I've been burning steady for a little over a month now and am planning to give the liner a brushing this week. I have a rear vent set up with a tee that runs 17' up and the draft is pokey at times even with cold temps outside. Do any of you Castine owners or other folks take off the top plate to see if there's any buildup in that area when you sweep or should I leave well enough alone?
Cleaning theCastine
- Thread starter drumlace
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I have not taken the top off yet, and have been burning in the castine for a year now. I just clean the chimney (straight up) I started to take the secondary plate off, but decided to put that on hold until spring.
ailanthus
Feeling the Heat
So you sweep the chimney & leave whatever falls on top of the baffle (secondary) plate? I was wondering about this for quick mid-winter cleanings, but didn't quite trust to do it without removing the baffle plate - I'd prefer to only do that once a year.
Starting my 4th season and have not removed the top yet. Twice a year I remove entire section (7') of inside pipe up to cathedral ceiling box and take it outside to clean. Run the brush up the 8' of class A pipe to the cap (usually pretty clean) then just vacuum the smoke outlet and re-assemble. With the stovetop temps usually between 500 & 600 I never thought there was a need; I guess I will check it in the spring unless someone points this out as a problem.
I have telescoping stove pipe. First I put 2 bags to catch everything at the top of the stove, then sweep. I will vacuum anything that is visual
Thanks for the replies. I'd been burning partial loads of ash mostly until now, tossed in a full load of oak to see if it made a difference and it did. Drafting great and 80 degrees as I type.
Had the day off today so I let the stove go out and cool overnight. I did my normal cleaning; remove inside pipe take outside and clean then ran the soot eater up the class A from the inside and just for the hell of it I lifted the top off and checked it out. After 4 seasons all that I found was maybe 1/16" of white ash coating the internal parts vacuumed it out and am back up and running all in less than an hour. The good news is that after 3 months be surprised if I got 1/8 cup of soot.
ailanthus
Feeling the Heat
Do you leave the top unbolted? I know others do this, but I'm still trying to decide if I'm comfortable with that (esp. with all the backpuffing threads going around these days).
I have them removed, the manual that came with the stove has the following: "The top plate is fastened by means of 2 transport screws. These must be removed due to the regulation regarding free access for sweeping smoke pipes" . So it looks like the factory is good with having these removed and I figure with the expansion and contraction is is probably better to have it loose. I always have a steam pot on top also which adds downward pressure. I always look at it that if I keep the chimney clean the wood dry and don't rush the process of closing the air control I shouldn't have any problem with back draft. You can always add an extra pot of water for more weight.
ailanthus
Feeling the Heat
I saw that in the manual, too - I never have taken the bolts off, but removing the top would be much easier than wrestling the baffle out through the door (& even worse, reinstalling) for each cleanout, so I'll probably end up unbolting it for next time. Thanks for the info!
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