# How often do you clean your pellet stove?



## xbillyx (Sep 28, 2009)

This will be my 2nd winter using my pellet stove.  But, unlike last winter, I plan on running it 24/7.

How often do you clean your pellet stove?  How often do you recommend it is cleaned if you run it 24/7?

I was thinking every other day would be sufficient.  By this I mean powering it off (and letting it cool), cleaning the burn pot, and using the ShopVac to clean the entire inside (including the baffle).

Thoughts?


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## xbillyx (Sep 28, 2009)

I use a high quality pellet with a very low ash content: http://www.ujr.ca/EN/Eastern_Embers.htm

There is a link to my pellet stove in my signature.


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## Former Farmer (Sep 28, 2009)

Pellet usage will also be a large factor in cleanings.  As your unit burns more pounds, you will have to clean more often.  You might want to use a rule of thumb that maybe every other hopper full, you will have to clean the stove.  I am not familiar with your stove, but I know on my Castile, that seemed to be sufficient for cleaning.


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## imacman (Sep 28, 2009)

For the most part, I would recommend following your owners manual, which has a chart for cleaning on P. 20.  Otherwise, it's hard to tell someone else when to do this, due to differences in stoves, pellets, venting, etc.

My Astoria only required a light cleaning of the burnpot & combustion area about every 3-4 days, and a major cleaning after about a month or 1 ton of pellets.


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## jtakeman (Sep 28, 2009)

Like BTU said with a good pellet, You could get by scraping the pot every other or 3rd day. And clean inside and empty ash pan weekly.

With a pellet that has more ash, You would need to do it more often.

Some stoves have very large ash pans and can go much longer. Some stoves have self cleaning burn pots and can go much longer.

You will need to adjust your cleaning schedule to the quality of pellets you burn and how the stove is built. But cleaner is always better.

jay


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## xbillyx (Sep 28, 2009)

macman said:
			
		

> For the most part, I would recommend following your owners manual, which has a chart for cleaning on P. 20.  Otherwise, it's hard to tell someone else when to do this, due to differences in stoves, pellets, venting, etc.
> 
> My Astoria only required a light cleaning of the burnpot & combustion area about every 3-4 days, and a major cleaning after about a month or 1 ton of pellets.



What's involved in a major cleaning?  I just had my yearly service cleaning done by the technician.

When I clean it myself every other day here's what I do:
   - clean glass
   - clean burn pot
   - remove baffle
   - move heat exchanger rods to drop all ash into main area
   - use ShopVac to vacuum out entire inside
   - check to make sure gasket on burn pot is still looking good

Is there anything else I should be doing?


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## thewoodlands (Sep 28, 2009)

xbillyx said:
			
		

> This will be my 2nd winter using my pellet stove.  But, unlike last winter, I plan on running it 24/7.
> 
> How often do you clean your pellet stove?  How often do you recommend it is cleaned if you run it 24/7?
> 
> ...



I clean the chimney and elbow every ton, inside the pellet stove depends on how much we are burning, most likely weekly.


Zap


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## imacman (Sep 28, 2009)

xbillyx said:
			
		

> ....What's involved in a major cleaning?  I just had my yearly service cleaning done by the technician.
> When I clean it myself every other day here's what I do:
> - clean glass
> - clean burn pot
> ...



That's a good start, and covers a lot of what i do on a major cleaning.  I also pull the combustion blower and carefully wirebrush the vanes, and use a putty knife and scrape the housing underneath the vanes.  Also scrape/brush/vac as much of the exhaust blower housing as I can reach.  

If your convection blower has a screen, check for dust/dirt/hair buildup and vac as necessary.  Some convection blowers also have a couple of lubrication ports....put a few drops of 20w oil there ( I use 3-in-1, but others on the forum say not to....I had no problems using it on my Astoria Fasco blower motor).


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## slheinlein (Sep 28, 2009)

I have a XXV and I clean mine about every week during the peak winter season.  I can get by with every 2 weeks but it gets pretty dirty and inefficient.  It really depends on your stove and pellets to a lessor extent.


