Sweep a Hearth Mount Stove

[lukeg199]

I've looked for an article like this for a long time, but having a hearth mount stove presents some unique challenges and not all that many people have have a hearth mount stove. So here it is, and for those hearth mounted stove owners, i hope you find this writeup helpful.

I have a Hearthstone Homestead Soapstone stove. Its heavy (obviously) and because of the controls and ash pan underneath i didn't want to use my hand truck to move it. I've always been skeptical of furniture sliders, but i'm convinced they are magic. Even with their low friction i still wanted to protect the floor. Because i am a woodworker i had a couple 1/4 thick boards laying around that could be used as a track for the sliders. So i propped up each side of the stove, slid in the tracks and furniture sliders under the feet, rubbed on some paraffin candle wax for good measure, and that 400+ lbs slid nice and easy!



With the stove out of the fireplace, i dismantled the pipes by removing a few sheet metal screws, and began assembling my new Soot Eater (also magic).



It's been two years since the stove was installed, which is to say it's got 2 years of accumulation. First year was pretty wet wood, so i expected a lot of accumulation. All told i probably liberated 1-2 gallons of black stuff!

It all went well until i inspected the back of my stove. Although the high temp ceramic board seemed in good shape, i noticed what looked like some pieces of cement that must have broken off and landed on top of the board. It looks a bit like the excess cement that is squeezed out of a joint (see below). Should i be concerned about this? There might have been 2 times that i let the stove get above the max temp of 600F. But i was very quick to respond and opened the door wide open to dump the heat, so there were no prolonged periods of overheating. Max temp was probably 650F and only for a matter of 20 min, max. I'm also very careful to monitor the temp 99.9% of the time with the top mounted thermometer (which i've verified accurate with a wireless temp gun).



Thanks for any thoughts!
-Alex

 

[Smoked]

I have asked others about the sooteater and think I have decided ill just have to get on the roof once a year but your setup looks exactly like mine. Did you have any trouble getting the rods to make the turn into the tee? That cement chunk may have been around the perimeter of the top of the baffle. Some have speculated they glue them in with that stuff mainly for shipping. I found some smaller chunks of it in mine a couple of times.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the info. That's a good trick with the slider boards.

One thing of concern, it looks like there is little or no hearth in front of the stove. Do you have an hearth extension pad for the Homestead?

 

[lukeg199]

I have asked others about the sooteater and think I have decided ill just have to get on the roof once a year but your setup looks exactly like mine. Did you have any trouble getting the rods to make the turn into the tee? That cement chunk may have been around the perimeter of the top of the baffle. Some have speculated they glue them in with that stuff mainly for shipping. I found some smaller chunks of it in mine a couple of times.

I have no problem getting the rods into the pipe. The rods themselves have about a three quarter inch diameter, but they are super flexible and very effective. I also have a concern that I might not be able to bend them enough, but it was, in fact, very easy to get the in. If I had any less clearance from the bottom of the pipe to the floor of the fireplace it might have been more challenging. If you want I can measure the clearance for you. Just let me know.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one with those cement chunks / glue. Thanks for the response!

 

[lukeg199]

Thanks for the info. That's a good trick with the slider boards.

One thing of concern, it looks like there is little or no hearth in front of the stove. Do you have an hearth extension pad for the Homestead?

Sure do! I made a custom pad to match the nice hearth trim in the floor. Because the room is so small I wanted to have it removable when its warm out. See it at the bottom of my older post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/non-combustible-mantel-project.120996/#post-1621561

 

[begreen]

Good deal!

 

[Smoked]

I have no problem getting the rods into the pipe. The rods themselves have about a three quarter inch diameter, but they are super flexible and very effective. I also have a concern that I might not be able to bend them enough, but it was, in fact, very easy to get the in. If I had any less clearance from the bottom of the pipe to the floor of the fireplace it might have been more challenging. If you want I can measure the clearance for you. Just let me know.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one with those cement chunks / glue. Thanks for the response!

Mine is 14 1/2". Don't go out of your way, but if you think about it and have the tape measure handy, i'd be curious to know. The good news for me is its already done for this season!