Cleaning Esse Oil Cooker/Stove V40 Sovereign Select

UKOwl

New Member
Hi folks

Found this forum whilst trying to get some info about our Esse cooker, and was hoping that some of you may have one or experience of cleaning these. The big advantage with this model is that it can still run if the electric goes off as it is a vapourising type, albeit the pump would stop.

The manual states that there are three flueways, but I have only ever found two (one behind the splashplate at the top, and the other between the two oven doors). The third one is described as "A removable access door/cover at the top back/rear of the boiler" (unfortunately there is no diagram). I have spoken to someone at Esse but still haven't been able to get to the bottom of this - this is not a current model).
 

f0ster

Member
the burner will be a don burner (wick burner) ours was coal until I converted it to oil with a 6" vaporizing burner, ours had four ovens with the main flue at the rear r/h side back corner, ours was also gravity hot water so no pump required. I think they might mean the passage of the gasses from the burner to the outlet of the flue. the gasses go up vertical below the hot plate and then horizontal to the right again under the hot plate, they then go up the flue. these will be the passages to clean,
 

UKOwl

New Member
Thanks for your input. This Esse does not actually have a wick, unlike the old fashion Aga types. I think that they may mean the passage way at the top back which is accessable when the cooker rod is in the OUT position - I always brush down that.

Last winter the stove had been sooting up after just a month - it was fine prior to last year. I discovered that the supplier had been adding insufficient additive to our deliveries (done manually at delivery time). We purchased the additive seperately this year which I put in just before the delivery chap came and it does seems to be behaving better so far (the flame is much bluer - less yellow).
 

multi power

Member
Location
pembrokeshire
Thanks for your input. This Esse does not actually have a wick, unlike the old fashion Aga types. I think that they may mean the passage way at the top back which is accessable when the cooker rod is in the OUT position - I always brush down that.

Last winter the stove had been sooting up after just a month - it was fine prior to last year. I discovered that the supplier had been adding insufficient additive to our deliveries (done manually at delivery time). We purchased the additive seperately this year which I put in just before the delivery chap came and it does seems to be behaving better so far (the flame is much bluer - less yellow).
Blue flame it will stay clean, yellow flame it will fill with soot
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
If its like the woodstove esse the third is behind the oven to which you have to remove the stove pipe and the square which the stove pipe sits on. This then allows you to get 4ft of straight hoover pipe down the back of the oven and right down to the floor.
 

Dog&stick

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
There are 3 if you have back boiler, top flue out, around damper, down between oven and boiler, then between top & bottom oven.
You must uses a vaporizing oil additive to the kero, then you should get to do a annual clean. Put it on red diesel be monthly,
When / if the bio % increases may need two additive pots.
We have a Cleopatra model running in farm house 24/7, sure there a manual here somewhere.
 
Location
Gwynedd
Get yourelf a small hand mirror and a torch, take the hotplate off above the burner, now use the mirror and torch to look at the upper part of the back of the stove, the small access plate you are looking for will about 4" to the left of where the damper rod passes through the back under the flue and is held on with a knurled nut that can be opened by hand.
Hope that this makes sense.
 

UKOwl

New Member
If its like the woodstove esse the third is behind the oven to which you have to remove the stove pipe and the square which the stove pipe sits on. This then allows you to get 4ft of straight hoover pipe down the back of the oven and right down to the floor.
I think ours is similar - you take off the rectagular cover and there is a sort of shute which goes down at the back on the right hand side behind the oven. I've always cleaned that out with a long handled bottle brush and I presume that the soot then collects in the area that is located between the two ovens?? I have never tried to insert a vacuum hose down there but merely cleaned out the box between the ovens - I hope that was sufficient....

Anyway - that is two fluways, but there is still the mystery third one.....
 

UKOwl

New Member
Get yourelf a small hand mirror and a torch, take the hotplate off above the burner, now use the mirror and torch to look at the upper part of the back of the stove, the small access plate you are looking for will about 4" to the left of where the damper rod passes through the back under the flue and is held on with a knurled nut that can be opened by hand.
Hope that this makes sense.
Thanks for your suggestion. I intend to have another look tomorrow. If I understand you correctly, the access plate will be located on the back of the stove - ie in a verticle postion. There is a bolt located at the back in that area with has a wingnut on it holding a strip of metal about 1" wide and several inches long. Underneath this is a sort of semi circular groove about 1/2" wide which I cleaned out - it doesn't appear to be an entrance - just a very shallow gap. Maybe this is what you are referring to as I was able to undo it by hand!??
 

UKOwl

New Member
Get yourelf a small hand mirror and a torch, take the hotplate off above the burner, now use the mirror and torch to look at the upper part of the back of the stove, the small access plate you are looking for will about 4" to the left of where the damper rod passes through the back under the flue and is held on with a knurled nut that can be opened by hand.
Hope that this makes sense.
This is a copy of the instructions for cleaning (there is no diagram) - I hope it comes out OK as it is an image.
upload_2018-11-17_18-27-11.png
 
Location
Gwynedd
Thanks for your suggestion. I intend to have another look tomorrow. If I understand you correctly, the access plate will be located on the back of the stove - ie in a verticle postion. There is a bolt located at the back in that area with has a wingnut on it holding a strip of metal about 1" wide and several inches long. Underneath this is a sort of semi circular groove about 1/2" wide which I cleaned out - it doesn't appear to be an entrance - just a very shallow gap. Maybe this is what you are referring to as I was able to undo it by hand!??