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## THE ROOSTER (Sep 28, 2009)

WarmInNH said:
			
		

> I have a XXV and I clean mine about every week during the peak winter season.  I can get by with every 2 weeks but it gets pretty dirty and inefficient.  It really depends on your stove and pellets to a lessor extent.



I have the Harman Accentra, I agree with "WarmInNH", every 7-10 days


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## kobalt (Sep 28, 2009)

I have a Quadfire 1200 and when I use the eastern ember pellets I clean my stove every 7-8 days, however, I tried a few bags of comfy cosy and canadian tire ligentics and had to clean the stove every 3-4 days.


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## mnkywrnch (Sep 28, 2009)

Every Saturday like clock work I clean heat exchangers vac out clean burn pot, after 1 ton run brush through vent then use leafblower whether it needs it or not I like to stay on a routine.


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## Sting (Sep 28, 2009)

always after I have burnt 400 to 500 lbs 

That's about once or twice a week 

Depends on the outdoor load


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## teddy1971 (Sep 28, 2009)

I clean mine every 3-4 days and cleand the heat exchanger after every ton. This is close to what the manual instructs me to do. I agree with most that it depend on the type of pellets you use. When I used Fireside Ultra's last season I noticed I had to clean more often than when I used Lignetics and Dry Creek. My glass was also dirtier with Fireside Ultra and Dry Creek than with Lignetics.


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## amick780 (Sep 28, 2009)

THE ROOSTER said:
			
		

> WarmInNH said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Harman XXV...I clean it every 2 weeks...it can go longer but it makes a difference in term of heat output. I just scrap down the heat exchanger, burn pot and vacum the thing out...15-20 mins top. Plus I like clean glass!!


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## tinkabranc (Sep 28, 2009)

I give the burnpot a quick scrape once a day and clean/vac the stove once a week.  
Blowers and vent get checked after each ton to determine if they need cleaning too or not. 
Some call it overkill but I call it preventative maintenance.


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## Dr_Drum (Sep 28, 2009)

Clean glass everyday, quick scrape of the burn pot every 2-3 days, and maybe brush a bit of ash down off the fire brick, baffles and tubes. Full clean, glass, burnpot, brush, vacuum and empty the ash pan once a week. Try to remember to vacuum out the fines from the hopper, but rarely do.
Mike -

P.s. Anyone with a Leyden (or other) try adjusting the air wash plates from factory setup? Any better?


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## Xena (Sep 28, 2009)

Scrape burn pot every day. Clean glass weekly. Quick wipe down of refractory panels once a week.  Vac out stove, ash traps,
brush down baffle, dump ash pan once a month. *Huge* advantage with this stove as it has a giant ash pan.  
Twice a year cleaning on the pellet vent pipe.   Once a year pull/clean for both blowers.


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## russ79@hotmail.com (Sep 28, 2009)

I clean out my burn pot daily with a long handled spoon and every Sunday I do the shut down and shopvac deal.  Clean everything that can be reached by hand and the glass, it is always filthy. Last year was my first but it seemed to be a good system.  Oh yeah I ran mine 24/7 from November-March.


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## Steve_in_NH (Sep 28, 2009)

On my Accentra Insert I scrape the burn pot every day, empty the ash pan every week or every other week depending on pellet type or outside temp. And every two weeks on Saturday I give it a full cleaning.  That involves shut down, cooling, ash pan, scrape burn pot, remove the panels and scrape the heat exchangers and vacuum everything.  Burns like a new stove for another two weeks.  Pellet brand makes a difference in the amount of ash.  Ash weight is usually close to constant but different pellets produce lighter or denser ash making the same weight ash produce more or less volume.  I clean the glass whenever the stove cools down enough to not be concerned with spraying Windex on the glass.....   Not much work for the cozy warmth you get from it...


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## mark d fellows (Sep 29, 2009)

Full clean(excluding vent pipe) 4 to 5 times per year.  Burn pot scrapped once to twice daily.  Glass cleaned daily to once per week.   Vent pipe is cleaned once a year with Leaf Blower trick.

Mark


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