First chimney cleaning experience. And thanks.

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Sprinter

Minister of Fire
Jul 1, 2012
2,984
SW Washington
This was my first season burning and finally got around to cleaning my chimney with a SootEater I bought a while back. I didn't know what to expect since I had some less than stellar wood to use last year. I also wasn't sure how easy it would be to remove and replace the baffle on the Super27.

The baffle was very easy to remove, then I went topside with the sooteater and a cordless drill. The SootEater was a dream to use, even with five sections together. It was obvious that the chimney didn't have much buildup, but when I went back down, all I had was a handful of fluffy soot in the box. That's all, no creosote at all, not even on the cap's screen.

I learned a lot from this forum about proper burning and so I thank the members here for that. I had some good wood and some not so good, so what I did was use the best wood to start the fire and get it hot and then when I needed to use it, fed the higher moisture content wood in while it was hot. Next season I won't even have that problem.

My last wood stove was an Earth Stove in the 80's which was a creosote factory and I knew nothing of wood either. I remember burning oak the same year I cut it on my property LOL. What a difference.

The baffle was a bit awkward to reinstall because it has to be aligned just right, but it will be easier next time.

Anyway, thanks to the forum members who helped me make the first year a success.
 
Glad to hear that it did so well for you!
Last season I cleaned a Stainless Steel PE Fusion for a guy. He had burned it 5 years without having the flue swept! I got only 2 cups or so of light brown dust out of that flue! It must be a nice burning stove.
And the baffle will get easier the more you do it!
 
Sounds like the advice on the forums helped you....you used it wisely and you now see some of the side rewards you reap...
I learned a lot on here as well....and knowing what you are doing makes burning wood that much more enjoyable (not to mention SAFE)....

Well done!
 
Yep, I also learned a lot here including how to clean the chimney myself. Fortunately, I also read a post of Hogwildz to stuff some rag in the air channel before sweeping. And I think it was Dixie who I learned from that you can easily remove the boost air channel in the front to clean that out. I think PE missed that in their manual. Anyway, thanks to all. What a great community! :)
 
Yep, I also learned a lot here including how to clean the chimney myself. Fortunately, I also read a post of Hogwildz to stuff some rag in the air channel before sweeping. And I think it was Dixie who I learned from that you can easily remove the boost air channel in the front to clean that out. I think PE missed that in their manual. Anyway, thanks to all. What a great community! :)
Damn. I guess I missed that part about the air channels. I'll keep that in mind next time, but fortunately in this case it was so little soot straight down that I'm sure it missed the air channels. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
Damn. I guess I missed that part about the air channels. I'll keep that in mind next time, but fortunately in this case it was so little soot straight down that I'm sure it missed the air channels. Thanks for pointing that out.

You should pass that on to Hogwildz; without him I would still not do it. I did it at least two times without and the stove survived. I am sure you will be ok.
 
You should pass that on to Hogwildz; without him I would still not do it. I did it at least two times without and the stove survived. I am sure you will be ok.
Now that I think about it, it rings a bell but I guess I forgot. I'll do that and Dixie's idea next time for sure. Shows you that repetition is good.
 
Now that I think about it, it rings a bell but I guess I forgot. I'll do that and Dixie's idea next time for sure. Shows you that repetition is good.

The boost air channel you can clean any time you are not using the stove. Just open the door, feel the holes in the bottom front right at the ash lip and pull it up. Brush out the ash and put the channel back on. Takes less than 1 minute.
 
The baffle was heavier than you thought, I bet :)

Nice job !!
 
This site will sure help you out wont it... Its amazing how much information can be gathered here. I am glad to hear your cleaning went
well. I was nervous the first time I removed the baffle from mine. Did your baffle gasket stay intact? Mine did the first time, but I bought
some to be sure this time. Sorry in advance if I don't answer quickly...don't have a lot of time on here anymore.

Keep up the good work...you have obviously been taking the wisdom on this site to heart.
 
The baffle was heavier than you thought, I bet :)

Nice job !!
Thanks Dixie. The hardest part about the baffle for me was that I have to sit in front of the stove with my head above it, so I can't see in to align it. Next time will be better.

Did your baffle gasket stay intact?
Are you talking about the material along the sides? Yes, it was fine.
The boost air channel you can clean any time you are not using the stove. Just open the door, feel the holes in the bottom front right at the ash lip and pull it up. Brush out the ash and put the channel back on. Takes less than 1 minute.
Just did that, too. I had no idea about that. It wasn't a problem yet, but good to know about it. Thanks.
 
Like I said...sorry it took me so long.

I was referring to the baffle gasket. It seals off the tube where the air is fed into the baffle at the back.
 
Like I said...sorry it took me so long.

I was referring to the baffle gasket. It seals off the tube where the air is fed into the gasket at the back.
Well, there wasn't one to speak of. All I saw was a bit of material that didn't look capable of doing anything. I don't know how important it really is, but I did get the part number from the manual and I'll order one. Not looking forward to doing that again -ugh- but I guess I will.

I just did a little search on those gaskets. Apparently they don't tend to last long. Mine only had a few chunks left after only one year. Hogwildz made one out of thin gasket rope a few years ago which was a nice idea if you have the material but I don't. Guess I'll just buy some.

Thanks for cluing me in!

Edit: I'm going to try the hogwildz route with this stuff. Let you know how it works.
http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Inc-G...sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Grapho-Glas+Rope+gasket
 
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I used to clean out our masonry chimney when I was a kid. I want to say I did it a couple of times season. Good on my dad for doing that. If I could fill up a quart jar with light brown powder after a season with my Lopi, I would be amazed. There was quite a bit more soot when I was a kid with that old Blaze King stove/masonry chimney combo I am confident it would be ok to not clean my chimney, as well as a lot of other burners on here chimneys, every year. BUT, I DO clean mine every year.

I use a sooteater too and it is over super quick. I think getting the ladder out is the hardest part (I clean top down).
 
Good luck with it...and no problem on the heads up. That's what this place is for... I just got some of the gaskets from Tom at chimneysweeponline.
They are cheap enough that I wasn't too worried about replacing them. If they last a couple of years each, then its not bad.
 
Thanks for posting your cleaning experience. I like reading these reports - they're a great reminder of what happens when you do things right. Those PE stoves seem to be really clean burning units too.
 
Well, there wasn't one to speak of. All I saw was a bit of material that didn't look capable of doing anything. I don't know how important it really is, but I did get the part number from the manual and I'll order one. Not looking forward to doing that again -ugh- but I guess I will.

I just did a little search on those gaskets. Apparently they don't tend to last long. Mine only had a few chunks left after only one year. Hogwildz made one out of thin gasket rope a few years ago which was a nice idea if you have the material but I don't. Guess I'll just buy some.

Thanks for cluing me in!

Edit: I'm going to try the hogwildz route with this stuff. Let you know how it works.
http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Inc-Gasket-Rope-91n/dp/B000H5SXOI/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374458690&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Grapho-Glas Rope gasket
Well, I finally got around to replacing that gasket. I got the rope material on the link above which is 1/4 - 5/16 and, after looping it around the hole in the baffle for a measure, tied the ends together with some light steel wire. Copper wire strands would work as well with the melting point around 2000F. It fit nicely and I was able to get the baffle back in place (the hardest part of the whole thing). I thought the gasket would be too thick at first, but it did squash down enough to replace the pin.

Thanks to all members that contributed.
 
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