Whitfield Optima 3 - Air Wash Cleaning? - pics and questions

[Don2222]

Hello
Has anyone cleaned this air wash? Owner's manual does not have much info on this?
In this case there were a few pellets blocking it on the outside.
The air wash guide was a little dusty and dirty.
The slot is really small, so Does it help alot to keep the glass clean? Does it have to be cleaned often?

From Owners manual page 37
COMPONENT DEFINITIONS
AIR WASH
To inhibit buildup of soot on the door glass, air is delivered
to the glass through an air wash system located in
the door frame surrounding the glass.

Pic 0 - Optima 3 green with gold trim.
Pic 1 - Air Wash on bottom inside of fire door
Pic 2 - Removing 5 hex head screws after wire wheeling them clean and spraying with PB blaster
Top air wash is removed the same way.
Pic 3 - Removing air wash guide
Pic 4 - Yellow Arrows show air wash slot above air wash bracket screw hole and below glass bracket screw
Pic 5 - Utility knife in air wash shows how small this slot is
Pic 6 - Pellets stuck on outside of fire door that may block some air from getting in but it may pull from the bottom
Pic 7 & 8 - Knife in air wash slot shows tip of knife on the outside of door.
Pic 9 - Air Wash guide and ratchet for removal

 

[Don2222]

Hello
After blasting the air wash bracket clean and painting it inside and out. The door inside the air wash bracket was also cleaned and painted so the air will flow better.
Cleaning was done with a razor blade, wire wheel and acetone from Home Depot.
Paint is VHT very high temperature 2,000 Deg F car header spray paint from the auto parts store.

Pic 1 - blasting the air wash bracket clean with white aluminum oxide.
Pic 2 - Painting the air wash bracket inside & out
Pic 3 - cleaning & painting the fire door inside the air wash
Pic 4 & 5 - Bottom air wash all done.
Pic 6 - now for the top air wash bracket!

 

[Washed-Up]

Looking good Don...I want to see the finished product for sure!

 

[Don2222]

Also blew out the front with a compressor to get the rest of the ash out. Then finished cleaning and painting the top air wash. Now it just needs a new door gasket.
Anyone else have good luck with this air wash system?

 

[Don2222]

Hello
The Flat VHT header paint covers the metal very well and makes an excellent primer but for a more finished look I just put a second coat of 1400 Degree Stove Bright Satin black. Then I installed a 3/4” diameter high quality graphite impregnated round rope gasket.
I had a 1” rope gasket that was not the original and I did some researched and found 3/4” or 1” will work. The 3/4” looks better to me because the old 1” was very, very floppy!
How does it look?

BTW - The owners manual page 32 does show how to clean the air washed. I am impressed. However they show what looks like to be a brand new stove. The stove I have is approx 15 years old so it needed a little more than just a brushing with a paint brush. Also it does say on Page 42 under replacement parts, the diameter of the door rope gasket is 3/4" for the Optima 2 and 1" for the Optima 3 but the channel on both stoves that the gasket goes into is the same size!!

 

[Washed-Up]

The 3/4" definitely looks like a better fit....love the progress.

 

[Don2222]

The 3/4" definitely looks like a better fit....love the progress.

Thanks
That was very confusing and I like the 3/4” gasket also and it still seals fine.
Does anyone know why the manual lists 1" diameter? That is so huge and sloppy and bulky???

Pic 1 - Optima2/Optima3 - Owner's manual Page 42 - Replacement parts
Pic 2 - Profile 20 / Profile 30 - Owner's manual Page 35 - Replacement parts (Same Door Gasket sizing)