General Maintenance And Cleaning - Quadra-Fire CB1200MI-MBK Owner's Manual

CB1200 Pellet Insert
B. General Maintenance and Cleaning
1. Types of Fuel
Depending on the type of fuel you are burning will dictate how often
you have to clean your fire pot.
If the fuel you are burning has a high dirt or ash content or you are
burning shelled field corn, it may be necessary to clean the fire pot
more than once a day.
Dirty fuel will cause clinkers to form in the fire pot. A clinker is formed
when dirt, ash or a non-burnable substance is heated to 2000°F
(1093°C) and becomes glass-like. See Section C. High Ash Fuel
Content Maintenance on page 15 in this section for more details
on fuels with high ash content.
Clinker
Figure 12.1 - Clinker
2. Cleaning Fire pot with Cleaning Rod & Fire pot
Clean-Out Tool
• Frequency: Daily or more often as needed
• By: Homeowner
a. The appliance must be in complete shutdown and cool and
the exhaust blower off. NOTE: If you are just cleaning the
fire pot, there is no need to unplug the insert.
b. Pull fire pot cleaning rod OUT and IN a couple of times to
help shake debris loose.
If rod is hard to pull, it may be necessary to use your fire
pot clean-out tool to chip away material that has built up on
the bottom plate of the fire pot and to push out any clinkers.
Larger clinkers may have to be removed from the top of the
fire pot. Corn clinkers can be especially difficult to break up.
c. The fire pot floor plate must be fully closed when finished.
Figure 12.1.
WARNING
Fire Risk.
• NEVER pull fire pot cleaning rods or cleaning slide
plates when appliance is operating. Hot pellets
may fall into ash pan and may start a fire or have
mis-starts due to lack of vacuum.
3. Ash Removal from Firebox
• Frequency: Weekly or more frequently depending on ash
build-up
• By: Homeowner
a. There must not be any hot ashes in the firebox during cleaning
so allow the appliance to completely cool. Frequent cleaning
of the ash in the firebox will help slow down the build-up of
ash in the exhaust blower and vent system.
b. Plug in your appliance, if unplugged, and turn the thermostat
on and immediately shut it off to start the exhaust blower on
its cycle time. It will pull fly ash out the exhaust instead of
into the room.
12
c. Open door. There are 2 cleaning slide plates to the left and
right of the fire pot with finger holes. Pull both slide plates
out and sweep the remaining ash from the firebox into the
2 open holes. A paint brush works well for this. Close slide
plates.
d. This ash is deposited in the same ash drawer as the fire pot
debris. The ash drawer should be emptied every time you
clean the firebox. Remember to place the ash and debris
into a metal or non-combustible container.
e. The 2 cleaning slide plates must be fully closed when cleaning
is complete. See Disposal of Ashes.
4. Cleaning Ash Drawer
• Frequency: Weekly or every 5 bags of fuel
• By: Homeowner
Locate the ash drawer underneath the fire pot and slide the ash
drawer straight out. Empty into a non-combustible container
and re-install ash drawer. See Disposal of Ashes.
5. Disposal of Ashes
• Frequency: As needed
• By: Homeowner
Ashes should be placed in a metal container with a tight-fitting
lid. The closed container of ashes should be placed on a
non-combustible floor or on the ground, well away from all
combustible materials, pending final disposal.
If the ashes are disposed of by burial in soil or otherwise locally
dispersed, they should be retained in the closed container until
all cinders have been thoroughly cooled.
Disposal of Ashes.
• Ashes should be placed in metal container with tight
fitting lid.
• Ashes should be retained in closed container until all
cinders have thoroughly cooled.
6. Cleaning the Hopper
• Frequency: Monthly or every 1 ton of fuel
• By: Homeowner
After burning approximately 1 ton of fuel you will need to clean the
hopper to prevent sawdust build-up. A combination of sawdust and
pellets on the auger reduces the amount of fuel supply to the fire
pot. This can result in nuisance shutdowns and mis-starts.
1. The appliance must be in complete shutdown. Allow the appli-
ance to completely cool down.
2 Empty the hopper of any remaining pellets.
3. Vacuum the hopper and feed tube.
Heat exchanger cleaning rods may be warm to
the touch. For safety purposes wear gloves.
Do not pull heat exchanger cleaning rods
while appliance is operating.
Push cleaning rods IN when done, DO NOT
leave cleaning rods OUT. Injury can occur.
7014-286B
WARNING
WARNING
November 28, 2017