Warning!!!!!

[bizzard]

Today I sorted out a boat that had a chimney fire during the day yesterday whilst the owner was out at work. I fitted the stove 3 years ago giving the owner instructions about cleaning and sweeping the flue ect. Well it so happened that she never ever has swept it and soot had heaped up on top of the slanting deflector plate inside the stove which ignited causing the whole flue to be a raging fiery inferno. So hot it had bubbled 400c flue paint and even scorched the handrails paint on the roof next to the collar. On removing the deflector plate I cleared out 1/2 a bucket full of red coloured burnt out soot.

[Dave_P]

My stove was like that when I bought my boat! Not good at all.

[bizzard]

She was very lucky it went out. All sorts of hot muck, goo and rust had rained down from around the flue's ceiling hole, bounced off the red hot stove top and splattered all up the tiled back and ply paneling.

[tree]

Today I sorted out a boat that had a chimney fire during the day yesterday whilst the owner was out at work. I fitted the stove 3 years ago giving the owner instructions about cleaning and sweeping the flue ect. Well it so happened that she never ever has swept it and soot had heaped up on top of the slanting deflector plate inside the stove which ignited causing the whole flue to be a raging fiery inferno. So hot it had bubbled 400c flue paint and even scorched the handrails paint on the roof next to the collar. On removing the deflector plate I cleared out 1/2 a bucket full of red coloured burnt out soot.

Crikey she was lucky you were around. Maybe because its my age, but I remember having coal fires and the chimneys swept in the house, so will do the same when I get my boat stove sorted.

[Grace and Favour]

Today I sorted out a boat that had a chimney fire during the day yesterday whilst the owner was out at work. I fitted the stove 3 years ago giving the owner instructions about cleaning and sweeping the flue ect. Well it so happened that she never ever has swept it and soot had heaped up on top of the slanting deflector plate inside the stove which ignited causing the whole flue to be a raging fiery inferno. So hot it had bubbled 400c flue paint and even scorched the handrails paint on the roof next to the collar. On removing the deflector plate I cleared out 1/2 a bucket full of red coloured burnt out soot.

 

Well done Bizzy!

 

The frightening thing is that it;s SUCH an easy job to clean the chimney and stove internals - !

 

Jeez

[bizzard]

Crikey she was lucky you were around. Maybe because its my age, but I remember having coal fires and the chimneys swept in the house, so will do the same when I get my boat stove sorted.

I wasn't around when it happened I was out on a job. She came knocking me up at about 6pm in a terrible panic about it.

When I was a kid my mum would revive the open fire by holding my dads News of the World up against it to make it draw and would lose interest whilst holding it then suddenly the newspaper would burst into flames, she'd let go and up the chimney it would be sucked setting it alight and making a terrible roaring noise and blotting out the whole street with acrid smoke for ages. My dad wasn't pleased about his News of the World either although it came out on Sunday he'd keep reading it over and over again all week long until the next Sundays issue came out.

[blackrose]

Well done Bizzy!

 

The frightening thing is that it;s SUCH an easy job to clean the chimney and stove internals - !

 

Jeez

 

Easy, but dirty.

 

I wasn't around when it happened I was out on a job. She came knocking me up at about 6pm in a terrible panic about it.

 

Did you give her a bollocking for never cleaning it despite your previous instructions?

[bizzard]

Well done Bizzy!

 

The frightening thing is that it;s SUCH an easy job to clean the chimney and stove internals - !

 

Jeez

That's right but if your stove has a deflector plate its pointless sweeping the flue unless its removed.

[Jerra]

I wasn't around when it happened I was out on a job. She came knocking me up at about 6pm in a terrible panic about it.

When I was a kid my mum would revive the open fire by holding my dads News of the World up against it to make it draw and would lose interest whilst holding it then suddenly the newspaper would burst into flames, she'd let go and up the chimney it would be sucked setting it alight and making a terrible roaring noise and blotting out the whole street with acrid smoke for ages. My dad wasn't pleased about his News of the World either although it came out on Sunday he'd keep reading it over and over again all week long until the next Sundays issue came out.

 

My Dad was (among other things) a fireman and weekly we would put a couple of sheets of news paper into the throat of the chimney and light it. With the same effect as you describe except much less smoke.

 

I can't remember the chimney ever being swept until my brother (also a fireman) started at age 30.

[tree]

I wasn't around when it happened I was out on a job. She came knocking me up at about 6pm in a terrible panic about it.

