Chimney brush: nylon vs metal wire

[Beno]

Hi there,

I am a happy user of the Caddy wood furnace (in Canada). Last winter I burnt mainly softwood, and a recent professional chimney seeper discovered 4 gallons of soot (but no creosote). To save money, I decided to buy the brush and the rods to clean myself the chimney few times over the coming winter. The question is what to buy? I have a Selkirk double wall chimney, and the professional chimney seeper said I should use only a nylon brush. Is that correct? Also, can I buy the brush and the rods at the local HW store (Canadian Tire, Home Depot etc) or is it a better place for this stuff?

Many thanks,
Beno

 

[vvvv]

not metal brush= do the plastic

 

[Beno]

My Caddy burns also with little smoke, except at the beginning 10-15 min of the fire. Can I use the brush to sweep also through the black flue pipe that goes in the Selkirk chimney (it has a 45 degree connector) or the chimney and the flue pipe should be cleaned separately?

 

[laynes69]

Beno, that sounds like alot of soot, maybe because of softwood. Was this your first year, how much did you burn? When I clean mine I remove the flue pipe and clean it along with the chimney.

 

[Beno]

I burnt about 4 cords of hardwood and maybe 14 cords of softwood. I always burn with the damper fully opened, to have a hot fire. It takes more wood but was supposed to burn cleaner.

 

[laynes69]

You shouldn't be burning full bore, your letting too much heat out the flue. When the damper closes, your secondary combustion kicks in, and you should get more heat.

 

[Beno]

I was told that is better to burn a hot fire, that's why I left the damper open. Also, for burning softwood, is cleaner to burn with the damper open. I wonder, if I start to let the thermostat close the damper, wouldn't this create even more soot/creosote than I already get ?
Now, about the secondary combustion, I thought that it's always active. Do you say that the mechanical action of closing the damper will start the secondary combustion ?

Thanks again,
Beno

 

[laynes69]

Burning softwood in a standard furnace you need to burn very hot to burn up the smoke. With a EPA furnace like the Caddy, you don't have the problem of creosote due to the secondary combustion of the furnace. I would guess the soot is from the unburnt gasses from a fast flue and open damper. When the damper closes, the draft will slow allowing for more complete combustion. If you think of a candle, your burning too rich. You will see more heat when the damper closes and at that point secondary combustion will take over. Do you use the thermostat? If you do and the furnace will not meet the requirements, then I would say your furnace may be too small. I would say you let the thermostat cycle once you have good fire and you should see less in the flue for the furnace will have more time to burn up whats there. Whats your flue temps, and do you have a barometric damper? If so whats your draft speeds? I can't imagine burning that much wood, I would be there constantly stoking the thing all day and night.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

18 cord! Do you mean full cord, or face cord?

 

[Beno]

We have an ICF house, very well insulated, and with lots of thermal mass: concrete walls and concrete floors on both levels. We have no basement, so the floor on slab is warm enough. In addition, we have a passive solar design, so, no matter how cold is outside, when there is sun, we have a very warm house with no fire going on. In fact, I burn only one fire a day, in the evening, for 5 - 6 hours. We have the thermostat but is set to let always the damper open. I don't have a barometric damper, and I don't know the draft speed. Also, I don't have a flue thermometer, since the flue is at the back where I don't have easily access. Do you also have lots of smoke when the fire starts? I let the Caddy door slightly open in the first 10 - 15 min, till the fire gets started really well (and this makes me a bit nervous ).
A while ago I asked the furnace support about burning with damper opened and they replied: "As for when you’re burning hot, for example with the damper quite open your are using your furnace the way it should be used. A hot fire will burn the secondary gases, there for what comes out of your chimney is fairly clean with low emissions, eliminating smoke."
So, I am a bit confused...
I meant face cords, but the softwood burns very fast. Mainly cedar...

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Oh, OK- 18 face cord is 6 cord- that's more like what I would expect

 

[laynes69]

Well I would get a baro on your furnace, and I wouldn't open the damper all the time. You will lengthen your burns and get more heat with a barometric damper and not letting your damper stay open. If the furnace is made to burn full bore then I guess, but thats not how we burn and we see very little creosote. Do those couple things and your wood usage will drop. I forgot to add, I don't close the damper until I have a good hot fire. Then when the damper closes the fire may be a little slow then it will gain in temperature and will burn cleanly. The more I think about your consumption, thats very good for mostly softwood. I would say experiment a little bit this winter with it and you will find your sweet spot. I now have a liner and drier wood so I will be seeing some changes also.

 

[Stove Geek]

To Laynes 69:

I really love your youtube video

Awesome fire!

 

[laynes69]

Thanks. I was playing with my wifes old camera.

 

[Medman]

Back to the brush - definitely go with nylon. It is what Selkirk recommends, and you will find that with a metal brush you have to go all the way down first, then all the way up the pipe - you cannot reverse direction halfway because the bristles are too stiff. This means that you will not be able to scrub a particularly difficult spot of pipe very well. Also, pushing a nylon brush through 20+ feet of pipe is a lot easier than pushing the metal - I learned this the hard way!

Also, yes you should brush out the inside of the black pipe. There are flexible extensions for this, or simply pull the pieces apart.
I have found that here in Canada the best price for stove parts and accessories is at HD or Canadian Tire if on sale. However, i tend to buy from my local independent building supply store because the staff there has experience and installation expertise - something you won't find at HD!

 

[Beno]

Thank you laynes69. I started to use the thermostat and it's working great: I use a fraction of the wood, I get even temperatures thru the night and burning coals in the morning. And yes, I'll buy nylon brushes.
I don't know about you guys, but I'll never give away the pleasure of using a splitting maul for a gas splitter.