# Tips for cleaning heat exchanger tubes



## gerryger (Nov 20, 2011)

I usually give my stove a good cleaning every Sunday. When cleaning the heat exchanger tubes today I noticed a good layer of creosote on all the tubes. I did manage to use a wire brush to get most of it removed, however it was a very tough job. Does anyone have any tips to make this job easier...I'm thinking along the lines of a power tool.


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## Xena (Nov 21, 2011)

If you run the stove on high heat for a little while
every day you shouldn't get that.  Have never
seen a speck of creosote on mine in 7 years.
Just dry powdery stuff that brushes off easy with a paint brush.


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## Don2222 (Nov 21, 2011)

Hello

x2 just white powder, but I do have to clean the pellet dust off and get the dust out from behind the tubes.

To do this I have 2 tools

See pic 1 - I found it in my tool box. It is an older wooden handle 12â€ icing spatula for icing a cake my wife bought 25 years ago.

Here is a link to a similar one you can buy today!
http://www.cheftools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=02-0617  01&utm_source=google+base&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=google+shopping 

Pic 2 - Is a very long thin bottle brush I purchased from our local Home Brew store.
The store in Salem NH where I got the nice long thin brush is actually called Border Brew Supply at 10 Lawrence Rd next to Jayâ€™s Aquadrics
http://www.yelp.com/biz/border-brew-supply-salem

It gets in between the tubes and in back of the tubes and really "Gets the Pellet Dust Out"

You can also buy these two brush kits from Harbor Freight
They are great for all your pellet stove cleaning!!

9 Piece Tube/Pipe Nylon Brush Set for $4.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-tube-pipe-nylon-brush-set-90631.html

Also I got the 6 piece brush kit for $2.99 !!
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-detail-brush-set-93610.html

Xena
Why do I have 2 more tubes than you have?

Click pics below to enlarge


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## ChandlerR (Nov 21, 2011)

I have found the best way to clean the tubes is to run the stove on high...or close to high...for a half hour or so. The creosote is turned to the nice fine ash that can be brushed off.  Mine look like the ones in the pictures after a run on high.

No stove today...65 degrees!

Chan


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## tjnamtiw (Nov 21, 2011)

I've never seen ANY creosote in either of my stoves in over two years of use on both high and low settings for extended periods.  Is your flame always 'lively' and actively throwing the ash out of the pot?  Do you see blue flames down inside the pot when running on high?  Maybe your airflow is restricted somewhere.

I even have a lower flue temperature because of the mods I made to my heat exchanger tubes.


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## Turbo-Quad (Nov 21, 2011)

best way I have found is to loop a piece of emory cloth over them and pull both ends.


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## DexterDay (Nov 21, 2011)

Never seen any Creosote in that area, on any stove I have seen, or owned. 

It being a Quadrafire, makes me believe there may underlying issues causing this build-up. Quadrafires have Copious amounts of air for combustion.

Whats your venting set-up? From stove adapter, to termination cap outside?

What brand of pellets are you burning? Where are they stored?

Can you take a pic of the build-up?


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

I use Hammers which are supposed to be a very clean pellet. I have never ever had a clinker when using them. I burn on high all the time. I store my pellets in the basement. They are dry. Last year I always got that fine powder residue on the tubes which was simple to clean. I vent out and up 4 feet to a gooseneck. I can't take pics because the tubes are clean right now. I will post pics if the problem comes back. 

Keep in mind the major change to my system was the installation of an OAK as of two weeks ago. Do you think that is causing the problem. I doubt it. My flame is very vigorous and the stove throws great heat. The flame is a bright yellow and sometimes white. Don't really see too much blue ...maybe at the very bottom of the burn pot. Never get any lazy flames.


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

Here are two pics of the tubes after my attempt to clean them. They were solid black. Not happy about their condition due to the fact that the stove is only 6 months old.


