Regular cleaning of chimneys of stoves and fireplaces from soot is a mandatory procedure, regardless of the frequency of use of the heater. For these events, modern chemicals, proven over the years folk remedies and special mechanical methods are suitable.
The choice of the most effective technique depends on the level of contamination of the chimney channels and the desire of homeowners to do everything on their own or, in the full sense of the word, without getting their hands dirty, entrust the work to professionals.
Are you planning to get rid of the burning yourself, but do not know which method to use? We will help you decide on the tactics of action. The article provides a detailed overview of the most effective methods, indicates the reasons for the rapid clogging of the chimney and indicates the timing of the cleaning activities.
Chimney clogging is a natural process that occurs as a result of combustion. Only part of the fuel, breaking up into fractions, acquires a gaseous form and goes out into the atmosphere as an emission.
Other fragments with a heavier, denser structure take the form of soot deposits and settle on the inner surface of the pipeline, over time significantly worsening its throughput.
The chimney coming out of the roof must be closed with a special windproof cap. Then, during the period of seasonal downtime, a bird or wasp nest will not be built there, and in winter leaves, branches, ice and other foreign elements will not get inside
The use of firewood from coniferous trees provokes clogging of channels. Viscous resinous substances, contained in excess in the composition, form a powerful adhesive base and help retain soot deposits on it.
Such contamination is difficult to prep clean and requires careful removal by means of mechanical devices.
Household garbage, packaging containers, remnants of old furniture, textiles and other items that are not a fuel resource by definition emit caustic ether complexes, heavy carcinogens and resinous compounds during combustion.
Therefore, burning in the furnace or fireplace of such human waste negatively affects the operation of heating equipment of any class.
All of them in the form of a dense, viscous sediment cover the inner surface of the pipes and create conditions for retaining soot, soot and soot. The channel through which the gaseous elements escape into the atmosphere narrows to a minimum, the draft overturns, and part of the smoke enters the living room.
The temperature in the room drops and the use of heating equipment becomes dangerous due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
They accelerate the clogging of the chimney channel with deposits of firewood from a recently sawn, damp forest.
If the current moisture content of a log exceeds 12%, it is strictly forbidden to throw it into the firebox immediately. It is necessary to dry it thoroughly in a warm room for at least 1 week.
A damp log reduces the level of heat transfer by 35%, contributes to the rapid clogging of the smoke exhaust system, and eventually disables it.
Method #3 - Aspen wood to remove soot
Stoking a stove or fireplace with aspen wood is a simple and fairly effective cleaning procedure. Its convenience lies in the fact that no additional actions need to be performed. It is enough to place a wood-burning bookmark in the firebox, light a fire and wait for its complete combustion.
Conclusions and useful video on the topic
An interesting way to clean pipes that does not require climbing to the roof - simple, modern and effective.
Regular cleaning of pipes and chimney channels is a very necessary and useful procedure. It has a beneficial effect on the general condition of the heating system, restores the traction properties of the equipment and contributes to the economical use of the resource.
Preventive measures can be carried out as needed on their own, strictly adhering to the instructions for the drugs and the safety rules. In case of clogging or other more serious problems, it is better to use the services of experienced professionals.
Do you have personal experience with cleaning a stove or fireplace chimney? Please tell readers what soot removal method you have used. Leave comments, ask questions and participate in discussions - the feedback form is located below.
Unfortunately, quite often they think about cleaning the chimney when the draft already disappears and the reverse appears - the smoke simply goes into the room. But this is already an extreme degree of clogging of the chimney. But even at the beginning of the problem, you are already breathing not only smoke that seems safe (we all go to barbecues), but also dangerous carbon monoxide. And the soot that accumulates on the walls of the chimney can even catch fire and lead to a fire!
That is why the profession of a chimney sweep has long existed and revered. And today's owners of private houses and baths are not at all afraid of cleaning the chimney - today a wide variety of special brushes are sold for this purpose, with a long handle or telescopic, round in the form of a brush with a load on a cable or more intricate ones. And believe me, there is nothing tricky in this matter!
When is it time to clean?
It will not be possible to completely do without cleaning the chimney, no matter what material and what design it is. Indeed, over time, due to soot, the passage in the chimneys narrows and the so-called reverse draft effect occurs, when the smoke no longer enters the street, but into the room. If you wait a little more time, then any furnace will simply become unusable. Not to mention that reverse draft is dangerous even for people living inside the house!
When approaching the issue of cleaning the chimney, the following factors must be considered:
- Downtime, namely how long there was no cleaning.
- What is the design of the chimney, how smooth are its walls and what are the lines of its operation.
- What kind of fuel was used, whether plastic bottles or similar garbage were thrown into the firebox.
- Was raw wood used?
- Were there pine or spruce among the firewood, because from them resinous substances settle on the wall of the chimney.
To notice that your chimney needs cleaning, you can independently by the following signs:
- Smoke color change. Ideally, if almost transparent, barely noticeable white smoke comes out into the street, and it’s bad if it becomes dark - this indicates the presence of a large amount of soot.
- Flame color change. The color of the fire in the furnace also signals problems: if it is light orange and the firewood crackles, then everything is in order. And if the flame turns dark orange, almost orange, this is a sign that the chimney needs to be cleaned.
- And, finally, the simplest and most logical way remains - a preventive inspection of the chimney. It’s good if a professional master can do this, but even you can notice problems. For example, professional chimney sweeps lower a special load into the chimney along the diameter of the pipe, and if it passes easily, everything is in order, if it rests, then it will have to be cleaned.
Moreover, the situation with soot can reach such a critical point when pollution completely blocks the chimney and ice plugs appear. And even worse - coking, when soot accumulates on the chippers and burns out there to large solid fractions, similar to coal. Such fractions clog the chimney and block the draft. And in order to remove all this, just a brush with a load will not be enough, you will have to use a special jack to raise the chimney and clean the stove. That is why it is so important to make all sections of the chimney straight. And on rare bends, install tees with a cleaning system.
In total, today there are three types of methods for cleaning the chimney: mechanical, with the help of special devices that need to penetrate the pipe, biological, when natural ingredients are used, and chemical, when cleaning is done using industrial special preparations. Let's dwell on each of them in more detail.
Mechanical cleaning of the chimney: only in the warm season
As a rule, ordinary owners of stoves and fireplaces clean their chimney once, before each heating season, and it's good if this is enough. And the mechanical way is the oldest and even today it makes sense:
You can manually clean the chimney both from the inside of the house, from below, and from above, directly from the roof. And for each of the methods there is a tool.
If you have chosen the brush that is used from above, you need to tie a rope to it and hook a load on it, and only after that run it through the chimney through the roof. This will pass along the entire chimney and will hook soot from the walls with it. It is only important to lower the brush carefully and gradually, slowly, so that the soot is collected qualitatively and at the same time the load does not damage the chimney itself. In the same way, lower and raise the ruff several times until it becomes noticeable that the soot has been cleaned and the blockage has been broken.
Usually such a brush is enough for up to three heating seasons. But this method has its drawbacks:
- Firstly, you will need a lot of time for all this, at least an hour;
- Secondly, if you need to clean the chimney, you will not always be able to get out onto the roof, especially when it snows and the wind is strong;
- And, finally, with such a device it is quite difficult to clean the chimney elbows and hard-to-reach places, or the chimney itself is designed in such a way that it is generally impossible to clean it from the outside, through the roof.
