Potentially FATAL For Your Outdoor Boiler: Pull Rod Best Practices
We are always on the lookout for overlooked maintenance items that will cost you money. This one is BIG!
It Would Be CRAZY To Buy An Outdoor Furnace, and NOT Know How To Maintain It
Do You Have One?
You pull this handle - the "Pull Rod" - before opening your outdoor wood furnace door so that the smoke does not blow in your face. (See photo above.)
If you don't have a Pull Rod, read below for urgent and important info.
You might think: "Yeah, so what?"
But did you know that EACH MONTH, you should use the pull rod to clean your top air channel? This is often overlooked, and potentially FATAL to your outdoor wood burner.
How Is This Done?
Simply pull the Pull Rod until it hits the stop. Normally, you should pull the Pull Rod about 18 inches before it hits the stop. Then twist the Pull Rod clockwise about one-eighth of a turn, and you can continue to pull it out much farther! Several more feet!
If you do this with the front door open, you will see a poof of white powder drop down inside the firebox. This is how you clean out the top air channel (we call it the "D-Plate").
How Else Can I Clean The D-Plate?
You can also clean out the top air channel with a cleaning brush we call the "Cleaning Brush - D-Plate" (available HERE). With the furnace off and cool, simply remove your chimney cap, push the wood handle down the chimney and point the handle towards the front of the furnace.
Push it until the wood handle hits the front wall. Go to the front of your furnace, open the door, and reach up to grab the wood handle and pull the brush through. Do this several times until sufficiently clean.
It is also recommended to use a shop vac to remove ash from the top air channel by reaching the shop vac hose down the chimney.
If My Boiler Doesn't Have a Pull Rod?
Then you MUST obtain a "Cleaning Brush - D-Plate" and follow the directions above to clean your top air channel at least once per year or as needed. More cleaning instructions can be found in the product description of this cleaning brush HERE.
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