Mid-Season Chimney Cleanings

[xSpecBx]

This is my first year with a pellet stove with a 30 Ft 4" chimney liner. From what I have read, in regards to chimney cleaning, is that it should be done at least a couple times a year. My house is a 2 story cape cod so I have no interest in climbing up on the roof to clean the chimney, especially during the winter.

Right now I'm thinking about getting a 20 Ft Rutland flexible chimney brush that I would use once or twice during the season and run it up the liner from the stove connection. At the end of the season I would have the chimney professionally steeped.

Does this seem acceptable or should I look for something that will go to the top of the liner?

 

[mepellet]

Check out the linteater system.

 

[xSpecBx]

I see they have a sooteater line for pellet stoves. Can I connect the 6' flexible rods to get to a longer length?

Do I need to go to the top of the chimney or can I get away with going most of the way (20'?) up?

 

[fmsm]

You can get 4 or 6 footers and screw them together, just remember to not reverse your drill when removing them! If they unscrew in the pipe you would be screwed...I would get enough lengths to go all the way up.

 

[Justin M]

I use the lint eater (not soot eater) with extentions. I clean from the bottom up. I only have to clean once a year burning 3.5 tons of high end pellets. Once or twice a season when I have my insert out for maintenance I bang on the liner with my hand. This gets out a lot of the built up soot... just make sure your ash vac is ready or you will end up with a big mess.

 

[TimfromMA]

My vent is only 4' long but I try to clean it after every ton.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

With a thirty foot flue, I would think you definitely want to get all the way to the top. I only have a fifteen foot run, but I always run a Sooteater through it mid season (1 1/2 to 2 tons) and then at seasons close. Like someone said, you do need to watch that you rotate it only in one direction or risk unscrewing a rod and leaving it stuck inside of there. It works great and there are extension kits available, but it may actually be cheaper to buy two complete sets and have a second brush head.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

My vent is only 4' long but I try to clean it after every ton.

4 foot long flue!!??

How do you have yourself covered in the event of a power outage while stove is running? There must not be much draft at all and smoke seepage would be imminent. I use an APC UPS and works great to allow safe shutdown.

 

[TimfromMA]

I got 10 hours of APC battery life. Im preparing to double that so that the stove will run empty before the batteries die.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I got 10 hours of APC battery life. Im preparing to double that so that the stove will run empty before the batteries die.

Nice! I was looking to upgrade mine to the new BX1500. How or what model are you hooking in to keeping the stove running as opposed to just allowing for automatic shutdown? I am not certain if a Harman allows for full operation off of a UPS.

 

[alternativeheat]

I have 26' of flue and clean it from the bottom up. I have a clean out T in the fireplace and put an empty pellet bag under it, the ash falls right in. i use the Rutland kit, though a bit flimsy. I gave the 4" brush just a bit of a haircut by trimming a 1/4" or so off the bristles. It fit pretty snug before . Keep the drill turning is the best I can say and keep feeding. I make it all the way to the top and yes, there is junk way up there. I needed one more rod to get to the top, was about 2ft short but when I did more ash fell. I keep the ash vac handy, cause sometimes I spill a bit and a small cloud forms, the ash vac sucks it right up. Wear gloves.

With 26 ft' of vertical vent you don't worry about shut down. No smoke what so ever, just a lazy flame eventually burns out. in a power outage I just go on oil with my 55ooW generator. It runs about half the house actually and a couple circuits in the attached apartment, and heat of course. About the longest we go out of power for here is 3 days or so, except with hurricanes.

 

[TimfromMA]

Its an APC Back UPS 1500.

I wired in a couple of 90aH deep cycle batteries to extend the run time.

My stove isnt wired to auto shutdown off the APC. I have to come up with my own methods to shut the stove down before the batteries die.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

With

Wear gloves.

With 26 ft' of vertical vent you don't worry about shut down. No smoke what so ever, just a lazy flame eventually burns out. in a power outage I just go on oil with my 55ooW generator. It runs about half the house actually and a couple circuits in the attached apartment, and heat of course. About the longest we go out of power for here is 3 days or so, except with hurricanes.

+1 for gloves!

With 26 feet of flue you should have an a#%load of draft so I would expect no problem with outages.

 

[xSpecBx]

So the general consensus is the lint eater (why the lint eater over the soot eater?) That goes the full length of the flue. I saw about not reversing the drill. They say to duct tape the joints which id probably do just in case im not paying attention.

