It's Cleaning Time for Most of Us

 
Mountainman37
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Post by Mountainman37 » Wed. May. 22, 2013 9:19 am

I do believe it is that time....late May now....to give up the coal fire and deal with cleaning. I've always used WD-40 as a preservative after my cleaning and vacuuming and it has always (5 or so years) done just fine with keeping the rust at bay...stove interior, grates and stove pipe.

The downside each year when I fire up, is the smoke..... every smoke detector is going off and the poor dogs are going crazy as I ventilate....usually in 30 degree December weather.... to get the smoke cleared out.

So my question is what do others do for rust prevention? Is there a way to keep rust at bay without going thru the smoke off in the fall when lighting up?

I have been looking at Fluid Film as something new to me, getting rave reviews as a penetrant, lubricant and a great rust preventer. Has anyone else seen this product and perhaps used it on the stove....and if so....does it smoke?


 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Wed. May. 22, 2013 10:05 am

The only thing I use WD-40 for is making plastic on dirt bikes or ATV's shine like new after a wash. It's pretty much useless for any other purpose. It sucks as a lubricant, and sucks as a rust preventative. Back around '92 or so, they changed the formulation to it's current suckiness. It's never been the same.

If the stuff doesn't smoke when hot, it's probably not going to prevent rust. If my basement wasn't as bad as it is, I'd just light up on a warm day in the fall and open all the windows. That way when you light up for winter, all the crap is burnt off already.

I can't do this here. If it sits one week without oil on it, it rusts like a Pinto on the beach.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Wed. May. 22, 2013 10:43 am

Mountainman37 wrote: what do others do for rust prevention?
I stuff a 60 watt light bulb in & let it stay on all summer. It works out to about $25 a season.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. May. 22, 2013 11:18 am

Mm, I'm with you my friend--WD40 has worked just fine for 5 yrs--if it ain't broke don't fix it---life's become complicated enough. Might just be my outstanding draft, but any smoke just goes up the chimney--you just do the inside YES??? This yr. I'm going to get wild & crazy & use some William's stove black on the outside--thanx Wm.-- some FORUM people were bitchin about some posted pix I put up last season--said the old Hitzer was lookin a tad shabby :clap: toothy NOW, if the old dog will ever go out, I could get started on this project--stopped putting coal to her Sun. past, afternoon. Hey SMITTY, I use WD on my street truck to get her all pretty don't ya know ;)

 
Mountainman37
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Post by Mountainman37 » Thu. May. 23, 2013 8:29 am

Thank you for the replies, folks!

Freddy, my cheap gene rebels at the $25 per season cost vs the hassle of smoke detectors beeping and airing out the basement for 30 minutes.....But, you have me thinking of electric heat to keep the stove inside dry....a gun safe "dehumidifier" called a Golden Rod, I think, by one mrf. They come in various lengths to suit the volume needs. The interior of the stove isn't much volume and a 15W or a 20W heater may do just fine....I can stand a cost of $8 per season....<grin>

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Thu. May. 23, 2013 10:51 am

Yeah Fred's got a point - if your stove isn't in a swamp like mine then WD will probably work just fine.

Looks good Fred - I thought you restored that thing! :D

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. May. 23, 2013 2:11 pm

UPDATE--this old bitch is just refusing to DIE :clap: toothy I'm callin Dean at Hitzer-- :wtf: ----I'm thinkin this weekend is gonna be maintenance time. :) SMITTY, it has that 50/50 look


 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. May. 23, 2013 2:47 pm

I cleaned the stove out but haven't done anything with the pipe yet. Should probably get on that.

 
waldo lemieux
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Post by waldo lemieux » Fri. May. 24, 2013 8:38 am

finally broke down and crawled in the bowels of the EFM. I was surprised how little ash was in there and how easily it brushed off. I happen to have this vac from a company called" Love less ash" that is made for cleaning stoves ( has three levels of filtration), I use it for drywall. You can suck up a pile of dust and there will be no dust in the air. Anyhoo after I did all that it was 5:30 and I needed something to spray on for rust inhibitor ,stores were closed but I wanted to get it done , soo I looked around and The only thing I could find was atf. I filled the hvlp sprayer up and let her have it :oops: Sprayer worked great ,took about one minute, the atf???? Ill get back to ya in october.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. May. 24, 2013 8:52 am

Hell waldo, that ATF will work as good as if not beter then all the fancy expensive crap out there---of course, you're talkin to somebody that has been using it for chain saw mix & bar lube for many, many yrs :clap: toothy

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. May. 24, 2013 8:53 am

Ya think???? ;)
I'm On Fire wrote:I cleaned the stove out but haven't done anything with the pipe yet. Should probably get on that.

 
waldo lemieux
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Post by waldo lemieux » Fri. May. 24, 2013 8:57 am

Fred,

Ill do for BBQ sauce too. If your grillin with coal :P

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. May. 24, 2013 6:46 pm

Waldo, how much coal did you put through the EFM?

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Sun. May. 26, 2013 5:59 pm

freetown fred wrote:Ya think???? ;)
I'm On Fire wrote:I cleaned the stove out but haven't done anything with the pipe yet. Should probably get on that.
I've been on vacation this week. Still haven't done it. I did however manage to hang two lights in the kitchen and start closing off the kitchen. But...well the only thing I did do with the stove was work on fixing the throat plate I put up in the fall, seems two of the bolts I put in the concrete didn't hold... but even that I didn't fix yet. Yeah, I know..I was lazy this week. Oh well... :D ;)

 
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63roundbadge
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Post by 63roundbadge » Fri. May. 31, 2013 6:57 pm

Am I wrong by simply vacuuming the stove and taking the black pipe length outside and flushing it? As I look up into the SS DuraVent, it's clean and solid looking after 26 years of use. On my 3rd cap though, which I expect. I did replace the black pipe once. Not very expensive. It has surface rust inside, I figure that's unavoidable.

My Efel never rusted, nor my 5 year old Kodiak. No smoke on start up from using ATF, drain oil or other lubes. ALTHOUGH, maybe bacon drippings would work well and smell great next year?

I'm not diminishing those who find it necessary to use a protective coating. I'm just saying that my minimal effort hasn't hurt yet.

It's kind of my 'Stabil' theory-Why spend $5.00 for Stabil when my mower starts and runs the following season on the same gas left in in fall? :)

Don't yell too loudly at me... :(


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