How's my flue?

[mwhitnee]

Cleaned the 3 flues on the house today, my second year cleaning my own chimneys. The fireplace and oil boiler flues (1 chimney) were super clean as I had swept them last year and lit only one fire (this year, new house for me) and only burned a 1 1/2 tanks of oil last year.

Last year I also cleaned the wood stove chimney/flue of course and it had shiny black creosote, almost like lava rock, in the flue before I ran the stove. I burned about 4 cords last year of CL "seasoned" wood in a Defiant 1A and we all know what that wood is like.

Here are pictures of the cap before cleaning, the flue after cleaning(not much different than before I cleaned it) and all that came out. It's about a large coffee can or two's worth.

I was actually surprised at how little was in there given the stove and wood.Link RemovedLink RemovedLink RemovedLink Removed

 

[pen]

looks good. Well done!

 

[mwhitnee]

Still can't believe how good that flue pic came out, I shot that with my cell phone.

I thought it looked really clean but I don't have much to compare it to. The creosote was a mixture of the granular stuff and the soft brown powdery stuff.

Scrubbed off the cap and did a little repair on 1 chimney, do the other tomorrow.

 

[bholler]

you need a new crown on that chimney and a good cap

 

[mwhitnee]

you need a new crown on that chimney and a good cap

Why do you say that? The edges of the crown?

I was going to ask about anyone who knows someone in my area that does custom stainless steel caps. Maybe ill put that in another post. The best caps are the ones that completely cover the crown right?

 

[bholler]

Why do you say that? The edges of the crown?

yes and the cracks

The best caps are the ones that completely cover the crown right?

yeah but you should have a good crown to put them on

 

[mwhitnee]

yes and the cracks



yeah but you should have a good crown to put them on

Well I was thinking about a cap that held onto the brick with pressure screws but covered the whole crown. Wouldn't that give me a few years to replace the crown?

 

[bholler]

Well I was thinking about a cap that held onto the brick with pressure screws but covered the whole crown. Wouldn't that give me a few years to replace the crown?

yeah but it will cost allot to have one of those made

 

[mwhitnee]

Yeah like $350 or so. I wouldn't know how else to do it with the two flues side by side like that.

 

[Grisu]

No liner? How is the draft of the King?

 

[bholler]

Yeah like $350

Where did you find a custom cap that will cover that whole chimney like that for 350?

 

[mwhitnee]

Where did you find a custom cap that will cover that whole chimney like that for 350?

I called a guy last year, have to track him down again.

 

[mwhitnee]

No liner? How is the draft of the King?

It appears excellent, even with a 90 18 inches above the stove. I have already done a 24 hour burn.

When measuring a flue, do you measure from the thimble up or the entire height of the chimney?

 

[bholler]

Well if you can find a cap that covers the whole top and keeps water off it for that price go for it

 

[mwhitnee]

Well if you can find a cap that covers the whole top and keeps water off it for that price go for it

Will do

 

[mwhitnee]

This is a pic from the cleanout looking up. Yep cell phone pic again.

You can see the clay liner and then another space where it doesn't occupy the chimney and some flashing I think. Is this normal looking to you?

 

[bholler]

No that looks pretty bad I cant believe it is working well for you at all

 

[mwhitnee]

No that looks pretty bad I cant believe it is working well for you at all

Well it actually has been working very well so far. Do you do chimney work?

 

[bholler]

yes csia certified sweep been doing it a long time. I am just surprized it works well like that

 

[mwhitnee]

yes csia certified sweep been doing it a long time. I am just surprized it works well like that

I figured you were a sweep. After talking about my my venting issues and no liner I have to say I was pretty nervous how the setup was going to react. You can see the obvious venting issue in my avatar as the thimble should have been placed higher in the hearth. The setup doesn't even allow two 45's going into the thimble. I have only burned for 2 days but got a burn where the stove was still warm after 24 hours without even trying to pack it neatly.

So I either got lucky somehow or whoever built it knew what they were doing. My chimney is around 24 feet from top to bottom so I'm sure that helps. I also removed a Norway maple(CSS now) that was overhanging my chimney and roof this year.

The minimum burn time I was hoping for was 14 hours and have already achieved that. I imagine my burn times will increase a little with the colder air.

On another note, I have no clue how someone would ever put a liner on this chimney setup. There just doesn't seem to be enough room to slide a T on the thimble and there is NO WAY way to get to it without removing bricks. If you're outside the thimble is about 6-8 feet up inside the chimney and sticks out a couple of inches into the flue.

 

[bholler]

I have no clue how someone would ever put a liner on this chimney setup.

Yeah you would probably have to open it up if that picture is looking up from the thimble the bricks that the liner is sitting on would be in the way for sure. But most good sweeps could get in in there. And you got lucky the person who built that did not know what they were doing lol.

 

[mwhitnee]

Yeah you would probably have to open it up if that picture is looking up from the thimble the bricks that the liner is sitting on would be in the way for sure. But most good sweeps could get in in there. And you got lucky the person who built that did not know what they were doing lol.

The picture is from the clean out door, not sticking my arm in the thimble and taking the pic upwards. The thimble goes into the clay liner it doesn't just start after the thimble. That would be really bad news.

 

[bholler]

The picture is from the clean out door, not sticking my arm in the thimble and taking the pic upwards. The thimble goes into the clay liner it doesn't just start after the thimble. That would be really bad news.

Then there should be no issue. I would break out those old liners and drop an insulated liner there would be no problem hooking up the tee

 

[Woody harrelson]

Then there should be no issue. I would break out those old liners and drop an insulated liner there would be no problem hooking up the tee

And then post about your 40+ hour burns

 

[mwhitnee]

Yeah I wonder what my burn times would be then! I have a tall chimney.

I asked this before but no one answered, when measuring a chimney flue I assume you measure the entire chimney, correct? not from the thimble up..