Help! How do you clean a Jotul F500 chimney from bottom up? Sweep is here right now.

[vatmark]

Ugh! We have chimney sweep here right now and he doesn't know how to get to the chimney to clean it from the bottom. Is there a way to go through the stove itself or do you take apart the piping connected to the stove? It's double wall piping. This is the first time we are having it cleaned. I've attached a picture of the stove and a picture of the label on the piping.

 

[vatmark]

Well the chimney sweep left and we are still left without a clean chimney. Here I thought that someone from a chimney sweep company that does this for a living would know what to do. If I knew how to do it I would do it myself with a soot eater. I can't get on the roof so would want to do it bottom up. If anyone could give me an idea how to accomplish this I would appreciate it. Here's pictures of the stove pipe. I would think this would have to come apart some way and then you put the soot eater up through the pipe that way with something around it to catch the gunk that comes down?? I don't even know where to begin to take this thing apart.

 

[webby3650]

Sounds like he was real clown to me...
The oval plate comes off the top with two bolts. If his equipment won’t make that turn, he simply needed to remove the pipe, bag the chimney and broom it. Pretty straight forward stuff.

 

[vatmark]

Sounds like he was real clown to me...
The oval plate comes off the top with two bolts. If his equipment won’t make that turn, he simply needed remove the pipe, bag the chimney and broom it. Pretty straight forward stuff.

I thought it would be straight forward too. I was afraid he'd start tearing apart the inside of the stove. So I see one bolt for the top oval. How do I get to the other bolt? Do I have to remove the assembly thats blocking the way?

 

[bholler]

I thought it would be straight forward too. I was afraid he'd start tearing apart the inside of the stove. So I see one bolt for the top oval. How do I get to the other bolt? Do I have to remove the assembly thats blocking the way?

You can reach the back bolt from inside. It is much easier to do through the pipe outlet though. They are 10mm bolts. You can reach the back one with a wrench. And you just have to loosen it a bit

 

[vatmark]

You can reach the back bolt from inside. It is much easier to do through the pipe outlet though. They are 10mm bolts. You can reach the back one with a wrench. And you just have to loosen it a bit

Are you saying it's much easier to clean the chimney through the pipe outlet?

For the back bolt do I have to reach up over the air tubes? I see no other way to even see or reach that back bolt on the oval plate.

 

[Simonkenton]

You had a rookie chimney sweep, for sure.
I have the Jotul 500. I disconnect the pipe right at the stove. Pull the pipe up and move it to the side. The pipe just hangs there and then I sweep it.

 

[vatmark]

You had a rookie chimney sweep, for sure.
I have the Jotul 500. I disconnect the pipe right at the stove. Pull the pipe up and move it to the side. The pipe just hangs there and then I sweep it.

My problem is I don't know where to start to get the pipe off. I posted pics of the pipe above. It's like pipe pieces with different sections around another pipe. Which pieces am I removing?

 

[marty319]

Best to call someone reputable

 

[moresnow]

In your first pic look at the second section off the stove top. Appears to be a screw in the back holding a slip joint together. Remove the screw and grab the first section at the stove outlet. Wiggle, twist and lift to collapse what's left of the slip joint section. You may get it lifted up high enough to get the Sooteater squeezed in through a trash bag. Commence to cleaning.

I could be wrong but that's the way it appears. It also appears that the slip joint section is installed upside down compared to the manufacturer's instruction. I could also be wrong as I have never personally used this product. Page 10 in the installation man. shows the lower section sliding up over the upper section which I am familiar with. Soooooo. Worth a shot.

 

[vatmark]

In your first pic look at the second section off the stove top. Appears to be a screw in the back holding a slip joint together. Remove the screw and grab the first section at the stove outlet. Wiggle, twist and lift to collapse what's left of the slip joint section. You may get it lifted up high enough to get the Sooteater squeezed in through a trash bag. Commence to cleaning.

I could be wrong but that's the way it appears. It also appears that the slip joint section is installed upside down compared to the manufacturer's instruction. I could also be wrong as I have never personally used this product. Page 10 in the installation man. shows the lower section sliding up over the upper section which I am familiar with. Soooooo. Worth a shot.

Is the slip joint section the second section up from the stove? If so there is a sticker on it with an up arrow.

 

[moresnow]

Is the slip joint section the second section up from the stove? If so there is a sticker on it with an up arrow.

Yepper. Can the rear screw be removed to allow this section to be collapsed? Hard to believe the pipe is upside down. It must be a variation in the manual print. I suppose.

 

[bholler]

Are you saying it's much easier to clean the chimney through the pipe outlet?

For the back bolt do I have to reach up over the air tubes? I see no other way to even see or reach that back bolt on the oval plate.

You won't see the back bolt but you can reach it

 

[Highbeam]

Somehow, they got that black pipe in there last. You can get it out. One of those sections should be telescopic so unscrew the black pipe from the stove. Remove the screws that lock the telescoping section in place and then lift the pipe off of the stove by collapsing the telescoping section more. The telescoping section might be anywhere on this stack.

Nice house by the way and that stove and hearth look really nice.

 

[vatmark]

Best to call someone reputable

Yepper. Can the rear screw be removed to allow this section to be collapsed? Hard to believe the pipe is upside down. It must be a variation in the manual print. I suppose.

