Searching through my previous posts, it seems that the last time the chimney was cleaned was in 2018. Today, I finally got around to doing the dreaded dirty deed. Running the stove consistently once per week for 4 years, I think it was time.
The two things I hate about sweeping the chimney are:
1. Climbing up on the roof.
2. Taking the pipes apart and putting them back together.
This year, I figured I try and make it easier and sweep from the inside. Since the pipes need to be taken apart going from the stove to the ceiling anyway, as I need to catch the debris, sweeping from the inside was worth a try. This part was definitely a win. Worked just fine and got the pipes clean. No need to be on the roof.
The separating of the pipes is of course a pain. Partially, because they rust due to humidity. However, my biggest PITA is the top pipe that slides on the collar pipe near the ceiling. It's a very tight fit. To get it to slide, you need to put WD-40 or something slippery on it. The problem is that after a few twists, WD-40 dries up and you're stuck with the pipe being too far in and it doesn't want to move. This is even worse in reverse, when trying to put the pipes back.
Once I was able to separate the pipes and get them out of the way, here's what I found:
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| Soot inside the stove. |
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| Soot inside one of the pipes. |
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| Soot inside the dampener pipe. |
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| Soot inside the collar pipe in the ceiling. |
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| Some collected soot along the way. |
As much of a pain as this was and always is, I'm glad I got the cleaning done. Now I can enjoy a few more years of sauna without worrying about a fire or inefficiency of the burn.
Do you have any tips that you've picked up which make this job easier? Especially removing the pipes. Please share in the comments.