Alderlea T6 Air Intake / secondary Intake cleaning

[Gr8Basin]

Good day all - I have a PE Alderlea T6 from about 2014/15 I believe. I’ve cleaned the stove and chimney many times, but have progressively noticed the burn quality diminishing. This last time it just downright poor. I’m in the process of diagnosing potential causes. One particular is figuring out how to vacuum out or clear out the air intake that draws room air - maybe it’s the secondary intake, not confident in my proper reference there, so I’ll gladly accept correction. I recall seeing somewhere in the forums over the years a reference on how to clean this out and I can’t recall where. If anyone can provide some tips I’ll be most grateful. I know the first step is covering that opening when cleaning the chimney, and normally I do, but spaced doing so in my haste this time around. I didn’t have a lot of debris come down, but I just want to clean it out to ensure that is not the source or contributor to the problem.

Sure appreciate everyone’s contributions to the forum and my learning and understanding of my stove over the years. Thank you all, and thank you for your time helping me get going in the right direction.

 

[begreen]

How has the cleaning been done, top-down or bottom-up with the baffle removed?
When the chimney was cleaned, was the cap screen also cleaned?

Is there a chance that this batch of firewood is not as well seasoned as usual?

 

[Gr8Basin]

Thanks for the follow-up questions, Begreen. Firewood is seasoned, and the cleaning was bottom up with baffle removed. I just forgot to cover the intake.

 

[begreen]

If the cap has a screen, that is the first place to check. Sometimes, bottom-up cleaning does not clean that area very well because the cap screen has a larger diameter than the chimney.

It doesn't sound like a large amount of debris went down the secondary tube, but if it did, it would collect in the EBT which is attached to the underside of the stove directly under the secondary tube. You might be able to attach some 1/2"? tubing to a shop vac hose with duct tape to vacuum down there. Check the cap first.

 

[Gr8Basin]

Ok, I’ll give that a try. I wish there was an easier way to access that tube area just for general cleaning purposes as it’s a very tight bend.
I don’t have a screen at the top, but as you’ve pointed out that is a difficult point to really clean well from bottom up. That is typically the primary point of collection on our setup. The wood typically burns pretty clean.

Thanks for the input, Begreen.

 

[begreen]

Another, though unlikely scenario, is air entering the flue system via some sort of leak.

If you want to view the air intake, take a mirror or maybe a cellphone in selfie mode and look under the front of the stove. The air control and intake are in plain view on the bottom front right side. Work the air control and make sure the air valve blade is working right. Further back in the center is the EBT.