Mt. Vernon AE Cleaning

[JoeS]

How often do you clean behind the baffle plate?

I know it depends on pellet quality but on average how often?

I just don't remember having to clean as much in past years but maybe it is me!

Burning a decent pellet (Hamer) but I am doing a deep clean every 15 bags or so!

Just seems that the stove is losing heat output if I don't stay on top of it!

Vacuum the firebox every 3-4 bags.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

When I left it go for two weeks (approx 30 bags) I noticed a drop in heat output. I usually do it weekly (15+ bags)

 

[scottvwgti]

When I left it go for two weeks (approx 30 bags) I noticed a drop in heat output. I usually do it weekly (15+ bags)

x2 I find it easier to clean behind the baffle every week. If I let it go 2 weeks, it turns to a white flaky ash. I have found that the longer I leave it, the harder it is to clean. It takes me 15 minutes to do a decent job, and 30 minutes to do a top notch, every nook and cranny cleaning.

Do you guys use a wire brush at all? I use a synthetic bristle paint brush, which works great. Just wondering if I need something a little more abrasive. Could I damage anything with a wire brush?

 

[Harvey Schneider]

x2 I find it easier to clean behind the baffle every week. If I let it go 2 weeks, it turns to a white flaky ash. I have found that the longer I leave it, the harder it is to clean. It takes me 15 minutes to do a decent job, and 30 minutes to do a top notch, every nook and cranny cleaning.

Do you guys use a wire brush at all? I use a synthetic bristle paint brush, which works great. Just wondering if I need something a little more abrasive. Could I damage anything with a wire brush?

I use something that looks roughly like this

The one I have has a bigger brush. It fits nicely between the pins and I can do a diagonal sweep through the pin array first right to left then left to right. I follow the brush with the ash vac but most of what comes off falls straight down. Doesn't take long to do, about five minutes.
I find that the biggest gain is gotten from keeping the two vents at the bottom behind the plate cleaned out. I use a piece of 3/4" flexible tubing coupled to the ash vac to reach into the two vents.It is surprising how much ash makes it down there.



Edit
I don't know if it was obvious, those are stainless steel bristles.

 

[scottvwgti]

I use something that looks roughly like this

The one I have has a bigger brush. It fits nicely between the pins and I can do a diagonal sweep through the pin array first right to left then left to right. I follow the brush with the ash vac but most of what comes off falls straight down. Doesn't take long to do, about five minutes.
I find that the biggest gain is gotten from keeping the two vents at the bottom behind the plate cleaned out. I use a piece of 3/4" flexible tubing coupled to the ash vac to reach into the two vents.It is surprising how much ash makes it down there.

Great! Thanks!

 

[jimfrompa]

I have a stand alone Mt Vernon AE. I clean the baffle once per week - mostly because it's easier to stay on top of it by doing it that frequently (about 10 bags). I vacuum out the fire box twice per week because I read that it keeps the exhaust/combustion fan cleaner by doing it that often.

 

[john193]

How often do you clean behind the baffle plate?

Once every 2 weeks - no matter how many bags I burn. I clean the face of the baffle without removing it weekly.

Vacuum the firebox every 3-4 bags

Once weekly - no matter how many bags I burn

 

[BigJohnfromCT]

I clean my stove weekly and pull the baffle. Seems to me that any ash that builds up on the pins acts like an insulation and cuts down on heat output. Every ton or so, I pull the combustion blower and vacuum it and the housing it sits in. I also stick my vacuum in the cleanout on the chimney pipe and tap the lenght of it to gently to knock any loose ash down.

 

[SwineFlue]

I use a synthetic bristle paint brush, which works great. Just wondering if I need something a little more abrasive.

For light brushing, I prefer natural bristles. They occasionally pull out of the brush, and I would rather have a few natural ones burn than have plastic ones melt onto the heat exchangers.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

For light brushing, I prefer natural bristles. They occasionally pull out of the brush, and I would rather have a few natural ones burn than have plastic ones melt onto the heat exchangers.

I use my stainless one for all cleaning. The bristles seem to be stable. I don't get very aggressive with it, but I often clean when the baffle is literally to hot to handle.

