Chimney Cleaning

I finally decided to have our chimney cleaned...the last of the creosote is officially gone. To my knowledge this is the first time the chimney had been cleaned in 30 years; previously it served a wood boiler. Due to the unusual construction, the only way to brush this flue is from the top...32 feet up. The stuff that came out of it was NASTY. Black powdery soot that reeked like creosote. With the 2 gallons or so of "sweepings" from today's cleaning, I have collected about 10 gallons of debris from the clean-out of this chimney since I started burning coal.

I fired the EFM back up about an hour ago, and so far the draft control seems noticeably more "active". There is an offset in the chimney, and I suspected that old creosote had fallen off the flue tiles and collected at this offset. The man that did the sweeping said it looked very clean from the top down, so I'm thinking most of the debris came from the offset tiles.

Lesson of the day - If you have a chimney that previously served a wood burning appliance, it is a good idea to have it cleaned before or shortly after you switch to coal. If the buildup is especially bad it can peel off in chunks/sheets and cause an restriction.

Early on, 30 years ago I used to brush my chimney yearly when burning with my coal hand fed. Not much came out so just got used to vacuuming out the bottom yearly. Well! In came the new Keystoker 90 stoker. Big surprise after one year I was embarrassed at what came out after year one when brushed Year 2 when brushed was a mere 2 coffee cans much better. I can sleep better now. Never take chances! Brush no matter what, remember experience comes from bad judgement..

Yeah I finally cleaned mine this spring for the first time since we've lived here (almost 10 years). Ash blew out of the open port in the chimney where I had just removed the connector pipe for the stove, and covered the stove ... and everything within 10' of it with a half inch of super-fine flour like dark grey powder. A combo of flyash & oil soot. Nice!

Looked just like those moon pics you see with Armstrong's footprint. I was making prints just like that all around the basement. What a mess! But the chimney is now pulling a .02 at 80° outside, cold! BIG difference. Had to re-adjust the baro after that - thing is constantly open now even on the hottest days.

I clean mine out after every season and before the new season. I usually do it within a week of shutting down for the summer and again several days before I fire it back up. The second time is pretty pointless but it gives me a chance to see if the liner has deteriorated between burning seasons.

Hey Smitty, next time put a shop vac hose in the cleanout and stuff an old shirt around it...makes for a lot less airborne "particulates".

The vacuum worked well for me, but the filter was sure shot afterwards.

Hell Rob, send that sucker down here, she's just gettin broke in. One of them Westinghouse light bulbs would be nice too.

When I cleaned my chimney out a few weeks ago, I was expecting just a powdery coating. The fly ash ended up being caked on the sides of my metal flue, took a little effort with the brush to scrape most of it out. Once cleaned, I capped and caulked the top for the summer and put a tub of that dry-absorb stuff being held by a cap at the bottom. I was going to leave the bottom open but I started to notice some rust forming at the bottom with a 50% humidity reading in the basement.

WNYRob wrote:When I cleaned my chimney out a few weeks ago, I was expecting just a powdery coating. The fly ash ended up being caked on the sides of my metal flue, took a little effort with the brush to scrape most of it out. Once cleaned, I capped and caulked the top for the summer and put a tub of that dry-absorb stuff being held by a cap at the bottom. I was going to leave the bottom open but I started to notice some rust forming at the bottom with a 50% humidity reading in the basement.

I think that's what happened to mine. I cove the top of my chimney but have always left the bottom open. The top of my liner looks brand new, the bottom two feet of it; in the house is rusted and pin holed.

Yeah I wasn't expecting an ash explosion down below. I'll have to try that next time - thanks for the tip Rob!

freetown fred wrote: .... One of them Westinghouse light bulbs would be nice too ....

Did you say .... WESTINGHOUSE?