And the method of cleaning the chimney from below, from the room, is much safer for a person. You can safely do all the necessary work and not risk your life. Simply take a brush, place it on a flexible holder and push it through a heater or a special revision hole.
In addition, from below, with the help of long flexible holders, soot is easy to clean even in high bends:
So, for example, a brush with a telescopic holder is good because it is convenient to use it on the roof: you just need to insert one part into another, gradually lowering the brush down, and disassemble it in reverse order when lifting up:
Here is a step-by-step illustration of what is needed to mechanically clean the chimney with a brush and weight:
Cleaning by folk methods: both in snow and in rain
Today, many are wondering: how to clean the chimney from soot with folk remedies in the middle of winter, without the need for mechanical cleaning, safely and reliably?
The most famous biological methods (they are usually called folk methods) are cleaning with potato peels. This method avoids the rough mechanical removal of soot from the walls of the chimney and is ideal for those areas where the heating season is long enough, because then you do not have to stop the furnace from burning for a long time.
The second way is dry aspen wood, which burns so fast and hot that it burns all the soot in the chimney. But you need to use this method carefully so as not to actually lead to a fire.
The third relatively cheap and reliable method to extend the life of the chimney during the heating season is to sprinkle wood with salt. With each kindling, the salt binds soot and does not allow it to settle on the walls of the chimney.
You will be surprised, but even the usual, long-known in Russia, cleaning the chimney with potato peels is actually quite an effective method:
Just a little tip: if you want to clean your chimney with raw potato skins, you need to peel at least half a bucket of them. When the peel is burned, starch will remain from it, which will corrode the soot, and it will simply crumble down. After that, all the ashes will simply need to be removed from the furnace.
Dry Cleaning: Caution Needed!
But it happens that soot is difficult to clean, especially if old wood was used, and then you have to resort to a chemical method. The advantage of this method is that it will not take your time or your energy.
A variety of special products for cleaning chimneys today pleases the eye: liquids, briquettes, special powders. Their secret is that such substances are ignited in a heating device and they emit active gases, which soot is afraid of. Under their influence, it becomes fragile and begins to fall off. Moreover, some of the small particles simply fly out with the smoke, while the rest falls down and is already removed along with the ash.
Powders are simply thrown into the furnace without unpacking, directly with firewood, and there should be a lot of firewood itself. You only need to drop one sachet every two to three weeks. The only limitation of this method is that it makes sense to use powder products only if the soot on the walls of the chimney is not more than 2 millimeters. But, if you use such a powder all the time, cleaning the chimneys will not be needed at all:
But if you have a deeper problem, then you will have to use a log - this is a chemical substance in the form of a briquette, which is enough to put in the furnace once every two months, also in a package. It is used when the firewood has already burned out in order to set it on fire separately. As part of such a log, wooden files, urea, sodium sulfate, coal wax, ammonium sulfate and amorphous silicon.
Such a composition of active substances is able to remove all the accumulated soot in the chimney in just one time. After you burn the chemical log inside the firebox, for another two weeks you will have soot falling from the walls of the chimney, and it will just need to be removed.
Very convenient: just put a log on the fire, and chemical gases corrode soot not only on the surface of the walls of the chimney, but also inside the heater itself, even on the heat exchanger and the internal chimney. And in its own way, it even prevents the appearance of new soot. It is this method that allows you to remove soot in the most inaccessible places of bends and knees. And, most importantly, such cleaning can be done at any time of the year - even with an active winter firebox. The only point: if the chimney has not been cleaned for a long time, a congestion is clearly felt and there is almost no draft, then at first you will still have to use a brush.
Here is a clear example of how to clean a chimney with modern chemicals:
Professional chimney cleaning: fast, reliable and expensive
Strange as it may sound, all over the world the profession of a chimney sweep exists and is still appreciated. You will be interested to know that the traditional chimney sweep cylinder has always been the privilege of only the master. And to become one, it was necessary to serve as an apprentice for more than one year - this specialty is so complicated.
In recent years, the profession of a chimney sweep has been on the verge of extinction, and only relatively recently has it become sharply in demand. It's all about fires due to poor-quality installation of chimneys and their operation. A modern house is so expensive today that it is wiser to hire a specialist than to rely on "maybe". Indeed, it is much more logical to call a professional chimney sweep before the start of the heating season, and not a fire truck in the middle of winter.
For a long time, the All-Russian Voluntary Fire Society was engaged in cleaning the chimney, but today more private companies already offer such services. After all, the correct operation of modern chimneys requires periodic revision, cleaning and prevention. So there was such a thing as professional chimney cleaning, when special equipment is brought for such a purpose. For example, a special vacuum cleaner that simply sucks soot out of the chimney through the firebox. And then you don’t need to drag it through the whole room (and the soot is volatile and poorly washed off the furniture).
Therefore, to this day, professional cleaning is simply indispensable in the most neglected cases, when:
- the chimney is covered with a dense layer of hard soot (especially from wet firewood);
- the walls of the chimney are old and damaged, and soot tightly clings to them;
- you have no desire to do such menial work.
In practice, it looks like this:
For example, in the professional cleaning of chimneys of private houses, such special devices are used:
Modern high-speed installations cope with their task quickly enough, which completely clean the chimney in just an hour:
How to make self-cleaning tools
Special devices for cleaning the chimney from soot are sold in a regular building supermarket or specialty store, or you can make it yourself.
Let's compare a metal brush with a plastic one. Let's start with the fact that a metal brush, of course, will retain its working shape longer, but with particularly intensive cleaning it can scratch the chimney from the inside. Modern plastic brushes are soft, scratch the chimney much less, although they do not last long and at the same time easily break, losing their working shape. That is why there is an unspoken rule among summer residents: take a metal brush for a brick chimney, and plastic for a metal one. Basically, these are the following devices:
Plastic brush: short-lived, but gentle on the chimney
Making a plastic brush is as easy as shelling pears:
If you are going to build such a brush for cleaning the chimney, then all the work will take you no more than 15 minutes.
So, the usual chimney brush is a strong base with a brush, threaded through a metal wire with a load on the chain. To all this, you will need a rope along which the brush will need to be lowered into the chimney. Instead of a load and a rope, it is also quite enough to use a special holder. At least then the brush will not get stuck in the chimney and will not have to be pulled out later.
Plastic bottle brush: at no cost
Moreover, you can even make a homemade ruff from an ordinary plastic bottle (at least a few). Just 2-3 of these brushes is enough for one season. So, here's how to make such a bottle brush:
- Step 1. Make round holes in the center of the lid.
- Step 2. Cut the walls of the bottles into strips along, about 1.5 or 2 centimeters wide.
- Step 3. Make a hole in the bottom of the bottle with a heated nail and thread a 5 mm thick wire through it.
- Step 4. Now just insert one bottle into another through the cut strips and attach a thick wire to one end.
- Step 5. Put two plastic bottles on, press and fix them so that it is convenient to tie them with plastic wire.
- Step 6. Spread the cut strips of plastic evenly in a circle and secure the steel cable as it is.
