Breckwell big e

[Idahonewbie]

Not sure if I’m posting in a correct forum page or not, if not could a admin direct me to correct section? Thank you

anywho, I’m curious of complete cleaning require regularly on a breckwell big e pellet stove.. I have a ash vac and vacuum combustion and burn pots out every other day to every three days at the max. But my flame is slowly getting lazier and lazier, I’ve cleaned fans and auger motor and just cleaned the exhaust pipe outside the house. Used to be able make it most the day on a fresh clean burning at setting 3 dampener opened all the way before pellets would begin to build up, last night cleaned it thoroughly and woke up this morning to burn pot filled, rope gasket material does seem to be in good condition minus a small section on the removable tray where my vac torn a section over time but I have replaced that today as well and doesn’t seem to have made a difference. Anything out of the norm I may have been missing?

thank you,

 

[johneh]

Idahonewbie welcome to the forum
I don't know your stove but this may help

https://woodstoves.net/documents/breckwell/P1000_Manual.pdf

see maintenance section starting page 16. Sounds like she is full of ash impeeding exhaust flow

 

[Idahonewbie]

Thank you, I have read this manual. I open it up often and completely vac out the ash, clean the back walls. I pull the pots out and vac it out. I’m just new to pellet stoves and not sure if there is something out of the ordinary I am missing.
Thank you for your response

 

[johneh]

What about the 2 cleanout plates beside the burn pot.
have you removed them and vacuumed behind?

 

[Don2222]

I had the same problem but getting a brush into the ash traps or cleanout plates in the fire box on each side of the burn pot was not enough. Finally I put an air compressor in those ash traps and blasted them out. Then the stove ran like new.

 

[Idahonewbie]

Ya once a week I usually clean take the two plates off and clean behind there is usually not much behind them but I haven’t thought about a compressor before perhaps that’s my next option.. just push where the vac won’t bring it out at. Maybe tomorrow I’ll bring the compressor inside.. thank you for the responses

 

[johneh]

Just a thought compressor -ash filled stove -in the HOUSE
Maybe make the better half mad at you Hope you see my point

 

[Ssyko]

Yeah i would try the leaf blower trick first its much safer and no lawyers needed

 

[Idahonewbie]

Haha my first thought was the look on my wife’s face as I blew the compressor in the house and ash everywhere but I think if I vac it out first, that use my smaller wand and short blasts (it is a extendable one from Napa with a curved tip) I might be able to reduce ash all over the clean house

 

[Idahonewbie]

And what is this leaf blower trick you speak of?

 

[johneh]

Do a search for leaf blower trick upper right of the page

Leaf Blower Trick - equipment

So we all know about the "leaf blower trick" and how it works. Newbies, such as myself, read about it on here and see the Youtube videos, then start looking around for the necessary equipment to perform the trick. I didn't have an electric leaf blower, just my big back pack blower, so I started...

www.hearth.com

 

[Idahonewbie]

So if I’m understanding the leaf blower trick completely it’s mostly for the exhaust pipe? Which in my case isn’t of much concern I can easily clean the horizontal portion beings it’s only about 18inches from stove to tee going up. Honestly got a pellet stove thinking they were less maintenance for the wife, I work out of town most the week so mid week maintenance is almost not worth her doing and me hearing about it later

 

[zrock]

I run the same stove have never had the damper all the way open on 3 usually its about a 3/4 to 1 inch open on 3 if i open it fully its like a blow torch. With the pellets i burn i give it a quick vacuum weekly in the burn chamber, Pull the 2 covers maybe once a month and clean out, and full clean yearly. Only time i have had a bad burn in crap pellets, or the hopper was filled with fines and not pushing through casing the pellet feed to me much less than it should have been. Depending on the pellet i have had to scrape the burn pot anywhere from a day to a week to keep the buildup down. With the pellet im running now weekly is more than enough

 

[johneh]

The leaf blower trick pulls ash from the whole stove. If you do it make sure you open the door
to allow the air in
I clean and vac my stove once every 2 weeks unless it is externally cold and use more than a bag of pellets a day
then it is done once a week. It has a complete teardown and clean after every 2 tons. What is happening to you happened to me in my second year of using a pellet stove. I didn't know about the internal ash traps
learned about them in a hurry now they are cleaned twice a year
A pellet stove is not plug and play it requires maintenance if you are not prepared to give the time buy yourself a gas stove

 

[Idahonewbie]

Zrock what pellets do you use? I use lignetics. And I usually to keep the dampener wide open all the time I don’t really play with it on different settings cause it usually just fills the burn pot up more quickly.


Johneh I don’t mind the maintenance, but I’ve asked the dealer on multiple occasions of all the maintenance I need to do and he told me everything I was doing, asked if I need to buy a chimney brush and he said no. About a month ago my convection fan went out after about 2 months of use (bearings squalling badly, lubed them with oil and pb blaster like he suggested to no avail) so now I feel like I’m missing more maintenance than I assume.. the tee clean out on my exhaust pipe is about 6inches off my concrete patio that’s why I was thinking a compressor and short blasts would be better.. but like I said I’m completely New to pellet stoves I’ve used wood stoves my entire life..

 

[johneh]

the tee clean out on my exhaust pipe is about 6inches off my concrete patio that’s why I was thinking a compressor and short blasts would be better..

There have been people on this forum that have tried a compressor in the house.
The dust flies in the direction of least resistance and that is into your house. Believe me, your wife will not be a happy camper. Then again you may want a divorce!!

 

[Idahonewbie]

Makes complete sense. What is the best way to hook a leaf blower up to the chimney pipe? I saw a guy sew a inner tube to fit as needed but is there anything in specific you have seen that was worth trying?

 

[Ssyko]

You will not regret the LBT!!

Rubber pvc connector 3”-4”

Fernco Schedule 40 4 in. Hub X 3 in. D Hub PVC Flexible Coupling 1 pk Mfr# P1056-43 - Ace Hardware

Fernco Couplings have earned a reputation for consistent, superior performance, giving you full confidence in their quality and reliability. The dimensional flexibility of Fernco couplings ensures leak-proof pipe seals on virtually any pipe material. All flexible couplings are clearly marked...

www.acehardware.com

 

[Idahonewbie]

Ok how about a leaf blower, any on in specific? Don’t own one currently. I read one forum any with high cfm, another said metal impellers?

 

[Ssyko]

If you can locate one with both you hit a home run. My old one had a plastic impeller and it cleaned 400+ stoves over the years. My new one is almost identical. It’s a craftsman 450cfm

 

[Idahonewbie]

I found a toro at the Home Depot for 70$ That’s a vacuum/blower/mulcher with metal
Impeller with 340cfm

 

[Ssyko]

Good score!

 

[zrock]

Can't remember the name I'm running but a popular softwood pellet in Canada.

You have a oak on your stove? U must have something else going on with your stove. My burn pot never fills up... to me it sounds like u have low air input to the stove... have u pulled the fans out and cleaned and chased out all the piping.. I use some big bottle brushes that I found in the cleaning section of the store... I do not adjust my draft it stays at the setting above and never moves as I only use setting 1-3

 

[Idahonewbie]

Well i replaced my convection fan with new about a week month ago. I pulled the combustion fan yesterday and vacuumed the spot off the inside.. this is a brand new stove first season of use.. a lot of the issues are probably user error seeings how this is my first time being around a pellet stove too.. and I use 2 or 3 and 1 only if we are leaving for extended period of time

 

[zrock]

Post up some pics... no way u should have went through a fan first season. I ran 4 seasons before I changed mine and I got the stove used... starting to think more of a bad install