Cleaning chimney with stove

baldieman

Hi Guys,
How does one go about cleaning a chimney after a solid fuel stove has been installed?

Avns1s

Most will recommend cleaning from the top down with the soot collecting in the stove itself.

I did (at a push) manage to clean the chimney from the stove up. It involves getting the 8" brushes through the 6" pipe at the back of the stove negotiating the bends and on up to the chimney.

If you have a stove that uses a 5" outlet adapted in a standard 8" chimney flue, I'd say you'll have to clean from the top down.

demanufactured

top down is best , our clay flue is about 10 inches and ya have to send 2 brushes down together

northdublin

if your flue is lined with a steel liner then you must use a light duty brush with flexi rods, conventional rods and a normal type brush would damage a flexi liner. cleaning it from the top seems the way to go as all the soot ends up in the stove with little or no mess.......providing you keep the door closed:D

gsxr1

baldieman wrote: »

Hi Guys,
How does one go about cleaning a chimney after a solid fuel stove has been installed?

could you let us know how you get on with it. I would interested in how its done;)

Avns1s

gsxr1 wrote: »

could you let us know how you get on with it. I would interested in how its done;)

Hi gsxr1.
From memory of the other thread your stove is the Oisin. I think the outlet on this in 5" and it might be hard to get the 8" brushes up through this without damaging the fire cement joints.

Might be possible... in a worst case scenario, you'd just have to redo the joints, this could be done through the stove, if you've got long arms.

baldieman

From what I'm hearing here, this does seem to be a big problem with replacing inefficient open fires with a stove with 3 times the efficiency. I mean, who's going go get around to cleaning their chimney/flue if they have to climb up on the roof??

jack of all

It's something that niggles me also; i've always cleaned my own chimney, from the fireplace up and I don't fancy working from the top down! For starters it's a long way up and my existing extension ladder won't reach the apex of the roof; think i'll just have to pay someone else to do the job.

fmcc

baldieman wrote: »

From what I'm hearing here, this does seem to be a big problem with replacing inefficient open fires with a stove with 3 times the efficiency. I mean, who's going go get around to cleaning their chimney/flue if they have to climb up on the roof??

Insert convecting stoves are a much better option in my opinion but I do have a vested interest as I sell them as well as the freestanding.
In the freestanding stove if an adapter has being used and the baffle comes out you should be able to rod from below as was posted above but most sweeps do go from top down. The only downside to the insert convector means if you have a cast iron insert in your fireplace you would need to have this changed to a granite one but this is not required if going freestanding.

Eurorunner

fmcc wrote: »

Insert convecting stoves are a much better option in my opinion but I do have a vested interest as I sell them as well as the freestanding.

Whats the advantage with the insert stove?

fmcc wrote: »

The only downside to the insert convector means if you have a cast iron insert in your fireplace you would need to have this changed to a granite one but this is not required if going freestanding.

I am just finishing up a freestanding (S.Óisin) install and will have to replace cast iron insert as its too narrow and also short on clearance at the top. Generally speaking, what sort of money will a black granite insert cost? (standard fireplace with timber fireplace surround leaving a gap of 3ft x 3ft. )

Is the cast iron insert I'm replacing likely to beof any value? (Its not got a scratch on it or even a whiff of smoke as fireplace was never used).

baldieman

fmcc wrote: »

Insert convecting stoves are a much better option in my opinion but I do have a vested interest as I sell them as well as the freestanding.
In the freestanding stove if an adapter has being used and the baffle comes out you should be able to rod from below as was posted above but most sweeps do go from top down. The only downside to the insert convector means if you have a cast iron insert in your fireplace you would need to have this changed to a granite one but this is not required if going freestanding.

Are you saying that it's normal for a chimney sweep to go up on the roof rather than clean from the fire place?

gsxr1

Avns1s wrote: »

Hi gsxr1.
From memory of the other thread your stove is the Oisin. I think the outlet on this in 5" and it might be hard to get the 8" brushes up through this without damaging the fire cement joints.

Might be possible... in a worst case scenario, you'd just have to redo the joints, this could be done through the stove, if you've got long arms.

I have a 4 year old son. how far up do ya think he could get. could save me a fortune:pac:

Avns1s

gsxr1 wrote: »

I have a 4 year old son. how far up do ya think he could get. could save me a fortune:pac:

If he's anything like my fella was at that age, probably quite a long way. Might want to out him on a diet for a few days beforehand though!

fmcc

Hi Eurorunner
Advantage of an insert is that it sits pretty much flush with the fireplace so wont impact on the room as much and keeps the look of a fireplace. they are more expensive than a freestanding though.
A standard split and filled granite retails for about E250-300 plus fitting but you may get them a bit cheaper in places.
You could try the cast insert in a local classified but not many retailers wil buy them back unless you get lucky.
I cant speak for sweeps but so far most I have spoken to sweep top down into the stove but this would obviously depend on the roof situation.
Gsxr
You need to let the 4 year old grow a really bushy head of hair for them to be really effective but they should save you money in that sense but then you have to feed them too so I guess your gonna be out of pocket one way or the other.

