Stove Cleaning Frequency

[Doug Fowler]

Man, I must be doing something wrong. Started burning a new Harman XXV in October. When I see so many posts saying they only clean their pellet stoves 2 or 3 times a year, I can't figure out what's going on with mine. It must be cleaned every 5 to 7 DAYS......and I mean, the ashpan is overfull, up to the door glass, and the open areas on either side of the pan are full up past the pan sides too!

Is it the pellets I'm burning? You might review my earlier post this morning too......re pellets.

 

[Shane]

Weekly cleaning of the ashpan and firebox are normal, the bi-annual and annual cleanings are of the flue and transition ducts from firebox to flue.

 

[Xena]

Most people on here clean the ash pan, firebox, and ash traps at
least once a week when running the stove 24/7.

The twice a year cleaning, for me anyway,
entails emptying the cleanout T, sweeping the vent pipe,
and also removing both fans and blowing them out with compressed
air and thoroughly cleaning out the recessed area where the
exhaust fan resides.

Some folks on here use the "leaf blower" method to clean out
areas of the stove that are difficult to reach. I don't own a leaf
blower, and I can't lift the stove to bring it out to the garage to
clear it with my compressor, so I've rigged up small hoses to the
shop vac to get into the tight areas. Tapping the back of the firebox
firmly with a small hammer also usually loosens up chunks of
crap as does a coathanger. Many tricks posted on here but the bottom
line is, there are areas of these stoves that require a little more
effort to reach and stuff does cake up in these areas.

Regardless, if you spend a little time doing a few searches here, you
will find more than enough info already posted on the subject.

 

[BadDad320]

I am burning between 2 and 3 bags per day in my Thelin.... I clean it 2 times per week....

 

[travlnusa]

Big E Stove

Burning 1-2 bags per day

Clean twice per week. That is a quick 5 min clean.

Twice per month, get into all the small spaces, etc. About 15-20 mins.

When we have to move to Setting #3 to get the same flame as Setting, #2, it is time to clean.

 

[tinkabranc]

The manual states you can burn a ton before the stove needs cleaning
but IMHO that is just asking for problems to wait that long.

I normally give the burnpot a quick scrape daily and clean out the rest of the
stove once a week. Sometimes I let it go for 2 weeks but never longer.

Vents and blowers get checked periodically to determine if they need
to be cleaned mid-season or at end of season.

Some may call it overkill...
I prefer to call it preventative maintenance.

 

[Doug Fowler]

Thanks for all the great replies. It strikes me that the owners manual is one thing, and reality is something else.

Truth and objectivity, on the other hand, comes from people with experience.

Great folks on here.........appreciate all the insights!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks for all the great replies. It strikes me that the owners manual is one thing, and reality is something else.

Truth and objectivity, on the other hand, comes from people with experience.

Great folks on here.........appreciate all the insights!

You also should understand that most of the folks on here will burn through more pellets a season than what a lot of the stove manufactures were envisioning when they wrote those little manuals. After all these stove are just meant to be space heaters not house heaters. 24/7 is a lot different than throwing a couple of logs in a fireplace ;-) .

 

[MCPO]

Man, I must be doing something wrong. Started burning a new Harman XXV in October. When I see so many posts saying they only clean their pellet stoves 2 or 3 times a year, I can't figure out what's going on with mine. It must be cleaned every 5 to 7 DAYS......and I mean, the ashpan is overfull, up to the door glass, and the open areas on either side of the pan are full up past the pan sides too!

Is it the pellets I'm burning? You might review my earlier post this morning too......re pellets.

I just did a quick clean on mine after 15 days. (7-8 bags) My ash drawer was only 1/3 full after brushing the accumulated ashes into it so I left it alone. I cleaned the window and scraped and vacuumed the burn pot and re-lit it. I think it actually does burn a bit hotter now.
Anyway, I think the manual is pretty close in estimated cleaning cycles. If the pellets are of good quality and the stove is operating at good efficiencies it will go at least a ton and maybe two without anything but an occasional pot scraping and ash dumping .
I did take the exhaust plate off to check and I saw little to no ash buildup. The sensor probe was reasonably clean with no ashes stuck to it , impeller blades clean , and the square exhast path in the stove was quite clear so I just put the cover back on. I`ll check it again nect month but it appears like it won`t require a real good cleaning till the end of the season.
So IMO, it`s down to these 3 main factors and the #4 qualifier below :
1.....a good vent system
2......a good efficient burn
3......a good quality pellet

4.....Of course the stove itself has a lot to do with it . Harman`s (mine) and some others can go a long time between cleaning. Not so with some Englander`s and a few others but you know that up front and it`s kinda reflected in the cost so it should not come as a surprise either. And it doesn`t necessarily mean that the stove is any less efficient with regardds to heat output.

