Letting the Fire Die Out for Cleaning

Ya might want to make yourself up a lil critter like this in pix. Great for edges & corners. No shuttin down necessary. I do mine every couple months.

One of my pokers looks just like yours, FF. My furnace gets all the corners and edges cleaned with that every day.

Looks like that could come in handy

larryfoster wrote:Looks like that could come in handy

Yep the L shaped pokers do come in handy.

Hopefully this thread will not turn into a "poker" measuring contest

tcalo wrote:

RRBoy wrote:I have read that ash tends to build up in the corners and edges of the stove, can begin clogging the grates, and clinkers can form which won't pass the grates.
Anyone got any tips about other things a newbie should be looking for while cleaning out?

Thanks

Tip - get an antique, you'll never have to worry about shutting down to clean it out

Now that, was funny!!!!

Seagrave1963 wrote:Maybe do a little cleaning on the glass/ceramic if you don't already have that on the checklist. I started using this (http://www.imperialgroup.ca/fireplace_maintenanceproducts.cfm?c=361). Makes subsequent "glass" cleaning much easier and seems to keep the crazing to a minimum.

Good Luck on the cleanout and restart!

When burning coal, one rule is to have one door open at a time on the stove. This way air is drawn in the open door. One thing I just started doing with the D.S. is to open the front load door all the way before shaking. By doing this, fly ash does not get all over the glass. Glass stays a lot cleaner. No fly ash comes out, due to air being drawn in. After shaking, I close the door. Works Good...... Of course, you'll want to open your manual pipe dampers as useual.

I do mine every couple months.[/quote]

JFC Fred every couple months!!!??? I have to do my Harman every load otherwise it pukes owt!!! My boiler don't like ash!!!
Jim

tcalo wrote:

RRBoy wrote:I have read that ash tends to build up in the corners and edges of the stove, can begin clogging the grates, and clinkers can form which won't pass the grates.
Anyone got any tips about other things a newbie should be looking for while cleaning out?

Thanks

Tip - get an antique, you'll never have to worry about shutting down to clean it out

I did not realize the antique grates could chew up rocks and the stovepipe was immune to flyash.

Rob R. wrote:

tcalo wrote: Tip - get an antique, you'll never have to worry about shutting down to clean it out

I did not realize the antique grates could chew up rocks and the stovepipe was immune to flyash.

Rob,
I think Tommy's point was that, generally speaking, a cylindrical firepot will not have dead spots and eventually ash up like a rectangular box stove fire pot. That a drop center grate will allow clinkers to simply fall from under the "bridge" into the ash pan, with no huge need for "chewing up rocks" And that the stoves were designed (especially now with an ash vac) to be easily cleaned while running. His setup in particular, with it's completely vertical stove pipe, is VERY easy to service as fly ash can be easily cleaned through the two rear clean out doors as it settles at the base of the stove/pipe.
S

Because they have more than one pathway from firebox to stove pipe, the flues can be cleaned in some antique stoves while they are running in direct draft.

The only time I have to have the stove shutdown is when I clean the stove pipe once a year. But I do that at the end of the season. Which amounts to fly ash from about 3-1/2 tons of nut per season, now.

When reloading, and/or, shaking ash the range gets put into direct draft with the MPD wide open. That way the flue gases are moving very fast through the pipe and a lot of the fly ash that has settled in the horizontal section of the pipe during normal running gets blown into the chimney and falls down to the cleanout door. At the end of the season, that's where most of the fly ash winds up. About enough ash to fill a 2 gallon paint pail.

I forgot to clean the pipe one year. At the end of that second year the deposit of fly ash in the horizontal section was only about a half, to and inch, deeper than it is after just one season.

When I clean the stove flues, I close the primary almost completely, open the mpd fully, and put the range in direct draft. Then I can vacuum out the range's flues through the access door meant for that, using a small (5 gal) shop vac using an extension attachment I made out of 1-1/4 plastic sink drain and a 3 foot round oil burner cleaning brush. Because the draft is strong and the shop vac is kinda small, I don't get any coal burning smell getting sucked through the shop vac.

And, the same method of putting the stove in direct draft can be used to clean the base heater's flues by taking the ash pan out and the trap door under it. Also with the 118 modern Oak's back pipe, which has a clean out door in the pipe's support base.

Paul

Some might find this useful for their stoves - especially antique stoves and ranges with long flues. This shop vac attachment makes the job quicker and easier.

It's made from 1-1/4 inch plastic sink drain "P-trap" parts I got at Lowes. By leaving the gasket in place, it's a snug, slip-on fit to smaller hoses of many shop vacs and home vacuum cleaners. To make it longer to reach into my range's long base flues, I just duct taped two sections butted together. The heat inside the flues is not over 350F needed to melt the plastic. I cut notches in the end to allow it to still pick up ash while contacting the flue floor and walls without suctioning itself to the surface.

The long- handled brush is for cleaning furnaces and it's available from any plumbing and heating supply house.

Paul

freetown fred wrote:Ya might want to make yourself up a lil critter like this in pix. Great for edges & corners. No shuttin down necessary. I do mine every couple months.

Fred, what did you use to make that?
I don't have any fabrication equipment or metal skills.
Could I just bend it in a vise?

Or, do you think a piece of 3/4" EMT conduit with the end flattened and a bend might work?
Thanks

Just a piece of rod I had layin in the barn L. Yep on the emt--should work fine. KISS!! Don't have to be purty or expensive.

Thanks for the reply.
Simple is good for me.
I'm not a very clever man.