Pellet Stove Exhaust Motor & Vent Cleaning
The importance of cleaning your pellet stove exhaust/combustion fan regularly cannot be emphasized enough. As a general rule of thumb you should clean your exhaust motor and exhaust venting after 3 tons of pellet fuel have been burned. If you have lengthy horizontal or vertical pipe runs it should be cleaned more frequently. Additionally if you are burning standard grade pellets, hardwood pellets or other biomass fuels such as corn or sunflower seeds it should be checked and cleaned more frequently. Ash blockage and build-up in the exhaust fan and venting system is the #1 cause for service issues, dirty glass, frequent burn pot cleaning and low efficiency levels.
If you are noticing a lazy flame, heavy burn pot build-up and black soot on your stove’s glass, the first items you should inspect are the exhaust motor and exhaust vent pipe. The second items that should be inspected are the door, glass and ash pan gasket seals.
Simply running a brush through your venting system is not enough. The exhaust/combustion fan needs to be removed from the housing to be inspected and cleaned as well. When you remove the exhaust motor you MUST replace the gasket seal prior to reinstalling the motor back on the stove.
Once you run a brush through the venting system, we highly recommend you use a leaf blower/vac to suck out the loose ash. This device is powerful enough to pull the ash out of your vent, exhaust housing and most of the ash that accumulates behind the back firewall and upper heat exchange area in your stove.
If your exhaust/combustion motor needs to be replaced we offer factory OEM replacements for most lines of stoves and we also offer a universal exhaust/combustion fan kit that fits 95% of all pellet stove models on the market. Our aftermarket fan is needle point ball bearing motor for superior quietness and longevity; built in the USA. We also recommend replacing the combustion fan paddle blade.
As always we are here to help. Please contact us with any questions or assistance you may require.
US pellet stove 5500m does the upgraded exhaust fan move more air?
The one I have has been getting a lot of carbon on it and a big clinker in the burn pot. The entire exhaust has been cleaned. However the fan blades do have some rust. I burn uncle jeds soft wood.
Thanks for contacting us Neil. The 5500m uses a factory exhaust fan 80473. I’m unable to locate the exact RPM specs of the OEM exhaust fan. I believe the RPM’s are between 2800-3000. Our aftermarket exhaust fan kits run at 3000 RPM.
It’s good you have checked and cleaned the exhaust. Make sure you check and clean the firebox and all applicable ash traps. Additionally check your firebox door gasket and ashpan gasket if applicable. Any air leaks will cause poor combustion leaving carbon, clinkers and inefficient burn. From there it could very well be an exhaust fan issue or weak exhaust fan.
UJ Softwood is a good pellet. Rust on that fan blade would indicate moisture coming in through the pipe. We recommend capping or sealing off the outside vent once you are done with the stove for the season to ensure moisture cannot get in the pipe and stove. Links to vent caps below.
Here is our Gleason Avery USA Replacement – http://pellethead.com/product/us-stove-american-harvest-king-combustion-exhaust-fan-motor-kit-2/
Here is our Import Replacement – http://pellethead.com/product/us-stove-american-harvest-king-combustion-blower-exhaust-fan-motor-kit/
3″ Vent Cap – http://pellethead.com/product/stove-flue-exhaust-vent-pipe-venting-cap-plug-3/
4″ Vent Cap – http://pellethead.com/product/stove-flue-exhaust-vent-pipe-venting-cap-plug-4/
Any other questions please let us know.
Thanks,
ESESstoves
The amps on combustion motors seem to range between 1.6 and .95 to get 3000 RPM. Is this simply differences in efficiencies (?) or would a higher amp motor be more able to overcome drag to sustain 3000 RPM? (Or is this a dumb question?)
Thanks For Contacting us. Yes, Amperage varies on different motors that run at the same RPM. Amps are like torque. A motor with more amps will be able to sustain max RPM better. Now most motors are only at Max RPM during start-up and vary RPM in normal operation. For our 3000 RPM motors that have a lower amperage we use a deeper fan paddle blade that ensures proper performance in all modes of operation.
Hope that helps, any other questions please let us know.
Thanks,
ESESstoves