Castile Heat Exchanger Tubes Cleaning

[peirhead]

Any suggestions out there for cleaning the tops of the heat exchanger tubes. I brush off the bottoms and sides as well as I can and regularly pull the cleaning rods, but still a lot of ash collects on top of the tubes.

Today I took some braided string and with the help if a long metal twist tie was able to get it over a few of them..like flossing teeth....It worked well on the ones I could get it on, but I need a better solution for feeding the string over the tube, or a better solution entirely...what are you other Castile owners doing?

 

[smalltown]

pierhead I'd be interested in reading responses myself. I recently pulled my combustion motor, cleaned it and the exhaust pipnng to the rear of my Castile.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

from the svc book:
HEAT EXCHANGER:
THE HEAT EXCHANGERS CAN BE CLEANED BY PULLING THE 2 RODS LOCATED UNDER THE TOP LID OF THE STOVE. THE RODS SHOULD BE PULLED EACH TIME THE FIREPOT IS CLEANED. A MORE THOROUGH CLEANING WILL BE NEEDED AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. THIS WILL INCLUDE REMOVING THE BAFFLE PLATE IN THE FIREBOX AND CAST IRON FIREBOX COVERS. THIS IS NECESSARY TO REMOVE THE EXCESS ASH THAT IS LEFT BEHIND FROM THE USE OF THE PULL RODS FOR THE HEAT EXCHANGER TUBES.

if you want a copy of the tech book, shoot me a message

 

[smwilliamson]

For the parts the heat exchange scraper doesn't knock down, use a small pipe cleaning brush, I use a 3/8" nylon. Yep, there isn't a lot of space over tops of them is there?

 

[mnkywrnch]

I use short bursts of compressed air,while I have the shop vac running to catch the ash.works real good.

 

[Former Farmer]

Each spring when I clean my insert, I pull the unit out completely and take it outside. I use my air compressor and blow out the complete unit. That way I don't have that much of a mess in the house.

 

[stovelark]

Hello all, They sometimes make it hard for us don't they? Its not too difficult though, the best method I've found is a noodle brush- we went to kitchen and restaurant supply places, they have a small (1/4 inch up to 1 inch brush, bristle type with a long wire handle), get various sizes, they are great for cleaning out in back of the "brick or steel" panels of pellet stoves. Work them around the tubes, using the scrape rods to dislodge what they can while having a vac at the ready for the fly ash. It takes a while and you'll develop your routine. The heat tubes upper baffles should be taken down and cleaned about every ton, they collect ash too. Don't forget to pull each motor/fan and clean it good at least once a season. Canned air or compressors make it hard to control the dust, disassembly and cleaning is the key. Don't forget to replace poor manufacturer gaskets as well, I'd suggest 1/2" self adhesive gasket (the kind used for the glass in stoves) and silicone to hold them on as well. You'll have to poke or cut holes for the motor mounting screws, easy enough to do, I mark the housing with a magic marker to identify screw holes. For the exhaust housing, most manufacturers do minimum siliconing, so look for leaks with a light, and seal. The same thing for auger motors housing mounts and hoppers, find leaks and silicone. Your stove will benefit from this effort and perform better longer. Minimize sawdust getting into hoppers, another auger issue. Keep those exchanger tubes clean and the Castille will do well. For off season, we do a good cleaning and paint the insides, it will minimize surface rust, look and smell better too! Hope this helps.

Stovelark
Enviro 1700 Kodiak wood
Enviro EF3 pellet
Enviro Empress FPI (Can you tell I like Enviro?)