Creosote Buildup - Cleaning

[nocdpc]

I have a Jotul F600 woodstove which I just purchased and installed in Fall08. The woodstove was running the other day and I have noticed that it has been harder to get a good fire going. I suspected this was a cause of not burning with seasoned wood, and a buildup of creosote in the 6inch chimney. The other day we were burning and a large piece of creosote fell from the pipe and caused a mild blow back of smoke into the room. I have a fairly basic woodstove install and was toying with the idea of cleaning out the chimney myself this weekend. After all that long wind here are my questions:

1. Is this difficult to do?
2. How should I approach this task without getting too dirty inside the house

Here are the specs on my setup
*8ft of doublewall black on inside of house
*8ft Metal Spestos pipe on outside of house

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I have a Jotul F600 woodstove which I just purchased and installed in Fall08. The woodstove was running the other day and I have noticed that it has been harder to get a good fire going. I suspected this was a cause of not burning with seasoned wood, and a buildup of creosote in the 6inch chimney. The other day we were burning and a large piece of creosote fell from the pipe and caused a mild blow back of smoke into the room. I have a fairly basic woodstove install and was toying with the idea of cleaning out the chimney myself this weekend. After all that long wind here are my questions:

1. Is this difficult to do?
2. How should I approach this task without getting too dirty inside the house

Here are the specs on my setup
*8ft of doublewall black on inside of house
*8ft Metal Spestos pipe on outside of house

1. Mine is very easy I have a ranch house
2. I disconnect the pipe from the stove take a plastic grocery bag and tape it to the bottom of the pipe (wrapping the tape around tightly sealing it up). I then take an old canvas bag put it over the plastic bag and then tape that on. Go to the roof take the cap off do 3-4 strokes with my fiberglass brush and extension poles. Put the cap back on go into the house cut the tape off and I have a neat bag of creosote to throw in the trash. Hook it all back up and I’m done. I have a small filtered shop vac I use to clean up the inside of the pipe a little but I find the part closest to the stove only has a very fine powder that comes out in the bag.

I do this 3 times a year if I am burning crap wood twice if I am burning good stuff.

 

[nocdpc]

1. Mine is very easy I have a ranch house
2. I disconnect the pipe from the stove take a plastic grocery bag and tape it to the bottom of the pipe (wrapping the tape around tightly sealing it up). I then take an old canvas bag put it over the plastic bag and then tape that on. Go to the roof take the cap off do 3-4 strokes with my fiberglass brush and extension poles. Put the cap back on go into the house cut the tape off and I have a neat bag of creosote to throw in the trash. Hook it all back up and I’m done. I have a small filtered shop vac I use to clean up the inside of the pipe a little but I find the part closest to the stove only has a very fine powder that comes out in the bag.

I do this 3 times a year if I am burning crap wood twice if I am burning good stuff.

Where do you live? How long do you burn wood for. When you say 2 times a year what is the time between cleanings? How many cords of wood do you go through a year.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Where do you live? How long do you burn wood for. When you say 2 times a year what is the time between cleanings? How many cords of wood do you go through a year.

I live in south east PA 30 miles outside Philadelphia
In that stove I burn from Oct-April ~24/7 it’s a pretty small unit
I do it once in Dec (only because I burn a lot of crap early), then mid feb (usually pretty clean but I find I get a better draft when clean) and then at the end of the season.
That stove goes through 4-6 cords a year.

 

[nocdpc]

Great information. I think we are right in line with each other on burning. I did not clean mine out yet but I will this week as I want to get the stove up and running asap. I just ordered a 6inch brush and 2 6ft rods(not sure I will need both but will return if I do not need it)

 

[itn]

I have access to my chimney cap on my roof so i just take off the spark arrester and run a brush down mine every 3 or 4 weeks. I do it while the stoves burning-that way I don't have to clean it up. Wouldn't recommend it in your case, you may have more than a little build-up.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I believe in a having a clean chimney for the obvious safety reason, but call me crazy it seems to give me a hotter burn.

 

[WidowMaker]

Better draft... Your not crazy

 

[AOD]

Nobody else mentioned cleaning a chimney with M-80's?!?!

 

[nocdpc]

I cleaned the chimney today and there was tons of build up around it. I bought a brush and 2 rod attachements. I was able to do it with minimal mess and under 1 hour. The stove seems to be running better but I will know more shortly. I will post some pics as well.

 

[Snowchief]

I have a Jotul nordic QT as my only heat in the michigan winter (small house) - about 2 cords a year and agree with the rest - when it starts to burn slow I sweep it.

My tactic is slightly more contained: if I can safely get on the roof I just shut the air control completely, remove the baffle and sweep straight from chimney top to stove chamber. 3-4 times like that then scoop the creosote into the ash bucket. No mess.

 

[nocdpc]

Here is a picture of my setup. If you see the cap you can see how much build up is there.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Here is a picture of my setup. If you see the cap you can see how much build up is there.

wow the top looks pretty gooped up was it that bad inside the house? or just outside where the pipe cools?

 

[nocdpc]

wow the top looks pretty gooped up was it that bad inside the house? or just outside where the pipe cools?

