cleaning a 10 cpm

[mithesaint]

First year with a pellet stove, so bear with me.

I have a 10-cpm, and I'm not convinced I'm doing a good enough job of cleaning it. I have the DVD from englander, and have followed their instructions to the T, but I feel like there is a big part of the stove left uncleaned. Above the fire box, there is a open shelf-like area that ash tends to accumulate on, and I vacuum that out. There are about 6 holes in the back of that area, where I assume some ash falls. How do I clean those out? I've pulled the room air blower, and that was barely dirty. Suggestions on cleaning areas that aren't covered in the DVD?

Thanks.

 

[imacman]

Those holes are for ash to fall, and also are part of the heat exchanger system. They lead to the same location as the 2 ash cleanout doors on the bottom right & left of the firebox.

Best way to clean them is to remove the "firebrick" panel, bang on the back wall with a small hammer or mallet so all the "stuck" ash falls to the bottom, and then open those covers and use a piece of rubber hose connected to your vacuum to poke around back there. I sometimes even try going from the holes downward with the hose.

I also have a small brush attachment I put on the vacuum and slide that around above the shelf to clean it and the top, sides, and anything else I can get it onto.

BTW, when you pull the combustion blower after your first 1 - 1 1/2 tons, you can use the above mentioned rubber hose and brush to clean back into the heat exchanger too.....feel around in there w/ your hand and you'll feel the opening.

Don't forget to order a couple of new gaskets for that too. PM me for a good place to get them fairly inexpensively.