I saw the light! Harman idea

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tiger

Feeling the Heat
Feb 3, 2014
438
Seabrook, MD (DC suburbs)
Probably someone else has already discovered & posted this, but...

I was doing my weekly light cleaning of my Accentra insert. When I got to the burn pot, I took out this little Husky brand pick with a right-angle tip, which I use to ensure all the little holes are clear. Well, it's not easy to see them as my head will not fit into the burn pot. Hmm, maybe a dental mirror? Sheesh.

Anyway, I saw a little light in the vicinity of the burn pot I had not expected. I had laid my small rechargeable flashlight on the floor in front of the stove, and a little light was making it through the opening where the front ignitor-access plate had been removed, and through the holes in the burn pot. Hmmm. I shone the light directly into the opening, and could clearly see the pattern of holes from light shining through, and thus saw where there were dark areas in the pattern suggesting a clogged hole. It was just a few, but I got them cleaned out. I think I'll do this in the future, unless there's a better way.

By the way, noticing the factory-supplied scraper is somewhat less effective now at removing what I suspect people are referring to when they say "speed bump" in the burn pot. Maybe the edge is getting dull after, hmm, 5.5 years? Considering dressing it up a bit on the bench grinder - but I don't want to damage the burn pot.
 
Probably someone else has already discovered & posted this, but...

I was doing my weekly light cleaning of my Accentra insert. When I got to the burn pot, I took out this little Husky brand pick with a right-angle tip, which I use to ensure all the little holes are clear. Well, it's not easy to see them as my head will not fit into the burn pot. Hmm, maybe a dental mirror? Sheesh.

Anyway, I saw a little light in the vicinity of the burn pot I had not expected. I had laid my small rechargeable flashlight on the floor in front of the stove, and a little light was making it through the opening where the front ignitor-access plate had been removed, and through the holes in the burn pot. Hmmm. I shone the light directly into the opening, and could clearly see the pattern of holes from light shining through, and thus saw where there were dark areas in the pattern suggesting a clogged hole. It was just a few, but I got them cleaned out. I think I'll do this in the future, unless there's a better way.

By the way, noticing the factory-supplied scraper is somewhat less effective now at removing what I suspect people are referring to when they say "speed bump" in the burn pot. Maybe the edge is getting dull after, hmm, 5.5 years? Considering dressing it up a bit on the bench grinder - but I don't want to damage the burn pot.
I clean the hole with the long Allen wrench it came with. I use an led flashlight the same way. I clean the igniter area every month with a tube attachment for my ash vac, then make sure all the holes are cleared out.
I bought a mechanics pry bar at Walmart to scrape the firepot. Nice handle, and the pry end is an almost perfect angle to scrape off the "speed bump". Good sharp tip, takes any carbon right off the bottom of the firepot. I think it was like 7 bucks.