I large piece fell off from inside and gave some blowback into the house. That was when I decided to shut down wood burning operations until I cleaned up. From what I hear the looks of my cap are not normal so I am glad I made the decision. On a side note my stove is burning much better now that I am burning some good seasoned wood and have cleaned out the flew. Thanks all for helping me with this.

 

[Shmudda]

I had the same exact problem this year with my woodburner too. I had posted a thread in this area titled "Stage 3 Creosote build-up" and there were some very good responses to remedy the situation.

My chimney is about 35 feet tall, it is a masonry build with a 6" dia stainless steel liner in it. What happened to mine was the cleanout cap at the very bottom fell off the pipe, my draft was nonexistent and it also cooled the flue gases, thus creating the creosote build-up. I basically put the cap back on, built a good hot fire and then brushed it out. Took out about 1/2 of a 55 gallon drum of ash. Brushed the stove pipes, cleaned everything up and was burning another fire in about 5 hours or so.

One thing I want to caution you on is with a stainless steel flue you must use a plastic or poly type brush, you CANNOT use a steel brush. The reasons I have read is that the steel brush will scratch the flue, leave particles of the brush behind (Carbon steel) and then they will begin to rust and decay the stainless liner.

I have a Lopi Liberty stove that puts out about 75,000 BTU and heats a 2400 square foot home. I go thru about 3 cords of wood per year, and it is running 24/7 from mid October to mid April here in Western Pennsylvania.

Good luck with your dilemma.......

Craig

 

[nocdpc]

I had the same exact problem this year with my woodburner too. I had posted a thread in this area titled "Stage 3 Creosote build-up" and there were some very good responses to remedy the situation.

My chimney is about 35 feet tall, it is a masonry build with a 6" dia stainless steel liner in it. What happened to mine was the cleanout cap at the very bottom fell off the pipe, my draft was nonexistent and it also cooled the flue gases, thus creating the creosote build-up. I basically put the cap back on, built a good hot fire and then brushed it out. Took out about 1/2 of a 55 gallon drum of ash. Brushed the stove pipes, cleaned everything up and was burning another fire in about 5 hours or so.

One thing I want to caution you on is with a stainless steel flue you must use a plastic or poly type brush, you CANNOT use a steel brush. The reasons I have read is that the steel brush will scratch the flue, leave particles of the brush behind (Carbon steel) and then they will begin to rust and decay the stainless liner.

I have a Lopi Liberty stove that puts out about 75,000 BTU and heats a 2400 square foot home. I go thru about 3 cords of wood per year, and it is running 24/7 from mid October to mid April here in Western Pennsylvania.

Good luck with your dilemma.......

Craig

Which plastic brush do you use as i bought a metal one at the hardware store not knowing any better.

 

[A. Stanton]

Hoped you solved your problems, Noc. I also live in CT and burn about 5 cord a year. I clean from the top down and use a plastic brush. I was told that a metal brush could mess up my flex liner. When I clean my flue, I'll post some pics. I rent an aerial lift. I know, blah blah, expensive: but I won't get a broker back falling off the ladder and I give to clean from the top down, keeping the stove door shut.
By the way, I love that large rock retaining wall in your back yard. Rock is forever.

 

[Shmudda]

I bought mine here: http://hartshearth.com/

They have all kinds of chimney stuff......there are others out there too, you just have to look around.

Craig

 

[nocdpc]

I bought mine here: http://hartshearth.com/

They have all kinds of chimney stuff......there are others out there too, you just have to look around.

Craig

I just called tech support at Selkirk the mfg of my chimney to followup on the statement of plastic brush vs metail brush. They told me for years they have been doing analysis and it does not make a difference of the breakdown of the chimney.

I also showed the picture of my chimeny cap and they told me that I had luckily made it through a chimney fire!!!! :jawdrop::jawdrop::censored: I explained to them my setup and they said the creosote build up was due to unseasoned wood.

After all this. I got lucky and have earned more respect for seasoned wood and have put the plastic vs metal brush myth to bed.

 

[Suz]

I cleaned my chimney last night!!

About 10:00 p.m. last night I could hear some odd noises in my office that is alongside my chimney. Hummm, I felt the wall and it didn't seem overly warm only about the temperature of when the stove is burning. But, then I looked out the window and saw sparks floating down. Immediate thought was "this is not good"!
I rushed outside to check things out and I could see a nice red glow at the top of the chimney and some sparks coming out. I then went down to the basement to check things out and there was no great rush of air going through the barometric damper so I knew things were not all that bad.
I sealed off the air supply around the damper, the clean out door, and the draft fan on the stove. Then I watched and waited for the nice slow controlled burn to clean my chimney. It took almost an hour to completely burn out to where I couldn't see any "redness" by looking up the chimney with a mirror.
It worked, but I wouldn't recommend this method of chimney cleaning as a method to keep it clean. But, on the bright side, there wasn't that much of a build up so it didn't get that hot as to damage anything.
Yes, it scared the :censored: outta me!! I guess I will have to build some hotter fires to keep the creosote from forming.
BTW, so much for the aluminum can theory! It doesn't work!
Jim