# How often do you clean your vertical pellet pipe



## jim2074 (Nov 29, 2014)

I have a Harman xxv that vents vertical about 15' straight up through the roof using Selkirk DT with outside air. 

I also have the vacuum clean out cap with the tee at the bottom.

How often do you clean your pipe and how?   My dealer is telling me to bang on the pipe while the shop vacuum is hooked up to the clean out tee.

Is it necessary to go up on roof and run a brush down the pipe?

Thanks much


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## checkthisout (Nov 29, 2014)

jim2074 said:


> I have a Harman xxv that vents vertical about 15' straight up through the roof using Selkirk DT with outside air.
> 
> I also have the vacuum clean out cap with the tee at the bottom.
> 
> ...



They choke down pretty quick then kinda stay that way. Burned at least 6 tons since I last cleaned mine. Best way to clean is with lint eater and leaf blower or you can use your clean out t. That's a lot of ash to put into a vac though.  Plugs the filter up in a hurry.


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## TimfromMA (Nov 29, 2014)

My pipe is 100% horizontal.


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## Bioburner (Nov 29, 2014)

I do a cleaning when the shoulder season ends then at the season end. Short runs seem to plug things up faster just like short runs on a car are harder on the engine and exhaust. Keeping things hot keeps the pipe from building up most ash etc.


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## Tonyray (Nov 29, 2014)

I'll do mine sometime next month then again in March and again for final spring shutdown..


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## jackman (Nov 29, 2014)

If the roof had easy access I would certainly inspect it at the end of the first season to see how much soot is collecting in the pipe. Then use the pipe banging trick and inspect again to see how well it works. If you have a dangerous roof, steep, high, etc., I'd think twice about going up there and probably hire someone to stand by on the roof while banging on the pipe. It may work well enough that you won't need to run a brush down the pipe.

I clean my vent pipe at least once a year and use the pipe banging trick to finish up the clean out after brushing. But my installation is easy.


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## 3650 (Nov 29, 2014)

Stove vendor recommends I cleant it after 3 tons but I havent cleaned it in 4 years and stove is still running fine.  I burn about 6 to 8 tons a year. I think I will clean it soon though just for peace of mind.


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## mepellet (Nov 29, 2014)

I clean my Selkirk DT up and out setup every ton with the limewater and shop vac attachment. Takes ten minutes....


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## SidecarFlip (Nov 29, 2014)

jim2074 said:


> I have a Harman xxv that vents vertical about 15' straight up through the roof using Selkirk DT with outside air.
> 
> I also have the vacuum clean out cap with the tee at the bottom.
> 
> ...


 
Never had a dealer tell me that (probably because I did m y own install and bought my stove from TSC about 10 years ago, but, thats exactly how I clean mine, by banging on the pipe with a broom handle.  Mines outside vertical about 18 feet and I pull the bottom cleanout and bang on the pipe with a 2 gallon bucket under the cleanout to catch the ash clumps.  Been doing that for 10 years now, with ho issues.  I do use the leaf blower method once a year in the spring too.


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## railfanron (Nov 29, 2014)

I have about 18 ft of vertical 4" flex pipe. I clean it once a year which is about 3 tons. I get about a half of a cup of ash out of it.
Ron


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## bbfarm (Nov 29, 2014)

I never cean the vertical vent because we don't have one.

I clean our horizontal vent every ton using the leaf blower trick and brushes


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## Wilbur Feral (Nov 29, 2014)

Once / year, after burning about 3 tons.  Use a pellet vent brush on long rods.


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## Phoenix Hatchling (Nov 29, 2014)

railfanron said:


> I have about 18 ft of vertical 4" flex pipe. I clean it once a year which is about 3 tons. I get about a half of a cup of ash out of it.
> Ron



I guarantee that if you run a pellet sooteater through that flex pipe, you will have a hell of a lot more than half a cup! LOTS of nooks and crannies.


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## SidecarFlip (Nov 30, 2014)

Phoenix Hatchling said:


> I guarantee that if you run a pellet sooteater through that flex pipe, you will have a hell of a lot more than half a cup! LOTS of nooks and crannies.


 
I'd say you would too.  I take my 4" vertical apart every year and pressure wash it inside and there is (after beating on it with a broom handle) lots of ash stuck in the 'nooks and crannies' (if you want to call them that), that come out with the pressure washer.   Nooks and crannies being internal overlaps where the pipe sections join up..

Mine is all outside (including the 3-4 transition/cleanout) so it's not a messy undertaking and I did that purposely because I wasa familiar with cleaning venting from my first stove many years ago.  That one was trial and error as no forum existed then with information on how to or what to look for.  It was 'wing it', so I learned by doing.


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## Pete Zahria (Nov 30, 2014)

TimfromMA said:


> My pipe is 100% horizontal.


 ditto...... 

Dan


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## LordmetalZ28 (Nov 30, 2014)

I have about 15ft of vertical pipe . I brush it from the bottom. First year with it I did a complete stove cleaning after a month and there was hardly anything in it. Going up from bottom alot safer and easier


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## nailed_nailer (Nov 30, 2014)

I have a 13' vertical vent of 4" pipe with a cleanout T at bottom attached to stove.

I remove the Clean Out cap and hold a shopvac there while I bang on pipe.

