Englander, hoses, kinky sex, and leaf blowers

[pegdot]

Okay, I'll admit defeat. I'm at my wits end with trying to find a reasonable way to clean that impossible area behind the baffle plate in my stove. You other Englander owners know the spot I'm talking about......hose to the right, then down, then to the left. I'm now the proud owner of a half dozen hoses of various sizes and materials and not a single one of them will make that turn into the lower section without a tremendous amount of effort and a WHOLE lot of cussing. It takes me 10 minutes to clean the rest of the stove, vent included, and then an agonizing hour down on my knees trying to fish a hose into that lower section and getting no where but dirty, cramped, and pissed. Honestly, I don't feel like I've ever really gotten that area vaccumed out. The only time it's been clean, maybe, was last spring when I blew the entire stove out with an air compresser. Maybe.....who knows since you can't see in there either. :-S

Why? Oh why isn't there an access panel in the rear wall if it's so important to get that area clean? My Breckwell has two access panels there. Four hand tightened screws and I'm in and out, with a clean stove, in just a few minutes. So much easier to clean than the Englander that's it's ALMOST funny! A single panel to the left of the burn pot seems like it would solve this problem. HINT. HINT.

So, I'm due to clean the stove today and my question is "Has anyone found a reasonably easy way to clean that area?" (Please, don't recommend yet another kind of hose. I've already bought so many 3' pieces of hose from my local hardware store that the employees are no doubt wondering what kind of kinky sex I'm into. :-/ ) Has anyone tried the leaf blower method on an Englander and did it get that area clean?

 

[firewarrior820]

TMI

 

[cncpro]

TMI

Bah ! I'd like to hear more about the kinky sex.

 

[Xena]

Bummer. Was expecting more about the kinky sex. Oh well.(broken image removed)

Seriously though, I don't have an Englander, but for the
hard to reach hidden passages in my stove I just tap the
metal sides with a ballpeen hammer, the crapola falls,
then vac it up. If that won't do it for ya then hang around
for a day or two and I'm sure you'll get some answers
from other owners of that same stove. Much luck!

 

[doghouse]

... "hose to the right, then down and then to the left" ... still can't picture it. Where exactly? :question:

 

[BadDad320]

Obligitory kinky sex photo..................

 

[krooser]

Hammer first... leafblower next.

 

[wilbilt]

Wow...that subject line sure drew me in...

Is it possible you could reach the area in question with some metal tubing? I am thinking something that bends easily such as soft copper, which could then be attached to a hose? You could pre-bend a few pieces for the unique features of your stove and make a kit for cleaning it.

Then again, I am not familiar with your stove, so it's basically just a thought. I have them now and again.

 

[pelletizer]

either real flexible clear tubing or maybe the flexible aluminum type like a heat riser in the old carburated cars?
I never knew there was a passage to the lower right that went back left to the exhaust motor area I thought there was only a exhaust passage to the left and down?
I am going to have to check this out next time I clean my stove.

 

[littlesmokey]

Not sure of the particular problem you have, but there is an area in my stove that is impossible to get to with anything rigid. My solution was to use a piece of reinforced tubing used on beer or soft drink systems (tap line) It is think walled, had nylon to hold its shape, and you can really push and wiggle it to get where you want it. I then made an adapter to attach it to my vacuum. I use a Fein Turbo, well over twice as powerful as most shop vacs. Turn it on and suck away. The reinforced tube prevents kinking, and collapsing with the vacuum. I have worked it all the way to the combustion blower and cleaned it avoiding a mid year dismantle of the motor. A foot or two should do for length, make sure the size is small enough to make the turns, but big enough to work with your vac.

 

[imacman]

Obligitory kinky sex photo..................

I knew I'd see a pic of Zeta on her Harley eventually.....WOW!

 

[pegdot]

I tried to find a photo of exactly what I'm talking about but failed. It's the area behind the baffle plate, the heat exhangers. I found this photo on the Englander site. It's different from my stove but if you picture the opening in the back wall as being half this length, and the "shelf" being at the bottom of the opening rather than centered in the opening then you pretty much have what my stove looks like. There is no room to get anything larger than a drinking straw through the opening below the self so you have to snake the hose over to the right, down, then back to the left in order to clean ash from below the shelf. It's no problem to get a hose to go over and down but the turn is sharp and short enough that it just hits the bottom of the chamber and won't make the turn back to the left.

I know I'll explain this poorly but......the straight run you have to make to the right to get to the downward opening is longer than the downward section and there's another horizontal shelf about 4 inches above that one so the only kind of curve I can put in a hose is a very sharp hook right at the end. If I manage to get that into the lower area then the end of it is pointing straight up, towards the bottom of the shelf and it doesn't get the ash that's laying on the floor of that section. (Turning the vac on just causes it to suck onto the bottom of the shelf. :grrr: )

I set out yesterday to try the leaf blower trick but the way my vent is set up the connection between the straight out pipe and the cleanout T is inside the wall thimble so the only way I can possibly hook the blower onto the exhaust would be to remove the vertical pipe from the top of the T and put the blower there. I was going to give that a try but after a half hour of wrestling I wasn't able to get the pipe apart. There's no sealant between the sections but it looks like hubby put the pipe in crooked and it won't budge. After cutting my palm on it I gave up. :red: As soon as we have some nice weather on a weekend I'll make HIM get it apart! Is it worth doing that way?

BTW, sorry about the kinky sex part. LOL I couldn't resist and I knew you guys would read it.

 

[imacman]

.......anyone try removing any loose pieces only held in by gravity, then turning the stove upside down just to see if any hidden soot comes out after a cleaning?......

I gotta see that!

 

[pelletizer]

I cleaned my stove real good last night and there were no passages on the right side just the left,?

 

[pegdot]

Well, it would be the stoves left but MY right as I'm facing it so........lol The opening is on the control panel side of the stove. ;-)

 

[pelletizer]

ok yup I did try poking wire on that side I will try again in a bit gonna do an other stove cleaning, as I am experimenting with different pellet brands this weekend.