Chimney Cleaning Problem...

[Mr. Kelly]

Hi All...

Hope you're enjoying your shoulder season burning... or not burning!

I finally dragged my lazy rear end out to the side of the house to attempt my first chimney cleaning. When I mean chimney, I mean a through-the-wall system from my wood stove, through the wall, and straight up abot 15 feet. The cap is too far up from the top of the roof for me to get all the way up there to try to clean if from the top, so I was attempting to clean it from the cap at the bottom.

My dad has a similar system with a much smaller box, and keeps saying that his chimney barely has anything in it when he's had pros come out to scrape it down. He only has it done very few years, and the guy has often said it didn't really even need it... but, I digress.

So, I was out there today, took the cap off of the "T" elbow, and put my Rutland system up the hole. Tons of junk came out of the first few feet, but then the brush became stuck, and wouldn't travel any further up the pipe. The fairly rigid rod began to flex, and I couldn't get enough strength behind it to get the thing up there any further to do the job. It was useless.

Here are my several questions...

1. Has anyone had this dilemma? Did you come up with any solutions?

2. Does tons of soot necessarily mean creosote? Meaning... just because there was tons of soot, do you think that this means that I should expect a good amount of creosote also?

Anyway, thanks for reading, and any suggestions you may have!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Soot does not mean creosote, many of us get an ash covering inside the chimney. However, most of your creosote should not be in the first few feet of the chimney, but in the last few feet where it's coolest. Your brush getting stuck may be something to worry about. Can you see up it with a light? A sweep should also be able to make sure your cap is clean.

Matt

 

[Mr. Kelly]

Thank you Matt.

I was hoping that I could save some much-needed $$ by doing the job myself, so it's a bit troubling that I couldn't get the thing up there. I don't think it's a creosote problem that is preventing me from getting the brush up there. I think it's just a "fit" thing. It's just too tight, and my rods flex too much for me to get any real strength behind it.

I will likely have to hire a pro to come out and show me some ropes!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Sweeping the chimney isn't hard, and a good way to save some cash. But if there is too much crap in the pipe to push through it may be worth paying somebody to do it from the top then you can follow through every so often from the bottom to keep it clean.

Matt

 

[BrotherBart]

What does it look like when you look up the pipe from the clean out. You did do that, didn't you?

 

[Pagey]

The first poly brush I purchased would not budge once it was 8" or so into the Class A. I learned from that: do a test fit/try reversing the brush before committing and going too far into the flue. After some light trimming with the tin snips it worked like a charm. Dad managed to melt it later, but that's a different story.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

What does it look like when you look up the pipe from the clean out. You did do that, didn't you?

Ok, fine... you got me there... I didn't look up the pipe. Pretty silly, but I figured it needed to be cleaned, one way or the other, so it didn't really occur to me.

The thing only has about 2/3 of a burning season on it. We fired it up in mid January of this year, and ran it until April. I was thinking it would be pretty much clean. I have a big box, tried to run it fairly hot all the time. Used hard woods. Imagine my surprise when about 2 cups of soot came out as soon as I took off the stopper at the bottom of the "T"!

Anyway, any other thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

Best,

MK

 

[BrotherBart]

Run the rods up without the brush a few times and see what comes out. Wiggle'em.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

Run the rods up without the brush a few times and see what comes out. Wiggle'em.

Good idea. I appreciate the suggestion!

I do get the sense that it's not "junk" up there that is causing the congestion, but just a too-tight fit of the brush. Even in the first few feet it's a really tight fit, and the pipes aren't a 100 percent straight at the joints, which may exacerbate the problem.

Just a thought...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Those brushes need to fit tight in order to do their job.

I agree with BB. We have had to do that. I also recall the worst chimney I ever had the curse to clean. We first ran the rods through, then got some galvanized pipe and ran that through (what a mess and it took a long time). Then it was so that we could see some light. We then took a log chain and rattled that around in the flue. All in all, it took two of us over 3 hours to clean that chimney. Needless to say, that wood burner got a nice lecture when I was finished.

After you get that thing cleaned, for a year or two you should remove that bottom cap and look up at least monthly. If it is dirty, clean it.

As Matt stated, the chimney will be the worst in the last couple of feet at the top. It will depend upon what type of cap you have as to how often it will need cleaning but it will need it so you will have to find a way to get up there.

btw, another trick we do when cleaning a SS chimney is to first get the poles in the chimney and rattle them around just a bit. Many times that gets any loose stuff to fall before running the brush up there.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

Hi all...

