5 Service Tips to Maintain Your Hearth Appliance Like A Pro

Whether you have a wood, pellet, or gas unit, these service tips will help you maintain your heat source like a pro and get it up and running again in the event of a part failure. Be sure to check out our knowledge base for more specific technical support HERE and stove maintenance HERE for your stove or fireplace.

1. Clean Regularly & Thoroughly

We know it can be a chore to shut down the stove and perform regular maintenance and cleaning tasks. But completing these tasks help to improve the operation of your hearth appliance and can extend the lifespan of the essential parts. Each brand and fuel type require different maintenance tasks and schedules. You might be surprised what a difference a detailed cleaning can make when you experience technical difficulties with your hearth appliance makes a good starting point. Remove firebrick, baffles and motor housings to check every nook and cranny of the firebox for ash and creosote build up that may contribute to a combustion problem.

2. Read the Owner’s Manual

You will find important instructions for the correct operation and sometimes even some troubleshooting solutions to help resolve simple issues. Following these instructions will preserve the lifespan of your stove or fireplace and help protect against damage from abuse or neglect. Most owner’s manuals also have a page where you can record the model and serial number for future reference. These details will help to confirm which replacement parts will be compatible in your unit. The manual will often list fuel specifications and other tips to reach optimum performance from your stove or fireplace.  Need a replacement copy of your manual? We try to keep extensive resources on file. Contact us to see if we can provide a free digital copy.

3. Conquer Stubborn Glass

Many stoves and fireplaces today have some kind of glass doors or front. There is something comforting about watching the flickering flame during those long winter nights. Keeping this glass clean can become quite the task. We recommend using a glass cleaner that is rated for high temperature environments like oven cleaner or cleaner that is specifically formulated for stoves & fireplaces (otherwise it will undo all your hard work if remaining residue soot up the glass upon relighting). Carefully select non-abrasive cleaning supplies to prevent accidentally etching the glass. Stay away from Windex. For wood and pellet stoves dipping a damp cloth or newspaper into the fine fly ash may lend additional cleaning power. This is one case where the best defense is a good offense. Keeping up with the regularly scheduled maintenance can help improve air flow and keeps the glass clean longer.

4. Keep Key Tools on Hand

Some manufacturers produce special tools for cleaning components like scrapers with special angles to reach the corners and holes of the burn pot. You may also want to keep a digital multi-meter on hand for testing electronic parts like blowers, motors, thermopiles and more. Multi-meters can be found relatively inexpensively at your local hardware store. Testing with a multi-meter will enable you to troubleshoot more accurately and prevent replacing unnecessary parts. If you own a pellet stove and are comfortable bench testing electronic parts you might be interested in setting up a test wire adapter like this one HERE. Bench tests are a great way to isolate a part and test its performance outside of the stove. 

5. Know your limits

Some issues require greater expertise than homeowners are expected to understand. Especially when it comes to gas burning appliances and complex electrical issues, it is better to refer to a qualified professional who can complete the repairs safely. There is no shame in calling in an expert when needed. Just be sure that the experienced "professional" truly is qualified to service your stove or fireplace. Not all technicians are equally competent and a poorly qualified technician may cause more harm than help. 

Did you know we offer free troubleshooting on wood and pellet stoves? If you need help diagnosing the source of the issue you can call or chat with our customer service team and we are more then happy to help. Before you schedule an expensive service call, reach out to our agents by calling 406-272-9850 or visiting our website at stove-parts-unlimited.com and we can review the problem with you.