Time Lapse Between Cleaning Out The LL110K

It looks like I need to clean mine out every month at this point. I was losing draft at the base (0.02 to less than 0.01) so I cleaned it this weekend and I'm back to 0.02.

I've just moved the baro damper further from the top of the boiler, and will be monitoring the draft at the base and the stack from here on out. I 'think' I may have too much draft up top.

I'd be interested to hear how the rest of you folks are making out with your units.

Give the definition of " cleaning out".
Do you take the grate off and clean the combustion chamber ?
Do you brush the fire tubes ( I assume this is a boiler ) ?
Do you clean the ash pan area and the flue pipe ?

I keep the ash area clean and beat the flue a few times a season, but don't do
a full shut off clean out till early summer.

tsb wrote:Give the definition of " cleaning out".
Do you take the grate off and clean the combustion chamber ?
Do you brush the fire tubes ( I assume this is a boiler ) ?
Do you clean the ash pan area and the flue pipe ?

I keep the ash area clean and beat the flue a few times a season, but don't do
a full shut off clean out till early summer.

LL110 Venting Issue

That.

These units seem to build up ash in the tubes rather quickly, at least for some of us. By comparing who has the problem and who doesn't, maybe we can figure out what the best setup for them would be.

I am finding that I am cleaning it rather frequently. 3 times since October. After talking to Matthaus at Leisure Line, he assured me that you don't have to do a complete shutdown. If owners have the clean-out option, it's easy. With a pair of pliers, I shake the baffles and have a shop vac handy. It takes ten minutes.

From all the folks I have talked to looks like it is a factor of coal ash content more than anything. Once a month seems to be rather common for heavy use (more than 1500# per month) but it can be stretched to a longer interval by slightly reducing the draft at the breach. I would not go any lower than -.035" and as long as there are no signs of poor draft (wet hopper lid or slight sulpher smell) the base draft can go below -.01" with no ill effects.

The clean out option makes this a easy job and will require less than 2 minutes per cleaning, the economizers do not require removal or movement each time unless you want to.

The clean out option makes this a easy job and will require less than 2 minutes per cleaning, the economizers do not require removal or movement each time unless you want to.

I have the baby AnthraKing and I would suggest that ash built up at the exhaust entrance it's not a function of low quality coal it's just the nature of the design. Of course, a high ash coal makes the problem worse. The exhaust comes out the bottom, that way the stove designers get better heat transfer as it's a longer heat run. So it's an easy maintenance item, I have a tee at the bottom of the exhaust run and a vacuum system that is resistant to hot ashes (in my case a prechamber). I turn my Powervent up to max, damp facecloth over the baro so it sucks more (optional), and leave the stove on, off with the blank cap (three screws per code, or two if you are me) at the T and vacuum the pipe 1 minute tops, 30 seconds for a bet. As I am a flake and forget things it's on the schedule for every Monday morning, I need regimentation. Love that Powervent! It's so built into the design that I think the T should be an installation suggestion. In fact I think perhaps LL should build that T on with a sign "Clean regularly" on the cap. A blocked exhaust stack is not a good thing unless you are testing to see if the CO alarm works properly. I'm wondering if the exhaust came out a little higher, perhaps the ash would not collect so much. OTOH, I want max stove effectiveness so I would leave it, who wants more UL testing?

Matthaus wrote:From all the folks I have talked to looks like it is a factor of coal ash content more than anything. Once a month seems to be rather common for heavy use (more than 1500# per month) but it can be stretched to a longer interval by slightly reducing the draft at the breach. I would not go any lower than -.035" and as long as there are no signs of poor draft (wet hopper lid or slight sulpher smell) the base draft can go below -.01" with no ill effects.

The clean out option makes this a easy job and will require less than 2 minutes per cleaning, the economizers do not require removal or movement each time unless you want to.

Yep, I'm burning right around 1500 per month, and the cleanout is right around a one month interval.

Wish that easy cleanout option had been there when I bought mine... but it's really not that big a deal to clean it out.

As for the amount of ash in the coal, I'm not really tracking that at his point, since this has been the first year and keeping the boiler lit has been the biggest priority, but I suspect that you're right about that.

As stated the design does have a minor drawback with the fly ash build up in the tubes, however the clean out option makes this a non issue, since cleaning can be done with no tools except a vacuum and takes less than 2 minutes.

For those interested we have the clean out available as a retrofit at a special price for those who already own a boiler without one, the unit mounts on your existing top but requires a square hole be cut in it. For those lacking the capability to cut the hole I can exchange tops as long as I have enough in stock (I will need the old top and sheet metal back ASAP).
Please contact me if you want one.