Going to need a professional cleaning I think, questions...

[tickbitty]

I think our chimney cap is clogged. We have a magnaflex liner with deluxe rain cap. I can't tell at the moment, (because it's dark) but I think it's clogged in the cap mesh and I hope that it's nothing worse than that. We're getting smoke in the house and flashlight inspection shows that it just doesn't look quite right up there. We have been burning a little bit of iffy oak in the last couple weeks, as we were waiting on getting some additional wood until after the holidays and some weird weather events. We just got a foot of snow yesterday but it's likely to melt off in the next few days.

Hubs feels we should hire a pro to clean this for the first time. I am sure they will cost a pretty penny especially if they feel the cap needs replacing. This is a 6" insulated (insulflex) liner - and the stove has a bypass damper so I think it should be an easy clean for them. But we want to make sure whatever is up with the cap gets resolved. Do I tell the chimney cleaners what the setup is and will they charge us any less than if it were a regular masonry chimney?

(We have not cleaned it ourselves before, don't have the brushes and rods, and didn't do the install ourselves but had a handyman friend do it. We did have the masonry chimney cleaned in the past - it was pricey, as they installed a cap etc which they marked up some)

 

[begreen]

The cap doesn't get replaced, it just gets cleaned. Good call on getting a sweep for the first time. Be sure to get one that has good references. A pro's eyes on the cleaning will give you more information about how things are burning. Their rates are usually pretty standard unless the flue is particularly challenging.

 

[BrotherBart]

tick if it is just a clogged cap then hub should be able to take it off and tap the crud out of the mesh. While he is at it he could glance in the pipe and see if it really needs brushing or not. Getting a sweep out mid season will be pricey and may take a while.

But wait until this nasty wind calms down tomorrow.

 

[98dingo]

A sweep is usually a fixed price regardless of setup or amount of build up. I recommend finding a CSIA sweep in your area. This way you know the job is done by someone who knows exactly what to do/look for. CSIA.org to search in your area.

 

[tickbitty]

Thanks guys. Seeing it in the daylight, it looks like it probably is just clogged, I can't get a really close look because it's this kind of cap and it's kinda hard to see from the ground, it is looking blackened though:

The sweep we used in the past was definitely a decent one and certified, does inspections etc., and that's probably who we will call.
Good idea to check it out ourselves first and hopefully to get a good look at what's going on, maybe tap out the crud, but we have been burning a while now so it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have them come out for an initial cleaning anyway just to get the word on how fast we are building up, etc. They are a bit pricey though.

 

[tickbitty]

Was thinking... we still have the old chimney cap, which the sweeps put on a few years ago before we got the stove. It's larger, and square.

I wonder if we can take off the rain cap that came with the liner that is shown in the post above and just put the old cap back on there, giving it a wider area to vent within the old cap but still providing spark/ember arrest. I am not sure if the plate (like the one shown in the setup above) covers the old holes or not. But I suppose that could be something to look into or ask the sweep about.

Would any of you forsee any problem or change with the draft if I did that, or would the creosote build up within the liner and not the cap or something?