How much ash before I clean?

[jhall299]

HI,

I have a US Stove 5500XL and it seems to be running just fine. The manual doesn't really give any clues about when to clean, only some sparse directions on how to clean. I have been shutting it down daily and cleaning it out. It usually has about 1/2 to 1 inch of ash on either side of the burn pot. The area on either side of the burn pot is about 6 inches below the burn pot. Sooo, am I cleaning it out more ofter than I need? How often do I really need be shutting down and vacuuming?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[krooser]

The cleaner the better.... but I can go a week without doing a whole lot. After that I take the burn pot out, strip out the inside fake brick panels and go at it.

Takes about 15 minutes. Once a month I'll give it the once over with my leaf blower cleaner...

 

[imacman]

I clean mine when the ash gets more than half way up the burn pot.....so far that has been about every 3-4 days, but with colder weather and more burning, that will probably change to more often.

 

[Xena]

Every stove is different, but most require (or
at least will greatly benefit from) daily
scraping of the burn pot and heat exchange tubes.
Alot depends on the pellets. Pellets that leave
an excessive amount of ash will obviously crap up
the stove quicker, requiring more frequent cleaning.

A decent pellet stove should not need to be
shut down daily for a full cleaning. You should be able
to scrape your burn pot and run the heat exchange tube
scrapers on a daily basis with the stove running and that
should suffice for daily cleaning.

If you don't have an ash pan, you'll be cleaning
more frequently too. Most stoves have ash traps
and baffles that require cleaning as well -
Some need these cleaned weekly - mine can go
about 4 weeks before I shut down and remove
the baffle and clean ash traps. This is important
because if the traps get clogged, the stove will
run like junk (or not run at all if it's really blocked).

You have to experiment and find out what your stove needs.
Might be able to only go a few days before a full cleaning,
may be able to go a week or more, but as I said, the daily
scrapings should be able to be performed with the stove
running in most cases but use something long enough
so you won't get burned. (There's a thread going on right
now about what is the best tool to use)

 

[jhall299]

Hmm, I don;t believe my stove has any heat exchange tubes. I looked at the parts breakdown and nothing is labeled or looks like heat exchange tubes.

Am I missing something?

Jon

 

[imacman]

Hmm, I don;t believe my stove has any heat exchange tubes. I looked at the parts breakdown and nothing is labeled or looks like heat exchange tubes.

Am I missing something?

Jon

I am not familiar with your stove, but in most pellet stoves, they are tubes that the hot air blows out of. They are above the burn pot.

 

[Xena]

Just had a peek at the manual online for your stove.
You're right about it being vague. I didn't see anything
about the heat exchange tubes, so apparently they
don't have an easy way to be cleaned. Many stoves have a rod
that is located just above the glass door near the
heat tubes. When you retract the rod, the ash falls
from the tubes through the baffle. This keeps fly ash
from building up on the tubes so they are clear to give
off the most heat.

I did notice your manual says to have the dealer perform
yearly maintenance but doesn't specify what is involved.

If I owned that stove I'd call the Mfg and ask them what
a yearly cleanout entails since they chose to leave that
pertinent info out of their manual.

 

[slls]

Hmm, I don;t believe my stove has any heat exchange tubes. I looked at the parts breakdown and nothing is labeled or looks like heat exchange tubes.

Am I missing something?

Jon

Most likely part of basic stove, has to be replaced as a unit, mine anyways.