3 months of daily burning, could it be that I need to have my pipe cleaned?

[brazilbl]

I'm stunned. 3 months of near worry-free fire building and now it is hard to get a new fire going.

Testing for blockage. Started a fire using kindling and very sluggish/smoke. Took a torch to the fire box thinking I have are reverse draft, once I did that, the fire started right up. I can't open the door a bit to help start because of smoke. Close door, the sluggishness returns.

Wife is not pleased!

Brand new to this. Can't give numbers on wood moisture content, but the wood has not posed problems at all this year. Can't get to the top of chimney to look at cap, but,I certainly do see smoke coming out.

Wood stove only 4 months old. Chimney run is 25 feet with single wall.single wall flex pipe.

If I do need a chimney sweep what is the best way to find one and given this situation, what would be a rough estimate in cost?

 

[Rearscreen]

When I had a screen at the cap of the pipe that's where all my trouble was and I ran into similar problems. I used binoculars to have a look see.

 

[snaple4]

Is there any way you could see into the pipe from the stove itself? Depending on the stove you might be able to just remove some baffles and stick your camera up in there. Or as already mentioned if it is safe you can check your cap and that may tell you better.

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[snaple4]

Also, is the single wall pipe insulated?

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[peakbagger]

Your local fire department may be good place to start looking for chimney sweep. They would much rather have folks have their chimneys swept than deal with the aftermath. Depending on the department, there are frequently off duty firefighters that do it as side job.

 

[jetsam]

Cleaning the cap would be free, and it's the first thing that clogs if it has mesh on it.

You can get brushes/poles/sooteaters on amazon, probably for less than paying someone to come over and use theirs.

In general, expect it to get much worse as the season ends. If your current wood quality and burn practices are blocking the cap/flue, that will increase as the weather warms up. As outdoor temps go up, you run the stove lower, flue temps go down, and creosote condensation accelerates.

And yes, it's possible to plug a cap in a week or two of burning wet wood.

 

[zig]

If your going to have a stove get the tools to clean the chimney, learn how to do it and burn better seasoned wood. If the cap has screen lose it or replace with a cap without screen. Warmer outside temps kill a draft too but still get it clean before you burn more than wood.

 

[blacktail]

Get a sooteater and spend 15 minutes to clean it from the bottom up.

 

[Poindexter]

agree with above. Three months of solid burning, unknown MC and now sluggish draft, yup, time to brush it out.

You should be able to get the right brush and some screw together sticks at lowes-depot for $50-100. Then you ll need to get ip on the roof...

 

[kennyp2339]

I agree with the other posters that the stove system needs a good brush out. This is all apart of the burning wood learning curve.
I've been burning wood as my exclusive source of heat for 7 years now and I clean my system twice a year. I just did mine yesterday, its fairly simple if you have decent access to your roof and chimney, takes me about 20min from start to new fire going in the stove.
If your going to clean the stove your self and you feel as though you can do it from the top down with traditional tools (brush head and fiberglass rod kit) buy a brush head that's made for your diameter pipe, nylon bristles are a must for metal liners and class a metal chimney's, a twist together fiberglass rod pack is fairly cheap and will last forever if you take care of it. Read your stove manual to learn how to take the stove reburn tubes out and drop the baffle without damaging it. Make sure the stove is cold, clean out ashes, drop the baffle and tubes, go up on the roof and take cap off (it could be riveted so look carefully at it first) clean the cap with a wire hand brush, then insert the brush head down the liner (put the rods together and brush head while on the ground) go up and down a few times until you hit the base of the insert. 2 things to remember with the cleaning, first measure the chimney length by inserting the rods in backwards, you don't want to force the brush head into the insert so see were it ends plus there could be a section of liner towards the base of the chimney that is curved and ovaled out to get around the smoke shelf or damper so you want to get a judgement of were that is by how much rod gets inserted into the liner before it hits something, secondly a new brush head will feel very tight (almost like it wont fit into the chimney) if you liner is a 6" round liner then don't worry the brush will wear itself out after a couple of times being used to fit the liner exactly, no need to trim the brush head, and the liner wont break because the brush head is tight.
Once the cleaning is down, put the cap back on, clean a the crap that landed into the insert (this is why you take the baffle and tubes out) re-assemble and start burning again. FYI before you start brushing make sure the insert door is closed..lol

 

[KennyK]

I agree with the other posters that the stove system needs a good brush out. This is all apart of the burning wood learning curve.
I've been burning wood as my exclusive source of heat for 7 years now and I clean my system twice a year. I just did mine yesterday, its fairly simple if you have decent access to your roof and chimney, takes me about 20min from start to new fire going in the stove.
If your going to clean the stove your self and you feel as though you can do it from the top down with traditional tools (brush head and fiberglass rod kit) buy a brush head that's made for your diameter pipe, nylon bristles are a must for metal liners and class a metal chimney's, a twist together fiberglass rod pack is fairly cheap and will last forever if you take care of it. Read your stove manual to learn how to take the stove reburn tubes out and drop the baffle without damaging it. Make sure the stove is cold, clean out ashes, drop the baffle and tubes, go up on the roof and take cap off (it could be riveted so look carefully at it first) clean the cap with a wire hand brush, then insert the brush head down the liner (put the rods together and brush head while on the ground) go up and down a few times until you hit the base of the insert. 2 things to remember with the cleaning, first measure the chimney length by inserting the rods in backwards, you don't want to force the brush head into the insert so see were it ends plus there could be a section of liner towards the base of the chimney that is curved and ovaled out to get around the smoke shelf or damper so you want to get a judgement of were that is by how much rod gets inserted into the liner before it hits something, secondly a new brush head will feel very tight (almost like it wont fit into the chimney) if you liner is a 6" round liner then don't worry the brush will wear itself out after a couple of times being used to fit the liner exactly, no need to trim the brush head, and the liner wont break because the brush head is tight.
Once the cleaning is down, put the cap back on, clean a the crap that landed into the insert (this is why you take the baffle and tubes out) re-assemble and start burning again. FYI before you start brushing make sure the insert door is closed..lol

This is super helpful! What about for those of us that have a 30 foot liner and a precarious roof/chimney top situation that's over 35 feet off the ground? Any options for cleaning from the bottom up?

 

[Dima1973]

Yes, get a sooteater. I just cleaned my chimney today, but I did from the top. It was my first time doing it, but it's super easy with sooteater.

 

[brazilbl]

Status report. Went to dealer, gave symptoms and his answer is consistent with yours. I got a name of a reputable (with certifications). He can't get out for two weeks.

I'm game at buying a soot eater if I can find one in the area.

My question. I'm ok doing this from the bottom up. Will the soot eater make the bend from the rear (as it runs up the chimney). I checked my manual for the Regency H2100, but it says nothing about removing anything to get to the exit from the firebox. If it can make the bend, I'm ok with removing some parts to gain access to the exit from the firebox. However, I will need a bit of guidance/tips with anyone who is familiar with this model.

Thank you guys for the help.