Chimney Sweep

I have done this maintenance before and each time I try to remember what I did last time so I don't have to remove more screws than necessary.  So I said I would document it so I could go back and refresh my old brain and save some time.
Seeing no one in their right mind would have a wood fireplace in an RV, we all have one form or another of electric fireplace with fake logs.  Now those fake logs don't require any service but the heating element and fan certainly do.  In our case it's the heating element and all the air intakes/heat exhausts that need attention.  By attention I mean cat hair removal.  The air intake vents get clogged with cat hair, mostly from our Maine Coon; Punkin.

As heat output decreased, then finely quit because of the safety overheat breaker I knew it was time to remove the fireplace from it’s cabinet and pull out the vacuum.  On our Dimplex fireplace the air intakes are at the top front of

the unit, they sit on either side of center mounted heating/fan module.  Unfortunately the slits for these intakes are so thin the crevice tool on our vacuum is too thick, we need to take the top of the unit off.   This is a pain but it does allow for complete cleaning of the entire intake and heating/fan module.

Start by removing the top mounting flange then all the top panel perimeter screws.  There are to two screws on top of the panel near the front which now allow the top panel to tilt back and reveal the air intakes, heater/fan module and the top of the enclosure. Now just vacuum every surface inside the enclosure and check the fan blades are clean and spinning freely.  We’re done, now start to carefully fit the top panel back on and replace the screws in reverse order.

Before placing the unit back into the cabinet take a moment to vacuum any other openings and the front controls.  Now slide the unit back into the cabinet and secure, plug back in and test.  If there is good heat and airflow mission accomplished.