 

[acowherd]

ya what tinkabranc said

I burn around 2-3 bags a day, depending on temp

50 today stoves off during the day kicking them on now for the night burn.

 

[MCPO]

ya what tinkabranc said

I burn around 2-3 bags a day, depending on temp

50 today stoves off during the day kicking them on now for the night burn.

Ok, If I burned that much I`m sure I`d be cleaning more often too.

 

[bungalobob]

Man, I must be doing something wrong. Started burning a new Harman XXV in October. When I see so many posts saying they only clean their pellet stoves 2 or 3 times a year, I can't figure out what's going on with mine. It must be cleaned every 5 to 7 DAYS......and I mean, the ashpan is overfull, up to the door glass, and the open areas on either side of the pan are full up past the pan sides too!

Is it the pellets I'm burning? You might review my earlier post this morning too......re pellets.

I have the P68, and have been burning nearly a month. I have cleaned it each week and have purposely not emptied the ash pan. My ash pan is large and is only about 1/3 full. Not all ash created has gone to the ash pan, the ash built up on sides and nooks and crannies has wound up in the ash vacuum. The vacuum is only about 1/3 full. I can't imagine an overflowing ash pan in 5-7 days. The manual says it will take about a ton of burning pellets till it needs to be emptied. How small an ash pan does the P38 have, the size of a cigar box? That much ash just doesn't seem right, but the cleaning is about right, I scrape the burnpot 3-4 times a day minimum, and wipe the glass daily. Probably is the pellets that you are burning.

 

[Nicholas440]

I burn a bag a day here, and pull out the ash vac every 3 days to give it a quick clean. Open door, vacuum firebox, clean burn pot, wipe off window, and turn it back on...

about every 7 or 8 days I do a more thorough cleaning, by removing the baffle plate and fire bricks, and clean behind those , and clean the heat exchanger tubes, vacuum complete, re assemble, wipe off window, check door seals, and give the unit a visual checkup then turn it back on.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Clean the Big Es (two of them) about every 3 weeks and burns a bag or so a day
Clean the P-24 about the same
Cleaned the Bio-Furnace once this season and burns 75 to 100 lbs of corn a day Been running since it was cold (worth the money)
Clean the small corn stove every other week and runs when someone is in the Kinsman Store approx 40-50 hrs a week but runs on low.


Eric

 

[Wet1]

With my P38 I clean it out about every ton. I shut the stove down, vacuum the ashes, scrap the pot, empty the ash box, check the blower (although like Gio, I dont find any build up there), and run my vacuum hose quickly down the flue. Other than occasionally checking the pot (I dont find it ever really needs scraping) and wiping down the glass, I don't have to do anything with this stove.

Now the Englander OTOH, is a major PITA. It requires daily cleaning and runs dirty. Then again, I've found the solution to this is to never use it.

 

[missrobo]

I've burned about a ton and a half of Barefoot pellets. I have an accentra 2. First year with stove. I clean the burn pot about every day. So far emptied the ash pot once. Half about 1/3 of ash pot filled now. Run it pretty much 24/7 of late. What does "A good cleaning" mean. Is that taking everything apart, front and back, including fans, exhaust pipes, etc. Should I be doing that at this point. Any suggestions on Shop Vacs.
Thanks for help

 

[ResOps]

My EF3 runs 24/7 and pretty much has since late Sept / early October this year and I clean the burn pot out weekly and give it a quick vacuum. Tear it down every ton for a good cleaning. As many mentioned it depends on the stove and burn rate.

 

[scarter2]

Only had my Lopi Leyden for about 3 weeks. I clean the fire basket and sweep ash into the ashpan each day. Today took the firebox apart (cast iron liner,etc) and was pretty surprised to see how much ash had built up in the various exhaust channels. I'll be doing that cleaning weekly now. My stove vents up the chimney (20-30 ft), so hopefully that'll keep the main flue pretty clean. My T in the back is all wrapped in aluminum tape. Is that fairly easy to remove and replace for regular cleaning? I think that's about all that's left on the recommended annual (or once per ton) cleaning per the manual...

-BEEZ