Was having a discussion with a bud the other night about build up in his stove pipe, yeah the wood has been in his barn cut split and stacked for 2 or 3 years so Im thinking its pretty dry. Anyway he was lamenting having to get on the roof to clean the pipe again, he did it in the fall before it got cold,, cold, ice and broken shingles not a good thing. So someone mentioned putting a hand full of rock salt in the fire box on a bed of hot coals, saying that it works and he has done it for years with no ill effect. Now I have heard of this but never talked to anyone that has really done it. So with the heating season upon us, what say you, salt or no salt?
Salt in da wood stove
- Thread starter skeets
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NoJacketRequired
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You're kidding, right? Salt in da stove = kiss your chimney goodbye! Salt is pretty nasty from a corrosion perspective.
If you're looking for a product that will help with this situation, try to find one called Kathite-H. My father has been using this for about 30 years. Doesn't harm the stove or chimney and does a good job of making any deposits that might build up in the chimney simply fall off.
http://www.kathite.ca/
If you're looking for a product that will help with this situation, try to find one called Kathite-H. My father has been using this for about 30 years. Doesn't harm the stove or chimney and does a good job of making any deposits that might build up in the chimney simply fall off.
http://www.kathite.ca/
I have a close friend do it for years. His house is still up, chimney in one piece, and he doesn't get on the roof! He brags about it all the time.
I put a Stainless Steel liner in my chimney years ago. Put it inside the 12" sq. tile. Pipe I made is about 8" dia. filled the void between the pipe and liner with a mixture of vermiculite and cement. Only place I get any buildup is about the top 18-20" where the temperature differential is greatest.
I don't burn green wood either.
I put a Stainless Steel liner in my chimney years ago. Put it inside the 12" sq. tile. Pipe I made is about 8" dia. filled the void between the pipe and liner with a mixture of vermiculite and cement. Only place I get any buildup is about the top 18-20" where the temperature differential is greatest.
I don't burn green wood either.
product called 'red devil' it is made for cleaning creosote out of a chimney. don't remember what chemical it is. but i know you can use it to cause a chemical reaction in the process of making bio-diesel...
CaveCreekRay
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Len, That is a great idea. I bet it holds heat well.
Question: How do you suspend the pipe? It has to be heavy!
Question: How do you suspend the pipe? It has to be heavy!
Ray, I don't remember off hand, but it wasn't any big challenge. I think we had some 2x4 wedges we rigged up to hold the lower piece in place while the rivets were installed in the connection. Then lowered and did it again.
Our neighbors who live up hill from called us during half time of the Super Bowl, like I mentioned probably 28-30 years ago. The fire was extinguished without any grief, but I decided right then I was going to do something different.
I contacted a couple of companies in Kansas City to give me a bid. Back then they wanted $125 to come down and Give A BID. After the second company said the same thing I decided I'd solve the problem myself.
Went to a place that recycled metal for industries. Bought several sheet of SS about 26" wide and 9' long (I've still got a piece in my shop). Made my own roll, and connected the rap with SS rivets. Put a slight taper to the rolls so I could slide one in the other. Total length is about 30' because we used the lower level fire place for this project.
Removed the damper. Used flex SS to get in the lower part of the chimney to adapt to the stove. Made a plate to fill the void, but stuffed glass insulation where ever there was any space.
Mixed the vermiculite and cement in to a slurry and bucketed it up and poured it in. Surprisingly didn't take too much. Let the pipe stick up past the top a couple of inches. Made my own chimney cap by taking the same metal and cutting a circle and snipping it to the center and forcing it together like a oriental hat.
Had a fabricator build the stove to my drawing.
Works well.
Hey Skeets, not meaning to hijack your thread. I just came back from my friends house who uses the salt. As I was pulling my truck out of his driveway I noticed his 70HP tractor with a big bale of hay (probably 1200# variety) on his rear bale stinger, with the stinger holding the hay about two feet off the ground. AND the loader was 5' off the ground.
So I have to respectfully retract my previous post of what he did with the salt. Maybe he just makes many decisions lacking good judgement, I don't know! He is quite opinionated and stubborn though.
Our neighbors who live up hill from called us during half time of the Super Bowl, like I mentioned probably 28-30 years ago. The fire was extinguished without any grief, but I decided right then I was going to do something different.
I contacted a couple of companies in Kansas City to give me a bid. Back then they wanted $125 to come down and Give A BID. After the second company said the same thing I decided I'd solve the problem myself.
