can a stove wear out?

[tarzan]

If you seriously have not cleaned your system then the cap would be a likely suspect, especialy the ones with the screen around them. It's usually the first part of the system to clog up enough to make a noticeable difference providing you have one.

If you haven't cleaned and if you have a cap and if it's clogged I would just clean the whole system while your at it and plan on doing it annually.

 

[Woody Stover]

if the wood is to dry you will see darker almost black smoke coming out of the chimney, the fuel load is off gassing to fast and its to rich, then after that part is over you are pretty much left with wood split coals that really don't burn to well because all the violets were milked out of it.

There was a thread or two here several years back where someone had a link to info by the EPA or some other authority, saying that very dry wood does not burn as clean. I don't recall how dry that was. Here, equilibrium moisture content is 12-13%...

 

[begreen]

Back to the OP's question. 2 yrs is a young life for a steel stove. It would take major abuse to kill a stove in that time. The Enviro is well made that should last 20-30 yrs or more with minor annual maintenance.

 

[Dagoof]

You surely can't be serious !

I guess am serious, and please don't call me Shirley.

What exactly are you guys cleaning?

I obviously wipe down the window, clean out the ash, and get all the dust and crud out from around the unit, but other than sweeping the chimney (liner) what do you guys "clean"?

 

[bholler]

What exactly are you guys cleaning?

You need to clean the whole chimney including the cap also you need to clean off the baffle and anything else in the stove that needs cleaned. But there can be allot that builds up on the baffle and that can really change how the stove would perform.

 

[bholler]

but other than sweeping the chimney (liner) what do you guys "clean"?

did you clean the liner? If so what happened to all the stuff that fell down from cleaning

 

[Sodbuster]

I clean my chimney each fall before the burning season, I always tell myself I'm going to do it in the spring after the burning season is over, but that hasn't happened and probably never will. My stove runs 24/7 in the heating months, and i can tell you I could probably go 2-3 years without cleaning that chimney. I burn dry wood, and keep my fires hot. I get no creosote, just a fine gray powder that may fill half a coffee can. Don't worry I'll still clean my chimney each year, because that's just the way I am.

Dagoof, cleaning your stove means pulling it apart scraping off all the black crud, pulling your baffle if you have one, so you can clean and inspect it. Make sure all your air passages are free of ash and debris. Just give it a good going over, looking for cracked firebrick, cracks in the steel, worn gaskets, etc.