Question for You Bottom-Up Chimney Cleaners!

[leeave96]

When you are cleaning/brushing your chimney from the bottom, how do you deal with the chimney cap? Do you go up and take it off and clean it or just leave it in place and let the creosote build-up on it?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[madrone]

I leave it. The main reason I'm cleaning from the bottom up is to avoid having to go up there. There's never much on the cap anyway, so it hasn't been an issue so far. However, if I was burning wet wood and getting any kind of real build-up, I'd go up there occasionally.

 

[cmonSTART]

I leave it on usually, but I do make a trip up to the roof to check it out and make sure it's not plugged. At least I don't have to lug my tools up there.

 

[davmor]

I leave it on, if I don't knock it off . The little creosote thats on there gets washed away from the rain. Dave.

 

[fossil]

I use a soot-eater from the bottom up. I go slowly, running the drill at a moderate rate. When I think I'm near the top, I make sure the drill's running in reverse to preclude any chance of loosening the cap. I can feel when I bump into the cap. The soot-eater does a decent job of cleaning out the inside of the caps. I don't care about the outside of them enough to go up onto either of my tile roofs. I have wire mesh spark arrestor screens in both my caps, and I've never had a problem with either of them getting gunked up enough to affect draft. Rick

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Every once in a while I go up and clean the cap. However, it has been many years since I've done that.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

I have to clean my cap all the time. I burn dry wood and burn the stove hot on a regular basis but the cap still gets clogged every few weeks. I figure if I have to go up there anyway I might as well sweep from the top down which is easier for me.

 

[f3cbboy]

after the install of the pipe, i went up on the roof and took off the 4' section that included the cap and using sheetmetal screws attached the cap to the pipe. Now when i due a cleaning, i bang the brush against it and anything clinging to it simply flies off. i think i used 6 one inch sheet metal screws. So far so good.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have to clean my cap all the time. I burn dry wood and burn the stove hot on a regular basis but the cap still gets clogged every few weeks. I figure if I have to go up there anyway I might as well sweep from the top down which is easier for me.

Hum.... I suggest your wood may not be as dry as you think if the cap is clogging every few weeks. It really should not clog often. Another possibility is that you have a very fine screen. If so, you may want to change that.

 

[Kenster]

I have to clean my cap all the time. I burn dry wood and burn the stove hot on a regular basis but the cap still gets clogged every few weeks.

hmmmm. Something's wrong with this picture. With over 1600 posts you're not a rookie (which was my first thought) so I don't know what else to add that you haven't been reading here for years.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I was also wondering what stove? Some people have more problems than other, in spite of a good stove and good burning practices. Highbeam reported frustration with his screen for example. Yet we have never had an issue with a cap screen clogging. Perhaps our flue gases are exiting a bit warmer?

 

[firefighterjake]

Very little creosote or fly ash on my cap or screen . . . usually a few gentle taps of the brush on to the cap loosens up any gunk that may be attached.

 

[thewoodlands]

When you are cleaning/brushing your chimney from the bottom, how do you deal with the chimney cap? Do you go up and take it off and clean it or just leave it in place and let the creosote build-up on it?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill, this is the start of our third year burning and the cap seems fine. I usually check with binoculars (still open) but this year the ladder will come out and we will see from up close. I clean it at the beginning of the year then at the end of December, been doing that since we starting burning.




I'll throw some pictures up when I do it.





Zap

 

[Slow1]

I use a soot-eater from the bottom up. I go slowly, running the drill at a moderate rate. When I think I'm near the top, I make sure the drill's running in reverse to preclude any chance of loosening the cap. I can feel when I bump into the cap. The soot-eater does a decent job of cleaning out the inside of the caps. I don't care about the outside of them enough to go up onto either of my tile roofs. I have wire mesh spark arrestor screens in both my caps, and I've never had a problem with either of them getting gunked up enough to affect draft. Rick

Thanks for this - I just ordered a sooteater and was wondering about the whole "spinning the cap off" - I was about to post asking if doing a bottom up running the drill in reverse was indeed the correct direction to do it in order to minimize the risk of removing the cap. I figured that was right but wanted a confirmation Sometimes I can get myself confused picturing which way things are turning once I flip them upside down and backwards...

 

[glassmanjpf]

I usually just run the brush up to the cap and tap on it a few times.