Your chimney clean ? These were not ...................

[Roospike]

The worst way to find out you have just a little bit too much build up in your chimney / pipe. How is yours ? Do you know ? Do you "THINK" its clean ?

 

[Roospike]

few more

 

[Roospike]

7- 8- 9

 

[Roospike]

10- 11- 12-

 

[Roospike]

13- 14- 15-

 

[Roospike]

last two

 

[babalu87]

Pretty sobering pics
Makes you want to pull the cleanout plug and take a look when you get home doesnt it?

We need a thread like this every month to keep us all on our toes

 

[Roospike]

Pretty sobering pics
Makes you want to pull the cleanout plug and take a look when you get home doesnt it?

We need a thread like this every month to keep us all on our toes

Thats why i posted it ....... Also there are a lot of people buying there wood and its still "green" when they try to burn it . This just happened to my brother . Bought wood for the year 2 months ago and its not set up yet .........He was getting a lot of build up in the stove and pipe. Told him to clean it out ASAP , the very next day he had a chimney fire with his NEW STOVE . Its been warm up tell now this year so with small fires going and now the cold has set in the stove gets more heat going and can light off a crusty chimney/stove pipe.

 

[fbelec]

people have to remember when it's warm out and you need a fire to just take the chill out make a small hot fire. i have a stove that's to big for the my house. that is my house is 1280 square feet and the stove is rated at 1200-2500 so i do small hot fires and when i start them i use marty's top starting method. any smoke that is made go's thru the flames and if you look out at the chimney even at startup very little if any smoke. the chimney stay's clean. and with only a 3rd to half a load of wood the fire doesn't last to long to roast you out of the house. this stove was in this house when i moved in and in the first month of living here i had a chimney fire. i didn't know the stove or didn't have a manual. so i was using the secondary burn chamber to soon and the smoke that was made was about 200 degrees. so it didn't take long to cake up the chimney. my chimney is a outside chimney and when it happened i didn't panic. it happened on startup the first 20 minutes. just shut down all the air that can get into the chimney and it go's out. this forum helped me to burn more wisely.

 

[fbelec]

my chimney fire and my chimney looked just like picture #13 the only difference was my flames were going straight up and there was no smoke involved

 

[Cheryl]

Holy Cow..........very scary stuff. Have never seen pictures of a chimney fire before. Truly made my hair stand on end. Important visual for prioritizing proper maintenance of the stove.

Thanks for the reality check.

 

[rudysmallfry]

What is the minimum temperature for a non-creosote forming fire? Is is the same for every stove?

 

[Roospike]

What is the minimum temperature for a non-creosote forming fire? Is is the same for every stove?

I'm sure it verys as to per stove , but i think the minimum is 250 degrees . Wet or unseasioned wood burning is also a big factor in chimney/pipe build up .

 

[begreen]

Also depends on chimney design and how much is outdoors vs indoors. You can have hot flue gases cool off and condensate pretty quickly in a totally exterior chimney.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Any benefit to putting a thermometer on the exterior chimney pipe? I've got a good 16' of class A chimney outside my house. Any way of calculating how much loss per foot of exterior chimney at a certain outside temperature?

 

[Roospike]

Any benefit to putting a thermometer on the exterior chimney pipe? I've got a good 16' of class A chimney outside my house. Any way of calculating how much loss per foot of exterior chimney at a certain outside temperature?

Does your chimney pipe run outside along the side of your house or is the 16' from the roof up ? I know if a friend that had the pipe running up the side of his house and had build up problems because of low burns .... he boxed in his pipe from the tee to the edge of his roof and it did help a lot to keep the pipe temp up and he had 80% less build up in his pipe.

 

[rudysmallfry]

My stove is in the basement, so the 16' is from the basement wall up the side of the house to 2' above the roofline. I plan on getting an enclosure built around it when money affords, but this winter will be going without. I do tend to burn on the hot side, 400 or so. Hopefully I'll be okay for this winter. Any idea what enclosing it with just a plywood and vinyl siding frame might cost?

