I bought the 18' kit and needed extra, so judging by what I use for rods I'm about 25' of height, with a 30* to clear the roof overhang. I sweep bottom up (from exterior tee) and find the soot eater is very easy to use, clearing the 30 easily and even knocking crud loose from the cap when I give it a couple quick spins all the way up. I also use it to clean the horizontal run that goes through the wall - I remove cat and steel cat shield from our Ideal Steel and go at it from inside. Doing this from inside, you would definitely want to use a bag taped over the bottom of your pipe. It makes quite a mess, even if it's mostly fly ash or that brown fluffy stuff. The kit comes with a bag, looks nice but sweeping from outside I just let the wind take over. The tool is simple to use, seems robust (I've swept three times), and is serviceable; the "whips" on it can be simply replaced with regular string trimmer line. I'll do mine after the last sweep in spring, as they are noticeably shorter than when I started, such that I had to "wobble" the head in the pipe to get a thorough cleaning last time. Manufacturer recommends a drill with variable torque setting - I use mine on a corded drill and try not to spin it too fast since my cordless is an impact driver. The occasional slip to full throttle might contribute to my short life in the whips.
My pipe is over 30 ft, i pull my stove out stick the shopvac in there and then push the cleaning rods up, i make sure it pushes out the top then pull it back down, shop vac is running the whole time. Get the real flexible poles at lowes and no cap on top of pipe I Go up and inspect when theres no snow. Maybe you could put your i phone on roof shovel poles and take a video to inspect the top of the pipe when your on the roof. I did that when my kids wanted to see a huge birdnest in a tree that was like 15 ft high. I taped the phone to the pole and pressed video. It actually was pretty awesome. I want one of those plumber cameras they are actually pretty cheap, i bet that would be cool for inspection, they look down dark pipes rt. Sometimes my crazy ideas work
moresnow "Progresses" I see what you did there . Yes it's 14 standard cords. Much off it is from logging the build site for my new home over the last several years. I knew I'd be getting a new stove and started splitting and stacking as soon as I purchased the property. I'm very curious to see how much wood I use annually with a new modern stove. We used to burn about 8 cords a year in my families fireplace but that was pretty inefficient. I also have a local contractor that calls me whenever he has a build site that has hardwoods that need to be removed. I do the work for free and don't remove the stumps or brush. The landowner gets to save a few bucks on dump truck loads during the excavation process and I end up with more cutting opportunities that I could ever use. Everybody wins. Woodwhore the phone idea is just the kind of engineering I can get behind. Do you ever have any issues with not having a cap on your pipe?
Iv been burning in my home for 9 years, i live in the woods with trees close by, iv gotten a handful of leaves in the cleanout every now and then, my draft is fine not too much, not too little. The only other stove iv ran was my dads and he had a cap and i didnt notice anything with his. So with way under a lifetime of experience im not sure what other problems there are without a cap. I burn seasoned wood all the time and my pipe looks pretty good when i clean it twice a season. My little cousin is a firefighter and he goes up to inspect also. Neither one of us can sit still so we always wind up doing some sort of work on my house. He likes playing with electricity and thats my weekness so it works out for us. I intall his carpet and tile when needed, tree work too, Now im rambling, so basicly other than those obvious couple of issues you could have with a cap i dont know others to look out for.
If a cap has a screen they tend to plug up...unless the screen holes are very large. People without screens on their cap tend to get birds and squirrels down the flue...
No way would I even attempt to clean that setup from the top down. Something has to support the chimney stack at the bottom. You don't want your stove to be that support. Get the chimney installer to make a support that hangs down from the ceiling but leaves several feet between the top of the stove and the bottom of the stainless chimney. That way you can clean it from inside safely and comfortably. Remember, you'll have to live with this setup as long as you live there. Might as well make it as easy as possible right from the start.
A through the roof chimney is held up by the ceiling support box...an exterior chimey is held up by the tee support bracket...
I prefer a basement installed wood stove. I don’t know how people keep their houses clean with wood stoves. I must be a pig! I bottom clean my flue. There is an access in my garage. It’s less than 2’ off the floor and I get a plastic brush and fiberglass rods up it and there are to 45 degree bends in it. That can be messy also. I keep a plastic bag over the opening that catches most of the ash.
Possibilities: 1) clean from bottom up 2) disassemble a few sections on the roof and sweep down 3) pay a chimney sweep and let them figure it out
I don't believe a stack has to clear the ridge line of a roof, it just has to follow the 3-10 rule. 10 feet away from the roof 3 feet above that. You'll need bracing on the roof if you go above the ridge, might need it anyway to make that 3-10 CHIMNEY CODE HEIGHT
Exactly...and that uses the ceiling support box I mentioned... https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...ng-support-a-vent/jsc6dcs/p-1444453725635.htm
You might also want to check with your insurance company to see if they require proof of professional cleaning once a season. If that’s the case you will need to hire a chimney sweep any way.
There will be about 9 ft of it outside, I think what I'm going to end up doing is framing in the pipe so that it's stable enough to get a ladder up against when I'm on the roof and can get up to the cap for inspections. While that certainly adds cost to the install, I'm planning on being buried in this house so it's worth it to get it done right in the beginning. I'm also planning on coming out the back of the progress hybrid and then going straight up for the 28 ft. That will allow me to do the cleaning from the bottom right next to the stove. Woodstock said that you won't be able to clean from the bottom up if the pipe comes straight out the top of the stove. Are there any progress owners that can attest to this?
Sounds good Lakeside. The last thing you will want to do is be up on that ladder that high with the ladder against a round pipe. I'm just betting that the first time you do go up there that you'll be back here posting how glad you are that you can clean it from the bottom.
Not sure why this wouldn't be possible, if you use some telescoping stove pipe from the stove up to the ceiling.