The only difficulty in such manufacture is to make sure that the load and the rope (cable) are exactly in the center, and the ruff does not warp during use.
Hard round brush: the use of improvised materials
Another great option is to make such a brush from a disc brush for a grinder. Such a brush is much stronger than the previous options and will cope even with the soot itself. It is only important that the diameter of the brush is equal to the diameter of the chimney, because its bristles are hard and bend poorly:
To such a brush, you need to hang a load with a weight of about 5 kg on a steel cable, behind which you will pull the brush along the chimney. Just in case, attach another cable to the load, which will help another person from inside the room to stretch the stuck brush. It is important that the load at the same time be at least a third less than the chimney, otherwise it will catch on and if you have to tinker.
To clean the chimney with such home-made devices, you need to do this:
- Step 1. Climb onto the roof, remove the damper from the chimney and lower such a brush into the chimney to the very end.
- Step 2. Start pulling the brush back now.
- Step 3. Lower the brush down again and pull it out again.
- Step 4. All this must be done within a few minutes, keep in mind that below, inside the room, soot will pour abundantly and it must also be removed.
As you can see, everything is simple!
Asymmetric wire brush: for difficult sections of the chimney
If your chimney does not have a large length, knees, bends and is not very clogged (for example, we are talking about a chimney in a seasonal bath), then such simple devices are also suitable for its one-time cleaning:
Telescopic brush: for work from the room
Usually, as a gesture, flexible meter sticks go well, which are twisted into each other and are also called telescopic, in other words, prefabricated. Working with it is quite simple:
- Step 1. Screw the brush onto the first handle, stick it straight through the heater, push it through and clean one meter in this way.
- Step 2. The next step to the end of the handle that you are still holding and which is sticking out of the chimney, screw the second one and push the brush another meter up the chimney.
- Step 4. Repeat this whole process until you have completely cleared the entire chimney.
See how easy it is in practice:
The telescopic brush is able to penetrate the chimney very deeply:
Such a brush is significantly more expensive than the previous option, but the advantage is that such sticks usually do not break and serve for a long time. In addition, with the help of such a rigid handle it is easier to push the blockage in the chimney. In addition, this method is quite difficult to clean the soot in the knees of the chimney bends.
As for the choice of the size of the brush, everything is simple here: you need to select one according to the diameter of the chimney, preferably equal to it or 12 cm larger, so that the brush can easily catch on, and not slide along the walls, slightly not reaching them:
Let's summarize: no matter what device you use to clean your chimney yourself, the main thing is to do this cleaning regularly.
The patency of smoke channels is of decisive importance for the normal operation of heating systems. This is especially important for solid fuel thermal units. Chimneys tend to become clogged with combustion products, which reduces fuel efficiency and increases the likelihood of situations that threaten not only the integrity of property, but also the lives of people living in the house.
How and how to clean the chimney from soot
Heating in a private house is a vital system that affects not only comfortable living, but often the property and life of residents. A special role is played by the system for removing fuel combustion products from the room - the chimney. Its inner surface is gradually contaminated with condensate and soot, while the cross-section of the chimney channel decreases, the draft decreases, and the complete removal of smoke from the room is disturbed.
Over time, the chimney becomes clogged with soot, and its ability to remove combustion products decreases.
Why does the chimney get dirty
Clogging of the smoke channel occurs during the combustion of fuel, when vaporous and solid products are released from it, carried out by the flow of furnace gases. But under certain conditions, they do not completely fly out into the pipe. This happens under the following circumstances:
Signs of a clogged chimney
When the flue gas duct becomes clogged, it will be immediately visible. The main signs of a clogged channel will be the following phenomena:
What to do if the chimney is clogged
Before the start of the heating season, it is imperative to inspect the chimney from the inside for blockages. In the warm season, birds with a nest can settle in it or debris blown into the chimney by the wind can appear. To avoid this, the chimney must be equipped with a mesh cap at the installation stage to prevent such situations.
In such a case, the house should always have a backup heating unit in the form of a heater or an electric heater built into the heating system.
Having provided yourself with warmth with its help in the cold season, you can thoroughly consider the situation and think about options for getting out of it.
The presence of draft in the furnace must be checked every time the furnace is ignited - the flame must deviate towards the chimney How to clean a chimney
The meaning of this operation is to timely clean the walls from soot deposits and debris that has got inside (during the off-season period). When cleaning, you need to check all sections of the chimney and the stove itself. The last step is to clean the ash pan and the firebox. Timely cleaning of the chimney reduces fuel consumption and makes the operation of the furnace safe.
In practice, three main cleaning methods are used, two of which are preventive:
- Chemical and biological methods. They are used as a preventive measure using compounds that soften soot and lead to its partial removal from the smoke channel.
- Mechanical. It is produced by direct impact on the soot layer with various tools in order to remove it.
If you use such tools correctly and in a timely manner, you can avoid involving a third-party specialist in cleaning the chimney.
Biological methods of cleaning the chimney
All biological methods are based on adding some substances to a burning furnace. Common products include the following:
- potato peelings. This is an old folk remedy for the prevention of soot deposits, the simplest and always available. The peel must be prepared in advance, accumulating at least half a bucket. It must be dried and brought into the furnace at the end of the burning of the bookmark. When burned, potatoes release starch, which softens the soot layer well. It happens that it simply falls down in layers or pieces, part of it is carried out along with the furnace gases. This operation is also recommended before mechanical cleaning;
- rock salt. The method is used when igniting the furnace. The compound formed when the salt is heated softens the soot layer well. A tablespoon of salt should be poured over the fuel tab;
- aspen wood. Firewood from a tree of this breed has a high calorific value, so they are laid at the end of the firebox. Hot furnace gases simply burn soot directly on the walls of the chimney. The danger of the method lies in the fact that large deposits of soot during combustion at a high intrinsic temperature can destroy the chimney and cause a serious fire. Therefore, this method should be used regularly, laying aspen firewood in small portions. For the same purpose, you can use birch firewood peeled from the bark;
- walnut shell. The use of this tool is also associated with a high temperature of their combustion. Therefore, they can serve as an alternative to aspen firewood. But the shell can be used in an amount of no more than two liters at a time. Otherwise, overheating of the chimney is possible with predictable consequences.
Photo gallery: folk remedies for cleaning the chimney
Walnut shells cannot be burned in large quantities - it can overheat the chimney Burning dried peelings destroys the soot layer due to the release of starch Rock salt, when heated, releases substances that soften soot on the walls of the chimney Aspen wood burns soot on the walls of the chimney due to a very high combustion temperature
Soot removal chemicals
There are several such products, and they can be divided into two groups: household products and special chemicals. The first group includes:
- Naphthalene. This is an effective and quite reliable tool. Under its influence, soot exfoliates and is taken out into the furnace. It is placed in the oven on the burning firewood. A significant drawback is the acrid unpleasant odor remaining in the room. Therefore, it is not used in open hearths and fireplaces.
- Blue blend. It's easy to make your own if you have a few common ingredients on hand. Need to mix:
- five parts of copper sulfate;
- seven parts of saltpeter;
- two parts of medium fraction coke.