Eurorunner

fmcc wrote: »

Advantage of an insert is that it sits pretty much flush with the fireplace so wont impact on the room as much and keeps the look of a fireplace. they are more expensive than a freestanding though.

Yeah, did think they looked smarter but couldnt afford the extra investment.

fmcc wrote: »

A standard split and filled granite retails for about E250-300 plus fitting but you may get them a bit cheaper in places.

Are they straightforward to fit?

fmcc

Surround and insert off the wall and centre and screw the granite up againest the wall. the granite should have about 2-2,5 inches of lightweight type cement and this should leave a gap of 1/2 inch to an inch. Pull back and screw in plaster wire or something like that thats nom flamable obviously on three sides of the ope. have a board or someting on the sides of the insert and pour or spill a dry mix of cement sand and lime 7:1:1 down on all sides. The plaster wire should stop most of it from going down the fire opening leave to set, having made sure the total depth is just flush to your surround when you put your fire surround back up again. If using an insert stove you may also need a flue adpter or to flaunch off all sides inside the ope if that makes sense so the soot and ash falll back down into the stove and have no flat areas to build up on.

Eurorunner

fmcc wrote: »

Surround and insert off the wall and centre and screw the granite up againest the wall. the granite should have about 2-2,5 inches of lightweight type cement and this should leave a gap of 1/2 inch to an inch. Pull back and screw in plaster wire or something like that thats nom flamable obviously on three sides of the ope. have a board or someting on the sides of the insert and pour or spill a dry mix of cement sand and lime 7:1:1 down on all sides. The plaster wire should stop most of it from going down the fire opening leave to set, having made sure the total depth is just flush to your surround when you put your fire surround back up again. If using an insert stove you may also need a flue adpter or to flaunch off all sides inside the ope if that makes sense so the soot and ash falll back down into the stove and have no flat areas to build up on.

Great info fmcc. Just finished off the stove install this evening (as you can see here) and just need to get insert sorted and I can put this little project to bed as its been dragging on!

fmcc

Looks good eurorunner If you are going down the granite insert road a standard one may not fit over the stove just double check the measurements standrd opeening on an insert is 16 or 18" wide x 22" high. But a local fireplace or headstone place may be able to make one up to a specific size but you would pay more for it.

Eurorunner

fmcc wrote: »

If you are going down the granite insert road a standard one may not fit over the stove just double check the measurements standrd opeening on an insert is 16 or 18" wide x 22" high. But a local fireplace or headstone place may be able to make one up to a specific size but you would pay more for it.

Yes, have to admit I didn't think this part of it through. In order to leave enough space to get my hand in to unscrew soot door, will need opening height of 25" and width of 20". Having said that, I'd imagine it will be better to have more clearance at the top so that the heat makes its way out into the room.
Will make a few calls and see if someone can do it.

Eurorunner

Did a bit of ringing around. The best I can do is black granite insert coming in two parts that already has a layer of cement on the back of it for €300 supply only.

fmcc

Hi Euro sounds about right but never mind clearing the top of the stove I dont think a standard one will clear the height of the rear flue just double check. I know it wont on a mulbery joyce whichs is similar to the oisin so just make sure before you buy.

Eurorunner

fmcc wrote: »

Hi Euro sounds about right but never mind clearing the top of the stove I dont think a standard one will clear the height of the rear flue just double check. I know it wont on a mulbery joyce whichs is similar to the oisin so just make sure before you buy.

Well, they will cut out the opening to whatever size I want. I had intended on 25 height - which gives me 3 inch clearance at the top so that I can get a hand in to unscrew the soot door at the back.
The guy did suggest just going with a standard size insert and just pulling stove out of the flue at chimney cleaning time and resealing afterwards. On reflection, I suppose sealing with the high temp sealant was just a half an hour job - If theres a big difference in price, might go along with it.

Doctor_L

Hi,

I cleaned my stanley solid fuel stove (Oisin I think) last weekend.

The stove had a rear feed into the fireplace. The fireplace has a metal plate in front of it and a short pipe attaches to the plate.

I removed the stove from the front of the fireplace. This involved taking of the fire cement etc.

I then cleaned the chimney as normal, most of the soot gathered at the bottom of the fireplace behind the metal plate. Using a gardemn trowel it was simple job to scoop it out and place in a bucket.

The remainder of the soot was hooverd up using an ash filter attachment which cost 25 Euros. I also emptied and hoovered out the stove, small pipe etc using the ash filter.

The stove was re-attached using fire cement and the job is done for another year.

Liam