Loosing Draft

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blrman07
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Post by blrman07 » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 8:12 am

I have been noticing that my stove has been getting sluggish. Slow to start and slow to respond. I pulled the stove pipe expecting to find it partly clogged but that wasn't the case. The base of the chimney was open and I had a decent draft I thought.

Yesterday I went up on the roof suspecting the chimney had a problem. I have been here 5 years and who knows how long it had been since the chimney was cleaned. I thought I saw and obstruction so I lowered a drop light down the chimney and it got stuck about 1/2 way down. A drop light got stuck!!! :shock: The chimney had a buildup at the halfway point for about 3 feet down that narrowed the opening to only about 4". :mad:

I got my brush and it wouldn't fit in the chimney. I had to sit and clip the wire brushes so I could get it past 1/4 the way down. I finally got it to punch through the buildup of hardened flyash. I pulled out 3/4 of a five gallon bucket of ash that I had brushed off the chimney walls. I put everything back together and fired up the stove this morning on wood.

Before I knew it I had 750 on the griddle and it was blazing hot. I had to close off the primary air damper and close the front doors good and tight to get it to slow down. The stove hasn't ever worked this good since the day I installed it. Now I know. Having never cleaned the chimney I didn't know what good performance was. :D

 
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StokerDon
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 8:20 am

Good catch there Larry!

Just goes to show, you never really know what's inside until you have a look yourself.

Just in time for this more Winter like weather that just blew in.

-Don

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 8:25 am

My guess would be that flyash would never stick to a chimney that only sees coal fires. I believe the wood fires create sticky creosote on the chimney walls that the flyash sticks to. Good catch & now enjoy the souped up hot rod,just don't get too carried away with the high performance setup. :P


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 8:32 am

Rev. Glad you got it cleared and back to safe running ability.

I'm wondering why, in 5 years, you could get fly ash to build up inside a chimney like that. :shock:

In 12 years, several times I've had to run a brush up to clear out early-season squirrels nests of leaves, but not once does fly ash come down with the nest bits.

And it's not like fly ash doesn't make it to the chimney. Beginning of each season, I have to shovel out most of a coal bucket of fly ash out of the bottom of the chimney through the cleanout door.

Just wondering why it would stick to the walls up in your chimney, but not in mine ????

Paul

 
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blrman07
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Post by blrman07 » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 8:35 am

Who knows what has been burned in that chimney. It's the original chimney from when the house was built in 1895. Back in the day they probably burned mostly coal but also anything with BTU value. The chunks I knocked out was reddish fused fly ash. I didn't find any "traditional" creosote but it was probably absorbed by the ash. Add a layer of creosote and the flyash stuck to it making ash chunks. Anyway it's open now and working great. :)

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 9:20 am

Does your chimney have a cap?


 
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Doby
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Post by Doby » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 10:29 am

I found dropping a good sized chain down can loosen that stuff in old chimneys

 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 12:52 pm


 
corey
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Post by corey » Sun. Feb. 26, 2017 1:14 pm

glad you got it fixed and blazing again.

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