flamegrabber said:
Rod,
I need probably 12-15k btu's to just overcome the draftyness of the room it's in. Besides I like overkill! And I like the low maintenence, multi-fuel, big hopper, etc. And the heat is just great. We come in from the cold and just stand in front of the Omega for about a minute to warm up. It's great.
Rod, what would you recommend for end of season maintenence?
I heard from a guy yesterday say it's better to just leave the stove after the burning season and not clean it until just before the next season begins. He said the ash content left in the stove protects it from corrosion, etc. Not sure if that's true.
I've also heard to clean it out and spray a coating of Pam in the firebox to keep the rust away, and to plug the exhaust with a rag, etc. There're too many opinions out there, hard to know which is best.
Also, I read a post of yours Re: your cleaning your Omega. You said you cleaned the flue. Does that mean the horizontal exhaust coming out the back of the stove or the vertical chimney/vent pipe? ( remove cleanout and run a brush thru the vent pipe dumping out the tee at the bottom, etc. ) I have a cleanout tee and about 12 feet straight up from that.
How long does your full cleaning take you? That may help me estimate how much time is required to do the job right.
Love the stove.
FG.
I always clean my stove just before start up. Mostly because Im to bz working on other peoples stoves and problems.
Another reason to wait is there is a 90% chance you are going to find a bird in your pipe of blower and if you clean it too early you are going to have take apart again to retrieve the bird or bat.
The omega takes about 30 minutes to clean/service to hour at the most.
I Run a brush down the pipe and
then disconnect the stove from the pipe and pull it away from the wall and turn it around to get to the goodies.
Take the sides and the lower back panel off.
The room air blower is EZ to remove. take it out and blow it out.
Compressed air or a leaf blower.
you dont have to remove the combustion blower because you can see and get to the blades from the ash pan.
but if you want to blow it out then feel free to remove it but you are going to need the gasket.
Use a vacuum and suck out all the dust bunnies from behind the stove, off control board and limit switches and off the two gear reduction motors.
Check the and adjust the chain for the agitator.
Pull the vacuum hose of the pressure switch on blow to clear the port connected to the combustion chamber.
Put back together and do a good cleaning to the inside of the stove.
If you wish you can remove the Cast back panel to clean ash that is suck to the side walls of the stove behind it.
Use a bottle brush and or a Potato brush to brush all nooks and crannies inside the stove.
I like to wire brush all the parts off the burn assembly to get the corrosion off. the top parts are just mild steel and they start to flake because of the salt content of pellets.
Also Use a small hose adapt on your vacuum and suck the ignitor tube and the two air intake hole to get all ash out of it.
Last trick
If you have help.
Get a $25 flat rolling dolly from you Local big box store.
Put the stove on it and roll it out side.
Clean out the ash in the stove with a vacuume and dump the ash pan
Remove the sides and the back.
Blast the stove with a Leaf blower and or compressed air.