When I was a kid my mum would revive the open fire by holding my dads News of the World up against it to make it draw and would lose interest whilst holding it then suddenly the newspaper would burst into flames, she'd let go and up the chimney it would be sucked setting it alight and making a terrible roaring noise and blotting out the whole street with acrid smoke for ages. My dad wasn't pleased about his News of the World either although it came out on Sunday he'd keep reading it over and over again all week long until the next Sundays issue came out.

yikes Master Bizzard that sure is bringing back memories especially when you have the poker supporting the paper and it starts to smoulder and before you can whip it off up it goes panic hoping it aint set owt alight as then you were in for a right rollicking Ime looking forward to watching the fire faeires dancing through my fire glass

 

Your thread will have made a lot of folk remember to get their chimneys swept and keep an eye on things :)glad it all ended well. Well done you here I will chuck you my last rolo ( excuse the fluff on it as its a year old

[bizzard]

But it frightened our next door neighbour because it was a semi detached house with both houses sharing the same two chimney stacks. Although the actual flues were separated they shared the same stacks.

[Grace and Favour]

That's right but if your stove has a deflector plate its pointless sweeping the flue unless its removed.

 

Absolutely! (that's why I included the words 'stove internals')

 

It's still not rocket science to clean down is it!

 

So many Peeps are losing sight of common sense, cleaning one's chimney (etc) should, if nothing else, be written on the regular maintenance list!

(Like shaking powder fire extinguishers, testing smoke/CO alarms, checking bilge)

[bizzard]

yikes Master Bizzard that sure is bringing back memories especially when you have the poker supporting the paper and it starts to smoulder and before you can whip it off up it goes panic hoping it aint set owt alight as then you were in for a right rollicking Ime looking forward to watching the fire faeires dancing through my fire glass

 

Your thread will have made a lot of folk remember to get their chimneys swept and keep an eye on things :)glad it all ended well. Well done you here I will chuck you my last rolo ( excuse the fluff on it as its a year old

Most boat chimneys are easy to sweep from up on the roof even ''unless there are sharply angled dog legs in the flue pipe'' with the stove still alight but if the stove has a deflector plate you must let the fire out, go cold and remove the plate before sweeping. Missed it,That Rolo will be stale with green fluff by now.

 

Absolutely! (that's why I included the words 'stove internals')

 

It's still not rocket science to clean down is it!

 

So many Peeps are losing sight of common sense, cleaning one's chimney (etc) should, if nothing else, be written on the regular maintenance list!

(Like shaking powder fire extinguishers, testing smoke/CO alarms, checking bilge)

That's right. She never even bothered to get a flue brush.

[Nyx]

That's right but if your stove has a deflector plate its pointless sweeping the flue unless its removed.

 

Do mean the baffle sometimes called a throat plate? I ask because mine is part of the stove and cannot be removed. It's a pain when I sweep the chimney because all the soot etc accumulates on the plate and there is only space for me to get one finger above the plate to poke as much muck as I can out. Does anyone know if there is a brush designed to reach under?

[keble]

Most boat chimneys are easy to sweep from up on the roof even ''unless there are sharply angled dog legs in the flue pipe'' with the stove still alight but if the stove has a deflector plate you must let the fire out, go cold and remove the plate before sweeping.

 

It's worth pointing out that when you put the deflector plate back that it is put back correctly. It is possible to do it wrong!

Also worth checking its sitting correctly now and again. RTFM

[Phil Ambrose]

Recently I noticed a neighbour opening his front doors and fanning smoke out of his boat, this happened several times and I asked him about it. His reply shocked me, he said that everytime he fuelled his fire the smoke billowed into his cabin. I said he needed to sweep his flue and he told me he had never done it.

He could not get a brush down the flue and ended up removing it and found that the 4" flue was down to about 1", it's a wonder he is still alive, so peeps please check and clean.

 

Phil

[Doorman]

Do mean the baffle sometimes called a throat plate? I ask because mine is part of the stove and cannot be removed. It's a pain when I sweep the chimney because all the soot etc accumulates on the plate and there is only space for me to get one finger above the plate to poke as much muck as I can out. Does anyone know if there is a brush designed to reach under?

 

We have a Morso Squirrel stove with a back boiler and the boiler design incorporates 'a deflector' angle in place of the normal deflector plate. The only problem is that the rear of the boiler design allows soot debris to accumulate between it and the back of the fire. After a few years and especially if you don't have a 'china man's hat', any rainfall that enters the firebox throughout the downtime periods mixes with the soot and creates an acidic blend that eventually corrodes the stainless steel boiler. I intend to redesign our boiler to avoid this expensive outcome and save both time and money in having to replace the boiler prematurely. It is quite difficult to reach behind the boiler and remove this debris (specially when the fire's lit)

 

It would be interesting to learn what this lucky lady uses as fuel. Ordinary house coal is advised against by Morso as it's bituminous and I imagine creates hazardous deposits inside boat flues. One of the winter moorers who stays near us every year insists on using house coal in his stove, then wonders why he's having to replace his fire bricks on a two year old boat.

 

With regard to flue cleaning, I discovered a handy flue brush at our local DIY shop that has aluminium bristles and by attaching it to a battery drill, is far more effective than the conventional brushes available from boat chandlers and easier to use too.

