How to unscrew / encourage to telescope a stove pipe that is stuck.

I am working on cleaning my chimney, have swept down from the top and now need to undo the pipe at the bottom in order to clean out the soot and perhaps sweep back up. However, I am unable to disengage the pipe section (second up from the stove top) where it is set to telescope. These sections are uninsulated, smooth black pipe and so nothing to grip and no way to exert leverage. I assume the joint inside is crusted/glued with creosote?

The stove is a small Vermont Castings Aspen, with sixteen or so feet of pipe running in a straight shot up from the stove top through a loft ceiling and out the roof. No elbows, no joints, nothing complicated. Uninsulated pipe to the first ceiling, stainless double insulated the rest of the way out.

I am generally competent, but this has me stumped. Is there something I have overlooked?

Thanks!!

Sarah

slim said:

You can use a leather belt to apply rotational leverage.

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Thanks!

A1Stoves.com said:

Welcome Sarah
you should be able to clean out the stove from the inside
my display aspen just has a few firebricks to remove

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Interesting. I'd noticed that the bricks were kind of loose but didn't realize they came out. Is there a secret to removing them?

A1Stoves.com said:

also, thats a lot of single wall for that stove, was your soot glazey?
vc recommends double wall for anything over 10'

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The soot was a bit glazey, but the sixteen feet is all of it, from the stove top to the chimney cap. Only the first three sections are uninsulated. I was told that sixteen feet is considered the minimum amount of chimney for this stove, that maybe a longer pipe would generate a better draft and thus less build up.

DAKSY said:

+1. You may need to use 2, tho, with a helper on the 2nd one. Two people turning in opposite directions works better than one trying to hold AND turn two different pieces of connector..

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I wouldn't have thought of it, thanks. The trick will be finding two belts! Once I've got them apart and everything cleaned, should they fit back together fairly easily?