Scraping the burn pot

[brihvac]

I do not run my stove 24 hours. My question is, should I open it up and scrape out the burn pot every time before I lite it?

 

[silverfox103]

Why not? It takes all of seconds to do.

Tom C.

 

[brihvac]

This is gonna sound stupid but I did not want to "wear out" the door gasket by opening the door so much. My stove is only 3 years old but I think I might need a door gasket already. I can not do the dollar bill test because of how the Accentra insert doors are. However I di kinda pull the gasket out a little from the groove and it seems to be tighter some.

 

[Bank]

I replaced my door gasket this year after three full years. It was cheap enough to do and I did notice the door is much stiffer to close. I scrape the burn put every day, just to get any baked on crud off and to remove the layer of ash that builds up during the day. Easier to get if off when the pot is hot rather than waiting for that stuff to cool and harden.

 

[woodburning 2EZ]

Maintaining a pellet stove will always result in it's best performance...as far as scraping the burn pot at every ignition may just be overkill however you will be the best person to understand whether this is needed or not. Here is a suggestion.... Instead of scraping the burn pot each time i suggest you do a little investigation by each time removing the burn pot and inspecting it..... do you have a crust or klinker building on the sides or bottom..is it much....does it cover and air holes in the pot... if the answers are yes then you may need to make adjustments in either the air volume to increase combustion or even perhaps using another brand of fuel. Many pellet stoves can operate for several days before needing the burn pot scraped or the appliance fully cleaned however you will become the judge on whether cleaning must be every day..every 2 days...once a week ..etc. Manufacturers indicste in their manuals the appropriate or suggested timings for those cleanings and some even list what to clean on those days

 

[ironpony]

I scrape a few times a day, when I think about it
or when I am walking by
always seems to burn a little brighter afterwards
might just be because of stirring up the pellets

 

[alan323]

I scrape my burn pot every day usually. I can usually catch it on a cool down cycle (In Room Temp Mode). I don't know if it's just me, but it bugs the crap outta me knowing there is carbon build up in the pot. Heh, my wife looks at me a shakes her head, then says "You are so obsessed with that toy". I just smile and keep scrapin'

 

[Jason]

I scrape my burn pot every day usually. I can usually catch it on a cool down cycle (In Room Temp Mode). I don't know if it's just me, but it bugs the crap outta me knowing there is carbon build up in the pot. Heh, my wife looks at me a shakes her head, then says "You are so obsessed with that toy". I just smile and keep scrapin'

it`s not only you. i do the same thing when i have a change to scrape the pot there i am in the basement again (samething with my wife)

 

[Heater Helper]

The burn pot is like a carburator on a car...it needs the air to fuel mix so the holes should be kept clean. I use a small drill bit of the right size and spin it in my fingers..just to keep them open and clean. Works great!

 

[GrahamInVa]

I'm not sure if I am missing something here..

I don't open the door on my stove until at least 5 bags burned. Even then the burn pot is fairly clean.A little white residue and the holes are all open. I scrape it and get a little bit of crud, no more than the size of a silver dollar.

 

[lbcynya]

I used to do a quick scrape my pot daily, but the smoke spilling into the room and resulting smell wasn't cutting it. I do a good scrape and vac 1 a week and that seems to work just fine with my Harman and ProPellets. Also, IMO, it's best to vac out the carbon dust and chunks rather than hope they get ejected while burning. Everyone will be different, but if you participate in these forums, you probably err on the "retentive" side anyway. It's the set it and forget it crowd (the other 80%) that we have to worry about.

 

[Jason]

I'm not sure if I am missing something here..

I don't open the door on my stove until at least 5 bags burned. Even then the burn pot is fairly clean.A little white residue and the holes are all open. I scrape it and get a little bit of crud, no more than the size of a silver dollar.

it used tu be like that for me too. but it look like if you open more you damper you have a cleaner pot when it`s less open then you will have to clean it more often but when it;s less open you get more output heat i believe.

 

[DexterDay]

About once a week. Sometimes Two. Especially in the dead of season and its running 24/7. No need to shut it down. Dont even bother with the little cleanout rod (when I shut it down). But all stoves burnpots are not created the same. Some need daily attention. Others can go for months (literally - imacman and his 59 bags - Geeze).

I normally clean it pretty good every Sun. But with the Woodstove I have this year. I have only burned about 10 bags of pellets. And I have yet to even open the door and wipe the window (looks bad) Its been running here and there when night temps dip around 30*.

 

[jtakeman]

I haven't opened the door on my stove since the start of the season(end of October). About 15 bags so far, But my stove has the self cleaning feature. Should I go for the record? Hmmm. Nah, I rather pride my stove knowing it will burn "any" pellet with ease. Slowly watching the convection temps drop is killing me and telling me I am loosing precious heat out the vent! Plus I got some samples to burn before I get to dang lazy!

With any stove it mostly depends on the fuel used. The cleaner the better. Cruddy pellets require more owner attention. I usually do the once a week clean vac scrap. Just seems the cleaner I keep it the hotter the convection air is. Its winter, What else you got to do?

 

[thedak]

I scrape 2-3 times a day.

Hate looking at that crap in the pot.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

little tip when "dollar bill test" isnt feasible

turn the stove on with the door shut , take a lit match or lighter flame around the edge of the door (do this with stove not lit yet for obvious reason) as you travel around the gasket watch the flame closely, it will be pulled to any signifigant leak enough that it can be seen in most cases. works for glass gasket check as well.

hope this helps ya

 

[DexterDay]

little tip when "dollar bill test" isnt feasible

turn the stove on with the door shut , take a lit match or lighter flame around the edge of the door (do this with stove not lit yet for obvious reason) as you travel around the gasket watch the flame closely, it will be pulled to any signifigant leak enough that it can be seen in most cases. works for glass gasket check as well.

hope this helps ya

Great tip Mike.

I have been using a lighter to "clean" (burn out) my air wash in the Quad. Take the lighter and get the flame close enough to be sucked in, but not so close to extinguish the lighter. Then slowly go down the air-wash gap. This burns out all dust and any animal hair. When I get a "Streak" that shouldnt be there, I know its time for cleaning.

This wont work for a lot of stoves (Harman, Enviro, Englander (dont know what the new Gen uses). But for the stoves with slits on either the top or bottom portion of the glass, it works very well.

 

[Xena]

This is gonna sound stupid but I did not want to "wear out" the door gasket by opening the door so much. My stove is only 3 years old but I think I might need a door gasket already.

I open the door a couple times a day and do run it 24/7.
Just replaced my original door gasket a couple
weeks ago and it wasn't even that bad. Only frayed in one spot.
Got the stove new in 2005 so that gasket was going on 7 years old.
Plus the gasket was only about $15 shipped from Eric here on the forum.
Moral of the story: don't worry about it.

 

[Vinelife]

just once a day here ...

 

[flynfrfun]

I clean mine every 30 minutes...oops I forgot....my stove automatically cleans it every 30 minutes ;-)