Some Questions After A Chimney Fire!

[sowaxeman]

Last night I had a mild chimney fire so I'm a little un-nerved and looking for advice, as I would like to resume burning next season. I didn't have a full fledged fire with flames out the top, but when I looked outside last night my cap looked like it was full of hot coals and some of them were falling out. So I shut the stove down and my fireman buddy came over with his fire-gloves and emptied the stove for me. Today the cap looks like it is clogged with crud....soot or carbon I guess?

I'll start with all the basics that I'm sure you would want to know. Chimney is all brick & mortar from the 70's with complete double wall liner all the way up. It is on the side of the house where the roof pitch meets the outside wall, so basically no connection to the attc. It has a total steel fire box connected to said double-wall liner. My stove is an insert with a catalyst device as part of the damper that allows me to burn with it closed. The top of the stove has a 4' tall stainless steel connector pipe that protrudes through the original damper and up into the original flue....so pretty safe as I was told. My cap is one that is totally enclosed with "netting" or whatever you call it to keep the birds out. At my old house -where I used this same stove and set-up for 9 years - I had an open sided cap and never had a problem. My new house chimney was cleaned, inspected and given two thumbs up for burning back in October. I burn only hardwoods such as maples and oaks....never any pine or anything like that.

Is it possible that the cap is the culprit here and just allowed to much gunk to build up and create the smoldering effect I saw last night? I'm thinking that if I pull the cap off and the liner looks good all the way up that I will switch out to an open sided cap?

Do catalysts fail and result in any materials flowing up that could have caused this build-up?

Any other tips or advice you have would appreciated, because right now I'm a little weary of burning anymore!

 

[cmonSTART]

Interesting. How dry is your wood?

 

[Chimneysweep]

Du yourself a favor and hire a competent chimneysweep to eval. you flue.

 

[sowaxeman]

Wood is very dry....and actually just about gone. I was down to my last few days supply before I was going to borrow from my buddy. Most of it was 2 years seasoned while all of it was at least 1.

Chimney was just swept and inspected in late October by a competent person.

Do you all burn with "screened" caps, open caps or none?

I can't get up there right now because of snow but I'm really curious if the build up I am seeing on the screen of the cap is all the way up the flue or just at the top. Oh well....natural gas for the rest of this season :-(

Any other thoughts or tips would be appreciated.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Last night I had a mild chimney fire so I'm a little un-nerved and looking for advice, as I would like to resume burning next season. I didn't have a full fledged fire with flames out the top, but when I looked outside last night my cap looked like it was full of hot coals and some of them were falling out. So I shut the stove down and my fireman buddy came over with his fire-gloves and emptied the stove for me. Today the cap looks like it is clogged with crud....soot or carbon I guess?

I'll start with all the basics that I'm sure you would want to know. Chimney is all brick & mortar from the 70's with complete double wall liner all the way up. It is on the side of the house where the roof pitch meets the outside wall, so basically no connection to the attc. It has a total steel fire box connected to said double-wall liner. My stove is an insert with a catalyst device as part of the damper that allows me to burn with it closed. The top of the stove has a 4' tall stainless steel connector pipe that protrudes through the original damper and up into the original flue....so pretty safe as I was told. My cap is one that is totally enclosed with "netting" or whatever you call it to keep the birds out. At my old house -where I used this same stove and set-up for 9 years - I had an open sided cap and never had a problem. My new house chimney was cleaned, inspected and given two thumbs up for burning back in October. I burn only hardwoods such as maples and oaks....never any pine or anything like that.

Is it possible that the cap is the culprit here and just allowed to much gunk to build up and create the smoldering effect I saw last night? I'm thinking that if I pull the cap off and the liner looks good all the way up that I will switch out to an open sided cap?

Do catalysts fail and result in any materials flowing up that could have caused this build-up?

Any other tips or advice you have would appreciated, because right now I'm a little weary of burning anymore!

Next time let it go a little longer to burn some of that sh_t out.

 

[fossil]

What you call "netting" is a spark arrestor screen. It serves a couple of different functions. It prevents the escape of live embers larger than the screen mesh, and it prevents the intrusion of critters smaller than the screen mesh. In some localities, particularly those prone to wildfire, spark arrestor screens are required by law. Where they are not, you can legally remove the screen. The only problem with that is critters who like to find their way down into your flue during the non-burning season. You can, if permissible in your area, change the screen out for one with a larger mesh size, or do away with it entirely. Always best to leave the cap itself in place, though, to minimize the water intrusion. Where I live, the screens are required, so I just keep an eye on them. If they seem to be getting pretty cruddy (which they will, over the course of a winter), I clean 'em when weather permits. Rick

 

[Backwoods Savage]

And don't forget to check that cap often as it will no doubt always be the first spot to gather creosote.

You might try cutting out about half of the screen but around here most folks just do not have screens at all. We never have nor have we ever had a problem with animals. Yellow jackets in the summer, yes! But no animals other than those stinging insects.

 

[sowaxeman]

Thanks for the tips guys....I'm feeling a bit better about resuming the burn. When I can get on the roof I will pull the cap and make sure the flue is clean. If it was just cap building up then I will clean it real good and keep a better eye on it in the future. Might even go screenless like I had at the old house.