Special chemicals are used to clean chimneys also for preventive purposes. Given the existing demand, the industry produces a variety of formulations designed specifically to combat soot. The release form can be briquettes, like logs, powders or solutions. Their action is based on the decomposition of smoke even in the furnace into components that do not form soot.
The convenience is that the methods of their use are described in detail in the instructions for use, and they are divided into portions. You can burn these products together with the packaging, which is also very convenient. The following products are popular:
There are quite a few remedies for soot on the market, so by testing you can choose the best option for yourself.
Photo gallery: chemicals for cleaning the chimney
Cheerful chimney sweep tablets will help get rid of soot in the chimney no worse than a professional chimney sweeper Blue mixture must be prepared independently from three not the most common components This product is recommended to be used only in closed combustion chambers Naphthalene leaves behind an unpleasant odor that will disappear within a few days
Video: chimney cleaning with special chemicals
Mechanical cleaning methods
Mechanical methods are radical and are recommended for use at least twice a year. They are produced from the top of the pipe with various brushes or nozzles for power tools, and the final cleaning is performed from below from the hearth, fireplace or furnace furnace.
Chimney sweeps use special ruffs on a long cable As preparatory measures, before cleaning a thick (from two millimeters) layer of soot, potato peelings or other listed means are burned.
In this case, the following materials and tools may be needed:
To clean the pipe from above, you need to use a roof ladder, well fixed on the roof . Under any conditions, you need a reliable safety rope.
Work at height can only be carried out in dry, calm weather. Before climbing to the roof, you should not take drugs that reduce the reaction, and even more so alcoholic beverages.
Before starting work, the oven must be cooled down. Clean the furnace space from unburned fuel residues and ash. Close the firebox door, blower, and hob covers tightly and hang with a wet rag to prevent soot from entering the room. The gate must be opened completely to avoid re-clogging of the channel with crumbling soot.
The chimney pipe must be freed from the head, after which:
Video: cleaning the chimney from the side of the room
Ruff with your own hands
If for some reason there was no brush at hand, it can be made “on the go” from a plastic bottle. To do this, you need to cut several tiers of strips up to 12-15 millimeters wide on the body so that they bend vertically. To make the device heavier, sand can be poured to the bottom.
A good chimney brush can be made from a plastic bottle Stainless steel pipe cleaning
A feature of the product is the high quality of the inner surface of the chimney. This prevents a significant amount of soot from settling on the walls. Naturally, this is true for a properly made chimney, subject to the rules for firing a furnace. If a stable soot has formed, it is urgent to clean it. To do this, use the following methods:
In order not to conduct additional "experiments", you need to heat the stove only with suitable fuel - well-dried hardwood firewood. At the end of each firebox, you need to add one aspen log for prevention.
Video: stainless steel pipe cleaning
Soot removal from stainless steel sandwich pipes
Cleaning the inner sandwich pipe, if used correctly, is very rarely needed. Nevertheless, if such a need arises, you can use an elongated brush made of thin pile. The flexible compound hose is rotated by an electric drill, cleaning is done through a tee from below. Fine bristles of the ruff do not damage the surface of the pipe, effectively cleaning the surface.
Such a chimney is easy to dismantle and clean each pipe individually.
Special cases of cleaning the chimney
Some chimney cleaning situations require separate consideration.
How to clean a chimney pipe in a private house
Briefly, the entire process of cleaning the chimney has already been described above. To what has been said, it is only necessary to add that with a strong clogging of the smoke channel, the first operation is to break through the soot with a core without additional devices. Only then are brushes of different sizes and designs consistently used.
When performing work, care should be taken to create a safe working environment.
When working at height, be sure to buckle up with a safety cable. Video: how to clean a chimney in a private house
Bath chimney cleaning
The chimney in the bath is usually simpler. And most often it is made of stainless pipes, which requires special attention to its cleaning. In order not to negate its main advantage - the high quality of the inner surface - it should be cleaned only with soft plastic or brushes made from natural materials. The easiest way to manage is with straight pipelines, and if there are elbows - we recall that there should be no more than two of them - you may have to dismantle the chimney if it does not have special windows for cleaning during installation.
Otherwise, preventive measures and cleaning are carried out in the same way.
Cleaning the chimney pipe from tar
Considering the composition of flue gases, you need to pay attention to two main components - this is water vapor from the fuel and a vapor of difficult-to-ignite creosote. Mixing and settling on the walls of the smoke channel, they form a resin that is difficult to remove due to its viscosity and good adhesion to various types of surfaces.
The only effective way to deal with tar deposits is to prevent its formation. For this, various means are used that are produced specifically for this case.
HANSA effectively protects the walls of the chimney from the formation of tar For example, the known composition of HANSA is a fine crystalline substance. Part of it turns wood into resin and water vapor, and the second, reacting with the substance of the resin, contributes to its decomposition and combustion at the temperature in the furnace. Remains of resin on the walls turn into a brittle crystalline composition, crumbling into the furnace.
This composition is placed inside the burning furnace. The frequency of use at the beginning of the operation of the thermal unit is daily, then you can switch to use once a week.
Curved chimney cleaning
The bends of the smoke channel are always a forced measure caused by the structural features of the building. However, they need to be cleaned periodically. For this purpose, elements are provided in the design of the pipeline, using which this operation can be performed easily and simply. These are special hatches, when opened, it becomes possible to access the straight section of the bend. The length of the inclined sections is not recommended to be made larger than a meter. The number of bends on one pipe should not exceed two.
If there is no window for cleaning on the outlet elbow, then the chimney will have to be disassembled How to clean a gas stove chimney
The reason for cleaning the chimney of the gas column is its banal clogging with a deterioration in draft. In a city apartment, this is all the more dangerous because the threat arises for many people at the same time. One of the signs of traction deterioration is the “popping” of the column igniter.
The process of cleaning the exhaust pipe from a gas unit is practically no different from such an operation with conventional chimneys. The same ruff is used. Recently, vacuum cleaners of a special design are often used, which reliably clean the surface of the pipe and collect pollution products. In difficult cases, when the layers cannot be removed with a brush or vacuum cleaner, special chemicals are used to soften and remove them. Considering that the use of prophylactic agents on the column pipe is impossible, urgent measures should be taken if signs of clogging are found.
It must be admitted that the success of using solid fuel furnace equipment to the greatest extent depends on the correct operation of the units and the careful selection of fuel for it. In addition, it is necessary to regularly use preventive measures and know how to get rid of problems with clogged chimneys. Then stoves and fireplaces will delight you with fertile warmth in the house for a long time. I wish you success!
© When using site materials (quotes, images), the source must be indicated.
The ignition of soot in the chimney is an on-duty nightmare for the inhabitants of any house with fiery heating and cooking appliances. Even if the fire can be extinguished before the chimney (boiler) burns out and the house does not have a fire, the cost of eliminating the accident will be prohibitive, and the house will be left without heating and cooking facilities in the cold. However, regular cleaning of the chimney from deposits in it is necessary not only for fire safety purposes: the efficiency and durability (resource before overhaul) of the furnace or boiler are maintained only if the draft in the chimney corresponds to the nominal value; any blockage reduces the clearance of the chimney and, accordingly, the draft of the chimney.
Why get into the dirt?