Went to a place that recycled metal for industries. Bought several sheet of SS about 26" wide and 9' long (I've still got a piece in my shop). Made my own roll, and connected the rap with SS rivets. Put a slight taper to the rolls so I could slide one in the other. Total length is about 30' because we used the lower level fire place for this project.
Removed the damper. Used flex SS to get in the lower part of the chimney to adapt to the stove. Made a plate to fill the void, but stuffed glass insulation where ever there was any space.
Mixed the vermiculite and cement in to a slurry and bucketed it up and poured it in. Surprisingly didn't take too much. Let the pipe stick up past the top a couple of inches. Made my own chimney cap by taking the same metal and cutting a circle and snipping it to the center and forcing it together like a oriental hat.
Had a fabricator build the stove to my drawing.
Works well.
Hey Skeets, not meaning to hijack your thread. I just came back from my friends house who uses the salt. As I was pulling my truck out of his driveway I noticed his 70HP tractor with a big bale of hay (probably 1200# variety) on his rear bale stinger, with the stinger holding the hay about two feet off the ground. AND the loader was 5' off the ground.
So I have to respectfully retract my previous post of what he did with the salt. Maybe he just makes many decisions lacking good judgement, I don't know! He is quite opinionated and stubborn though.
Most houses in our neighborhood have natural gas fireplaces, but a few folks have wood-burning fireplaces with a boxed and sided "chimney". A few year ago, I looked out my kitchen window and saw flames and sparks shooting out chimney of a neighbor's wood burning fireplace about 100 yards away. I quickly called him, but he assured me nothing was wrong. The warped vinyl siding on the boxed chimney that he replaced the next summer told a different story.
Lil Foot
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My wife's uncle says he has kept his chimneys clean by chucking in a box of mothballs once a year.
Billdog350
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I have been woodburning for many years and I learned a new trick just a few years ago...I had gotten a Groupon for chimney cleaning for like $75 so I thought I got a great deal....the guy shows up at the house with no ladder!! I'm thinking what sort of scam is this? So he proceeds to pull out his Gardus Inc RCH205 Sooteater Rotary Chimney Cleaning System and sure enough, a giant pile of creosote ends up in my firebox to be cleaned out. Granted I have a SS liner but I'm still very impressed with this unit. I ended up buying one almost immediately.
I later bought a second one since my chimney is ~30ft high and the kit only does 18'.
I would highly suggest it for anyone burning wood who wants to ensure a clean and safe chimney!
I later bought a second one since my chimney is ~30ft high and the kit only does 18'.
I would highly suggest it for anyone burning wood who wants to ensure a clean and safe chimney!
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YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME !!!!
I threw away a million dollar idea years ago it would seem.. I use one of those rotor strippers, you remember them, the thing with the wires on the spool for taking off paint and crap. Only I used a 1/2 inch drill and the couplers were screw on and a bytch to get apart. And yeah it worked great on 6 inch steel pipe and even knocked the heavy stuff out of the 8 inch square liners too.... And to think I could have been rich today,,dayum!!!!
I threw away a million dollar idea years ago it would seem.. I use one of those rotor strippers, you remember them, the thing with the wires on the spool for taking off paint and crap. Only I used a 1/2 inch drill and the couplers were screw on and a bytch to get apart. And yeah it worked great on 6 inch steel pipe and even knocked the heavy stuff out of the 8 inch square liners too.... And to think I could have been rich today,,dayum!!!!Billdog350
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Kubota L3710 HST,L2230A QT,forks,Takeuchi TB125, 60" Luck Now pto Snowblower
Yeah Skeets, you definitely invented a million dollar idea. The nice plastic/fiberglass rods connect with spring loaded buttons and it really is easy to use and produces great results.
Making the end compatible with trimmer string is a genius idea, not too aggressive but knocks all the creosote out with minimal effort.
Impressed with this simple but effective product.
Making the end compatible with trimmer string is a genius idea, not too aggressive but knocks all the creosote out with minimal effort.
Impressed with this simple but effective product.
When I lived in Alaska, we burned lots of Birch every year on a daily basis and had quite a bit of creosote buildup. The roof was a gambrel style, and usually covered in snow and ice. About the second time I was up there, I made a modified cap that had a pipe across the middle, in the very top of the cap. I attached some wadded-up chain to a wire rope that ran to the deck below, over the pipe. Just grab the wire rope, and haul the chain up and down in the chimney vigorously a few times. Needless to say, the chimney pipe had a couple good braces on it. That was good for another month or so. In the fall, we would give it a full-on sweep before heating season started. We also used the red devil product with some success, and never had a problem. It seemed to make the creosote more brittle, so it would break off the pipe easier, and not stay all gooey.