reminder: CLEAN YOUR CHIMNEY

[mga]

That wouldn't happen to be a chimney that runs up the interior of the house, would it?

yep. the house was built in 1958....ranch style. i figured one of the reasons is because i don't have an "air-tight" set up. i'll describe the fireplace best i can: interior has a thick metal box, and i do mean thick. the brick sides have two vents for convection heat into the room. i use bi-fold glass doors and, for even more heat, i use something called an Arvin heat stream that blows hot air under the doors.

my fires are always "hot" so that might be the reason why i don't have alot of creosote in the chimney. it may not be the most efficient and i use alot of wood, but it does heat my whole house even on the coldest days.

but,,,,i am going to run a brush down the chimney anyways this summer...ya never know.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ohh the joys of owf and pure red oak, hickory!

 

[A. Stanton]

Thanks for the pic and advice Biowild. If I ever get a colonsocoply, it might look like that.

 

[The Lorax]

I wait till Sept to sweep mine. That way it has all summer to dry and most will flake off on its own. One yr I had several birds go down the pipe. They actually did the job for me. Clean as a whistle from them flapping there wings to get out. Other thing is create a small short chimney fire first fireup of the season and burn out what didn't fall down.Works for minimal creosote buildup.

I used to fish with a guy who would bring back dogfish (kind of a small shark which are no commercial value) in order to clean his chimney.
The dogfish has a tendency to curl up in a ball when removed from the water, he would get on the roof and send the rope down the flue, his wife would tie a rope to the dogfish and the top rope, then he would pull the shark up and she would pull it back down, sharkskin is rough kind of like 180 grit sandpaper, the flue was clean in no time according to him.
He always let them go after.

 

[mga]

Thanks for the pic and advice Biowild. If I ever get a colonsocoply, it might look like that.

sheesh...what a thought. LOL

 

[stihl sawing]

I used to fish with a guy who would bring back dogfish (kind of a small shark which are no commercial value) in order to clean his chimney.
The dogfish has a tendency to curl up in a ball when removed from the water, he would get on the roof and send the rope down the flue, his wife would tie a rope to the dogfish and the top rope, then he would pull the shark up and she would pull it back down, sharkskin is rough kind of like 180 grit sandpaper, the flue was clean in no time according to him.
He always let them go after.

<a href="http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&ref=11" target="_blank"><img src="http://content.sweetim.com/sim/cpie/emoticons/000201FE.gif" border=0 ></a> That's one cleanig i would like to witness. <a href="http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&ref=11" target="_blank"><img src="http://content.sweetim.com/sim/cpie/emoticons/000201E4.gif" border=0 ></a>

 

[Sprig]

I used to fish with a guy who would bring back dogfish (kind of a small shark which are no commercial value) in order to clean his chimney.
The dogfish has a tendency to curl up in a ball when removed from the water, he would get on the roof and send the rope down the flue, his wife would tie a rope to the dogfish and the top rope, then he would pull the shark up and she would pull it back down, sharkskin is rough kind of like 180 grit sandpaper, the flue was clean in no time according to him.
He always let them go after.

Shame, iffin he'd had a fire going it'd be ready for dins

FWIW, guess what McPukes Fillet-o-Fish is? for a while friends of mine were getting more for it than salmon was going for (mid 80's), all for Ronald's favorite indigestibles



Serge

 

[svk]

Here is two years of creosote buildup in the external elbow of my sauna stove. In full disclosure I have burned my share of less than seasoned wood.

I cleaned this out then whacked the hell out of the pipe with a broom stick and got another two cups or so of crumbs.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Lucky you did not have a fire. A great thread to revive this time of year.

 

[svk]

Yes I definitely wanted to remind folks. First time I have ever had buildup like this.

 

[Erik B]

I cleaned our chimney this past spring. About a month or so ago we had a new stove installed and there is now a liner in the chimney. That one is still spotless. Looking forward to breaking in the new stove.

 

[sb47]

Did mine last week.

 

[trains]

Clean mine every 4-6 weeks, having a water jacket cools the flue gasses, and no matter how well seasoned, or how bright you keep the fire, there is always build up that needs cleaning.
Old brochures say to sweep the flue, and clean the stove weekly, the modern manuals gloss over that and just say make sure the flue is clear.
Still, it heats our house, provides hot water, and cooks for us.

T

 

[Marine5068]

Wow is all I can say.
I guess I'm lucky with my chimney.
Of course I only burn maybe 3 cords a year of really really seasoned hard wood like Maple, Cherry, Oak or Ash.
I never even get one cup of fines coming from my 12" (8" I.D.) Selkirk double-insulated stainless woodstove chimney.
I also have a super high efficient Drolet HT2000 stove with secondary burn technology and great dry wood.
Lots of folks around here I see ordering firewood around now and burning it this season.
I don't recommend that and say so when I can.
I give the obvious safety reason plus tell them that they are wasting a lot of money in heat going right up the flue when they burn wet wood.
I tell them the heat is wasted when it is being used to remove excess water from itself first before warmth output and could cost them about 30% more that way.