First Routine Maintenance Hearthstone GM60

[cabinwarmer]

Good Day, just finished a thorough cleaning of the stove and flue. Been burning 12 hour days since late October 2020 (@1000hrs). Just wanted to point out a few things I found.

1) Check your CAT more then you think. Mine where covered with ash dust, blocking the air flow. I noticed when the temp would drop more then expected when closing bypass. Not unnormal, just a reminder to owners to check often. Just pull off the metal bucket holding the two top baffles in place. Then, as per your manual, pull out the two top baffles. Before I did this, I made two supports out of 2x2 deck railing to make a cross in the firebox. Each support holds up the left/right side soap stone. These side stones have a tendency to want to fall inward. They also hold the back stones in place. Buy placing these two supports in an x towards the back of the firebox, all the stones will remain in place as you clean. I went in through the back cover as well to clean the CAT's. It is not hard to access, and there will be ash back there as well.

2) Warning - All gaskets in this stove are not held in place with any adhesive. When I recieved the stove new, the door gasket was not held in place as well. Installer put silicone on and reinstalled the gasket. Well, the gaskets inside the stove are not held in place either. I do not understand why, but when cleaning, if you touch them with your vacuum, they will become loose and come off.

3) Gasket tape on CAT's. This too is not held on as you would expect. You will have to take your time putting the CAT tape back in. Mine was a bit worn as well.

Recommendation is to have all new gaskets close at hand when you do this. I am thinking with hi-temp silicone as well. Seems a bit more then you would think you need to do, but in my case, I would have replaced the CAT tape and the bypass damper gasket. Or at least, added some adhesive to the bypass gasket.

Not big things, but just a heads up on what I found.

Dave

 

[Woodsplitter67]

ok.. cool thanks for the post..

 

[Rob_Red]

Observations from my Green mountain 40 line up almost exactly with yours.

My cats get coated in fly ash as well. However To clean I do not remove them because ash only collects on the face of the cat and a simple light brushing with a soft paintbrush knocks it all off instantly, the ash is an extremely fine powder. I can typically remove the baffle and clean them in less than 5 mins.

Otherwise it’s a great stove!

One question how often do youneed to remove ashes from the stove? I find after a couple of weeks of continuous burning they build up past the threshold of the door... I am adjusting my technique but adding small splits wood north/south on top of my coals and then laying my big splits easts/west. Upping the airflow around my wood seems to help burn the ashes down.

Do you run a stove top thermometer or flu temperature prob? If so what temps do you hold when burning?

 

[cabinwarmer]

Good Evening Rob_Red, My ash is the same on the CAT's. I had intented to do only the face as well, but I would bet you may have some additional if you went in through the back side. Try poking up a little on each CAT from inside and see if you have additional ash drop down. I do a cold start using N/S splits as well. I empty the ash a lot. Once a week, if not more. Always leaving a little for a better burn. I have both a stove top and a flue gas temp probe. The flue probe takes priority. I like it around 400-500 for a long very warm burn. Stove top varies from around 350-450. But, again, the flue is what I watch the most. Also, the CAT gauge runs around 50-60%.

 

[Rob_Red]

Thanks for the info cabinwarmer. You’re probably right about the cats, at some point I will have them out for a really thorough clean.