 

[Roospike]

My stove is in the basement, so the 16' is from the basement wall up the side of the house to 2' above the roofline. I plan on getting an enclosure built around it when money affords, but this winter will be going without. I do tend to burn on the hot side, 400 or so. Hopefully I'll be okay for this winter. Any idea what enclosing it with just a plywood and vinyl siding frame might cost?

If its in the basement and you are running hot fires you shouldn't have any problems with build up ....... if your burning good dry seasioned wood. It would be a little different if it was in your front room say and you were just running a fire to keep a small eara warm and were running the stove on low all the time. When you box in your pipe make sure you have the right clearances with that brand of pipe and you should be fine. I am no paid expert to boxing in a stove pipe , just my opinions with what i know . You will need to find out was code is for your area to box in a pipe on your home.

 

[snowfreak]

How do you know when you have a chimney fire? Can you hear it? What steps can you take to put out a fire like that, if any? Those are some very eye opening pictures. I know what preventive steps to take so there is not a chimney fire, but don't have a clue what I'd do if there was one.

 

[BrotherBart]

It is possible to have a small chimney fire and not even know it. That said, with a big one it will sound like a freight train is running through your house from the air being sucked through your stove.

1. Get everybody the hell out of the house. Now!
2. Call 911.
3. Shut down all air intakes on the stove. Use wet rags because the controls will be very hot.
4. (And this depends on how hot that stove is and how much in danger you feel you are) Open the door and unload an ABC fire extingisher into the firebox and close the door.
5. Get out of there and wait for the fire department. There is nothing in that house more valuable than you and your family.
6. Grab the garden hose and spray water on the roof to prevent escaping embers from setting the roof on fire.

 

[fbelec]

if you ever have a chimney fire here are some things you can do.

first: a chimney fire sounds like a hugh oil burner running execpt very bassy sound and you might feel it also.

if you do hear this noise coming from your stove close all the air intakes to the stove and if your stove has a damper in the smoke pipe shut that too. you want to try to smother the fire.

grab a cordless phone and run outside and look at your chimney. if you see fire or black smoke call the fire dept.

and last but not lest get everyone out

 

[rudysmallfry]

I once jumped the gun on what I thought was a chimney fire in a fireplace. I had a good fire going and suddenly saw the flames get really large and hear a roar in the chimney. I'd heard that it sounded like a freight train, and know thay chimney fires take off FAST. I discharged an entire fire extinguisher into the fireplace and put out the fire and then went outside and saw embers coming out of the top of the chimney, but no fire. I called 911 and the fire department came out. I felt silly when they told me they didn't see any evidence of a chimney fire. I'm thinking it was just a seriously strong backdraft. Better safe than sorry, but it is scary when you think it's happening.

That's good to know that my setup will probably be alright as far a buildup goes. I usually keep my stove about 400, and chimney sweeps tell me I'm wasting my money each year since there's never any buildup. This being a new setup might be different, but I guess I'll find out after one season.

 

[Shane]

It's never a waste of money to get it inspected. It's cheap insurance, so long as you have a reputable sweep. He will find other problems if and when they arise even if the flue itself doesn't actually need cleaned. Never a waste of money.

 

[Nokoni]

What does it do to your stove if you empty a fire extinguisher into it? Not that it matters if your house or you are gone, but just wondering as in the case of the person who didn't have a chimney fire after all.

 

[Willhound]

Fire goes out?
I think that with most (if not all) type ABC extinguishers being dry chemical, the worst that will happen is that you get a powdery residue blowing around that you have to clean up after. I suppose that if you have an older type AB (non-electrical fires) extinguisher that uses liquid, you could have a risk of damage from the liquid hitting the hot stove, but I doubt it.

Fire extinguisher powder is not a good thing to breath in by the way, so if you ever have to clean one up use appropriate breathing protection.

Willhound