Maintenace for Coal Stokers

It's always an unpleasant job, which is why I don't do mine very often. Brushing off the flyash is one thing, but you may need a stronger brush for the harder deposits.

Several chimney sweeps pointed out to me that you shouldn't use a steel bristle brush on a stainless pipe.

maybe 1-2 times a season (Normal winter time) a quick vaccum, but depends on your coal, ash, etc..., a good cleaning is always recommened when shutdown in the spring time.

I vacuum th inside of the stove once per week or at longer intervals if I have to wait for it to be in idle mode during the day. I use a wire brush to knock down the loose deposits inside the stove but don't bother with the pipe. The stove pipe can be cleaned once per week by cranking the PV (power Vent) up to max on the rheostat and holding the baro closed while tapping on the pipe (this will pull the loose stuff off the pipe but little else). Then in the spring when you are done using the stove disassemble the pipe and clean everything completely (use a stainless wire brush if your pipe is stainless), spray it with WD and leave it disconnected. I have a Magic Heat air to air xchanger and that has lots of nooks and crannies and has to be turned every which way to get all the ash out.

I remove the cover from the PV every month and blow out the fly ash with a yard blower, then I lube the motor with one drop of the SWG synthetic lube and spray a little WD up into the cooling fan to make sure it doesn't rot out. In the spring I pull the motor assembly out and inspect everything and completely clean it. I also keep a SWG motor kit on hand just in case the thing decides to fail, which you know would be on the coldest day of the year!

Matthaus wrote: I have a Magic Heat air to air xchanger and that has lots of nooks and crannies and has to be turned every which way to get all the ash out.

What about using compressed air (outside, of course)?

That would work also. It just makes a real mess with all the dust. Use a dust mask or resparator.

Compressed air + fly ash = dust cloud, as long as you do it outside and wear a dust mask as suggested it works OK. Try and see which way the wind is blowing to make sure you don't coat your house.

The fun part is cleaning the shop vac filter when it clogs from the fly ash. I've been dumping my fly ash into plastic bags, in the garage, which is working fine and a lot less messy then my old method. When I did it outside the wind would create a mini tornado of ash. I hate having it in my garage though. I'm just getting over a sinus infection and I think it may be from the fly ash. Be careful with that stuff.