Time to clean the black carbon build up on the exhaust impeller blades

[Don2222]

Hello
It takes a bit of scrubbing with the wire wheel on the drill driver but I think that black carbon adds some wind resistance when turning. Cleaning and spraying with some dry moly makes the petals smooth as silk and reduces that resistance quite a bit. Also clean any dust from motor.
Object of this cleaning:
- Increased surface smoothness
- Corrosion Protection
- Decrease adherence of ash and other contaminants
- Decrease drag and increase effenciency
- Prolong motor life
It is also possible to replace the impeller blade with a new one if it is too rusted, pitted or broken.

 

[Washed-Up]

Such an overlooked preventative maintanance task....thanks for posting this! I’ve also had really good results using a heavy degreaser and spraying the fan blades, put a cloth underneath to keep the mess down, the degreaser breaks the carbon down and helps ease the cleaning.

 

[johneh]

My fan comes off the shaft easily so I just put it in
the sonic cleaner after about an hour looks like new

 

[Don2222]

The best way I found to clean my Harman pellet stove combustion blower double paddle impeller blade using white aluminum oxide and a Trinity Trinco industrial blasting cabinet I picked up used for $150 and rebuilt. It really gets that stubborn ash of the sides of the petals with just a little more blasting

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I usually clean my exhaust fan about every six weeks when I'm burning hardwood pellets at the height of the heating season. I never find any deposits on the blades that I can't take off with an old toothbrush. The deposit on the backing plate is a little denser but scrapes off easily with a putty knife.

If I don't keep the exhaust fan clean, I start to get misfires and half-burned pellets dropping into the ash pan, where they smolder and let smoke into the house.

 

[Dataman]

All I ever got was dust on my Harmon XXV. I just use paintbrush and brush it off. Vac to suck up the dust. Hard part is getting down low for me. I only burn softwood pellets (all there is in WA State)

 

[Washed-Up]

I found soaking it in the degreaser easy too, I’d love to have a sand blast cabinet, just not enough room. Here’s a couple pics of the impeller after the soak. I’ve been 3 for 3 on getting them off of the shaft too, PB Blaster is priceless!

 

[tlc1976]

All I ever got was dust on my Harmon XXV. I just use paintbrush and brush it off. Vac to suck up the dust. Hard part is getting down low for me. I only burn softwood pellets (all there is in WA State)

Same here, just a layer of ash on mine and it comes off with a stiff brush, only because it’s so compacted. Black deposits would make me think I’m not getting enough air. But everybody’s stove is different.

 

[Dataman]

I agree, Black Deposits sign of not enough Air. Only time I ever got black in my Harmon is when I left Metal Fabric I use in the Chimmney to keep Birds from coming in. Removing that solved it. I also put magnet on the flapper for OAK and that would solve it. But the real fix was proper flow thru chimney. Amazon product ASIN B01N5KT4BE

 

[Don2222]

Also good to scrape off any dirty ash behind the impeller blades?

 

[Don2222]

Cannot forget to cleanout any ash in the exhaust blower housing too at least once per year!

1st Pic shows 3 years worth!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Is that the same stove that had the coked-up blower fan?

 

[Don2222]

Is that the same stove that had the coked-up blower fan?

No