cleaning question

[stefan]

Greetings,

Cleaned out my stove pipe for the first time a few weeks ago. It is a straight run from the stove to the cap (aprox 15') and I did it from the bottom up. Am not able to thoroughly clean the cap area unless I get up on the roof - which I was hoping to avoid. If I clean all the way up to the bottom of the cap, is that sufficient?

 

[RonB]

Hi Stefan and welcome,

You really need to check out the cap area when you clean your flue. Flue gases condensate and form creosote most easily on the coldest part of your chimney. That is the cap area. You could use a pair of binoculars to check out the cap before getting your ladder out.

 

[Jimbob]

And if your stove has a removable baffle, you could sweep from the top down without removing any pipes, just the baffle. This greatly reduces the chances of making a mess.
Or even if your stove has a baffle by-pass plate (some Drolets), you could leave that open while sweeping & let the creo land right in the firebox.

To answer your original question, it depends how much crap is caked in the cap. if you look up the chimney on a bright, sunny day and see lots of light, you should be good.

 

[f3cbboy]

stefan - check out other threads on here with regards to bottom up cleanings - tap and spin - helped me out a lot with my first cleaning

 

[Backwoods Savage]

And part of that depends upon the type of cap you have. For sure if it has a screen it will need cleaning.