Then I use a round 4" vent cleaner type brush that has a flexible PVC type rod/handle.
I hold the vac at the bottom and feed the brush up the vent in a scrubbing motion.






http://www.efireplacestore.com/rut-...NwyKsUs34sDJziGXtHoOMBfEuoq4LIUIRIaAmhy8P8HAQ

Then I climb up on roof and remove the rain cap and feed it down to get that last 3-4 feet.

It does a good job getting it clean.


I do it about 2x a year.

Good Luck


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## F4jock (Nov 30, 2014)

Every two or three years so far. Not much in it even after three. Harman with 15 feet of vertical.


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## bogieb (Nov 30, 2014)

My Harman has about 6' of vertical rise (at an angle) and no cleanouts (WTF was the installer thinking?). Anyway, on a monthly basis, I clean out past the ESP with a vent pipe brush and then vacuum it out up to the 45 angle out the back of the stove. Before heating season beagan (I should have done it last spring, but that didn't happen), I took the vent brush and sent it in thru the out pipe and vacuumed all the ash out thru the stove (does that make sense to you?). If I had know about the leaf blower trick, and had a leaf blower at the time, I probably would have gone with that.

Oh yea, once a day I fire that puppy up pretty good (take it off of room temp) and let it blast away for about 30 minutes to help heat the pipe up to loosen any creosote that might have formed.

EDIT: Please realize that I got the stove at February 2014 so it only ran for 3 months. I might end up adjusting that schedule this year.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 30, 2014)

Once a ton weather it needs it or not, the stove is off and the ash traps have been opened and cleaned as has the heat exchanger, the inside passage ways to and from the combustion blower have been brushed out, I always follow that with the leaf blower.  The entire operation only takes a few minutes.

A clean stove is a happy, warm, and safe stove.


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## OhioBurner© (Nov 30, 2014)

First season with the pellet stove so not sure. I did clean out the chimney liner when I started to have problems with the stove not working right after a few weeks. But I hadnt cleaned it in a while so not sure if there was still some creosote from the woodburner in it. 

Bogieb I don't have any cleanouts either but I did it that way. They were really expensive and since I had a lined interior chimney I was connecting to above the stove there wasnt a good spot to put it anyhow. For my 2 elbows I just used regular 90º elbows. I just disconnect the duravent portion between the stove and chimney thimble and take it out side I figure. Havent even bought a 3" brush yet so got to remember next time I order from amazon or something to get one.


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## sante fe (Nov 30, 2014)

RBT after every ton. Stove runs great and yard gets fertilized. LOL


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## Flammam (Nov 30, 2014)

I have about 18ft of vertical run outside, I do mine twice a year once mid season and then in the spring. I will run the brush up the pipe before my first burn in the fall. Surprised a couple bats one year.


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## twodogs02 (Nov 30, 2014)

Harman XXV as well,  15 ft vertical rise with top vent option installed. I clean the vertical rise once per season. I clean the exhaust path, ESP,combustion blower every ton, scrape everyday and brush heat exchanger once per week.


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## bogieb (Nov 30, 2014)

OhioBurner© said:


> First season with the pellet stove so not sure. I did clean out the chimney liner when I started to have problems with the stove not working right after a few weeks. But I hadnt cleaned it in a while so not sure if there was still some creosote from the woodburner in it.
> 
> Bogieb I don't have any cleanouts either but I did it that way. They were really expensive and since I had a lined interior chimney I was connecting to above the stove there wasnt a good spot to put it anyhow. For my 2 elbows I just used regular 90º elbows. I just disconnect the duravent portion between the stove and chimney thimble and take it out side I figure. Havent even bought a 3" brush yet so got to remember next time I order from amazon or something to get one.



Forgot that all of my run is inside, and technically the manual says only need a cleanout for 90's. My hook up consists of 2-45's with a 6 ft piece of pipe and an 18" of pipe outside at horizontal. The stove as close to the wall as they could get it (concrete). If I had known then, what I know now . . . Fortunately I'm a small gal so can contort to remove the panels for cleaning, but installing the OAK was a challenge trying to see what the heck I was doing (and unsure what I was doing to begin with - LOL).


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## OhioBurner© (Nov 30, 2014)

bogieb said:


> Forgot that all of my run is inside, and technically the manual says only need a cleanout for 90's. My hook up consists of 2-45's with a 6 ft piece of pipe and an 18" of pipe outside at horizontal. The stove as close to the wall as they could get it (concrete). If I had known then, what I know now . . . Fortunately I'm a small gal so can contort to remove the panels for cleaning, but installing the OAK was a challenge trying to see what the heck I was doing (and unsure what I was doing to begin with - LOL).



Yeah not sure how you could even do a cleanout with your config. The 90 behind my stove that goes up sits only a few inches off the hearth pad so even if I used a cleanout tee instead of a 90º elbow I wouldn't have enough space to get a brush in there between the brick hearth and underside of tee. And my other tee is inside the masonry chimney so no way to get in there!



twodogs02 said:


> Harman XXV as well,  15 ft vertical rise with top vent option installed. I clean the vertical rise once per season. I clean the exhaust path, ESP,combustion blower every ton, scrape everyday and brush heat exchanger once per week.


Wow thought those Harmans could go a month or more without touching...


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## Threerun (Dec 1, 2014)

Once a year with a brush. I have a clean out tee at the bottom of the run behind the stove. I tape an empty pellet bag to it, go outside and run a brush down the pipe a few times. Let the bag settle, remove and pour in the garden. 

Man it's a lot easier than my old wood stove for sure...


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