Chimney Sweep Before & After

[CWME]

Looks like ash to me, I don't see much creosote. I would be happy with that.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

I cleaned mine a week or so ago. It was worse than expected. I have 14' of stainless triple that runs up through my carport out of a hotblast. Im basically forced to choke mine down since its been mild weather and i need overnight burns. There was a lot of gooey black tar creosote the whole way up. How much do the creasote logs help before a good sweep?

I've never used a creosote log. I use Rutland Creosote Remover powder here at home. Just dump 1-2 tablespoons/week onto the hot coals, and it keeps the creosote from getting too nasty. I used a SootEater (drill-powered chimney sweeping rod/weedeater brush) to clean out my 6" diameter stainless liner, and got less than a quart of dry powdery creosote residue.

 

[Trx250r180]

It could be, the stove has a thermostatic air control and its not uncommon for it to be throttled down quite a bit if its been stoked to the gills. It's got a good sized firebox so with that much fuel in it it had to throttle back to keep from melting down. Honestly I thought it was pretty good, have you ever checked your chimney? How do you know it never needs sweeping? What kind of stove and wood do you burn and how seasoned is it?

In my workshop i may have 8-10 feet of pipe total ,it is on the low end of the roof ,I burn cedar ,alder and doug fir and construction scraps ,normally construction scraps or sawmill scraps burn hot enough like 2x4 type material ,if the draft is wide open in the dark i can see flame at the tip of the stovepipe cap till i choke it down ,i would think that would be burning whatever buildup is in there ,wet sticks of wood should loosen up anything also i would think kind of like a steam clean type of fire

 

[Del_]

I loaded them through the site... Maybe some thing on your end? Anyone else have issues?

Must be on my end.

The photo are showing up fine today.

 

[dave_376]

The pic from the top obviously shows some creosote but the pan shows mostly ash. I assume its from the top of the chimney being cold enough for it to attach and accumulate. It looks good too me! My stove with a 6" insulated SS flex liner has maybe accumulated 1 gallon of ash over 4 years of burning and cleaning 1 time a year.

 

[olyman]

That is good?

I've never had that much junk in the chimney with my setup. Normally just a cup or two.

everything with you,,is soooo much better than anyone else.............

 

[olyman]

I decided to sweep the chimney today and took some pics while I was up there.

First my brush setup. I use a 8" square brush cable tied to a logging chain for gravity feed, on the other end it is cable tied to a 30' nylon rope for retrieval. I tie two knots a few feet apart near the end so I know its reaching the end as it sails down through.




And this is after.

View attachment 464539


Last heating seasons firewood was bought in log length in March 2014 and CSS through July and burnt that fall.

one thing..whoever set those flue liners,,needs a good anal foot plant......should be NO mortar sticking inside the liners.........as they set each one,,they only had to knock off the excess on the inside.....

 

[flotek]

The reason for creosote on even a giant flue opening is that Clay liners are obsolete and draft poorly compared to 6" stainless triple wall . They don't insulate well the temperature of the gases cool down and as a result junk sticks to the walls

 

[Marshy]

In my workshop i may have 8-10 feet of pipe total ,it is on the low end of the roof ,I burn cedar ,alder and doug fir and construction scraps ,normally construction scraps or sawmill scraps burn hot enough like 2x4 type material ,if the draft is wide open in the dark i can see flame at the tip of the stovepipe cap till i choke it down ,i would think that would be burning whatever buildup is in there ,wet sticks of wood should loosen up anything also i would think kind of like a steam clean type of fire

Bingo! Not much of a chance for the flue gas to cool with only 10 ft if pipe unless it's single wall. He'll, I have 6 feet if single wall before it even goes into the thimble.

The reason for creosote on even a giant flue opening is that Clay liners are obsolete and draft poorly compared to 6" stainless triple wall . They don't insulate well the temperature of the gases cool down and as a result junk sticks to the walls

Mine drafts well but not as good as some of the insulated SS pipe inserts and tripple wall can.
I had a lengthy discussion with a Blaze King rep and he said my chimney construction is nearly ideal for a cinder block clay lined setup but in some cases people with block and clay chimneys need SS liners if its exposed to the outside on 3 sides. It's because the higher efficiency stoves produce lower flue gas temperatures and the exposed block and clay chimneys take all the heat of the the gas and then its not warm enough to have a buoyancy effect and rise through the chimney.

