cleaning tips

[gbeane]

I have a "unique" installation.

In my living room there was a "raised" fireplace, maybe about 1.5 feet off the floor. The fireplace opening was about 3 feet wide by two feet tall, with a 8"x12" clay tile lined flue.

A previous owner (probably during the early 80s) had built a brick hearth in front of this and put a wood stove in front of the raised fireplace. The wood stove flue (8") came straight out the back of the wood stove and went 10-12" into the fireplace. This passed through a metal "plug" that closed up the fireplace opening.

I removed the wood stove (which I had never used), dropped a 4" flexible steel liner down the chimney and trough the damper opening (I removed the actual damper to make room for the liner). This is a run of less than 15 feet. Then in the fire place I adapted this to 3" and connected to a 90 degree elbow to point out of the fireplace. Then a 12" piece of pipe goes through the 8" opening in the plug (sealed around it with fire-proof ceramic insulation) where there is another 90 degree bend to point the flue pipe down, then a 6" section of pipe down to a clean out tee attached to the pellet stove.

I could brush the liner from my roof with a 4" diameter brush, but then the problem is cleaning from the first 90 bend inside the fire place to the 90 above the clean out tee. I can unhook some of the 3" dura-vent and move the pellet stove out of the way and vacuum out the 90 bend at the bottom of the flex liner but this would be a huge pain in the ass! There is no way I would do this more than once a season.

Any other suggestions?

 

[crausch]

How much room do you have at the bottom of your cleanout 'T' behind your stove?

I had to draw out your configuration to visualize it and the only two options I see without taking the vent apart is to:

1. Run a 3" flexible brush up the cleanout 'T', then through the 90 deg elbow behind the stove then through 12" straight to the bottom of the 90 deg elbow in the fireplace. This would loosen the ash and clean some out.
2. The nest to do would be to run a vacuum hose up the same path fom the cleanout.

This would suck out all loose material from the 'T' to the first elbow. I you have a vac hose that can get around that first 90 elbow then your in business because that would clean everything even what has fell from you vertical cleaning of the 4" linner.

If you don't have room to get in your cleanout with a brush and vacuum, then you will probably have to resort to taking the vent apart.

I don't think hooking a leaf blower up to the top will ddraw it out.

The best option would be if you could go out the backside of the fireplace (replacing the 90 elbow in the fireplace with another cleanout 'T'). Then you could do a thorough cleaning.

 

[gbeane]

How much room do you have at the bottom of your cleanout 'T' behind your stove?

I had to draw out your configuration to visualize it and the only two options I see without taking the vent apart is to:

1. Run a 3" flexible brush up the cleanout 'T', then through the 90 deg elbow behind the stove then through 12" straight to the bottom of the 90 deg elbow in the fireplace. This would loosen the ash and clean some out.
2. The nest to do would be to run a vacuum hose up the same path fom the cleanout.

This would suck out all loose material from the 'T' to the first elbow. I you have a vac hose that can get around that first 90 elbow then your in business because that would clean everything even what has fell from you vertical cleaning of the 4" linner.

If you don't have room to get in your cleanout with a brush and vacuum, then you will probably have to resort to taking the vent apart.

I don't think hooking a leaf blower up to the top will ddraw it out.

The best option would be if you could go out the backside of the fireplace (replacing the 90 elbow in the fireplace with another cleanout 'T'). Then you could do a thorough cleaning.

the backside of the fireplace is my kitchen!

with the clean out of the tee removed I have about 4 3/4" between the bottom of the tee and the hearth.

 

[crausch]

I see. It does not sound like that will be enough room to work with then. Maybe someone else will have a better idea for you. I would only have one other thought. You could turn the 'T' behind the stove on an angle 45 degrees, then into a 45 deg elbow. This would get your pipe straight up again and would give you all the room you need to access inside your cleanout cap. The down fall is that you would then be adding another bend. Just throwing out some ideas. I hope someone else has an idea!

 

[Paul D.]

Run the 4" flex all the out past the face of the "plug" then make your transition to 3" either at the "T" or at the stove.
This way you could work on it all and run a brush up the 4" or down from the top and only have one gentle 90 sweep from the old damper to the plug or stove.