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

After taking those 2 pictures above and seeing how bad they looked, for the hell of it I tried cleaning the tubes with an SOS pad and to my amazement the remaining creosote came off very easily. See pics below. Looks a lot better. Now the hard part is to determine how and why the creosote formed in the first place. I did burn a bag of pellets from Walmart (can't remember the name) last week just to try them. Maybe they caused the problem. The other question is I'm sure there is creosote on the other side of those tubes. Do I have to do a lot of disassembly to get to the other side of those tubes.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 22, 2011)

gerryger said:
			
		

> After taking those 2 pictures above and seeing how bad they looked, for the hell of it I tried cleaning the tubes with an SOS pad and to my amazement the remaining creosote came off very easily. See pics below. Looks a lot better. Now the hard part is to determine how and why the creosote formed in the first place. I did burn a bag of pellets from Walmart (can't remember the name) last week just to try them. Maybe they caused the problem. The other question is I'm sure there is creosote on the other side of those tubes. Do I have to do a lot of disassembly to get to the other side of those tubes.



Crank your stove up on high and it will burn that off.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 22, 2011)

It is also possible to remove creosote with warm soapy water, the draw back with that is it makes a real mess and is best done outdoors.


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

Yeah your right, I did soak the SOS pad in warm water and it did work great but did make a mess.


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## tchdngrnby (Nov 22, 2011)

I run the stove up on the highest setting for 30 minutes before cleaning.  Attach the leaf blower to the vent termination, turn it on high, and then use the air gun and compressor to shoot short bursts of air through the heat exchanger tube nest.  Never had a problem with creosote building up on the tubes after 30 or more minutes on high.  With my EXL (as long as I am consistant with cleanings and running the stove on high each day) I have never had a creosote issue.


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## Don2222 (Nov 22, 2011)

gerryger said:
			
		

> After taking those 2 pictures above and seeing how bad they looked, for the hell of it I tried cleaning the tubes with an SOS pad and to my amazement the remaining creosote came off very easily. See pics below. Looks a lot better. Now the hard part is to determine how and why the creosote formed in the first place. I did burn a bag of pellets from Walmart (can't remember the name) last week just to try them. Maybe they caused the problem. The other question is I'm sure there is creosote on the other side of those tubes. Do I have to do a lot of disassembly to get to the other side of those tubes.




Did you scrape off all the high temp black paint??


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

Very good point. I was thinking the same thing. I did spray my the inside of my stove over the summer. I did not obviously spray it on the tubes. However maybe when the paint burned off from the painted areas it was absorbed onto the tubes. Just a guess. 

Despite that assumption the black residue on the tubes was very sticky and did seem like creosote. Also, if that was black paint on the tubes wouldn't that burn off also. 

I am very anal about keeping my stove clean. Now that the tubes are clean again I will keep a close eye on the tubes and see if the problem comes back.

By the way since cleaning the tubes my output temp reached 285. Never had it that high before.


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## DexterDay (Nov 22, 2011)

My Quadrafire did not have painted tubes. They were stainless. I wouldn't want paint on them. Keep them clean and they keep the heat pumping

Looks good. You did a good job cleaning. I have several small brushes I use to get in the area above. But the best way I have found to get it real clean, is to run the leafblower (on the vent outside) sucking the air out of the stove, and an air line with 150 PSI and a nozzle that I put 18" of flexible 1/4" hose. Blasts the ash out of everthing.


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## gerryger (Nov 22, 2011)

Great tip. I will try that. I do have an air compressor that outputs 150 psi. 

Off topic: what is a good range for the output temp to be when running on high.


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## slls (Nov 22, 2011)

DexterDay said:
			
		

> My Quadrafire did not have painted tubes. They were stainless. I wouldn't want paint on them. Keep them clean and they keep the heat pumping
> 
> Looks good. You did a good job cleaning. I have several small brushes I use to get in the area above. But the best way I have found to get it real clean, is to run the leafblower (on the vent outside) sucking the air out of the stove, and an air line with 150 PSI and a nozzle that I put 18" of flexible 1/4" hose. Blasts the ash out of everthing.



Your Quad tubes are aluminum.


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## DexterDay (Nov 22, 2011)

slls said:
			
		

> DexterDay said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yep.  I stand corrected. As soon as I read this, It popped in my head. Still un-painted. All Quads use an aluminum heat exchange.

Thank you for the correction.


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