Became a bit disapointed with my XXV this morning......

[teeravis1]

I clean my XXV every 1 to 2 weeks. By cleaning I mean completely scraping the heat exchangers down along with all sides (left, right, top, & back) inside the stove that collect ash, cleaning in where the igniter is, getting my burn pot completely scraped out, emptying the ash pan and vacuuming out the inside of the stove and cleaning the glass. It takes me about an hour every time, most of the time is scraping all the sides of the stove, and the heat exchangers. I'm probably over meticulous I'm guessing, but don't really know.

Anyway I did it this morning and then thought I would quickly pull out the blower out of the back and take a look at it since I have burnt probably 4.5 to 5 tons of pellets. The book says just take off the 3 wing nuts and pull it out. If it was that easy, I could barely get my hands & tools in to reach and loosen 2 of them. I got the easy one, then almost got the 2nd one,but then in looking at trying to get the 3rd one I said screw it and tightened them back up. I here people saying the Harman's are easy to clean, but that was not going to be a quick ordeal. I don't really know if I really should take it out or not, my dealer said I only had to do that 1 time after each season, but the book says after 1 ton. Anyway I am thinking I am not going to mess with it until the off season. So I was a bit dissapointed about that this morning. I have not cleaned my flue yet either, I am thinking I probably should do that. Anyone have any thoughts on how often to clean the blower, and the ease of doing so? - Thanks

 

[swalz]

I had problems getting one of the wing nuts loosen on mine, I took a pair of plyers to turn it and in the process bent the wing nut. The bottom one on mine is a long bolt so it was not to hard to loosen with a small wrench. After the first time removing I have not had a problem with getting them to turn, so the first time will give you some trouble. You don't need to take them all the way out just get them loose enough to turn the motor and slide out. I have removed it twice this year to clean, never had a lot of build up on it, I have run 7 tons so far through it.

 

[Ladderlieu]

While it was awkward working on getting mine out, it wasn't impossible. Cutting the zip tie on the wires was interesting! In any event, took it out after burning 3 tons of NEWP and there was almost NOTHING to clean in there! I don't see the need to clean it after every ton. I'll probably do it at the end of the season and give it a real thorough cleaning at my liesure.

 

[tinkabranc]

I clean the vent pipe out after each ton and check the blowers for junk.
The blowers are usually pretty clean so I wait till the end of season to remove
them. Not usually anything in the vent either but ash does like to collect where
the Tee is attached to the stove.

I had a wicked hard time getting my blowers out the first time because there
were no wingnuts, just bolts that were on so tight I ended up breaking one
while it was still attached. What a PIA that was to get the other piece out.
Put on my own bolts and have not had a problem since.

 

[newpelletstove]

I clean my XXV every 1 to 2 weeks. By cleaning I mean completely scraping the heat exchangers down along with all sides (left, right, top, & back) inside the stove that collect ash, cleaning in where the igniter is, getting my burn pot completely scraped out, emptying the ash pan and vacuuming out the inside of the stove and cleaning the glass. It takes me about an hour every time, most of the time is scraping all the sides of the stove, and the heat exchangers. I'm probably over meticulous I'm guessing, but don't really know.

Anyway I did it this morning and then thought I would quickly pull out the blower out of the back and take a look at it since I have burnt probably 4.5 to 5 tons of pellets. The book says just take off the 3 wing nuts and pull it out. If it was that easy, I could barely get my hands & tools in to reach and loosen 2 of them. I got the easy one, then almost got the 2nd one,but then in looking at trying to get the 3rd one I said screw it and tightened them back up. I here people saying the Harman's are easy to clean, but that was not going to be a quick ordeal. I don't really know if I really should take it out or not, my dealer said I only had to do that 1 time after each season, but the book says after 1 ton. Anyway I am thinking I am not going to mess with it until the off season. So I was a bit dissapointed about that this morning. I have not cleaned my flue yet either, I am thinking I probably should do that. Anyone have any thoughts on how often to clean the blower, and the ease of doing so? - Thanks

Teeravis1,

I cleaned my Harman XXV blowers (combustion and distribution) this summer. I too had a harder time taking them out than expected, but I did get them out. The book was wrong about some of it (I don't remember the details exactly now). I think they (and tons of other manufacturers) update the design but forget to update the book. Anyway, neither blower was all that bad. I had burned 2 or 3 tons. I think once a year is enough (I expect to burn about 5 - 6 tons a year). There was a little ash in the combustion blower, but not stuffed full.

My chimney is very tall, so I had it cleaned during the summer too. There was ash, but not terrible.

I am impressed by how thoroughly you clean your firebox every week. I clean all those things, but not to the extent you do. Maybe I should do more.

 

[teeravis1]

I clean my XXV every 1 to 2 weeks. By cleaning I mean completely scraping the heat exchangers down along with all sides (left, right, top, & back) inside the stove that collect ash, cleaning in where the igniter is, getting my burn pot completely scraped out, emptying the ash pan and vacuuming out the inside of the stove and cleaning the glass. It takes me about an hour every time, most of the time is scraping all the sides of the stove, and the heat exchangers. I'm probably over meticulous I'm guessing, but don't really know.

Anyway I did it this morning and then thought I would quickly pull out the blower out of the back and take a look at it since I have burnt probably 4.5 to 5 tons of pellets. The book says just take off the 3 wing nuts and pull it out. If it was that easy, I could barely get my hands & tools in to reach and loosen 2 of them. I got the easy one, then almost got the 2nd one,but then in looking at trying to get the 3rd one I said screw it and tightened them back up. I here people saying the Harman's are easy to clean, but that was not going to be a quick ordeal. I don't really know if I really should take it out or not, my dealer said I only had to do that 1 time after each season, but the book says after 1 ton. Anyway I am thinking I am not going to mess with it until the off season. So I was a bit dissapointed about that this morning. I have not cleaned my flue yet either, I am thinking I probably should do that. Anyone have any thoughts on how often to clean the blower, and the ease of doing so? - Thanks

Teeravis1,

I cleaned my Harman XXV blowers (combustion and distribution) this summer. I too had a harder time taking them out than expected, but I did get them out. The book was wrong about some of it (I don't remember the details exactly now). I think they (and tons of other manufacturers) update the design but forget to update the book. Anyway, neither blower was all that bad. I had burned 2 or 3 tons. I think once a year is enough (I expect to burn about 5 - 6 tons a year). There was a little ash in the combustion blower, but not stuffed full.

My chimney is very tall, so I had it cleaned during the summer too. There was ash, but not terrible.

I am impressed by how thoroughly you clean your firebox every week. I clean all those things, but not to the extent you do. Maybe I should do more.

I am thinking I should do less! I would probably enjoy it even more if I cut down my cleaning time each week or two. I do notice quite a difference in the heat output though after I clean it, especially if I let it go 2 weeks without a cleaning.

 

[newpelletstove]

I do notice quite a difference in the heat output though after I clean it, especially if I let it go 2 weeks without a cleaning.

Teeravis1,

I notice more heat output too every week, right after I clean the heat exchanger. Especially, it seems, if I also wire brush it.