For the reasons given chimney cleaning is an absolutely necessary scheduled technological operation during the operation of fuel-burning heating and cooking appliances, and the profession of a chimney sweep remains in demand from the most developed countries in an age when humanity is mastering quantum information systems and preparing for interstellar flights. Moreover, in the current state of affairs with energy resources in the world, the advantages of individual stove heating over centralized heating significantly outweigh its disadvantages.
But, the reader may object, when my sink siphon clogs, I call a plumber. And why should I know something about such a much dirtier and more unhealthy activity as cleaning soot from chimneys? Let the chimney sweeps do it, and I'll pay within reason.
First, what is the “reasonable limit” in this case? Chimney sweep services in the Russian Federation are considered to be perhaps the cheapest in the world. But in Russia, cleaning the chimney from soot costs at least 10,000 rubles. This is if there is a chimney sweep in this locality or in its immediate vicinity. For his call with departure, you will have to pay extra for round-trip travel and accommodation at the place of work. And if the road to the house with the stove is impassable for ordinary vehicles in winter?
Secondly, if it flows from the siphon of the kitchen sink or overflows from the toilet bowl, then there is simply no time to wait for the plumber - here the salvation of the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves; the degree of urgency in the presence of signs of the need for unscheduled / emergency cleaning of the chimney is even higher. That is why, even if your money is enough to pay for a chimney sweep + 200% bonus, you still need to know how to clean the chimney yourself at least quickly so that the immediate threat is over.
Thirdly, cleaning the chimney by any method other than chemical sparing (preventive) does not pass without a trace for its resource. At the same time, the profession of a chimney sweep is highly paid, but harmful, dirty and dangerous, and there is little competition in it. Really high-class professionals prefer to engage in easier scheduled and preventive cleaning under subscription service contracts, and if you need to clean a pipe in a private house urgently and / or in the outback, there is a high risk of running into a klutz who is greedy for money, moreover, if your chimney is a modern modular-sandwich or ceramic / glass, inept cleaning can disable it once and for all.
Reliable information about chimney sweeping is much less common than about plumbing - after all, just 10 years ago, individual stove heating was considered a relic of the past doomed to extinction. If a plumber begins to connect propylene pipes, wrapping them together with adhesive tape, he will also be kicked out by a glamorous pampered diva. But if a chimney sweep puts a steel ruff on a solid rod into a sandwich chimney with deaf kinks, then an intelligent economic man can decide that this is how it should be. And a day, a week, a month after the “specialist” receives his bribe and leaves, the consequences will be severe, even catastrophic. If it becomes necessary to clean the furnace / boiler pipe, some minimum knowledge in this area is needed to control the work of a specialist. Therefore, even if the very mention of cleaning the chimney causes you physiological disgust, but you use stove or boiler heating, you you need to know:
- Why and how the chimney clearance is covered with deposits.
- How to determine by external signs whether the chimney needs cleaning and, if so, in what order (see below)?
- What tools and methods are used to clean chimneys of different types, depending on the nature and properties of deposits in them?
- How, if necessary, to clean the chimney with your own hands, using improvised means?
- Are there ways to ensure that urgent chimney cleaning is avoided during the heating season, and if so, which ones?
Is it just soot?
Cleaning the chimney from black soot, as the ignorant imagine it, is quite simple, and if the pipe is brick, then one should not expect serious negative consequences from self-cleaning with improvised means. But, firstly, not only black soot is deposited in chimneys, and in different ways. Secondly, modern chimneys are by no means brick in their properties.
In brick and, when fired with high-quality fuel (deciduous or pine wood, properly seasoned in a woodshed), in simple steel chimneys, the so-called. plump soot (pos. 1 in the figure), which is almost pure amorphous carbon. As a rule, plump soot completely fills the lumen of the pipe before it cokes (sinters; is cemented with bituminous substances, mainly creosote). Puffy soot ignites most easily, but the external signs of its influence on traction (see below) appear early and clear. Cleaning the chimney from fluffy soot or preventing its deposition by any of the methods described below does not present technical difficulties.
Gray soot (pos. 2) is typical of conventional steel chimneys for stoves/boilers fired with coal or occasional wood fuel. Coking of gray soot begins when its layer reaches approx. 2 mm and then spread to the entire plaque. External signs of overgrowing of the chimney with gray soot are weak and develop slowly. Ignition of gray soot is a rare phenomenon, but it necessarily entails the most severe consequences: part of the amorphous carbon is modified to graphite during bituminization, and burning gray soot develops a temperature of over 1600 degrees. Cleaning the chimney from gray soot manually is not always possible or very laborious, therefore, in this case, preventive measures against soot deposition are of paramount importance.
Note: pure graphite burns at 2500 degrees. According to the memoirs of helicopter pilots who extinguished the Chernobyl reactor, its inside shone dazzlingly like the Sun.
Light gray soot in sandwich chimneys (pos. 3) cokes instantly, at the time of deposition. The modular sandwich chimney at the moment of starting the device that is connected to it experiences a thermal shock: the cold inner surface of a thin-walled steel pipe in thermal insulation very quickly warms up to the flue gas temperature. From the point of view of the energy efficiency of the device, this is good: almost no fuel is spent on accelerating the furnace / boiler to the rated thermal power. But at the same time, the creosote film sits first on the pipe wall, which immediately seizes unburned fuel particles. Further, if the chimney is not prevented from falling out of soot, its lumen quickly overgrows with ordinary gray soot. Only an experienced professional chimney sweep can remove a coating of light gray soot without damaging the chimney, using alternately installations for hydraulic and mechanized rotary (rotary) cleaning.
Oily (white) soot, pos. 4, is formed in the chimneys of appliances intended for cooking on an open fire: barbecues, barbecues, etc. In addition - in the sandwich chimneys of household fireplaces - a real coal-wood fireplace, thanks to the always open firebox, perfectly cleans the room from dust. Where is the fat from? From the dust drawn into the furnace. A significant proportion of household dust is the dried grease of the inhabitants of the dwelling, kitchen fumes and splashes. Greasy soot manifests itself as clearly and quickly as plump, and is easily brushed off with a brush or ruff both from above and below. Preventive measures against greasy soot are quite effective and, if applied correctly, urgent cleaning of the chimney will never be needed at all. But, if greasy soot is detected in the chimney, it is impossible to delay its removal in any case - greasy soot ignites very easily; however, it burns weakly and the chimney can always be extinguished in time. But a complete replacement of the expensive modular system is inevitable after that.
About sandwich systems…
The advantages of sandwich chimneys are not limited to their efficiency, but it is almost never possible to clean a clogged "sandwich" without compromising its resource. The fact is that customers, tempted by the ease of installation of sandwich pipes, for the sake of cheapness, ask to make a chimney (or do it themselves) with inclined sections and deaf corners (kinks). The brush goes through them even during manual cleaning (see below), but it scratches the smooth stainless steel so much that the deposition of soot on the fractures becomes chronic, to the point that the chimney elbows have to be changed at the height of the season.
