I know you have to clean the burn pot at least once a day, ashpan and vacuum the stove once a week, and vacuum the hopper once a month. What other things need to be cleaned?
Cleaning for the noobies
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chimneylinerjames
Feeling the Heat
mepellet
Minister of Fire
I'm about to clean out my tee for the first time. I was under the impression that you cleaned it out once a year.
chimneylinerjames
Feeling the Heat
That is alot of cleaning. Is there a reason behind why so often? or just want to play it safe?
Your manual should list every type of cleaning you need to do and how often.
mepellet
Minister of Fire
I have an easy up and out vent installation and running the linteater down the vent with the shop vac going takes about 2 minutes. Takes longer to bring the shop vac outside, run an extension cord to power it up and take the exhaust termination off than it does to actually do the cleaning. Since it doesn't take too long, I'd rather just keep it as clean as possible and play it safe.
Having said that though, I have to admit that I have gone 12 days since I did my "weekly" cleaning. Stove looks filthy. I'll try snapping a pic.
Having said that though, I have to admit that I have gone 12 days since I did my "weekly" cleaning. Stove looks filthy. I'll try snapping a pic.
mepellet
Minister of Fire
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I just cleaned the Tee out and when I started it up there was a little bit of smoke coming from it. It stopped after a few seconds. Is this ok? The cap is as far up as it will go.
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
Yes, I do. My stove has stopped burning twice so far and trying to get it going for the third time now. After the initial start up, there hasn't been any smoke coming from it.
Depends on the stove. I haven't opened the door on my 10-cpm for 2 1/2 weeks.....she's burning just fine.
Major cleaning due this weekend, though.
Just saying.....
mepellet
Minister of Fire
i do my vent into the chimney at the 1 ton mark.
generally i go by "bags" rather than "days" for my cleaning regimen.
my stove will hold 3 bags in its hopper, i run 3 bags , do a basic cleaning, every 5th hopper i do a "plates off" or deep cleaning. at the 50 bag mark its a big deep cleaning vent and all.
the reason i go by the bag and not the calendar is that when its cold i will burn more fuel than when its not as cold. to me it makes more sense to schedule by fuel consumed as the amount of ash per bag doesn't vary much, where the amount of ash per day can.
generally i go by "bags" rather than "days" for my cleaning regimen.
my stove will hold 3 bags in its hopper, i run 3 bags , do a basic cleaning, every 5th hopper i do a "plates off" or deep cleaning. at the 50 bag mark its a big deep cleaning vent and all.
the reason i go by the bag and not the calendar is that when its cold i will burn more fuel than when its not as cold. to me it makes more sense to schedule by fuel consumed as the amount of ash per bag doesn't vary much, where the amount of ash per day can.
So you run the PAH as your personal unit?
Other than the hopper size? Is there any particular reason why?
Burn, Heat, ease of Maintenance, Fire appearance, Etc
So you run the PAH as your personal unit?
Other than the hopper size? Is there any particular reason why?
Burn, Heat, ease of Maintenance, Fire appearance, Etc
yeah i do, i needed to learn the stove as its different than our older bottom feeders so i pulled the venerable PDVC which i had used for 5 years , took it to my shop and completely rebuilt it , donated it. installed the PAH in 09 been turnin and burnin with it ever since.
i have to say the 3 bag hopper is a fantastic feature! especially when my old c model had a 1 bag (if totally empty) hopper, i like the flexibility of the 2 method t-stat setup, ease in cleaning is great as well, the pdvc wasn't hard to keep cleaned out but the pah is even simpler, better access to the back and removable panels for both blowers so i can just pop a screw off and the screen for the room fan is right there. it aint the prettiest thing out there but it aint meant to be. its meant to just run and run, and it does fine at that. heats my house easily by itself even on the coldest nights. never had it above a heat range of 4 and seldom take it higher than 3.
all in all though my favorite feature is the 3 bag hopper. any of our pellet stoves would handle my heating load and our kitchen is in a "country" motif so a plain looking stove fits right in. wife looked at the ep and the pah and said the ep wouldnt fit the motif so she didnt want it for that reason, i think she said it would stand out like a peacock in a barnyard, where the pah kinda fits the look.
Bioburner
Moderator
Every stove manufacture is a bit different. Best to get the advise on your stove. I sweep my crosslink daily and clean the stove completely when the ash bin fills, which with the high ash pellets is about 2weeks. Pull the exaust fan plate and clean ESP and check the exaust and clean as needed but with near constant running exaust has been very clean with this stove. A far cry from my old AES magnum. Used the LBT once, now gets more use in cleaning others stoves.
Really! I'm only able to get the Lignetics, O'malley's, Statesmen, or Powerhouse (same as O'Malley's) and they are all pretty ashy.
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