Flue and stove cleaning

[gary955]

When I replaced my squirrel back boiler, I took the opportunity to adapt the flue plate on the back of the stove so that it could be removed from the outside. This makes the (previously impossible) task of cleaning behind the back boiler easy. I'm glad I did because having swept my chimney this morning I scooped a third of a bucket of soot and crap out from behind the back boiler. However I have a little bit of a problem.

The stove is very old and the fire rope channel for the rear flue plate is thin and corroded, I was afraid when cleaning out the old rope before, that the casting would break, making the stove scrap. I got away with it though and reassembled with a new fire rope topped of with a smear of copper grease to make disassembly easy. So far so good, the plate came off easily with the rope undamaged. But the problem is, it's completely petrified like concrete! I'm reluctant to dig it out, for reasons already given so I thought I'd reassemble with HT silicone. My HT silicone though, is solid as well! Bugger!!

I'm thinking of reassembling it dry. There's no give in the rope any more so it won't be a gas tight seal but I'm inclined to think that any leakage will be inward as the flue will draw any gas upwards. Certainly my Epping stove in the back cabin is covered in loose fitting plates and that doesn't leak any CO into the cabin.

What does the forum think? Daft idea? or perfectly OK? I guess I just don't want to buy a tube of HT silicone for a 10" bead and then have to throw the rest away because it doesn't keep

Edited July 31, 2015 by gary955

[Phil Ambrose]

The price of a tube of high temp silicon is a small price to pay for peace of mind and personal safety.

Phil

Edited July 31, 2015 by Phil Ambrose

[Richard10002]

The price of a tube of high temp silicon is a small price to pay for peace of mind and personal safety.

Phil

+!

 

Ten Quid is nothing compared to your life, and the lives of others.

 

What happens if the flow reverses for some atmospheric reason. I've had it where I can open the door and the smoke comes into the room - dont really know why, but it can happen. If you're asleep, then by the time you wake....... you might not..... for ten quid???

[gary955]

The price of a tube of high temp silicon is a small price to pay for peace of mind and personal safety.

Phil

Well yes, about a tenner I suppose which as you say is a small price for personal safety. However peace of mind and personal safety are not always the same thing and a tenner is a tenner! I don't subscribe to the Bung On Another Thousand philosophy of boat ownership. We're talking about a close but not gas tight seal. There are two adjustable vents already on the front and don't some squirrels have a vent in the rear panel anyway? Given that open fires work perfectly safely in houses is there a chance that we all get a bit panicky about sealing up our multi fuel stoves that depend on a certain amount of air ingress to burn anyway?

Only a musing, and as you say a tenner would ensure it is sealed.

[BEngo]

My Squirrel has the flue into the rear entry and the top entry blanking plate just sits there- no rope, no gunge, though there is usually a kettle on top of it when the fire is lit. I have had no problems, and no noises from the fire angel CO detector, and I doubt that the OP will have any trouble.

 

I would however qualify that by suggesting a trial run and sealing the plate if there is any smoke emerges from it, especially when lighting up. It might then be a good idea to oil the blanking plate, or temporarily cover it with cling film before sealing without fully tightening the securing arrangement so that the silicone sets with some give to make a future seal but does not glue the plate in. Otherwise next time you will have to dig out silicone AND hard fire rope.

 

N

[Tom and Bex]

Interesting post. I was just thinking today of doing exactly the same mod to our squirrel. As you say, with the back boiler in it is impossible to clean out behind it after sweeping the chimney.

 

Do you think it would be possible to do without removing the back boiler? Preferably without removing the flue as well but don't think would be possible!

 

In answer to your original question, I think I'd be tempted to clean and paint the groove as best as possible and try assembling it dry using new fire rope. I'd be worried with silicone that it would glue the parts together and be impossible to remove in the future without further damage.

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[gary955]

My Squirrel has the flue into the rear entry and the top entry blanking plate just sits there- no rope, no gunge, though there is usually a kettle on top of it when the fire is lit. I have had no problems, and no noises from the fire angel CO detector, and I doubt that the OP will have any trouble.

 

I would however qualify that by suggesting a trial run and sealing the plate if there is any smoke emerges from it, especially when lighting up. It might then be a good idea to oil the blanking plate, or temporarily cover it with cling film before sealing without fully tightening the securing arrangement so that the silicone sets with some give to make a future seal but does not glue the plate in. Otherwise next time you will have to dig out silicone AND hard fire rope.

 

N

Ah That's interesting. much the same arrangement as my back cabin Epping, which is what made me wonder in the first place.

[Phil.]

Others have said it. Are you going to gamble your life over the price of silicone.

[gary955]

Interesting post. I was just thinking today of doing exactly the same mod to our squirrel. As you say, with the back boiler in it is impossible to clean out behind it after sweeping the chimney.

 

Do you think it would be possible to do without removing the back boiler? Preferably without removing the flue as well but don't think would be possible!

 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

Sadly not Tom.

Years ago I posted some pictures of the mod but they seem to have vanished! I'm sure that you've figured it out though, let me know if you're not sure.

I needed the back boiler out in order to get access to the two dogs that secure the plate in the inside. Even then I had to cut them off with a Dremmel because they had corroded in place. You may be able to leave the flue and top panel in place as contrary to Morso's advice the back boiler will come out through the front door. It's a hell of a wiggle though. Alternatively perhaps if you removed the flue, you may be able to do it with the back boiler in place but I doubt you'd get a dremmel in and still see what you're doing, go and check out a new stove to get an idea if you'd have enough room that way. Either way it will be a struggle but worth it.

[Tom and Bex]

Thanks, might have to go and have a play with a new stove to see what's what. I wondered about using a chisel and snapping the lugs off or maybe drilling through from the back but worry I'd be more likely to crack the whole casting.

 

At the moment I feed the vacuum cleaner hose down the flue after sweeping to get as much as possible out. Can't believe more people don't have this problem with back boilers.

 

Tom

[gary955]

Thanks, might have to go and have a play with a new stove to see what's what. I wondered about using a chisel and snapping the lugs off or maybe drilling through from the back but worry I'd be more likely to crack the whole casting.

 

At the moment I feed the vacuum cleaner hose down the flue after sweeping to get as much as possible out. Can't believe more people don't have this problem with back boilers.

 

Tom

As you probably know Tom, the plate is secured by two dogs mounted on studs fixed to the blanking plate and tightened from the inside. if you can see where the studs are from the outside then your problem is solved. You could indeed drill them out from the outside. Happy days!

The studs on mine though were tapped into blind holes so there was no indication of where they were from the outside. I removed the studs, drilled the holes all the way through and then fixed the dogs to bolts which were passed through the plate. I cut a slot for a screw driver in the end of the bold in line with the dogs to indicate the position of the dog and allow me to swivel them into position once the plate was fitted. The dogs could then be tightened via nuts on the outside of the plate. Is that what you were thinking?

[Tom and Bex]

Was thinking of something very similar to hold it on so good to here it works for you.

 

Tom