There is the one small screw at the bottom of that slip joint section. There also appears to be 3 small screws around that collar looking piece at the top of the slip joint section. Do I remove those as well? If I can remove that one bolt on the slip joint section am I pulling the slip joint section down or pushing it up? Then what happens with the inner piping? Me and my husband will work on this tomorrow. Thanks for giving me some idea where to start.

 

[vatmark]

Somehow, they got that black pipe in there last. You can get it out. One of those sections should be telescopic so unscrew the black pipe from the stove. Remove the screws that lock the telescoping section in place and then lift the pipe off of the stove by collapsing the telescoping section more. The telescoping section might be anywhere on this stack.

Nice house by the way and that stove and hearth look really nice.

Thanks. It's a log cabin.

That is how I thought it should work with a telescoping pipe. I mentioned it to the sweep and he said it would be a mess. I think he just didn't know what he was doing. My husband just told me the sweep said he doesn't deal with the high end stuff. High end? I would figure most stoves are similar just different ways to go about cleaning them.

 

[moresnow]

There is the one small screw at the bottom of that slip joint section. There also appears to be 3 small screws around that collar looking piece at the top of the slip joint section. Do I remove those as well? If I can remove that one bolt on the slip joint section am I pulling the slip joint section down or pushing it up? Then what happens with the inner piping? Me and my husband will work on this tomorrow. Thanks for giving me some idea where to start.

Appears to me that removing the single screw at the bottom of the slip joint will allow you to grab the first small pipe section sitting on the stove, give it a slight twist if necessary and lift up as you go, collapsing the slip joint. I can't see in the pic if there are screws in the lower small section going into the stove collar? There may or may not be by the looks of it.

 

[vatmark]

Appears to me that removing the single screw at the bottom of the slip joint will allow you to grab the first small pipe section sitting on the stove, give it a slight twist if necessary and lift up as you go, collapsing the slip joint. I can't see in the pic if there are screws in the lower small section going into the stove collar? There may or may not be by the looks of it.

I see 2 larger screws one on each side below that bottom piece.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks. It's a log cabin.

That is how I thought it should work with a telescoping pipe. I mentioned it to the sweep and he said it would be a mess. I think he just didn't know what he was doing. My husband just told me the sweep said he doesn't deal with the high end stuff. High end? I would figure most stoves are similar just different ways to go about cleaning them.

So yes, it would be more of a mess to clean from the bottom up with a section of stove pipe removed. There are ways to mitigate the mess but all of the sweepings will fall down through the open pipe.

On my last three stoves I was able to run the cleaning tool through the pipe with the black connector installed on the stove so that all of this debris falls into the stove. Much cleaner.

With your chimney being inaccessible from the roof you'll need to find a way to do it from below. Remove a section of the black pipe and do your best to catch the falling debris or figure out how to remove the stove top, or remove the baffle board. Since my stoves didn't/don't have a removable top I just take out the baffle board and poke the cleaning tool between the tubes and into the pipe. Clean out the sweepings and then reinstall that baffle board.

 

[vatmark]

So yes, it would be more of a mess to clean from the bottom up with a section of stove pipe removed. There are ways to mitigate the mess but all of the sweepings will fall down through the open pipe.

On my last three stoves I was able to run the cleaning tool through the pipe with the black connector installed on the stove so that all of this debris falls into the stove. Much cleaner.

With your chimney being inaccessible from the roof you'll need to find a way to do it from below. Remove a section of the black pipe and do your best to catch the falling debris or figure out how to remove the stove top, or remove the baffle board. Since my stoves didn't/don't have a removable top I just take out the baffle board and poke the cleaning tool between the tubes and into the pipe. Clean out the sweepings and then reinstall that baffle board.

We were thinking that if we can get the pipe off we would use a sooteater and somehow rig a large plastic bag around the pipe and just have hole to put sooteater with drill and hand through hole helping to mitigate the mess that comes down. We are first going to try another sweep company and if they can't get out here for a while we will give it a shot. We called a month and 1/2 ago for todays appointment. This was the first available.

 

[Highbeam]

I've heard of people using a plastic jug like a bleach jug with the bottom cut off and fit over the hanging pipe. The bleach spout is connected to the shop vac hose and another hole drilled in the jug to feed in the sooteater rods. Of course, you would need to put the first rod through the hole and attach the sooteater head before you put this jug onto the stove pipe.

I see this as a two person job and please don't damage that super shiny enamel finish on the stove.

I'm a sooteater fan and it works great. The rods are also dirty as you remove them so have a rag handy.

 

[webby3650]

Is there some reason it can’t just be swept from above? Forgive me if I missed that part somewhere along the line.

 

[MMH]

Is there some reason it can’t just be swept from above? Forgive me if I missed that part somewhere along the line.

OP said they couldn’t get on the roof (not sure if not safe/pitch etc but for all intensive purposes roof is out)

 

[webby3650]

OP said they couldn’t get on the roof (not sure if not safe/pitch etc but for all intensive purposes roof is out)

For a pro? Sounds highly unlikely.

 

[bholler]

For a pro? Sounds highly unlikely.

We have plenty I cannot get on without a lift