Log burning stove chimney sweeping question

[Tim+]

How do you do it?

Our log burning stove sits in its inglenook with its unjointed vertical chimney pipe emerging from the flat top of the stove and straight up through the top of the inglenook, presumably through a register plate or some such thing.

The bottom end of the flue is concealed somewhere behind/above the fireback and whilst there is a collar around the base of the pipe but this doesn?t seem to move to allow removal of the flue pipe.

I?m guessing that the pipe must come out somehow to permit sweeping but it?s not obvious to me.

Tim

[Dave Liquorice]

Stoves vary but on ours it's swept from the fire cavity having removed a baffle plate that slots onto the boiler. If the boiler isn't fitted (it's optional on our stove) there is a larger baffle plate to take the place of the boiler.

Our flue exits the rear into a vertical T piece. The lower end is capped and serves to catch stuff that fall down the flue. the upper end connects to the flue pipe that goes to the register plate and twin wall chimney liner. To get around the 90 degree bend of the T piece super flexible rods are required. Ordinary rods might be too stiff to get into the bottom of your flue pipe from the fire cavity and if there are any bends in the liner...

[Martin Brown]

Mine has an access plate on the pipe a few inches above the stove but with the right flexible brush pole it turns out you can sweep it by access from inside the fire cavity once the baffle plate is removed. This is somewhat surprising as the brush has to fit between two water heating pipes. It should be much easier on one without a back boiler.

[Marland]

It isn?t clear from the OPs post if he has a chimney liner or just a flue from the stove that terminates above the register plate from where the fumes would rise up the chimney in the normal manner. Such an installation isn?t recommended these days but 1000?s of stoves will still be installed that way, To get the upper part cleaned properly may need the stove flue removed so the right sized brushes can be used , in some cases an access port is installed for this task either in the chimney breast or if the chimney is on an outside wall installed there. I?m sure the OP knows his property but if they haven?t lived there long perhaps there is a chance that it has been disguised and they haven?t seen it .

TBH if the stove hasn?t been swept for a time I?d get a sweep in, most will have wide experience of all sorts of situations and stoves and know the wrinkles of them, a visit isn?t usual that expensive and will get the job done. If the intention is to DIY it in future then just watch how they do it. Some now carry inspection cameras to assist in the task and the condition of the chimney interior, or even a liner. The latter are not infallible and the cheaper ones can fail after a few years.

GH

[harry]

Your chimney should be fitted with an insulated corrugated flexible liner. The problem is tar, most of it will be at the top of the chimney. In the last foot where the gases hit the cold air. It can't be brushed out,it has to be scraped. If there is a large accumulation it can catch fire and can burn the house down if you're unlucky. Melt the liner if you're lucky. It can be hand scraped from the top.

The best way is prevention, have a good blaze once a week to burn off the tars before too much accumulates.

It's all down to the crap inefficient stoves commonly sold in the UK.

If your chimney has no liner fitted, you are in the shit. There can be tar the whole length of the chimney, virtually impossible to remove and a fire hazard.

[Tim Watts]

As others are saying, you take out the baffle plate inside. This possibly means (carefully) removing the brittle firebricks too and possibly one or two other loose bits of ironwork.

Do you have a make/model to google for the manual?