First cleaning by myself

I had a professional do it at the beginning of the season. While he was here I was asking a lot of questions and learning. Thankfully he was nice about it and taught me everything I wanted to know and more.

I have about 26ft of chimney in an inside chase connected to about 5ft of double wall stove pipe with 2 30deg bends. I'm a part time burner, evenings and weekends only. A lot of cold starts. My wood (oak, alder, fir, cherry, cedar) is between 15 and 20 MC. I've run a little over a cord through so far.

First I cleaned out the stove and removed the baffle ...



Then I went up to inspect the pipe before cleaning (went up a little over a month ago and it wasn't needed yet) and here is what I saw ...



Yup, need to run the brush through. I'm a top down, since the roof is flat and easy access. Here is what the finished pipe looks like ...



The coffee grounds were nicely piled in the stove, with nothing entering the room ...



I got about 2 1/2 cups, not great, but not too bad either ...



I'd rather inspect regularly and run the brush through when needed for now. Close to impossible to get more than a year ahead with only 2 cord of storage (townhouse in the city).

Thanks for looking.

Carbon_Liberator said:

Sure beats paying someone to do it huh?
For a lot of cold starts, and a 26 ft, chimney I'd say you are doing OK.
You could just leave that creosote in the stove and start a new fire right on top of it, it will just burn up and disappear. (extra BTUs)
I'm in the same boat as you with lack of space, except I don't have enough space to store even 2 years worth of firewood. Good thing I have access to pre-seasoned lodgepole pine.

Click to expand...

Yeah, tempting to not bother with the "professional" cleaning. Not recommended from an insurance standpoint, but tempting all the same. You got a lot of beetle kill over there Carb-Lib? Haven't even had any pine through my stove yet, but I'm sure I'll get some sooner or later.

Woody Stover said:

Are you doing your cold starts top-down? If not, you might try it to see if you can keep your pipe even cleaner. With a top-down start, all the wood that's catching fire (smouldering) is releasing its smoke up, into the flames, where it burns up. A lot less smoke is going up the flue, hence less deposits.

Click to expand...

Top-down is the only way I start my stove. Actually, I have more creosote because I shut down earlier than I used to. Last year I ran hot, both to keep it clean and I was just getting to know my stove. I figured better to run hot than cold, although I did cook myself out of the living room a few times Now that I know my stove better, it's time to play. Since I wanted to play, I needed some extra insurance so I got some rods and a brush.

Pagey said:

Not bad at all for a cord and lots of cold starts. This has been the "winter" of cold starts for me here in the Southeast. Mildest winter I can recall in a LONG time. Good job on the cleaning. It's a good feeling to know you can handle it yourself any time you wish.

Click to expand...

Having the brush is a huge stress reliever. I could tell that my draft wasn't as good as a month ago, which was concerning, and I thought it might be some buildup. Judging by the fire last night, that's exactly what it was, much better draft now and I can play without concern (within reason, of course).

Been a bit of a pyro since birth (ok, maybe about 4yrs old), and it's nice to have an outlet for it. Even nicer that the outlet is a lot safer than when I was a kid ;-)

Thanks again to this forum. I wouldn't have nearly as good a handle on things without you guys.

PNWBurner said:

Did ya remember to stick a rag down the passage that feeds the baffle after you took it off?

I sometimes forget that and end up dropping creosote down the tube when I brush.

It doesn't seem to mess anything up but can't be too good...

Click to expand...

Nope, didn't do that, but I'll try to remember for next time. That and remove my probe thermo before brushing! How many times did I read that here and think "I need to remember to pull the probe", but when it came down to it ... spaced it.

I know, I'll make a checklist and put it with my stove instructions (and spare baffle gaskets).

Thanks for pointing that out.