 

[Madcodger]

I also burn Hamer's, and this time of year about 1 bag / day in the MVAE, perhaps a bit more when the temp's in the single digits at night. I clean my MVAE behind the baffle only once/month, and have done that for four years. I use a small, soft bristle brush. I did recently switch from using my ash vac to clean during the monthly cleaning of the baffle and exhaust channel, to a HEPA shop vac. Does a better job at cleaning the exhaust channel, which I find is the key to keeping the stove performing well. Faster cleaning of the baffle as well, an added bonus.

 

[scottvwgti]

For light brushing, I prefer natural bristles. They occasionally pull out of the brush, and I would rather have a few natural ones burn than have plastic ones melt onto the heat exchangers.

I have not had a problem losing bristles. My brush doesn't look like it did new, but the nearly 3" long bristles make cleaning between the heat fins a breeze.

I also burn Hamer's, and this time of year about 1 bag / day in the MVAE, perhaps a bit more when the temp's in the single digits at night. I clean my MVAE behind the baffle only once/month, and have done that for four years. I use a small, soft bristle brush. I did recently switch from using my ash vac to clean during the monthly cleaning of the baffle and exhaust channel, to a HEPA shop vac. Does a better job at cleaning the exhaust channel, which I find is the key to keeping the stove performing well. Faster cleaning of the baffle as well, an added bonus.

I also use a shop vac with a HEPA filter. My ash vac has little to no suction and only has a 1/2" hose instead of a 2". I also let me stove cool down completely so that I can touch and handle the baffle and fire pot. I have yet to run into a single hot or even warm ash. Even still, I take no chances and empty my shop vac as soon as I am done.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

For light brushing, I prefer natural bristles. They occasionally pull out of the brush, and I would rather have a few natural ones burn than have plastic ones melt onto the heat exchangers.

I tried a cheap 3.5 inch bristle painting brush for cleaning the heat exchanger pins. I didn't expect it to work well because the bristles are a little floppy. My conclusion is that this is definitely superior to the stiff stainless brush I have been using.
The only downside to this brush is that a little more ash becomes airborne. That might not be a problem if my ash vac was a little more powerful.
The upside is that it is much faster at clearing the ash from the valleys between the pins.

 

[SwineFlue]

I tried a cheap 3.5 inch bristle painting brush for cleaning the heat exchanger pins. I didn't expect it to work well because the bristles are a little floppy. My conclusion is that this is definitely superior to the stiff stainless brush I have been using.
The only downside to this brush is that a little more ash becomes airborne. That might not be a problem if my ash vac was a little more powerful.
The upside is that it is much faster at clearing the ash from the valleys between the pins.

Yup, I clean everything with a cheap 4" and then use a 2" one in the burnpot and between & above the heat exchanger tubes. My 2" ones only last for a few weeks... the bristles get singed a bit if I didn't wait for the burnpot to cool sufficiently.

For dust, can you "persuade" the AE's combustion blower to run? On lesser Quads, cycling the t-stat will get it to run long enough control the dust during a cleaning.

 

[scottvwgti]

I tried a cheap 3.5 inch bristle painting brush for cleaning the heat exchanger pins. I didn't expect it to work well because the bristles are a little floppy. My conclusion is that this is definitely superior to the stiff stainless brush I have been using.
The only downside to this brush is that a little more ash becomes airborne. That might not be a problem if my ash vac was a little more powerful.
The upside is that it is much faster at clearing the ash from the valleys between the pins.

I have both an ash vac and a regular shop vac with a HEPA filter. I found the same problem with the ash vac, so now I don't even use it. The only disadvantage is that I have to wait for the stove to completely cool down.

I just bought a toothbrush style wire brush to help clean the tough spots. With your experience should I be worried about excessive wear when using it? Is it even possible to damage the firepot, baffle, and heat exchangers with the wire brush?

 

[Harvey Schneider]

I just bought a toothbrush style wire brush to help clean the tough spots. With your experience should I be worried about excessive wear when using it? Is it even possible to damage the firepot, baffle, and heat exchangers with the wire brush?

It should not be a problem. I scrub the fire pot with the wire brush and I have been using on the heat exchanger as well. No signs of wear of any kind. I have even used a wire wheel on the fire pot. Just be gentle around the thermocouple cover.