How NOT to clean your chimney...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Yeah, I have a friend a couple blocks away who, for years, has used a tow chain hooked onto the end of a stick, and sloshes it around inside his pipe. It works for him. He also still smoulder-burns a beautiful green Jotul 602 and has to clean the pipe twice a year because it clogs up on him. I don't get on his case anymore about it. Folks get locked into their way of doing things and the resistance to change is strong.
 
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...

And that brush is going to be much, much lighter than that chain log. Who wants to be on the roof in the middle of winter after having hauled out the ladder, hauled out a heavy chain log, and hauled it up the ladder to the roof? Then up and down, up and down the chimney with a chain log?? Now, my back, shoulders, and arms are already aching. I don't even own a chain log!
 
Not to mention, I don't want to dent up my nice, new, clean, smooth class A chimney. I don't want to create any kind of dent or ding where creosote can get caked in, etc. I want a nice clean, smooth chimney that will last a very, very, very, very long time. (use backwoods, slightly southern drawl when reading this)
 
Scotty Overkill said:
WoodNStuff said:
My 6" poly chimney brush (Rutland) cost me $8. Fiberglass rods (4' sections threaded on the ends) cost me $5 each. So I've invested $28 plus tax. These will last me a very long time. And I shouldn't damage my class A chimney using them. Doesn't take but a few minutes to run the brush through the chimney. A little more time to get out the ladder, set-up, and take down. So, 1 hour each month or two goes a long way to at least having peace of mind.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100%......my wife, two sons, one daughter, jack russell terrier and everything I have worked for all my life are worth that $28.00 investment and that one hour every other month.....some people just amaze me.....
Click to expand...

You got it!!
 
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...
That's scary, beating the hell out of something that has fire in it and protects your house from that fire seems like bad advice to me.
 
oldspark said:
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...
That's scary, beating the hell out of something that has fire in it and protects your house from that fire seems like bad advice to me.
Click to expand...
AGREED!!....WTH are people thinking? Spend a couple bucks, buy a damn brushand some fiberglas poles and do your self and your family the favor of doing it right....for the piece of mind ALONE.......I am almost laughing with anger at some of these cleaning solutions......a log chain to beat it off the inside of a chimney?......maybe I will fill the neighbors cat up with 2RC gravel tie it to a series of broomsticks and use it the next time I clean the chimney.....lol.....
 
My mother in law thinks I am a fool because I bought a chimney brush. She used to use a chain and we have plenty of those so why waste any money on a plastic brush. This is the same MIL who used to burn rail road ties because she did not want to go to the trouble of hauling wood from the forest. When she moved into her new house 20 years ago installed a slammer insert and has only had the chimney cleaned once in 20 years. I am waiting for the day she calls and begs us to move in because her house burned down.
 
My father has run his wood burning fireplace for 50 years, and never cleaned it. to this day, 50 years. It's a massive masonry chimney he built. If he had a flue fire you may not know it.
 
how about these idiots?
[youtube]http://youtu.be/8SFZ4BNvywQ[/youtube]
 
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...

And the reason we use a chain?

1) Fiberglass rods would melt if we tried to run them through a chimney while it's on fire.
2) When someone has so much creosote built up that it's blocking the entire chimney a wee little brush isn't always going to poke its way through . . . which is why we have some metal weights on a big ol' chain.

And . . . here's the kicker . . . we usually end up hooking a brush to the chain and pulling it up when we're done anyway to give it a quick sweep.



----

Folks that "clean" their chimneys in the way described is what keeps us in business . . . "us" being firefighters.
 
precaud said:
LLigetfa said:
I don't know how much heat it takes for a magnet to lose its strength
Click to expand...

More relevant is when the steel pipe loses its magnetic properties (the Curie Point), which is about 1400F for mild steel. It loses magnetism gradually as it approaches that temp. The pipe is glowing red long before it reaches it.

but I do run frequent hot fires to clean out the pipes.
Click to expand...

So do I, but this is extreme...
Click to expand...

