i'd have realized the silliness of trying to exactly calibrate a little pile of burning wood pieces. lol.
or getting them to flow through a nozzle. wow. *slightly embarrassed*

Just completed my major cleaning of my castile cleaned and replaced gaskets blower and housing also tadpol gasket. Fired up only need to brush pipe tomorrow. I would say I spent at least 8 hrs.

Took me about the same (Over 3 days/ 3-4 few hrs a day).. To pull the stove from the wall, take apart all motors, vacuum, suck, wipe, polish, and replace the gaskets and put it all back together.... Oh, and I painted the inside this year. Made it look really nice..... But in doing all this it takes forever.

Link to my "Spring Cleaning" thread. Goes in to detail (Also some good pics too)... http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/75103/