Ashy blower fins

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Easy Livin’ 3000

Minister of Fire
Dec 23, 2015
3,018
SEPA
When cleaning the stove, I thought, maybe I should check the fan blades on the blower. They were thick with ash and whatever else sticks to them.

It was a royal pain in the ass to get them clean, using qtips, and all sorts of other stuff, none of which worked well. I know that a little bit of crap on the tips of a fan greatly reduces its efficiency, am I wrong to assume that dirty blower fins are also much less efficient? Also, any tips on how to get them clean would be greatly appreciated.
 
It's good to give the blower a regular cleaning. Do you turn off the blower when reloading the stove then clean up the hearth before turning the blower back on?
 
I pull my blower off every now and then and blow the insides out with my air compressor.
 
I do turn off the fan when loading, but a little ash always falls out, and goes into the crack between the blower housing and the stove. I think there must be some way to prevent this, but I haven't thought of it yet. Generally we try to give a quick sweep before turning the fan back on (I hear you begreen, an ounce of prevention...).

I tried using a blower and vacuum, but the nature of the stuff that was on the fins prevented those solutions from working. It was almost sticky, anyone who has cleaned the tips of a fan knows what I mean (but ashier). It required physical contact to move it, and so many hard to reach nooks and crannies!

Admittedly, this is a chore that I should have done more than once after the season was over. I'm thinking maybe once a month, and the more I do it, eventually I'll think of a more efficient way to do it.
 
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It's a common issue on flush inserts and fireplaces with no ashlip that have a blower intake below the door. The best solution is to avoid ash spillage and clean up spilled ash right away.
 
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