Precaud, you are confusing the temp where hot steel won't be attracted to a magnet (its Curie point) with the point where a magnet itself loses it's magnetic properties. The second is the result of both type of magnet and the number of cycles the magnet has been subjected to these temps. I have had my flue thermo slide down the pipe on numerous occasions. That's why they recommend to wire them in place (of course, mine is not). It used to happen somewhere around 900º, but now happens sooner (maybe 800º). If the pipe actually reached 1400F it would be glowing bright cherry red and would look white once it cooled down. Mine most certainly has never glowed in the slightest.
 
firefighterjake said:
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...

And the reason we use a chain?

1) Fiberglass rods would melt if we tried to run them through a chimney while it's on fire.
2) When someone has so much creosote built up that it's blocking the entire chimney a wee little brush isn't always going to poke its way through . . . which is why we have some metal weights on a big ol' chain.

And . . . here's the kicker . . . we usually end up hooking a brush to the chain and pulling it up when we're done anyway to give it a quick sweep.


then you go a step further then we do...we dont have a brush

were in the business of putting out fires...not cleaning chimneys


----

Folks that "clean" their chimneys in the way described is what keeps us in business . . . "us" being firefighters.
Click to expand...
 
CTguy9230 said:
firefighterjake said:
jeromehdmc said:
A co-worker said he is going to use a log chain to clean his chimney. That's what the fire department used to clean it after they came out because of a chimney fire, told him it was ok to use it.
I tried to tell him to use a brush but I don't think he is going to.
Click to expand...

And the reason we use a chain?

1) Fiberglass rods would melt if we tried to run them through a chimney while it's on fire.
2) When someone has so much creosote built up that it's blocking the entire chimney a wee little brush isn't always going to poke its way through . . . which is why we have some metal weights on a big ol' chain.

And . . . here's the kicker . . . we usually end up hooking a brush to the chain and pulling it up when we're done anyway to give it a quick sweep.


then you go a step further then we do...we dont have a brush

were in the business of putting out fires...not cleaning chimneys


----

Folks that "clean" their chimneys in the way described is what keeps us in business . . . "us" being firefighters.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

That's in the volunteer FD . . . in the City FD they just run a hose down the chimney and put the fire out and tell the owners to have the chimney checked before firing up . . . not so community service oriented . . . but as you said . . . it's not our real business to clean chimneys for home owners who should have done so long before calling us.
 
after i read what i wrote, i hope it didnt come off as sounding like we dont care..

we make sure that the fire is OUT before we leave, but also tell the homeowner
to not make a fire till they get a sweep out to clean and inspect the chimney


course, 50% of the time, as soon as the red truck leaves there loading the stove
 
CTguy9230 said:
after i read what i wrote, i hope it didnt come off as sounding like we dont care..

we make sure that the fire is OUT before we leave, but also tell the homeowner
to not make a fire till they get a sweep out to clean and inspect the chimney


course, 50% of the time, as soon as the red truck leaves there loading the stove
Click to expand...

I didn't take it that way . . . truth be told . . . it's not our job as firefighters -- whether volunteer, paid call or paid -- to be the chimney sweep for home owners who are negligent, lazy or just too cheap to do this job themselves.

I think the only reason the volunteer FD does a quick sweep -- and that's all it is -- one quick run through the chimney -- is because too often it's neighbors helping neighbors and we know the folks personally . . . things are very, very different in a small town where each year at the town meeting those very same neighbors are the ones who can approve or vote against that new fire engine you need or vote to cut your budget.
 
I wonder where he got the idea that 'when the magnet falls off, we're clean'? Surely he didn't calibrate the stack temp required for a creosote purge to the magnetic failing point for his off-the-shelf thermometer?
 
my magnet falls off at 850 or 900 18 inches above the stove top on single wall pipe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Osuna
Potential chimney fire?
Replies
2
Views
928
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
bholler
B
Megunticook
try a larger chimney brush?
Replies
10
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
bholler
B
K
Do I really need to clean chimney every year??
Replies
38
Views
4K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
Caw
Caw
H
Chimney Cap came loose, Sweep claims I had multiple fires and liner needs replaced.
Replies
10
Views
2K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
BC_Josh
BC_Josh
Y
Does my fireplace chimney flue look good for installing a wood stove insert with a flue? (just swept it)
Replies
22
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
yuryk
Y
Top Bottom
Back