How To Completely Clean the Inside of Your Outdoor Furnace
Ultimate Summer Shutdown Checklist - Part 2 of 10: Cleaning Your Chimney and Deflector Plate
Do you take good care of your home? Your car?
Do you want your things to last?
You made a big investment in your outdoor wood boiler system. It can last 30 to 40 years, but only if you do a few simple maintenance items.
This is the reason why we make this simple for you with our checklists!
NOTE: This checklist ONLY relates to brushing the inside of your outdoor wood furnace, and does not replace the full instructions.
This article is about the parts of your outdoor wood stove that must be cleaned with brushes or other cleaning tools.
Which parts of the outdoor wood burner need to be cleaned with a brush or other cleaning tool? ALL INSIDE SURFACES!
This may sound harder than it is - but we make it even easier.
1. First, make sure you have the necessary items required for the summer shutdown - in particular make sure you have two creosote sticks (these are outdoor wood boiler creosote remover sticks), a "D-Plate Brush", a wire brush, and a shovel.
Creosote Sticks are available HERE. These creosote sticks are the best creosote remover. These do not totally dissolve creosote but they could make chimney creosote super easy to remove.
D-Plate Brushes are available HERE
2. Three days before you shut down your outdoor boiler, put both creosote sticks in the fire.
3. On the day you shut down your boiler, allow the fire to completely burn out. This will dry out the boiler. Do not add any fresh firewood to the fire, but let it burn down to coals and let the coals burn out completely. (See Dry Burn instructions for more info.)
4. Remove all ash and coals.
5. Scrape out the inside of the furnace with your shovel or any tool that allows you to make the steel surfaces clean.
6. Remove the Chimney cap. (If you have not done this in a while, it may be difficult, but it is MANDATORY.)
7. Using a wire brush chimney cleaner, brush out the inside of the chimney.
8. Using your D-Plate Brush, push the wooden handle end down the chimney and towards the front of the furnace until it hits the front wall. Open the firebox door and reach up and pull the handle so that you pull the D-Plate Brush through the Deflector Plate Channel. Do this three times or until the area is clean.
9. Climb on top of the furnace roof and using a shop vac, vacuum out the deflector plate area from the chimney. THIS IS AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED, yet ESSENTIAL maintenance item. It is FATAL to your boiler to overlook this important step.
NOTE TO GX Series Furnace Owners: GX furnaces do not have a deflector plate and do not need a D-Plate Brush. However, a tube cleaning brush or cleaning tool is required. Those GX Cleaning Tools can be found HERE. You need to check your GX model
Remember that this important maintenance item will keep your boiler in top condition and help you SAVE BIG Money for decades to come!
Visit our online store OutdoorBoiler.com for more outdoor wood boiler parts!
Coming Soon - Part 3!
Maintenance FAQs
- How often do I need to Inspect my Chimney/Flue
Inspect chimney and flue monthly and clean as needed. Clean chimney and flue annually. Perform cleaning and maintenance only when no fire is present in the firebox and ashes are cooled completely.
- How Can I Change Door Rope Gasket?
The rope will settle in the first few months of use. Before you change the rope gasket try adjusting your door. This is easiest with two people, one to push the door against the chute and the other to adjust the bolts. Keep your door snug but not so tight that it is difficult to operate
Visit our online store to order for Door Seal/Gasket Replacement Parts and other outdoor wood furnace parts
- How do I Clean the Lower Ash Chamber?
Use caution. Only open the lower back door when furnace is switched to off position. Using the provided cleaning/scraping tool, remove ash from lower chamber as necessary, at least every week. Always remove ash into a covered, non-combustible container.
- What do you mean by proper ash management?
The manner in which you correctly remove and position the ash in the firebox.
Remove ash and coals every week and scrape firebox clean. Never operate the outdoor wood burning furnace with a fire in it with the door open, except for brief periods while loading wood or removing ash.
Always remove ash into a covered, non-combustible container. Clean ash from all firebox surfaces, especially the rear plate and side plates.DO NOT ALLOW ASH TO BUILD UP ON THE STEEL SURFACES.
