I know there's at least a few of you that have Mt Vernon AE inserts. This is my first year with it, and I've had a chance to do a little burning and checking it out. I want to make sure I keep up with it as I recently learned it throws so REALLY good heat (which is another goods story). Everyone I talk to (including the folks here) say the stove needs to be clean - clean - clean....
I've read the manual about cleaning and have a decent idea on what needs to be done like vaccum around the pot and the burn shelf, take care of clinkers as needed, remove the ashes, clean behind the baffle.
Got two areas though that I'm not sure how to adress - the hopper and those two exit ports behind the baffle.
First question is do you pull the insert out? If so how far? I would imagine you're disconnecting the liner first too. Mine sits up on a mantel, so I would have to get something like a cinderblock to rest the stove on while its pulled out.
I'm sure its a good idea to keep the hopper and auger area clean so it does not jam. How do you clean that? I see that the pellets feed from the left side of the hopper. Do any of you just stick a vaccum cleaner down there, or do you go behind the stove and remove the assembly? If you remove the assembly, how did you go about it?
As for the exit ports behind the baffle, I did not see them, but I've only had the baffle out once so far. Are you doing as the manual says and pushing the ash down into the stove, then removing the fan and sucking it all out? Are you doing this often, or just once a month or less?
Thanks for your help....
J
I've read the manual about cleaning and have a decent idea on what needs to be done like vaccum around the pot and the burn shelf, take care of clinkers as needed, remove the ashes, clean behind the baffle.
Got two areas though that I'm not sure how to adress - the hopper and those two exit ports behind the baffle.
First question is do you pull the insert out? If so how far? I would imagine you're disconnecting the liner first too. Mine sits up on a mantel, so I would have to get something like a cinderblock to rest the stove on while its pulled out.
I'm sure its a good idea to keep the hopper and auger area clean so it does not jam. How do you clean that? I see that the pellets feed from the left side of the hopper. Do any of you just stick a vaccum cleaner down there, or do you go behind the stove and remove the assembly? If you remove the assembly, how did you go about it?
As for the exit ports behind the baffle, I did not see them, but I've only had the baffle out once so far. Are you doing as the manual says and pushing the ash down into the stove, then removing the fan and sucking it all out? Are you doing this often, or just once a month or less?
Thanks for your help....
J