A correctly modular-sandwich chimney is assembled from horizontal (hogs) and vertical (otters) knees connected by tees to cleaning and inspection hatches, see Fig.:
In this case, even if solid light gray soot is detected in the chimney, it is cleaned after hydrotreatment with a gentle rotary brush (see below) and its resource practically does not decrease. If chemical prevention and revision of the chimney are carried out in a timely manner, then the “impact” chemical cleaning (see below) works. Then the remnants of soot can be scooped out into tees and removed by the owner himself without calling a specialist. In general, add. the cost of "extra" elbows and tees during operation pays off with savings on cleaning and peace of mind.
Note: what is in fig. designated as otters, according to the rules for the formation of technical terminology - risers. An otter in the furnace business is a broadening of the part of the chimney protruding above the roof, which improves its wind flow, chimney draft and partly prevents the junction of the pipe with the roofing cake from sticking. But there are already plenty of risers in everyday life - water supply, sewage, gas - so it will not be a big sin to call the vertical modules of a sandwich chimney otters.
When to Call a Pro
It is recommended to clean the sandwich chimney yourself only by chemical (non-contact) methods, but they are effective if the soot layer is not thicker than 2 mm. Otherwise, you need to call chimney sweeps, but first show them a photo of soot in the pipe and ask: how will you clean it?
Plump soot and gray not too thick, i.e. not completely coked, the so-called. with a gentle, fast-rotating brush, on the left in the figure:
Its flexible shaft (see below) can be driven by a drill or hammer drill with the impact turned off. Further, if the gentle brush did not cope, use a hydraulic installation to remove soot and repeat the passage with a gentle brush; it's already extra. payment. Soot remains - more extra. payment, and the master prepares the unit for mechanized rotary cleaning with hard brushes (the rest in the figure). "Handy" drive is not suitable for them, because. the rotational speed must be kept stable regardless of the load on the brush. Its (frequency) and type of brush is chosen by the master, depending on the type, structure of the chimney and the nature of its pollution. A hard rotary brush will rip everything off, but if a sandwich was cleaned with such, then a conscientious specialist warns: “Do not forget to replace the chimney in the summer. Whether this next season will survive, I can’t guarantee.”
…and about ceramic chimneys
Glass chimneys and solid ceramic chimneys made by slip casting are very expensive, but in terms of economy and overall performance they surpass the best sandwich. If regular chemical prophylaxis is carried out, soot in them or does not fall out at all, and if it does, then it keeps very weakly. But such chimneys are fragile, and damaged ones quickly overgrow with plump soot. Therefore, if it comes to mechanical cleaning of a ceramic / glass chimney, you need to use only and only a special tool, see below.
When should you clean?
The chimney is cleaned next. cases:
- Scheduled annually - before and after the end of the heating season with the furnace/boiler stopped;
- Scheduled preventive maintenance - in the process of using the heating and cooking appliance without stopping it;
- Unscheduled without shutdown - if there are initial signs of soot deposition and if, according to the results of the chimney revision, the thickness of its layer is up to 2 mm;
- Urgent with a stop - according to the signs of strong soot deposition and the thickness of its layer of more than 2 mm.
Annual scheduled cleanings are carried out necessarily mechanically (see below). During the autumn, the readiness of the device for the heating season is checked, even if it did not work in the summer: a bird's nest, a tangle of hibernating snakes, or just random garbage can be found in the pipe. In no case should you skip the spring one: over the summer, winter soot in it from heat and precipitation will coke so much that autumn cleaning from a simple inspection will turn into a complex and expensive procedure.
Smoke or flame?
It is usually advised to determine the need to clean the chimney during the operation of the furnace / boiler through the smoke from the chimney: if, they say, white curly, everything is OK. Turned gray, compacted, stretched down - you need to clean it. This is an unreliable sign: the type of smoke from the chimney is highly dependent on weather conditions; You do know that they predict the weather from it, don't you?
The most reliable state of the chimney is determined by the type of flame in the furnace. Fuel must be loaded into it according to the norm; firewood should flare up, i.e. be completely engulfed in flames and charred on the outside. If the stove/boiler is new, correctly designed, built and properly heated, then after they are accelerated (brought to the design capacity by test furnaces), the cores of the flames will turn light yellow, and the tongues themselves will evenly stretch upwards (on the left in the figure). This means that the device has settled down: a layer of soot with a high content of graphite up to 0.5 mm thick has been deposited in its chimney. Such a raid is harmless, and in a brick chimney it is useful, because. makes its walls smoother and enhances traction.
Over time, the cores of the tongues will turn straw yellow and the flame will begin to dance (center in the figure). This is a sign that it is time to start chemical prophylaxis (see below) and carry it out until the flame stretches straight up, remaining straw yellow in the core. If this did not happen after 2-4 fireboxes, you need to burn the aspen or a log for shock dry cleaning. It did not help, the flame faded, turned red at the top and beats in the furnace; especially if it splashes on the forehead of the stove, on the right in fig. - an urgent mechanical cleaning of the chimney with a stop of the device is needed.
Note: by smoke, you can clarify the state of the chimney if the flame does not give a definite answer; e.g. when changing the type of fuel. Provided that you remember (or photographed in good quality) what was the smoke from the chimney of a new or thoroughly cleaned stove in different weather. If it then darkened and thickened in the same one, you need to revise the chimney and, if necessary, clean it.
Chimney cleaners
Chemical and mechanical chimney cleaners have already been mentioned above; this is their set and is limited. "Chemistry against soot" is applicable to non-running (in the sense of care) chimneys with soot deposits no thicker than approx. 2 mm; in other cases, you have to use the mechanics
Chemistry against soot
Chemicals are designed for use by the owners themselves without the involvement of specialists and cope with a thin coating of any soot of any kind. "Chemistry from soot" cleans not only the chimney, but the entire smoke system. For devices with complex thermal circuits (which are just the most economical), this is more than relevant. Prevention against soot loss is also possible only by chemical means. In addition, the “dry cleaning” of the stove is the cleanest in the literal sense: a relatively small amount of cleaned soot falls into the furnace, from where it can be removed without soiling the room; most of the soot burns out and flies out into the chimney.
The action of means for the chemical removal of soot is based on the release of catalysts into the flue gases, which provoke the combustion of its bituminous components. A typical composition of "chemistry from soot":
- Amorphous silicon (inhibits, i.e. suppresses the ignition of carbon).
- Sawdust (release volatile combustible substances that initiate the ignition of bitumen).
- Carbamide (urea) plays the role of saltpeter: when heated, it releases oxygen. Saltpeter itself (any) in this composition cannot be used - in contact with carbon and in the presence of catalysts it can detonate!
- Ammonium and sodium sulfates - give catalyst ions.
- Charcoal wax - spreading in a layer of soot, provides uniform combustion.
Note: carbamide is also, in principle, an explosive. In the James Bond movie "All World is not enough", under the Western name "urea", a terrorist blows up MI-6. But some kind of Hollywood-style fantastic detonator was used there, and in general it is extremely difficult to make urea detonate even in special installations.
Creosote and other bituminous substances are enough even for the most plump soot. After their burnout, non-sticky amorphous carbon and graphite remain, which crumble down. This implies an important disadvantage of chemical soot removers: the chimney must be designed for elevated temperatures. If the upper part of the pipe is laid on a conventional cement mortar or made of asbestos-cement pipe, then the use of chemical soot cleaners can render it completely unusable. And if you try to remove a thick coating of plump or greasy soot with "chemistry", then the probability of its ignition is very high.
