Wondering what the average amount of time between cleanings is for people? Like for example do most of you go for one whole week of continuous usage or is it more like once every 3-4 days?
How often do you clean?
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Woody1911a1
Feeling the Heat
every sunday . i used to shut the stove down every day for a few mins to dump my burn pot , but with this new enviro hi ash burn pot , not necessary 
Mpodesta
Member
Usually go about a week or so. I pull the pin and dump the pot every day before I leave for work, and when I find the time on the weekends, I'll hit the stove with a hand wire brush (welding brush) and the vacuum
pell it
Feeling the Heat
Usually a quick brushdown and glass wash on Wednesday with a more thorough cleaning on Sunday if burning 24/7. I can go 7-8 days without opening the door, during a cold spell, with good low ash pellets.
After a ton, out comes the flue brush and all the nook and crannie tools.
After a ton, out comes the flue brush and all the nook and crannie tools.
St_Earl
Minister of Fire
mepellet
Minister of Fire
Same here. Two winters ago (first year burning pellets) I cleaned every week. Last year I cleaned every two weeks. We'll see this year
I think the m55 insert peeps have to go once a week if burning round the clock. The ash pan on inserts is nothng like the free stander where there is a deep bin.
But once you get the hang of it, a good cleanout on sunday takes 10 minutes, minus cool down time of course.
But once you get the hang of it, a good cleanout on sunday takes 10 minutes, minus cool down time of course.
Burning doug fir pellets my St Croix Pepin can go two weeks without opening the door...maybe a little longer. Of course we do a through deal after every ton...
P38X2
Minister of Fire
RCCARPS
Member
What's cleaning?????
on a serious note.... Dump the ash pan 1-2 times a week depending on the pellets. Full cleaning about every 2 weeks.
on a serious note.... Dump the ash pan 1-2 times a week depending on the pellets. Full cleaning about every 2 weeks.
St_Earl
Minister of Fire
i cleaned the venting exactly once last year. when i was done for the season. 4 1/2 tons.
the horizontal run had a pretty good layer of ash in the bottom. but it's 4 inch pipe and i didn't notice any drop in performance.
i have a good vertical rise and a strong draft.
i would tap on it every so often to knock ash off the sides and top of the pipe.
and i kept an eye on the termination cap for signs of buildup.
i brushed off the screen/grate in the cap a few times too.
the horizontal run had a pretty good layer of ash in the bottom. but it's 4 inch pipe and i didn't notice any drop in performance.
i have a good vertical rise and a strong draft.
i would tap on it every so often to knock ash off the sides and top of the pipe.
and i kept an eye on the termination cap for signs of buildup.
i brushed off the screen/grate in the cap a few times too.
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Usually every 2 weeks, but I've been known to go a lot longer on a beer bet.
I usually go about 4 to 5 weeks long before having to clean out the stove...then I do a full vacuuming of the stove.
2 weeks in the shoulders, every in peak... usually sunday. I would set my thermostat to go to 62 sunday at 7am so it would basically be off and cool by the time I got up (usually 9am on weekends) unless it was super cold out.
rcc
Member
Once a day: clean glass (with water and paper towels), scrape burn pot, brush sides and top of burn area, vacuum burn area. (Total time 3 minutes.)
Once a week: same as above and remove back and top panels in burn area to vacuum ash. (Total time 6 minutes.)
Once a month: same as above above and vacuum out all pellets to keep fines at a minimum. (Total time 8 minutes.)
(All of the above refers to the Santa Fe .... the Englander doesn't run much so it is cleaned less often.)
Anal? Quite possibly!
Once a week: same as above and remove back and top panels in burn area to vacuum ash. (Total time 6 minutes.)
Once a month: same as above above and vacuum out all pellets to keep fines at a minimum. (Total time 8 minutes.)
(All of the above refers to the Santa Fe .... the Englander doesn't run much so it is cleaned less often.)
Anal? Quite possibly!
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Once a week to push ash down dump holes into ash pan, scrape burn pot and open up the 8 little holes, and empty the ash pan. Once a month same thing plus pull out top and two side plates and vacuum everything well including area where exhaust fan is located with a small tube.
DneprDave
Minister of Fire
Once a week, mostly to clean the glass, I don't get any ash build up in the burn pot. I do a thorough cleaning once a year.
Dave
Dave
Once a week, usually on Sundays no matter how many bags I cook. I usually go longer in the spring when I'm burning 2 bags a week.
MikeNH
Burning Hunk
Last season I cleaned once a week. I turned the stove off before church then cleaned it after church. I think it was overkill but I was always cleaning the wood stove every week, so I think it was just habit.
My weekly cleaning was a quick scrape of the burn pot, then I put the stove in "test" mode to run the combustion blower and I used an old paint brush to brush all the ash from the burnpot, heat exchanger, etc. Every few weeks I would also brush off the exhaust fan blades (when it was off obviously) and brushed out the pipe (short horizontal run with one 45 degree angle) which also cleaned off the sensor probe.
My weekly cleaning was a quick scrape of the burn pot, then I put the stove in "test" mode to run the combustion blower and I used an old paint brush to brush all the ash from the burnpot, heat exchanger, etc. Every few weeks I would also brush off the exhaust fan blades (when it was off obviously) and brushed out the pipe (short horizontal run with one 45 degree angle) which also cleaned off the sensor probe.
The old man and I take turns. We clean every week. I do a really good job and he half asses it in protest.
Then clean the flu every ton with brush and leaf blower.
major tear down and cleaning once a season.
This year we hauled it outside and used the air compressor on all the nooks and crannies.
Then clean the flu every ton with brush and leaf blower.
major tear down and cleaning once a season.
This year we hauled it outside and used the air compressor on all the nooks and crannies.
merr
New Member
Wow, you all must have better stoves than me... I have to clean out the burn pot, vacuum inside and clean glass every other day or too much ash builds up. Also just discovered I am supposed to remove the baffle every week and clean the heat exchanger tubes, and remove the sidewall after 25 bags of pellets and vacuum that out. This is according to my maintenance manual. I have a drolet eco 45.
Aquion
Burning Hunk
I clean out the stove once a week when I am running it 24/7. The ash pan can't handle much more than a weeks worth of ashes.
Depends on Pellets. NEWP once a week. Barefoots I can go 11-14 days and never open the door. Full chimney tear down every ton or so. Never sealed up stovepipe, never had to...
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