Chimney sweep says "There's your problem"

[PistolPeets]

This post is a follow up from an earlier thread I posted regarding a terrible wood smoke smell coming from my PE summit insert. I was at a loss so I called a professional. I described the problem to him and he seemed to gravitate towards something in particular. He pulled the stove out and this is what we found. Years of creosote on top of the stove. He figures the previous homeowners had either installed this as a slammer with no liner, or never cleaned the masonry chimney before installing the liner. He inspected the chimney and said that it looks like all the creosote had fallen and none remained.

Hopefully this resolves the problem. I told him it was a sour smoke smell, which he said is the creosote heating up. Fingers crossed, it's better now. Can't build a fire today or tomorrow but hopefully Thursday I'll test it out.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Yikes! Imagine if that caught fire.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Wow!

 

[jetsam]

Wut.

So what happened when the liner was installed? They didn't sweep the chimney before installation? They left that big pile of crud on the stove after screwing in the liner?

Both?

 

[yooper08]

Wowzers. Consider yourself lucky. Creosote generally ignites when it reaches 451 degrees and stove top temps can easily go north of that. What probably saved you is the fact this was an insert which turns a lot of the heat into convective heat so the outer jacket has a harder time getting that hot.

 

[jetsam]

At least now we have a thread with pictures to show the people who ask why they need to sweep before the liner goes in.

 

[vwmike]

Yikes, that's scarey indeed!

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I guess the OP needed a diaper change when he saw that.

 

[kennyp2339]

I guess the OP needed a diaper change when he saw that.

We say that at work all the time, or "I got you a dirty diaper" meaning a bad job is coming, or "I'm sitting in a lot of squishy stuff" means current job is starting to turn for the bad.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

We say that at work all the time, or "I got you a dirty diaper" meaning a bad job is coming, or "I'm sitting in a lot of squishy stuff" means current job is starting to turn for the bad.

What kind of work do you do?

 

[Corey]

Wow - that seems like a ridiculously large amount of creosote to just have been 'in' the chimney. I guess it's possible, but also be sure the sweep checked the current liner. Make sure you don't have a leaky or broken liner joint putting more and more smoke / creosote into the old chimney.

 

[kennyp2339]

What kind of work do you do?

Electric utility worker

 

[Dataman]

Wow! Not your time to die

 

[bholler]

Did the sweep scan the liner to make sure it is ok? Did he check and clean the smoke shelf? Is the liner insulated?

 

[PistolPeets]

Yes, an interesting find indeed. He did look over the liner from the bottom and didn't think it was compromised. It's a single wall non insulated liner. Kenny, I too am in that line of work and I know exactly what you mean!

 

[bholler]

Yes, an interesting find indeed. He did look over the liner from the bottom and didn't think it was compromised. It's a single wall non insulated liner. Kenny, I too am in that line of work and I know exactly what you mean!

Simply looking at it from the bottom would not be enough for me

 

[PistolPeets]

It's 15 degrees out and there's about 15" of snow on the tin roof. It's not safe to go up there now.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

This post is a follow up from an earlier thread I posted regarding a terrible wood smoke smell coming from my PE summit insert. I was at a loss so I called a professional. I described the problem to him and he seemed to gravitate towards something in particular. He pulled the stove out and this is what we found. Years of creosote on top of the stove. He figures the previous homeowners had either installed this as a slammer with no liner, or never cleaned the masonry chimney before installing the liner. He inspected the chimney and said that it looks like all the creosote had fallen and none remained.

Hopefully this resolves the problem. I told him it was a sour smoke smell, which he said is the creosote heating up. Fingers crossed, it's better now. Can't build a fire today or tomorrow but hopefully Thursday I'll test it out.

When he pulled it out, did you look at the tag for the model year of the insert?

 

[PistolPeets]

The nameplate says November 2001 date of manufacture

 

[bholler]

It's 15 degrees out and there's about 15" of snow on the tin roof. It's not safe to go up there now.

I would have run a camera up from the bottom.

 

[PistolPeets]

I don't believe he had a camera. That would be ideal though!

 

[bholler]

I don't believe he had a camera. That would be ideal though!

If your sweep doesn't have a camera I think it is time to look for a new one. It is an absolute nessecity to do the job properly

 

[jetsam]

If anyone's not aware, wifi endoscopes that work pretty well are less than $50 on amazon now, less than $20 on ebay. I got one that is twice as long as my flue for $35.

The tool I got is probably not rugged enough to last long for a chimney sweep, but it will probably last me until I lose it.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

If anyone's not aware, wifi endoscopes that work pretty well are less than $50 on amazon now, less than $20 on ebay. I got one that is twice as long as my flue for $35.

The tool I got is probably not rugged enough to last long for a chimney sweep, but it will probably last me until I lose it.

And off season you can do your own colonoscopy.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

That is truly amazing that it never caught fire.