Not yet waiting for cooler weather. Cleaned it at the end of season the first few years. Now leave it till fall so as to be sure no birds have taken up residence over the summer. Will get to it in the next few weeks.
Swept it back in May and then got interrupted and never vacuumed out the clean out I just remembered it last weekend. I have no cap, a spring and summer's worth of rain down the chimney mixed with the sweepings is nasty
I've been putting it off until it cools down, so probably within the next few weekends. For me, the chimney is pretty easy. It's the 6' of horizontal tube I have to disconnect, take outside and clean, and then put back together. That seems to take forever to get lined up and "airtight" again. I woke up Monday to a 48° temp outside, and had a quick panic attack that I haven't brought a supply of wood in the garage yet either. Of course, I normally let the heat pump run until the daytime temps drop to around the upper 40's.
I sweep right after burning season. We live fairly close to the water so dampness is always a problem here. Any creosote or dust in the flue seems to attract moisture so I get it out as soon as possible. It is not as much of a problem for the wood stove as it is for the coal stove. Coal, no matter how clean it is, has some sulfur. The sulfur in the dust combines with the moisture to create sulfuric acid. That acid can rot pin holes through stainless pipes over the summer. (Ask me how I know...) To clean the insert I just have to remove the first secondary burn tube, then the baffle. Close the door, sweep (6" poly brush), then sweep up the dust. Usually get about 2 cups of black powder from the 22' pipe and about a cup of crunchy stuff from the top screen. I burn about 3.5 to 4 cords a season. After I sweep up the majority of the dust I vacuum then put something in the stove to absorb the dampness for the off season. KaptJaq
Scrubbed things out in spring. Had to pull the indoors pipe to clean it. Maybe a couple quarts of fluffy debris. The pipe will get another "hit" before it goes back in place sometime soon. Close to 6' indoor single-wall boosts efficiency, long as you don't overdo things. Low MC wood mandatory.
Did ours earlier this year, but I'll do it again before we start burning full time. I no longer clean the flue several times/year since installing the NC30. It burns a lot cleaner than the old stove, and I thought I learned to burn that one pretty cleanly.
Got it all done today. Liner cleaned, stove cleaned, painted the new screws for the pipe, brick replaced and cut another piece for the baffle.
Not sure if we'll clean this fall or wait until next spring. We don't have to clean very often here. Dry wood and clean burning stoves make life easier.
Just finished cleaning the wood stove chimney, about the same. Tomorrow will be the Pellet Stove chimney. I think Sunday we'll push some wood in just 4 the heck of it.
Waiting after summer to brush the flue seems to work better. The warm months of no use lets the little bit of clingy creosote dry & turn crispy IMHO. Swept the flue a week ago and got a pint of half brown, half black powder.
I clean mine in the summer, fall gets too busy around here. Mine is straight and takes all of 5 minutes. Also in the summer I clean the stovepipe, replace any cracked firebrick, inspect the stove, etc. Stove and chimney both ready to go here, but probably won't have to for another 3-4 weeks.
Cleaned mine the other day and put the other three foot of pipe back on as I ran it this past winter three feet short.......But added a pipe damper to slow draft down this year....Hopefully I will have the absolute perfect set up this year....The Jotul F3CB sure breaths easy....
