Greetings to all!
I've visited here in the past to read up on various issues and have been impressed with the level of knowledge available here. Maybe one of you wise wood stove gurus can help me out...
About 5 years ago I installed a Lopi fireplace insert into an existing fireplace. I had to do considerable hearth work to make it fit properly, but eventually I was able to slide it in. The chimney is about 24-feet high. I installed 24-feet of rigid 6" stove pipe (single wall, not stainless steel) up the chimney. To make the angle through the old damper (removed) at the bottom, it has two 45-degree 6" fittings with a very short length of straight pipe linking them. The final connection to the insert is made with an 8" to 6" converter. The reason why the whole run (except the converter) is 6" although the insert outlet is 8" is because the chimney formerly had a network of copper tubes running through the bottom 10-12-feet. Apparently the former owner wanted to rig up some kind of heat exhange system to pre-heat water. He never finished it but left the pipes. I was able to cut off enough of the pipes (using a reciprocating saw attached to pipes with hose clamps!) to allow for 6" stove pipe, but not enough to accomodate 8" pipe. Anyway.... that's the system.
My question: Is it ever possible to clean the chimney in a system like this (long run of rigid pipe, plus double 45 angles) without removing the insert each time? Obviously a regular 6" brush won't make it through the angles. If I start cleaning from the top, the loosened creosote quickly clogs the angles and it's time to pull it all out, disconnect everything below the long run and make an unbelievable mess all over the living room. I've tried getting a rope and small brush through by dropping a golf ball tied to fishing line from the roof down through the angles and into the stove (takes about 20 tries or sometimes never makes it). Then I can pull a rope through, and drag a smaller (3-4") brush through the angles. Unless I do that about once a month, it doesn't work. Even when the golf ball trick does work, the little brush does a lousy job of cleaning the walls of the connectors.
Would flexible pipe work better, rather than the double 45-degree fittings? Or do folks with a setup like this just resign themselves to always pulling the insert out, disconnecting all the lower fittings and cleaning out the long run? I probably don't need to tell you that reattaching the three lower fittings (45-degree to bottom of the long chimney run; then onto next 45; then to converter; and finally to stove outlet) is very, very hard. It requires that I get completely into the fireplace box, get my head up through the damper chamber and get those itty bitty sheet metal screws into the holes in the pipe. I've had it with that operation!! If there's no better way to do this, I think it's time for propane!
Sorry for the long-winded first post, but I'm exasperated. Thanks in advance for any and all input!
Cheers,
Bert
I've visited here in the past to read up on various issues and have been impressed with the level of knowledge available here. Maybe one of you wise wood stove gurus can help me out...
About 5 years ago I installed a Lopi fireplace insert into an existing fireplace. I had to do considerable hearth work to make it fit properly, but eventually I was able to slide it in. The chimney is about 24-feet high. I installed 24-feet of rigid 6" stove pipe (single wall, not stainless steel) up the chimney. To make the angle through the old damper (removed) at the bottom, it has two 45-degree 6" fittings with a very short length of straight pipe linking them. The final connection to the insert is made with an 8" to 6" converter. The reason why the whole run (except the converter) is 6" although the insert outlet is 8" is because the chimney formerly had a network of copper tubes running through the bottom 10-12-feet. Apparently the former owner wanted to rig up some kind of heat exhange system to pre-heat water. He never finished it but left the pipes. I was able to cut off enough of the pipes (using a reciprocating saw attached to pipes with hose clamps!) to allow for 6" stove pipe, but not enough to accomodate 8" pipe. Anyway.... that's the system.
My question: Is it ever possible to clean the chimney in a system like this (long run of rigid pipe, plus double 45 angles) without removing the insert each time? Obviously a regular 6" brush won't make it through the angles. If I start cleaning from the top, the loosened creosote quickly clogs the angles and it's time to pull it all out, disconnect everything below the long run and make an unbelievable mess all over the living room. I've tried getting a rope and small brush through by dropping a golf ball tied to fishing line from the roof down through the angles and into the stove (takes about 20 tries or sometimes never makes it). Then I can pull a rope through, and drag a smaller (3-4") brush through the angles. Unless I do that about once a month, it doesn't work. Even when the golf ball trick does work, the little brush does a lousy job of cleaning the walls of the connectors.
Would flexible pipe work better, rather than the double 45-degree fittings? Or do folks with a setup like this just resign themselves to always pulling the insert out, disconnecting all the lower fittings and cleaning out the long run? I probably don't need to tell you that reattaching the three lower fittings (45-degree to bottom of the long chimney run; then onto next 45; then to converter; and finally to stove outlet) is very, very hard. It requires that I get completely into the fireplace box, get my head up through the damper chamber and get those itty bitty sheet metal screws into the holes in the pipe. I've had it with that operation!! If there's no better way to do this, I think it's time for propane!
Sorry for the long-winded first post, but I'm exasperated. Thanks in advance for any and all input!
Cheers,
Bert