 

[olyman]

The reason for creosote on even a giant flue opening is that Clay liners are obsolete and draft poorly compared to 6" stainless triple wall . They don't insulate well the temperature of the gases cool down and as a result junk sticks to the walls

mmmmm, NO!! the square ones, yes.. the round ones, NO!! find some vid,,of how smoke curls up a chimney...

 

[olyman]

Bingo! Not much of a chance for the flue gas to cool with only 10 ft if pipe unless it's single wall. He'll, I have 6 feet if single wall before it even goes into the thimble.


Mine drafts well but not as good as some of the insulated SS pipe inserts and tripple wall can.
I had a lengthy discussion with a Blaze King rep and he said my chimney construction is nearly ideal for a cinder block clay lined setup but in some cases people with block and clay chimneys need SS liners if its exposed to the outside on 3 sides. It's because the higher efficiency stoves produce lower flue gas temperatures and the exposed block and clay chimneys take all the heat of the the gas and then its not warm enough to have a buoyancy effect and rise through the chimney.

ive also told people. if you can clean the block,,then glue 2 inch GOOD stryo on the outside,,with stud strips on the corners,,then put siding or whatever around it, the chimney will stay warm, and draft..the reason they drafted years ago, was because of damn inefficient stoves,,and the resulting high flue temps!!! kept the chimney warm!!!

 

[Marshy]

Exactly. I have one of those type of stoves! I'm fortunate because my chimney goes up through the center of the house and has its own fire well all the way to the cap.

 

[olyman]

Exactly. I have one of those type of stoves! I'm fortunate because my chimney goes up through the center of the house and has its own fire well all the way to the cap.

yours is the same,,as mine and spideys,,thru center of house,,they stay warm,,even up thru the attic as wind cant get to it. I was talking,,of outside chimneys...

 

[Sandhill Crane]

We rented a cottage for many years that had a clay tile lined chimney in the center of the house. After the first few years we had a stainless steel liner put in. The clay tiles were cracked and black liquid tar was seeping through the cracks and down the outside of the chimney in the attic space above the ceiling. That's how a houses burn down when you have a chimney fire in a masonry chimney. The first chimney fire cracks the tile from excessive heat. The second chimney fire is less forgiving. In short, check the outside of the chimney if possible, as well as the inside.

 

[Marshy]

Thanks, I considered sending my GoPro camera down with a high powered flash light to check it but don't have flags that would make me question its integrity.

 

[fred bergman]

looks good now...

 

[flotek]

We rented a cottage for many years that had a clay tile lined chimney in the center of the house. After the first few years we had a stainless steel liner put in. The clay tiles were cracked and black liquid tar was seeping through the cracks and down the outside of the chimney in the attic space above the ceiling. That's how a houses burn down when you have a chimney fire in a masonry chimney. The first chimney fire cracks the tile from excessive heat. The second chimney fire is less forgiving. In short, check the outside of the chimney if possible, as well as the inside.

Yep but people won't listen!! Many think because it's worked okay for them over the last several decades that it will be fine and the hype over expensive liners is just new fangled nonsense ... Then they come home to see their house engulfed in flames. That clay liner could have internal cracks and once the fire gets through or around it you got serious trouble on your hands

 

[olyman]

Yep but people won't listen!! Many think because it's worked okay for them over the last several decades that it will be fine and the hype over expensive liners is just new fangled nonsense ... Then they come home to see their house engulfed in flames. That clay liner could have internal cracks and once the fire gets through or around it you got serious trouble on your hands

well, i can see your on a rant,,and a know it all,,so we all bow to your final great wisdom...

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I do not think the fire gets through the cracks. The creosote does in a liquid tar form. Then when the temp is high enough, as in another chimney fire, the creosote ignites on the outside of the chimney. If I'm not mistaken, stove pipe sections are installed female end up, male end down, so the tar like creosote does not run down and out the joint. It stays contained in the chimney. If you see creosote on the outside of a stove pipe I'm guessing it is installed wrong. I am not a certified installer so do your own research to be sure.

 

[turnkey4099]

I loaded them through the site... Maybe some thing on your end? Anyone else have issues?

I see them just fine. That amount of ash is about what I get out of mine once a year.

Harry K