cleaning a slight curve in the stove pipe

[Cheryl]

Hi all,

When cleaning our stove pipe for the Summit Insert there is a slight bend in the stove pipe to accomodate the old heat-i-later assembly. We were unable to push the brush through this bend. I couldn't find any info already listed about this in the archives....so, maybe a smaller brush for the tail end of the push, or working from inside the stove and up the pipe?
Any ideas.....thanks...Cheryl

 

[Corie]

lose the rods and attach a rope to one end of the brush.

Drop the rope down from the top and pull that sucker down and into the insert.

I use this to clean two 15 degree bends with no problem, so the slight bend shouldn't be a problem


hopefully

 

[Cheryl]

thank you .........that should work... Cheryl

 

[wg_bent]

So do you then use a shop vac to get the ash out of the top of the stove? It doesn't sound like you remove the insert when you clean the pipe.

 

[Cheryl]

Removing the insert is not really an option. Weighs in at about 450lbs and is a tight installation.


There is a baffle assembly and then a slab of insulation that comes slides off the unit from the inside. We put a cover over the pipe in the back of the unit ( I don't know if this is necessary, but no need to risk stuff falling in if we can prevent it), shut the door, and let the mess fall in the stove. We swept up the mess, and vacuumed up where necessary. This was our first cleaning. I'm sure we'll learn new tricks as we go.

 

[Corey]

Maybe the pro-chimney sweeps know better, but I've never really worried about cleaning out the stove after a sweep. Just let all the crud fall in the stove and get burnt up with the next load of wood. I look at it as getting the last .001% of efficiency out of that smoke. The catch here is that I have the top baffle out of the stove when cleaning so everything goes right into the firebox. You probably would want to clean the pile if you cant get the baffle out...it might not be a good thing for that to light off on top of the baffle.

Corey

 

[Cheryl]

Yep...we just plan to clean the pipe and clean out ashes for the same day. Just makes sense.
thanks.......