I figured out the "tight chimney mystery...". Here's what was happening: As I was pushing the brush up the chimney, I was attempting to give it a bit of up and down action for a bit of extra contact. What I found, upon experimentation, is that when I pushed the brush upward, all was well, but when pulling the brush down, the bristles would begin to shift to the other direction, creating a tight fit that would prevent the brush from moving up again when reversed. So, I found that if I just pushed the brush upward, with no downward strokes, I could muscle the brush all the way to the top. No piece of cake, but doable.

Here's my next question:

My cap is about 4" wider diameter than the pipe. As the brush knocked around up there, it dislodged thin wafers of black stuff, likely creosote, that came floating down (and into my eyes and other orifices!). It's very thin, so I'm not too concerned, but... the brush isn't getting to the grill around the circumference of the cap. The top is too high off the surface of the very pitched roof, so I have no real way of getting up there to clean it out.

Any thoughts? Should I be concerned about not cleaning the grill to the cap?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mr. Kelly, for what it's worth, when we clean the chimney we usually do go all the way up and then all the way down. Then on the way up the next time we do the scrubbing up and down action. Yes, it gets tight when you reverse the direction but it should not be so tight that it gets stuck.

On the cap, it depends upon what cap you have. Ours we can usually just tap it a few times and a few flakes might fall but I've seen some that really got bad. You have to realize that at the top is where the creosote will be the worst because the smoke is cooling fast up there. Of course, the cap on top then gets the worst end of the bargain. We had one also one time that I had to remove completely and scrub it with a wire brush as it liked to clog. Our present cap has never been cleaned. So you just do whatever the cap requires is the best answer I can give. Good luck.

 

[thewoodlands]

Mr.Kelly what size is the flue and your brush? I use a spray called Anti Creo-Soot which will change any buildup to light fluffy ash, attached are some pictures of my last cleaning.

zap

The first picture is the cap off the cleanout,1723 is the pipe before the cleaning and 1733 after the cleaning. I clean from the bottom up.

 

[vvvv]

What does it look like when you look up the pipe from the clean out. You did do that, didn't you?

vvv

 

[PapaDave]

When the cap gets done clogging up, you won't have any flow out, it'll just come back into the room.
You need to figure out how to get the cap clean, or you just wasted a bunch of time (ok, not completely). Most of the crap (like others have said) is at the top and in the cap.
Rent a lift, or a helicopter. Alternatively, hire a sweep.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

The pipe is a 6" interior diameter.

As for the brush, it's a Rutland, but the bristles all shift when I bring the thing downward, and then the bristles are at an angle that is not conducive to going back up. I suppose that after awhile, the bristles might loosen up a bit.

I did look up the hole this time around. Looked fine. Most of the pipe was slightly hazy, but not much build up. There were a few suspicious places up near the top where it appeared there might be a tiny bit of build up, but I'm sure the brush took care of that.

I'll likely keep an eye on the cap, and maybe figure out how to get the top off after a season or two.


Anybody take the top couple of 4' sections off of their chimney to get to the top? Are those things pretty easy to get off, or do they corrode and get stiff? I could climb up and try to do that. I just can't get to the top any other way. The chimney extends, probably, about 6' above a very slanted roof. Too slanted for my comfort, or my reach. My ladder won't even get that high. Any more thoughts? Thanks for the input!

 

[joshlaugh]

I have found that new bristles are pretty stiff which makes it hard to change directions once you work your way through your flue. Truth be told- this fall I had no problem cleaning my flue with the two 30 degree bends but with the straight pipe down to my other wood stove I got my brush so stuck that I had to call me chimney guy out to get it out. I wouldn't tell anyone else this story but you guys.(Nice guy didn't even charge me for getting my rods and brush out)

 

[Mr. Kelly]

Don't worry, we won't tell anyone... well... hmmm.... what's it worth to ya???

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

If your brush is snug . . . it's good . . . if it's to the point where it's getting stuck you may want to trim it a dite to avoid getting it stuck in the future.

My brush is snug enough so that I can do an up and down scrubbing action as I push it towards the top . . . I then tap the cap a few times to dislodge any build up on the cap . . . as for the mesh . . . I just do a visual check to make sure there is no heavy build up . . . and so far, so good.

I think all of us get some soot . . . not a lot to worry about there . . . creosote is the true enemy.