 

Mike

Edited April 6, 2013 by Doorman

[Boaty Jo]

The following is taken from our Becton Bunny manual.

I suspect the advice is appropriate for other stoves too.

We burn hard - always in the morning and often once more during the day / evening too.

I check the flue and throat plate regularly but with this regime have not needed to sweep the flue throughout the winter. Occasionally (once a month / 6 weeks) I have cleared minimal deposits off the throat plate.

 

 

"WARNING: When wood is burnt slowly in a

closed appliance it produces moisture and tar,

which will create condensation and deposits in the

chimney. This effect can be minimised by burning

hard for a short period, about 20 minutes, twice a day.

It is usually convenient to do this morning and night.

 

Note: To avoid chimney problems your fire should

not be burnt slowly for longer than 12 hours

without a period of fast burning"

[Doorman]

The following is taken from our Becton Bunny manual.

I suspect the advice is appropriate for other stoves too.

We burn hard - always in the morning and often once more during the day / evening too.

I check the flue and throat plate regularly but with this regime have not needed to sweep the flue throughout the winter. Occasionally (once a month / 6 weeks) I have cleared minimal deposits off the throat plate.

 

 

"WARNING: When wood is burnt slowly in a

closed appliance it produces moisture and tar,

which will create condensation and deposits in the

chimney. This effect can be minimised by burning

hard for a short period, about 20 minutes, twice a day.

It is usually convenient to do this morning and night.

 

Note: To avoid chimney problems your fire should

not be burnt slowly for longer than 12 hours

without a period of fast burning"

 

Good advice and something to consider for us because we leave our fire 'on tickover' during the night but mainly with smokeless fuel inside. We do however burn wood logs that are not always seasoned properly and I believe this isn't recommended either.

[mark99]

It's tempting to say Dawinism in action however it's probably more to do with the blitz of information that swamps up to check blooming everything before use. You quickly scan the 10,000 instructions and checks needed before turning on the hoover, or glaze over when hearing that you need to blah blah before and during use - or read "warning may contain peanuts" on the peanuts packet. In amongst all this modern propensity for overkill, the real important safety stuff gets missed.

Edited April 6, 2013 by mark99

[Doorman]

It's tempting to say Dawinism in action however it's probably more to do with the blitz of information that swamps up to check blooming everything before use. You quickly scan the 10,000 instructions and checks needed before turning on the hoover, or glaze over when hearing that you need to blah blah before and during use - or read "warning may contain peanuts" on the peanuts packet. In amongst all this modern propensity for overkill, the real important safety stuff gets missed.

 

Hence the saying; 'When all else fails, read the manual'

Edited April 6, 2013 by Doorman

[Taslim]

The following is taken from our Becton Bunny manual.

I suspect the advice is appropriate for other stoves too.

We burn hard - always in the morning and often once more during the day / evening too.

I check the flue and throat plate regularly but with this regime have not needed to sweep the flue throughout the winter. Occasionally (once a month / 6 weeks) I have cleared minimal deposits off the throat plate.

 

 

"WARNING: When wood is burnt slowly in a

closed appliance it produces moisture and tar,

which will create condensation and deposits in the

chimney. This effect can be minimised by burning

hard for a short period, about 20 minutes, twice a day.

It is usually convenient to do this morning and night.

 

Note: To avoid chimney problems your fire should

not be burnt slowly for longer than 12 hours

without a period of fast burning"

 

As you say, appropriate to other stoves too.

 

I've been running the Squirel on 'free' low grade coal 24/7 for four months now & was concerned about soot build up & smoke emmisions so run the fire hard on broken pallets/seasoned wood on return from work. It's the time I need the heat most anyway for comfort & cooking.

 

Keeps stove & flue clean & pleases the neighbors 'cause it keeps the smoke down.

 

taslim.

[matty40s]

Morso actually recommend that the baffle plate is not used on short flue installations such as boats.

[Doorman]

Morso actually recommend that the baffle plate is not used on short flue installations such as boats.

 

Quite right, on reflection they do.

[arbutus]

Quite right, on reflection they do.

 

Just to be pedantic.

Is it the baffle plate or smoke hood that needs to be removed

Morso 1400 range of stoves have a baffle plate which is a piece of sheet steel which sits on top of the side firebricks, it can also have a semi-hemispherical smoke hood attached to the underside of the top plate where the stove pipe fixes. Acording to the manual it is this smoke hood that should not be fitted. To quote from the manual " The smoke hood must not be fitted if the stove is installed on a boat where the flue height is likely to be less than 4.5m.

The Morso installation guide for the 1400 range can be found on their web site http://morso.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/72144600-1410-1440-DS-EN_UK.pdf

Page 5 of the installation manual gives a good cut-away drawing.

On our boat I found that the smoke hood was fitted, I've now removed it, but when I first checked it, I found mill scale from the flue chimney as well as soot, the amount of crud resting inside the smoke hood was worrying.