dunmovin

Trying out the fire in our new house today, I discovered that the previous owners had not had the chimney swept for a long time.This was obvious because of the roar from the fire and the humongous cloud of smoke billowing from the chimney and large lumps of red hot carbon landing in the fire. I didn't call the bombers, but decided to let it burn it's self out.As a result the chimney is fine and won't need swept for a while to come.

I DID know what I was doing.My family business was coal merchants and we always had open fires. Chimney fires were run of the mill events and no need to panic over

bil

Ahhh. I'd just suggest that you don't do that. Chimney fires burn hot. Very hot indeed, and far hotter than the fire at the bottom that triggered them.

Bear in mind that the fireplace is built (or should be) from fire brick. Even that shatters in time from heat and has to be replaced. If you make a fireplace from house bricks, then these will break far sooner. In the UK your chimney will be built from brick if it is pre 1965 and post 1850, an dif after 1965, brick lined with a terracotta tube. The chimney fire is far hotter and can do horrendous damage, sometimes splitting a stack and all too often doing so much damage that the stack will have to be relined, which will put an ugly hole in a thousand quid.

Best to put the fire out with damp soil or sand, and cover the fireplace opening with a wet blanket while someone calls the fire brigade.

If someone has run of the mill chimney fires, they are IMO being a tad reckless.

digdug

our living room stinks when we've used wood, plus i find its too dear to use, but looking at your later post, maybe i'm burning it wrong. But, still cant get away from the smell the next day. hence wanting coal.

bil

OK, a bad smell means one of two things, neither good. Either fumes from the flue are escaping into the living space, or condensate is running out of an upside down joint and baking dry. That will REALLY stink the place out.

Fumes must not be tolerated. They usually mean that something above the escape point is restricting the flow thru the flue. This is dangerous and must be addressed.

The condensate problem can only be fixed by burning the appliance so no condensate forms (not always poss.), or else fixing the leak. This can mean ripping out the flue pipes and fitting them back the right way up.

Not, to be honest the simplest of jobs.

Changing the fuel ought to make little or no difference unless the different burning of coal to wood causes a reduction in condensate.

dunmovin

I was there with a co2 extinguisher in the living room and a large bore water hose prepped near the chimney to put the fire out, had it got serious. Over the years I've dealt with many chimney fires (mostly neighbours and two in my own house) However you are right that they can be serious and the best solution is prevention rather than cure. Get the chimney swept regularly, if you can get them, use "soot imps" frequently. Above all, if it looks serious call the fire brigade. My apologies if it seemed I had a cavalier attitude

bil

No sweat, I was just concerned that someone wouldn't pick up on the risk involved.

With your gear to hand I'd have sanded the fire and bled CO2 into the chimney. The fire wouldn't have liked that at all.

As to imps, well, to be honest, if I thought stuff like that worked, I'd sell it.

dunmovin

as I said, it was the first day in the new house and the phone has not been connected yet, I had left both my pda and mobile in the rented flat, therefore had to use just what was at hand. I figured that the co2 would cope with the hearth fire and could also deal with any secondaries started by hot soot, taking the 50mm hose fromthe irrigation sytem, (which could easily reach the top of the chimney) seemed a smart thing to do, water can be mopped up... a burnt out house is not so easy to deal wit. Again my apologies, I do realise not everyone has the equipment or knowledge to deal with this

bil

Chimney fires can get very exciting. Ever see one happen in a metal flue pipe? I have. The damn thing glowed so white that it looked like a six inch diameter flourescent tube. I never knew they went as bad as that until I saw it.

dunmovin

can't say I've seen that, but once seen an idiot who found out about magnesium+iron oxide+ aluminmium powder..... burnt a 19 inch hole in concrete,,, it's called thermite. THANKFULLY, said idiot had a wise doctor and he let him have a LONG stay in a secure medical instituent

as they saY ON TELEVISION...DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

bil

Heard about the contest re who could light a barbecue the fastest? The winner was using liquid oxygen and it got so dangerous they stopped it.

poshnbucks

Buy everything for your home fire here. The double lined silver pipe to stop the brown leakage seems rather expensive..............Errrrrrrrrr is it


http://www.chimeneasmediterranea.com/shop/index.asp
http://www.chimeneasmediterranea.com...tos.asp?id=182

bil

In the UK it's often known as metalbestos. It isn't to stop trhe leakage. Stopping leakage can only reliably be achieved by constructing all the joints correctly. The double skin is for passing a metal flue safely thru a floor or ceiling that contains flammables. You can have wood up to 2.5 inches from the twinwall. Wod mustn't be any closer than 18 inches from the plain metal pipe. Hell of a difference. It's also safer if people are capable of leaning against the flue.

Helpful-Bob

Thanks for your input Bill. Most enlightening and useful.

bil

Thank you. Glad to hear it's of some use.

Actually it has prompted me to put some stuff together for a website my daughter is trying to organise for the business. Currently the full article runs to 12 pages.

poshnbucks

I was referring to this common problem touched on by bigwheels in another thread bil. .......



Re: log burning stove
My advice would be to go to the suggested bronpi shop in Lucena, they have a large selection and are very helpful.
Also give some thought to the type of tubing you buy for the chimney if the chimney is going through an outside wall via an elbow, rather than straight up through the roof.
In my experience the normal push fit black coloured tube will leak at the point where it exits the wall due to condensation of the gasses released by the burning wood, this will result in a smelly, unsightly brown liquid running down the wall. (If you are unlucky it may also run down the tubing inside the house)
The alternative is to ask for "tubo aislado", The shops do not tend to have this on display. It seems that they like to keep it a secret This is usually a silver coloured chimney tube consisting of two tubes, one inside the other, with a layer of insulating material between them. Bronpi will supply a "reducer" so that you can connect the larger diameter tube to your fire. This type of chimney stays relatively cool, so that there is not such a temp drop between the section inside and outside therefore no condensing effect. The tube sections also clamp together giving a tight fit. The downside is that it costs around five times as much per metre
But as you only fit it once using "tubo aislado", could save a lot of grief in the future, as I now know to my cost having to replace my original cheap chimney.