Dataman
Minister of Fire
I bet it's like this. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Universa...w9N3k8YnXmIHVAlSKxgiO6B8M0-SCYCkaAhfmEALw_wcB
I cleaned mine (finally) a few days ago. I used the vacuum listed in the thread starter and said filter bag. These bag stayed on and no problems cleaning. IMO, by the time the stove has cooled down for a few hours, there's no embers anyway.I've always been puzzled why people buy and expensive 'ash' vacuum, when an ordinary shop vacuum with a drywall (yellow) bag and motor filter works just as well for a lot less expense.
Don't need an ash vacuum which is designed to vacuum up potentially hot ashes without going up in smoke. No hot ashes in a biomass stove shut down for cleaning or at least none I've ever seen in 20+ years. I've never had the drywall bag catch on fire from embers.
Seems to me to be an expensive item looking for a use instead of something necessary.
In reality, every week is better, at least an interior clean as fly ash from combustion is a good insulator and retards heat transfer. Develop yourself a cleaning regimen and stick to it. It takes me about 15 minutes to clean the inside and vacuum it out. In my case, because I burn corn with no clinker pot (which isn't something you need to be concerned with anyway, I clean the inside of mine, every 4 days.cleaning it every few weeks would be a good idea.
I use a Shop Vac with a HEPA filter in it and a type H bag. I have a regular brush attachment for it.
These instructions are for a P68, but my understanding is the P43 is just a smaller version of the same stove.
This is what I do almost every week, it takes me about 15 minutes or so:
Sound advice, I will do that.In reality, every week is better, at least an interior clean as fly ash from combustion is a good insulator and retards heat transfer. Develop yourself a cleaning regimen and stick to it. It takes me about 15 minutes to clean the inside and vacuum it out. In my case, because I burn corn with no clinker pot (which isn't something you need to be concerned with anyway, I clean the inside of mine, every 4 days.
Really don't matter if you are running it hard or just a light burn, the fly ash still adheres to the firebox surfaces and insulates it from efficient heat transfer.
"air-blower cage in the back" Interesting, how do you clean this?Do you have yearly or other interval cleaning steps? As I just posted about, I just found the air-blower cage in the back that wasn't in Harman's maintenance guide, and it made a HUGE difference after cleaning. So curious about other non-weekly cleaning spots. thanks
"air-blower cage in the back" Interesting, how do you clean this?
I use the provided scraper and then the same cheap paint brush I use for the rest of the stove.The ash that builds up insulates your stove, so you're losing efficiency by not cleaning it more often. Also the dirtier the stove is, the harder it is to clean....
As far as scraping the heat exchanger... It is awkward. I just scrape it and try to get a bunch of the stuff off. It's better than not doing it... I tried that once too.
Could you please describe the additions you make to your protocol when you do your deep clean after burning a ton of pellets? At the end of season?I use a Shop Vac with a HEPA filter in it and a type H bag. I have a regular brush attachment for it.
These instructions are for a P68, but my understanding is the P43 is just a smaller version of the same stove.
This is what I do almost every week, it takes me about 15 minutes or so:
Step 1: Shut down the stove and wait for the combustion fan go off, so you're working with a cold stove.
Step 2: Open the glass door, then turn the feed rate dial down to "test." This turns the distribution fan on (it goes on and off) and the combustion fan (which stays on). If your door is open, the pellets will not feed in test mode. The combustion fan will blow the dust you create out the pipe, instead of it floating out into your room.
Step 2a: Put a magnetic LED light somewhere inside the stove so you can see what you're doing. I have one that looks like a pen that you can turn to shine at different angles.
Step 3: Take a soft bristled brush (I bought a cheap 2 inch brush at Harbor Freight) and wipe off all sides of the fire brick and take it out and put it in a small cardboard box.
Step 4: Brush off the ceramic burnpot cover (whatever it's called) and place it on top of the fire brick in the box.
Step 5: Brush and then scrape the heat exchanger fins with the scraper that came with the stove. There is also a lip above the door that catches a lot of ash, so I take my brush and clean that off too.
Step 6: Brush down the remainder of the inside of the stove starting at the top and work downward (otherwise you'll throw dust on what you've already cleaned).
Step 7: Scrape/Brush the burn pot, then use a nail or allen wrench (or custom make something) to poke each hole in the burn pot (careful not to damage your ingiter underneath!).
*Use your vacuum between any of these steps to suck up what has fallen out on the floor.*
Step 8: Put fire brick and burn pot cover back in stove (this is VERY important!!).
Step 9: Open ash door, put brush on vacuum and swipe off the inside of the ash door and clean up ash that spilled on the floor.
Step 10: Carefully remove ash pan and swipe ash off the pan with the vacuum brush, then place ash pan to the side. I only empty mine once a month or less (depends on how much ash you generate).
Step 11: Put magnet light inside bottom of stove. I always hang it from the door opening shining down/inward. Use vacuum brush to clean out all the ash from floor and sides and bottom of burn pot.
Step 12: Turn feed rate dial back to your favorite setting and close both doors until combustion fan turns off (otherwise you'll get a face full of ash, trust me).
Step 13: Open ash door back up and twist the wing nuts to open the igniter cover on the bottom of the burn pot. You don't have to unscrew them all the way, just enough to slide the cover up and off. Stick the nozzle of your vacuum into the opening and suck out all the ash. You can stick your fingers in there to feel when you get it cleaned out.
Step 14: Since the combustion fan is now off, open the combustion fan cover and clean it off with the vac and gently swipe the fins on the fan with your paint brush while you suck the ash with your vac. Be careful with this fan, it's a very important piece of your stove.
Step 14a: About once a month I will also add cleaning the pipe to the routine. You can buy a brush and rods from Lowe's, or wherever. With your combustion fan cover off gently push and pull the pipe brush through the back of the stove while using the vacuum to catch what falls out. The temperature sensor is inside this square channel, so be careful to not damage it! My 3 inch pipe brush gently swipes by it with no problem. With your flashlight you can see how clean you're getting things.
Step 15: Put everything back together and ash pan inside and close the ash door.
Step 15b: If you're cleaning your pipe this time: I have a cleanout T at the back, so I take the cleanout off and brush the pipe up to the 90, then go outside and brush in. I keep the vac running on the floor behind the stove to catch what comes out. Do whatever you need based on the configuration of your pipe.
Step 16: Clean your glass door. I use Rutland Conditioning Glass Cleaner. You need two paper towels, a damp one and a dry one. Put conditioner on the damp cloth and wipe down the glass on the inside of the door. Then I polish with the dry cloth. The more times you use the stuff, the easier it is to clean, because it leaves kind of a waxy coating.
I hope that helps!
Since I wrote that, I learned that you should take the ESP out of the back of the stove when brushing the stove pipe. You can see the wire sticking out of the back of the stove pipe. Gently take the probe out of the stove and wipe it clean, then clean your pipe from the inside of the stove, then put your ESP back in.Could you please describe the additions you make to your protocol when you do your deep clean after burning a ton of pellets? At the end of season?