Pellet Stove - Cleaning & blasting that nasty rusty fire box and super rusty baffle panels!

Hello

This Quadrafire CB1200 has see alot of use in a basement that may have had some dampness. Dampness is the Pellet stove's # 1 adversary!

Even though it works fine, looks like time for a little touch up?

I brought out the Big Gun by using a 40 lb Abrasion blaster connected to a 210 PSI DeWalt compressor using Black Diamond - ultra fine (Coal Slag) but that is not all that is needed to perk this boy up?
Getting and setting up a good blaster is not easy, here was my struggle.
http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/for...ond-made-from-coal-slag-in-the-red-bag.12494/

Ultra fine Black diamond is a little messy but works good at $8 per bag.
Anyone else do blasting with Aluminum Oxide? That is rich stuff @ $50 per bag!

Pic 1 - Rusty Top Panels
Pic 2 - Abrasion Blaster using Black Diamond
Pic 3 - Baffle Blasting - "Gets the Rust Out"
Pic 4 - Removing the white calcium residue from the Black Diamond coal slag
Pic 5 - Almost Done blasting!
Pic 6 - Smooth with Emory Cloth
Pic 7 - Acetone wipe - 3 times over to get the oil and dirt off!
Pic 8 - Paint with Flame Proof Ultra High Temp Flat black paint
Click Pics to Enlarge:

 

Done!
Pic 9 - Fire Box Finished!
Click Pic to Enlarge:

 

Hello
Blasting & Painting is done!

Click on pic to Enlarge:

 

Here are more pics

Pic 1 - orig pic
Pic 2 - new upgraded exhaust blower and new lytherm gasket. Newly painted housing and new mounting hub and impeller blades treated with "Dry Moly"
Pic 3 - new graphite impregnated door gasket and sand blasted and painted fire box with new thermal couple cover

 

all good, Don, it looks like you are doing this work in the shop, so I am guessing you are doing a refurb, rather than a cleaning. To go to these lengths for a cleaning, and in someone's home, would be prohibitively expensive for the customer, or, well, you'd lose money if you followed a rough market rate for a stove cleaning. This time of year (summer), we sell our cleanings for $99.......

 

Yes it is shop work and more money in refurb work.

 

yea, there can be, if you know what you're buying to refurb and can manage to keep part costs in line, plus your labor, of course.

Its kinda like those guys who rebuild old cars. I have a neighbor who reubilt Pontiac Firebirds....he could always sell what he rebuilt, but he would confide that basically it was a huge money-losing proposition for him....he could usually sell the car for what he had into it in parts, paint, and the original purchase of the broke-down unit, but admitted that he never got reimbursed for the hundreds of hours of labor he put into it. For him the return was in looking at the finished product versus what he started with.

 

Yes, cars are tough. Stoves are hard also that is why the starting cost of the unit can either make it or break it! ! !

 

I tried the refurb thing for a very short time and found out there is not a reasonable profit level in it.
It didn't take me more than 2 deals and I knew that could sell one part and make more PROFIT than working way harder and selling the whole thing.
My world is working Smarter not harder, if you are passionate about something and not running a business it doesn't matter if there is a profit.

 

Well said, Arti! A person has to sit down and add ALL of their costs together and determine if it makes sense to sell a refurb. As a dealer, we don't sell "as is", and therefore need to buy something at next to nothing prices to even turn a profit. Repainting, replacing fans and boards, gaskets, time doing so, picking up the old unit, etc. can quickly kill any profit in the unit for us. And of course, you still have an old stove once you're done......gotta worry about parts, etc.