Yes at the back of the inside of the stove at the top, it enables you to clean the bottom of the flue box, my v40 has a knurled knob maybe yours has been replaced with a wing nut, behind the plate there should be an opening about 3" x 1" to the bottom of the flue box. you might have to get your hands dirty and have a fumble about if you cant see it, possibly stick your hand down the flue opening behind the splash plate to locate it from there.
 

UKOwl

New Member
Yes at the back of the inside of the stove at the top, it enables you to clean the bottom of the flue box, my v40 has a knurled knob maybe yours has been replaced with a wing nut, behind the plate there should be an opening about 3" x 1" to the bottom of the flue box. you might have to get your hands dirty and have a fumble about if you cant see it, possibly stick your hand down the flue opening behind the splash plate to locate it from there.
Hi again
Yes at the back of the inside of the stove at the top, it enables you to clean the bottom of the flue box, my v40 has a knurled knob maybe yours has been replaced with a wing nut, behind the plate there should be an opening about 3" x 1" to the bottom of the flue box. you might have to get your hands dirty and have a fumble about if you cant see it, possibly stick your hand down the flue opening behind the splash plate to locate it from there.
Hi again and thanks for a quick response. I am working on the V40 now this evening. I have cleaned out down the entrance at the back which definitely goes to the flu box located between the ovens (confirmed by seeing the end of the brush). This must be a different flu way as there is no cover/plate to remove.

When you remove the knurled knob, is there a strip of metal about 4x1" which then exposes the bolt? When I looked at similar models, I concluded this is to do with draft adjustment.....
 

UKOwl

New Member
When I cleaned at the bottom of the burner pot today, I used a mirror so that I could have a good look at the oil entry area and discovered that the brass inlet tee and washer are missing. :( We have never been able to remove this as we couldn't get the removal tool that is mentioned in the instructions, so the area was just brushed and scraped out as best we could.

I'm not sure of the purpose of the inlet tee as the rate of flow is determined by the BM control located outside of the burner chamber - so is the inlet tee there to help prevent carbon build up, or to reduce the flow rate, or to prevent the oil igniting back up the valve and the incoming supply? Maybe the recent sooting up has been due to this being missing over the last couple of years - I don't know but now we are reluctant to light it until we have hopefully managed to get the spares. Ho Hum - any thoughts here please?
 
Location
Gwynedd
There is no bolt behind the plate you must be looking in the wrong place., Above the burner pot top right hand corner where the two hot plates meet not above the oven. the plate has a small handle on it.
The only brass T I have is on the outside of the burner connected to the oil inlet pipe and has a brass cap that can be removed for placing the lighting wick to fire the stove, is that what you mean? Pity it was not summer as my stove would be switched off and I could take some photos .
Edit - Sorry got mixed up there. the lighting port is a separate inlet. The brass T on the oil inlet has a blanking plate/stop end which can be screwed off for cleaning. I just use some strands of electric cable copper wire twisted together and push those through.
 
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UKOwl

New Member
Thanks again for your forbearance. :)
Well, I can't find the plate with the handle on it. I'm thinking that our stove may be slightly diffferent. There is nothing at the back where you said, only the cooker rod with its flat plate thing to enable the fluway to be open and closed. When it is open (normal position) the gasses pass over the top of the oven and then out of the flu (which can be accessed by removing the rectangular splash plate above the hotplate level and directly under the chimney (with "ESSE" stamped on it).

** Regarding the other point about the oil intake - this is more of a worry...
I gather that you clean your V40 yourself, so when you clean inside the burner pot, what do you do in the area under the lighting port entrance? The instructions talk about removing the cap off the brass inlet tee taking care not to lose the sealing washer "under any deposit" - obviously this is talking about inside the pot, not on the outside. I can clearly see that there is an slight recess where there has been a washer which is missing along with the rest! Do you have a special nut/tee there that you remove when you clean underneath the lighting port?
 
Location
Gwynedd
Yes I service it myself. There is no inlet T piece on the inside of the burner pot only on the outside where the oil pipe from the regulator joins.
I do not have the universal tool either but looking on the diagram in the handbook it seems to have a hexagon cut out that would fit to unscrew the cap/ stop end of the T piece, as I described earlier it is on the outside of the burner, all I do is unscrew it and push a wire through into the burner to clean it as it can coke up. I have never seen a sealing washer as I bought the stove second hand I use PTFE tape on the thread to seal mine otherwise the heating oil could seep out onto the kitchen floor. I think that if there is a washer inside the burner it would have to be made from a heatproof material as it would not last long.
If you have the handbook fig. 4 on page 6 shows burner oil entry cap.
 
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UKOwl

New Member
Yes I service it myself. There is no inlet T piece on the inside of the burner pot only on the outside where the oil pipe from the regulator joins.
I do not have the universal tool either but looking on the diagram in the handbook it seems to have a hexagon cut out that would fit to unscrew the cap/ stop end of the T piece, as I described earlier it is on the outside of the burner, all I do is unscrew it and push a wire through into the burner to clean it as it can coke up. I have never seen a sealing washer as I bought the stove second hand I use PTFE tape on the thread to seal mine otherwise the heating oil could seep out onto the kitchen floor. I think that if there is a washer inside the burner it would have to be made from a heatproof material as it would not last long.
If you have the handbook fig. 4 on page 6 shows burner oil entry cap.
Hi again

Thanks. I'm beginning to conclude that the handbook is misleading and that the tee is in fact referring to the one you mentioned on the outside of the pot - although I can't see how you could "lose the washer below any deposit"???

I'm hoping to get hold of someone at Esse tomorrow who can clarify this point (and maybe the other issue too). I'll update you when there is a development. :)
 

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