Chemical soot removers are available in the form of powder (on the left in the figure), briquettes and logs (in the center and on the right):
Powders are used for prevention; the ratio of ingredients in them is different than in pressed formulations. The powder is sprinkled with the logs loaded into the firebox in layers before kindling according to the instructions attached to the package. The device is started and operated in the normal mode; combustion can be adjusted by supplying air and draft with a gate valve. If you buy a powder recommended for the type of fuel you use, then only planned seasonal cleanings of the chimney listed above will be needed.
A briquette and a log for cleaning the chimney from soot differ only in shape and are used for “impact” unscheduled dry cleaning. They are applied in a different way, because. act only on hot soot: they load standard fuel into the furnace and wait for it to burn out, but not completely go out. Then a cleaning log is thrown into the furnace, its door is closed and the blower with the gate is fully opened. The device is kept “on the blow” for 2-3 hours (more precisely, according to the instructions), i.e. the stove/boiler is getting dry and this load of fuel does not provide useful heat.
Note: how chemical soot removers are used, see the video:
Video: dry cleaning of the chimney
and user reviews about them in the next. roller:
village chemistry
Our ancestors discovered chemical prevention and chimney soot removal long before they hit the market in the form of new chemical technology. Folk remedies for preventing soot deposits in the chimney and cleaning it from it are as follows:
- Potato husks - for the prevention of soot, similar to chemical powder;
- Table salt - the same;
- Aspen firewood - for "shock" cleaning of a small layer of soot.
Potato peels are dried until brittle before being added to the fuel. Soot bitumen burnout catalysts are organic products of joint pyrolysis of starch and solanine alkaloid; solanine is found in the peel, sprout and green areas of the tubers, which is why they are all poisonous. There is even more solanine in the tops of potatoes and other solanaceous (for example, tomatoes), but there is no starch there and they are unsuitable for prevention from soot. Also, products containing only starch, such as rice, are unsuitable, and peeling root crops without alkaloids containing sugars (beets, turnips, etc.) will only aggravate the deposition of soot. In principle, cleaning the root crops of yams, sweet potatoes and taro would fit against soot, but they do not grow here, and where they grow, there is no problem cleaning chimneys due to the lack of need for seasonal heating.
Note: organic bitumen combustion catalysts are more active than mineral ones, therefore removing a lot of plump and greasy soot with potatoes is even more dangerous than with “chemistry”.
During thermal decomposition, table salt releases sodium ions - catalysts, but in the singular without complementary additives, they act weaker. But with salt, you can try to loosen thick, plump and greasy soot without stopping the furnace: if it doesn’t work out, then nothing bad will happen. Just do not expect an instant effect - soot shedding into the firebox begins 1-3 days after heating with salted firewood.
Aspen firewood (see the figure on the right) is used to remove soot at room dryness, i.e. after the woodcutter, they must be kept for at least a month in a dry, heated room. Aspen fuel is low-calorie, but during combustion it develops a high temperature, up to 1200 degrees, which is why it is used to disperse brick ovens. On soot (including thick plump and greasy) the aspen furnace acts purely thermally: the bitumen is heated to fluidity and the soot crumbles. An aspen firebox from soot gives an immediately visible effect, but it is necessary to load aspen firewood into the oven no more than half of the norm (by weight), otherwise the structure of the oven may not withstand overheating.
Note: about "village" ways to prevent soot in the chimney and remove it from there, see the video:
Video: folk methods for cleaning soot
Means for mechanical cleaning
Mechanical cleaning of the chimney is carried out, firstly, in the order of its scheduled inspection and care in the fall and spring. Secondly, if urgent cleaning is required during the heating season with a furnace/boiler shutdown, because Mechanical cleaning while the instrument is running is not possible. Mechanical cleaning is laborious; a lot of dirt gets into the room. It is not possible to clean the furnace/boiler mechanically together with the chimney. Mechanical prevention from soot is also impossible: mechanical cleaning of the chimney is carried out only upon the fact of its pollution. When cleaning by mechanical means, the probability of damage to the chimney is not small. But on the other hand, by mechanical means it is possible to remove the oldest soot, even completely tightening the pipe lumen, without risking its ignition and / or overheating of the device.
Note: machine cleaning of the chimney (briefly described above) is the lot of professionals, because. keep at home in reserve just in case resp. installation is pointless. If an ordinary householder dares to clean the chimney himself, he will have to do it manually.
Above or below?
Mechanical devices clean the chimney from above (from the roof) or from below (from the furnace / boiler furnace). Upper cleaning may not give dirt to the room at all, because. most of it is removed outside, but it is traumatic and is possible only under favorable weather conditions. From above, as a rule, the chimney is cleaned in the order of the autumn-spring revision. After the bottom cleaning, the room will be full of soot, but climbing to the roof is not necessary. Therefore, an urgent / emergency winter cleaning of the chimney is carried out from below with the device shutting down. The working body of a manual cleaning tool in either case will be a ruff or brush.
Ruffs…
Cleaning the chimney with a ruff is the most accurate; it is strongly recommended to clean sandwich chimneys by hand only with a ruff. But cleaning with a ruff is also the most time-consuming: on average, a planned cleaning of a pipe 4 m long takes 40 minutes, and an urgent one takes more than an hour. Light gray and old gray soot is unlikely to be removed with a ruff.
They clean the chimney with a ruff most often without rotation; in this case, the working body is fixed on a long flexible cable in a slippery sheath (on the left in the figure). They clean the pipe with a ruff, shaving it up and down; the cleaned soot is poured wherever it is necessary. The awns (bristle) of the ruff can be steel or plastic. Steel ruff cleans both plump and greasy soot, but scratches the pipe. A plastic brush in greasy soot sticks or slides on it, but it can clean not only a sandwich, but also cast ceramics and glass. However, now more and more chimney brushes with awns of propylene fishing line for lawn mowers are coming into use, they combine the advantages of steel and plastic brushes, without their shortcomings.
Note: a ruff with awns made of hard, rigid, thick steel wire (see the figure on the right), the so-called. bastard, is used in exceptional cases for cleaning thick-walled steel chimneys, but scratches them so that then soot deposition accelerates significantly.
A ruff-brush (pos. A in the previous figure) for 2-3 turns is also called single or clean: they alone can only remove not thick fresh puffy soot, and from others it only rakes out the remnants loosened and / or softened by chemical or hydrocleaning. A clean ruff does not pass through the breaks in the chimney - there are few awns, they are crushed and do not hold the rod, which rests on the break.
One and a half ruff for 4-5 turns (pos. B) is the most common, because. it picks up plump, greasy and not old-fashioned gray soot and passes through kinks at least 120 degrees. However, they have to play tricks even with planned seasonal cleaning for up to an hour or more. A one-and-a-half ruff is also called a poltorashka and is often attached to a ball cleaner (see below), which is also called a poltorashka. Full brush for 6 or more turns (pos. B) is suitable for cleaning only straight pipes, incl. boom (also see below), but reduces the working time by approx. 1.5 times compared with one and a half.
