Cleaning Jotul Castine Ash on Baffle

[rkohrs]

I was cleaning out my stove one day...

And discovered that there was a rather large quantity of ash on top of the baffle in my Castine. I tried to remove the baffle by turning the clips 90 degrees and removing the side burn plates, but the plates wouldn't come out...even after removing the bolts...and I couldn't wiggle the baffle out of there. Is there an easy, or at least easier, way to vacuum or remove the ash that collects there? I just recemented my stove pipe and would rather not have to remove that again!

Any help would be great!

 

[DAKSY]

Take a look at the schematic (exploded view) in your manual...
See item # 33? That probably has to come out first, &
if you have really small hands & really skinny arms, you can get it from the front,
but I'm willing to bet you'll hafta access it thru the flue collar.
It sits in some slots in the baffle casting, & it may prevent the baffle from moving
EVEN if you've unlocked the retainer levers...
PITA, but that's life...

 

[rkohrs]

I can't get the baffle to move around, just can't get it to tilt enough to remove it. I think that if those side panels came out, I'd be in great shape. But, there appears to be something else holding them in...something I can't see. I was reading on another thread that some folks were removing the top panel from their Oslo stoves. Is the same thing possible on the Castine?

If I can't do it this year, I'll wait until I can get the stove pipe loose again next year.

Any other suggestions?