Wear gloves (heat resistant?) And have the vac ready when youre cleaning the pipe.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

So the general consensus is the lint eater (why the lint eater over the soot eater?) That goes the full length of the flue. I saw about not reversing the drill. They say to duct tape the joints which id probably do just in case im not paying attention.

Wear gloves (heat resistant?) And have the vac ready when youre cleaning the pipe.

Wear gloves for friction while spinning rods, and duct taping will be a pain in the #%^ as you feed and attach rods and retract and remove them.

 

[alternativeheat]

So the general consensus is the lint eater (why the lint eater over the soot eater?) That goes the full length of the flue. I saw about not reversing the drill. They say to duct tape the joints which id probably do just in case im not paying attention.

Wear gloves (heat resistant?) And have the vac ready when youre cleaning the pipe.

I just wear work gloves, theoretically you shut the stove down ?! So little to no heat.

If you want to duct tape something do the switch on the drill because I wouldn't trust the tape to hold those screw joints if you reverse the drill.

Twice annually I brush out the flue liner FWIW, maybe three times at most ( I think it's a good idea to run it up through there after sitting all summer).. mine is clean now, I'll probably clean it after I burn a couple tons. In Tims case or anyone with a long horizontal it's wise to do it more often , IMO. I have less than two ft. of 4" horizontal then go straight up with a clean out T at the bottom. Most of the mess in the first ten-12 ft of vertical with little clingers along the way above that, and in the clean out.

 

[Justin M]

So the general consensus is the lint eater (why the lint eater over the soot eater?) That goes the full length of the flue. I saw about not reversing the drill. They say to duct tape the joints which id probably do just in case im not paying attention.

Wear gloves (heat resistant?) And have the vac ready when youre cleaning the pipe.

The soot eater is designed to be able to clean a masonry chimney. The lint eater is designed to clean dryer vents, which are very similar to pellet stove liners. Check out their web site and you will see the difference. I don't tape the connections because I add and remove lenths as I go and it would be too much of a hassle... I just pay attention. I wear nitrile or latex gloves to stay clean and wear a hepa/dust mask.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

The soot eater is designed to be able to clean a masonry chimney. The lint eater is designed to clean dryer vents, which are very similar to pellet stove liners. Check out their web site and you will see the difference. I don't tape the connections because I add and remove lenths as I go and it would be too much of a hassle... I just pay attention. I wear nitrile or latex gloves to stay clean and wear a hepa/dust mask.

Just as an FYI, the Sooteater has a pellet stove version...beefier and more overbuilt than the Linteater.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardus-RPS204...8&qid=1412432936&sr=8-2&keywords=Pellet+eater

 

[Justin M]

Just as an FYI, the Sooteater has a pellet stove version...beefier and more overbuilt than the Linteater.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardus-RPS204...8&qid=1412432936&sr=8-2&keywords=Pellet+eater

I just checked out their web site and saw that. It wasn't available when I bought mine. They do list pellet stove cleaning as a use for the lint eater so either should be fine.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I just checked out their web site and saw that. It wasn't available when I bought mine. They do list pellet stove cleaning as a use for the lint eater so either should be fine.

One thing that's neat with the Linteater is that it has multiple attachments and can do gutter downspouts

 

[Justin M]

One thing that's neat with the Linteater is that it has multiple attachments and can do gutter downspouts

I do use mine for my dryer vent as well.

 

[xSpecBx]

I will probably go with the pellet stove version of the soot eater. I have mostly a straight run so my guess is that I shouldn't have too much at the top, but I will get enough to do the full length anyway.

My plan is to clean the stove twice a week and when I do the stove cleaning I will probably vacuum the T at the exhaust when I do that. Probably clean the liner once every ton to start like most people suggest here. I'm sure how often the liner needs to be cleaned is dependent on what type of pellets your burning so I'll adjust from there.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I will probably go with the pellet stove version of the soot eater. I have mostly a straight run so my guess is that I shouldn't have too much at the top, but I will get enough to do the full length anyway.

My plan is to clean the stove twice a week and when I do the stove cleaning I will probably vacuum the T at the exhaust when I do that. Probably clean the liner once every ton to start like most people suggest here. I'm sure how often the liner needs to be cleaned is dependent on what type of pellets your burning so I'll adjust from there.

Twice a week probably is excessive. I usually give it a vacuuming once every other week but scrape the burn pot down once a day. Doing the flue, once after every one and a half to two tons should suffice.