Spring Maintenance

I have searched through the messages on routine maintenance for stoves but everyone seems to have different opinions.

I was planning on doing the following to my koker upon shut off (same day)

1. Vacume out all ash from inside stove completely
2. Vacume out all ash from my flue pipe
3. Schedule Chimney cleaning
4. Remove combustion blower and vacume under grates
5. Oil Combusion blower, Convection blower and gear motor (still trying to determine where I oil these and what I use)
6. Scrap Glass clean and treat with stove glass cleaner
7. Take ash bins out of stove, clean and store away
8. Wipe down all inside and outside of stove after vacumming.
9. Poke out all holes in grates (in case clogged) before vacuming (with drill bit)
10 Use emery cloth on grate

Anything I am missing? Is there anything I should put in the stove? Some treatment or something to prevent rusting?

Thanks for your suggestions!

Make sure when you clean it, use Baking Soda and water to neutralize the ash corrosion inside the stove/grates.

Spray everything down inside the stove with LPS 3 Rust Preventative (Or Equal).

I normally disconnect mine from the chimney, clean/check pipe and block it off.

Another thread on it..

"Summer" storage- Cleaning Coal Stove

Dave, thanks, so actually mix baking soda with water and wipe the inside of the stove and grates with that? Then spray the Lp3 on the inside and leave it?

In addition to what Dave has suggested, there are a few other things that others have posted that you could try after your cleaning. One of the tricks I have read about but not tried is to fill your stove with crumpled up newspaper that will absorb any moisture that may get into your stove. Another that I have used it to put a drop light in your stove and leave it on. Of course this will use electricity but the small amount of heat it produces helps to prevent rust also. If you have access to a bunch of those Desiccant packs that absorbs moisture, put them in the stove may help also. Here is a site that sells them. You could probably find them elsewhere also. The packs listed are for larger areas like safes, gun cabinets etc.

http://www.safetycentral.com/moisabdespac1.html

Jeff

Stick one of these Dry-packs on the grate. Should absorb any leftover moisture. They are rechargeable too. Use them for many years.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dry-Packs-900-Gram- ... 240%3A1318



Chris F.

Well I think I will be shutting down my channing 111 stoker this weekend and I was wondering the best way to empty the hopper. I don't think I can just run it until all the coal in the hopper is burnt, I thought I might let it run until there is just a little coal left and then try to empty the hopper by hand this will be my first spring clean up, does anyone have any suggestions, also is there anthing I could use besides LPS-3, the only place I have seen it so far is online at Amazon. Thanks to this site I have a much better idea about how to clean my stove and prevent rust, just wondering about the hopper.

Pocono Pete wrote:Well I think I will be shutting down my channing 111 stoker this weekend and I was wondering the best way to empty the hopper. I don't think I can just run it until all the coal in the hopper is burnt, I thought I might let it run until there is just a little coal left and then try to empty the hopper by hand this will be my first spring clean up, does anyone have any suggestions, also is there anthing I could use besides LPS-3, the only place I have seen it so far is online at Amazon. Thanks to this site I have a much better idea about how to clean my stove and prevent rust, just wondering about the hopper.

How bout the shop vac?

I'm burning off whats left in my hopper as I type. However I wouldn't leave the house or go to bed with a hopper that low. Then I plan on vacuming out the stove, pipe, and chimney clean out. Maybe wiping down with baking soda water. Blocking off and reinstalling the stove pipe to keep it looking clean, just can't forget its blocked come fall. Not sure if I'm going to spray down the stove, but will put something inside for the humidity. Question, why clean out the chimney? I know many coal burners that besides the ash at the bottom never clean it.

I was looking at the Cabela's site the other day and seen a mini dehumidifier for in a gun safe and thought this may work in my furnace in the offseason. Anyone any opinions on this? It's only 25 bucks and well worth a try I thought.

Also, make sure the FINS are cleaned good on your blowers....here is what mine looked like when I bought my used stove! what a difference a little cleaning makes.!!

Many just have a setscrew (Hex allen head) on the shaft to remove the cage and clean it.

That's a great point, checking mine later today.

Side note...For some reason I am having to clean out my Koker back pipes and Flue pipes every 4 weeks this year so much ash is collecting....last 3 years I could go 6-8 weeks before a clean out. I guess I just have real ashy coal this year....from south tamaqua...heats nice but amazed at the amount of collection of the ashin pipes so quickly! It's a real fine gray dust ash.

Even after just one week I have ash piling in the koker bottom flues already!

Found the new 4 week cleaning rule when I came home on a 55 degree day and had 30 ppm on the mono tester. Draft was zero.

This usually only happens when the weather is over 70 degrees!

everyone keep check on your drafts for sure!

Excessive draft and/or combustion air can also cause unusual amounts of flyash to collect in the flue pipe. If you have already checked those things, then the coal probably creates more flyash than you're accustomed to.

Ash build up hasn't been too much of an issue with my koker this year. About once a month I run a 4" brush down each exhaust tube and with each ash tub exchange, I vacuum out the bottom of the stove and bottom of the exhaust tubes which probably pulls some built up ash from the lower portions of the exhaust tubes at the same time. Shop-Vac with a hepa filter and dust deputy works pretty well, just knock some of the fine dust off the filter every third cleaning or so.

WnyRob, yep that's what I do also! Gotta love the dry vac with hepa filter, I get the ridged clones for $16 online and use 2 or 3 a year.

My draft averages about .03 at most times when temps are in the 40's or lower.

Don't think mydraft is too strong but no matter how I adjust the Baro damper I can't bring it below .03 on those days when the koker is clean.

I know kokers like it at .02.

The combustion fan is the same I have used for the past 4 years.

I did vacuum under the grates about a month ago also and the wind is blowing hard now from under the grates, real red fire!

I found smaller attachment that connects to my dry vac that allows me to remove the blower motor and then use that up under the grates...real nice!

By the way I think the draft problem is more of the ash collecting at the bottom of my 5" stainless steel liner then in the koker tubes.

Last time I cleaned there was a pile about 1 1/2 inches deep collected right at the bottom of the liner before it starts it's vertical climb.