…and brushes
A chimney brush differs from a ruff in that its awns stick out in bunches without forming spiral surfaces. Therefore, the brush can clean the chimney with rotation: the awns do not crumple or cut into the soot and do not get stuck in it.
Brushes for manual chimney cleaning (see fig.) are not the same as for machine brushes (see fig. above), and replacing manual brushes with machine ones is unacceptable: a machine brush must rotate much faster than a manual one, and you will ruin the chimney with your hands more than you will scrape off soot . Brushes for manual cleaning of conventional chimneys are produced with a through axial hole for mounting in one and a half (pos. and 2 in the figure) or with a threaded tip for installation on flexible rods (pos. 3) for cleaning from below or from above, or on a rigid rod for cleaning only from above. Both of them do not differ in length, arrangement of awns and action, but the drum brush for sandwich chimneys is arranged differently, pos. 4. It is not recommended to replace it with a simple one, because otherwise, the thin-walled pipe can be damaged by the brush core or the load of one and a half.
Note: working with a manual brush on the bar, watch where you twist. If the brush unscrews and remains in the chimney, it will be difficult to remove it back.
Bottom cleaning...
Not a chimney sweep with your own hands most often has to clean the chimney from below - in winter, urgently, when the roof is snowy and / or icy and calling a specialist is too expensive or even problematic. For lower cleaning, a ruff (better if it takes soot) or a brush is screwed onto a rod and, building up the unit with them, gradually push it into the chimney until the working body leaves the mouth of the pipe (this is well felt). Suddenly it gets stuck - carefully poke around and twist: flexible rods with a one-and-a-half ruff go through a break from 120 degrees, and with a brush from 90 degrees.
If you work with a ruff, then you need not to quickly shove to full length, stepping back and coming up again until the soot stops pouring in a stream. Be patient: an hour and a half to clean the bottom of a 4-meter chimney with a ruff is still fast.
If for the sake of speed you work with a brush, the next stage is the most interesting. A regular handle is placed on the last rod, or the end of the rod is fixed in the drill chuck. The tool is switched to the right (direct) rotation, so that the rods seem to be screwed into each other and into the brush, the speed control is set to 2-4 clicks from zero and moves back, rotating the entire system. One pass is probably enough, because. in winter, soot cokes slowly, but how much it will fly into the room ... you can imagine, but you don’t have to. And if it comes to such an extreme, you will see for yourself. Therefore, carpets, furniture and everything valuable from the room must be taken out in advance, and the walls should be hung with a film, fastened with tape. It is difficult to hang the ceiling, so plan to re-whiten it in the spring, and it is better to remove the false ceiling: stove soot tightly eats into all finishing materials.
…and above
Two scheduled cleanings a year will save you at least 20 thousand rubles, so let's see how the chimney is cleaned mechanically from the roof. This can be done with a brush on the rod(s), and a ball (one and a half) with a ruff, depending on the type of soot and the degree of contamination of the chimney.
Dense gray soot builds up and the pipe lumen narrows slowly, so in this case it is better to brush. Cleaning is done in reverse: the brush, without rotating, is slowly inserted into the chimney channel, trying to bring down as little soot as possible (pos. 1 in the figure), and then faster and rotating it is pulled up (pos. 2), pulling the soot out. If the firebox and blower of the stove are closed, and the fireplace portal is tightly hung, nothing will get into the room, but carpets, furniture and valuables still need to be taken out in advance.
The chimney brush will not quickly take soot in the corners of a rectangular channel; square brushes are nothing more than a marketing ploy. To speed up the work, the corners can be cleaned with a hard household or locksmith brush on a pole, pos. 3, but the remnants of soot will then fall down and it will take more to rake them out of the furnace. For the same purpose, a thick, dense and / or lumpy coating of soot is loosened with a hook (pos. 4) before using the brush; they also remove foreign objects.
A special case is the cleaning of a ceramic chimney. Soot adheres poorly to cast ceramics, but sharp scratches on its inner surface, no matter how small, accelerate its deposition and adhesion to the base to the point that an expensive chimney begins to require replacement. Therefore, ceramic chimneys are cleaned with a special so-called. smooth brush with blades made of steel spirals, pos. 5.
Note: light gray, old or greasy soot from a round steel chimney is more convenient, faster and cleaner to remove with a disc scraper, see video:
Video: a simple and effective pipe cleaning method
And if you joke?
If you don’t feel sorry for the time and labor for cleaning, and the chimney is straight, then you can clean it with a half-and-a-half round-trip method. Soot will also get into the room a little, but the risk of damaging the chimney channel is the least. Very dense soot lends itself to a poltorashka from above, almost completely or completely tightening the pipe lumen, because. the load (ball) of the device is involved in cleaning, breaking and loosening soot deposits; ruff removes it more and brings it down. To do this, they use the shock method: they lift the one and a half on a cable and throw it. For these reasons, the chimney sweeps of the past preferred to work with one and a half and were depicted with it.
You can make one and a half chimney cleaners with your own hands by buying only a ruff and / or a brush for it. But it is not worth using a sports weight as a load: it can get stuck in the channel (see the figure below), which will almost certainly result in damage to the chimney and increased soot deposition in it in the future. How the poltorashka is correctly arranged, see in the same fig.
Note: about cleaning the chimney with a homemade one and a half, see the video:
Heating devices that run on wood or other solid fuels require periodic cleaning. Deposits on the walls of the chimney are dangerous not only by narrowing the channels, collapses and clogging of passages, but also by ignition of plaque, which can lead to a fire in the house. The danger should be eliminated in a timely manner. Do you agree?
We will tell you how to maintain the smoke channel so that it does not pose a threat to you and property. The article presented for review describes in detail how the chimney is cleaned of soot, how often and when it needs to be done. For prudent owners, effective preventive measures are given.
Carrying out mechanical cleaning is a rather complicated and time-consuming process. Therefore, as a rule, it is carried out no more than 1-2 times a year. But with intensive use of heating devices, this is often not enough.
In addition, the more deposits are formed on the walls of the channels, the more the efficiency decreases - the fuel efficiency decreases.
Image Gallery
This is due to the fact that at low temperatures an excess of carbon particles is formed, which settles in the form of soot and soot. This phenomenon is especially characteristic for the initial combustion, when the firewood is just flaring up.
Therefore, when kindling a stove or fireplace, one should strive to increase the temperature in the firebox as quickly as possible - heat the stove with dry wood, use more thin and dry chips.
In addition, after the fire is extinguished, it is necessary to keep warm. To do this, as soon as all the fuel burns out in the stove, close the gate. And then, during the next kindling, the temperature inside the stove will be much higher than if it had not been closed.
You can determine the combustion temperature using a special device - a combustion indicator, which is attached to a metal chimney and measures the temperature of the flue gases
You can check how you managed to clean the chimney from soot with the help of a newspaper. It is set on fire and brought to the firebox and to the cleaning doors.
If there is no draft in any section, then, most likely, in the channels located above, the blockage could not be eliminated. In this case, it is better to invite a chimney sweep, who will help to pinpoint the cause and cope with poor draft.
Tell us about how you cleaned the chimney at your own dacha or in a country house. Please write comments in the block under the text of the article. Ask questions, share useful information for site visitors, leave photos on the topic.
