Check Your Stove Pipe
Last night I had a wild hair up my ass and decided to clean the 140. With the exaust coming out of the side of the stove, the first elbow was about 75 percent filled with fly ash. After shop vaccing it out, and re lighting the stove, it is like brand new, the moisture in the hopper has completely dissapeared. So, if anything, I will now clean out the stove and the pipe at least 4 times a year, if anything starts to go wrong, that is the first thing I will check. I love burning coal.
I have a tee at the elbow and so it's easy to check/clean. Once a month I do a good cleaning with the vacuum around the inside of the box to get the fly ash and whack the inside a couple times with a broomstick to knock the fly ash off the inside walls and out of the smoke vents and I pull the combustion fan to get any fines that may have amassed under the grate. It takes maybe 15 minutes and gives me good peace of mind.
I cleaned mine out last weekend after going away and shutting it off for the weekend. About 2 months of burning a 3' horizontal run was 1/4 blocked with ash. My chimney clean out is a good 4 to 5 feet below the stove pipe. Its cemented shut so it will be interesting to see how much is in there come spring.
- heatwithcoal
- Member
- Posts: 248
- Joined: Wed. Sep. 12, 2007 9:48 pm
- Location: Western Massachusetts
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: AK-110
Last year was my first full year of burning coal. These are pictures I took near the end of the burning season.
Yikes. Live and learn I guess.
Needless to say I have clean my pipes regularly this season.
Mark
Yikes. Live and learn I guess.
Needless to say I have clean my pipes regularly this season.
Mark
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WOW! thanks never thought to check the thimble!!!!! Can't wait to get home and chech the thimble.. Very nervous about that! Checked the main chiminey and to my suprise, the chimney was spotless,bottom elbow was 1/3 full of fly ash... which I cleaned this fall.
- Horace
- Member
- Posts: 500
- Joined: Thu. Sep. 18, 2008 12:15 pm
- Location: Central PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman ST8-VF8 / Frankenstove
I cleaned my stove about a week ago. Pulled the stove pipe apart from the thimble to the stove collar. In years' past, my pipe looked like HeatWithCoal's halfway through the season. This is the first year that I have had a baro damper installed and the horizontal run and thimble had nothing in them. I do, however, have a lot more flyash in the stove body. Seems to me that the reduction in draft that baro damper creates is not only leaving the heat in the stove, but also the flyash as well.