Cleaning the Flue on a Hearthstone Shelburne

[DanCorcoran]

I cleaned the flue (single-wall) and chimney on my Hearthstone Shelburne earlier this week. I thought I'd post a few photos and some step-by-step comments for those who haven't yet attempted it. I've used the stove for two winter seasons, but because it is in a cabin which I only visit occasionally, it hasn't seen that much use. I estimate that I got between one and one-and-a-half cups of creosote out. I used a SootEater rod and brush, which I bought online.

Step One: Remove your thermometer.



Step Two: Remove the three screws securing the flue to the flue collar.


StepThree: Lift the flue (mine has a telescoping section at the ceiling). I was able to lift it 5 inches.


View inside the flue collar. Very little soot/creosote had collected there. The lighter colored section on the left is the upper ceramic board (#43 on the exploded parts diagram). I vacuumed out the soot before proceding.


Step Four: Place a plastic bag over the flue collar opening, to prevent anything from falling into stove.


I'll start another thread for the rest of the process...

 

[DanCorcoran]

After placing a plastic bag over the flue collar, you next need to put your vacuum hose and the SootEater rod up into the flue. Rather than making a "tent" out of the plastic that came with the SootEater, I just used a larger plastic bag.

I used blue removable painter's tape to keep from pulling any paint off the surface of the flue or the stove. I pulled the mouth of the bag up over the flue opening and taped it at the top. I then made a hole in the bottom of the bag, just big enough for the vacuum hose. I duct-taped the vacuum hose to the stove, since I was working alone and didn't have anyone to hold things. I then taped the bag opening to the outside of the vacuum hose (the vacuum hose went 4-5 inches up into the flue, so that it wouldn't suck in the plastic bag). I repeated this process for the first section of the SootEater rod, the one with the spinning head on it. (Note: I didn't tape the plastic bag to the cleaning rod, since the rod needs to spin.)

You can see the finished product in this photo, with the vacuum hose on the right and the SootEater rod on the left.


I then attached another length of rod to the first and slid it up into the flue. I continued this until I had all six sections of the rod in place. I then attached the drill to the bottom rod, turned on the vacuum, and began cleaning from the top down (others had suggested this approach).

The most difficult part of the whole process was removing each section of the rod, as the little buttons must be pushed in and twisted in order to free the rod. This is actually good, though, since it ensures that there is a very secure connection from one rod to the next.

Another photo from the left side, where the rod is inserted, followed by a flash shot up the cleaned flue. There is actually no dark area, that's just where the flash stopped.




I was very pleased with the whole process. Virtually no soot or creosote escaped the bag and the blue painter's tape came off without pulling off any paint or enamel (note that I put the blue tape down first, before using duct tape, so that the duct tape wouldn't contact the stove or flue directly).

Let me know if there are any questions...I hope this encourages others to save some $$$ and do this themselves.