The relevance of the process of cleaning pipes and chimneys is always on top. If you are fortunate enough to have a stove, fireplace or firebox, then you have probably already encountered clogging of their chimneys.
Sooner or later, soot, fumes and various deposits accumulate on the walls of chimneys, pipes from boilers or fireplaces. This process cannot be reversed. He cannot be stopped.
After all, deposits inside the pipe are just natural products of combustion. The result is a clogged pipe full of soot and functioning on the brink (if it works at all).
But fortunately, cleaning pipes from deposits and soot is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. So what should be done? Now you will know.
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Features and nuances
Before we start discussing the pipe cleaning process itself, we need to understand what these deposits are and how to cope with them. This is an important point that adds understanding of all the processes that take place inside.
The chimney itself is just a piece of pipe, which, due to the presence of reverse draft, removes combustion products from the air to the outside.
Smoke and carbon monoxide constantly move through it. The smoke can be either dry and light or heavy and black. It all depends on the type and quality of the fuel you want to use.
The smoke, especially if raw logs are burning or something like that, contains not only carbon monoxide, but also ash particles, the results of the combustion reaction and other things.
A layer of soot is formed from these particles, which settles on the pipe wall. If, then the soot will have nowhere to catch on, and therefore it will settle slowly, or not settle at all.
That is why in industrial enterprises the walls of chimney pipes are always made smooth, using metals.
But, with which a considerable number of residential buildings are equipped, on the contrary, it collects pieces of soot very well. They cling to the masonry and its irregularities, the rough surface of the brick itself also plays a role. As a result, cleaning for brick pipes is needed much more often.
Deposit types
However, soot deposits are far from the only type of blockage. In fact, there are several such types:
- soot deposits;
- acid condensate;
- clogging with foreign elements or objects.
As you can see, not only from soot you can expect trouble. The same acid condensate is just the result of rare starts of the stove or boiler.
If you use your heater at irregular and sufficiently large intervals, then this does not affect the surface of the pipes in the best way. After each kindling, they heat up and then immediately cool down, which leads to the formation of condensate.
However, this condensate contains particles of chemical elements and acid, which can also settle on the surface of the pipes. When reacting with soot particles, the precipitation seems to interact with each other, becoming more solid.
The last type of blockage rarely relates directly to the kindling of pipes. Most often, these are clogging of a mechanical sample. Foreign objects of various kinds, bird nests, fallen bricks or plaster.
If there is a serious layer of soot inside the pipes, all of them can lead to a thorough clogging, which is already becoming problematic to clean.
In some cases, if the pipe cannot be cleaned, it must be disassembled. This is really not a very pleasant and expensive process. So it is better to clean the pipe from deposits in advance than to deal with the consequences later.
Cleaning methods
So, we figured out that cleaning the chimney pipe (it doesn’t matter if it is in the bathhouse or removes smoke from the fireplace) is simply necessary. But how to clean the pipe, while spending a minimum of effort?
In order to clean the pipe, people came up with several interesting ways at once. Although in fact they are all grouped into two main solutions.
There are cleaning methods:
- mechanical;
- chemical.
It should be noted that mechanical cleaning and chemical cleaning are not the same thing. Unlike working with sewer or water blockages, dry cleaning here performs separate functions aimed at a specific type of deposits inside the pipe.
It cannot be called universal, but it should not be ignored either. If only because it is very easy to clean the pipe with the help of chemistry.
The mechanical method can be called universal. And all because it contains several techniques at once that help a person cope with blockages of any type.
Also, these methods are often combined to achieve the best effect. If none of them helped and the pipe in the bathhouse or house remains clogged, then, unfortunately, there is no alternative to dismantling.
mechanical cleaning
Mechanical cleaning involves the use of several methods and tools at once. It contains a wide arsenal of working practices that are applied depending on the type of clogging and its characteristics.
We can say with confidence that only mechanical cleaning gives an almost guaranteed result. This is explained by the fact that the surface of the pipe can be cleaned of soot only by direct physical impact on the sediment.
People have not yet come up with any really working solvents, and soot, even if it could be dissolved with chemistry, will still have to be removed manually.
Required Tools
The following tools are used for mechanical cleaning:
- Brushes of various profiles.
- or fixed on a pipe.
- Weights and weights.
- Scrapers.
- Flexible rods and rollers.
Each tool performs its own functions. Without some of them, it is simply impossible to clean the pipe from characteristic deposits. Others can be replaced or completely ignored.
So, brushes are used almost everywhere. With their help, it is possible to deal with weak layers of soot, which has not yet had time to seize properly.
The evolution of brushes is a brush. The brush is essentially an improved brush attached to the feed element. Most often, a cable is used in the work. Although, if necessary, the nozzle of the brush can be attached to the pipe rod. Then the tool becomes less mobile, but more rigid.
They can already clean the stuck together frozen soot without resorting to additional means.
It is convenient to operate with scrapers when it is necessary to clean a pipe of small depth. For example, a chimney pipe in a bathhouse or on a small stove. In this case, the scraper is perfect.
As for weights, weights and flexible rods, these are heavy tools. They are used for mechanical action on powerful blockages. And also in case of blockage of the chimney by foreign elements.
Weights break through serious blockages due to the action of gravity, and then remove the remnants with brushes. The blocking element itself falls out, where it can be reached through the shutter.
The only problem with weights is that you have to use them wisely. After all, with weak masonry or working with very old chimneys, inept cleaning with loads can only damage.
Stages of work
Consider the specific elements of the mechanical cleaning process. They are always similar to each other, even if you have blockages due to various reasons.
Stages of work:
- We prepare the tool.
- We close the dampers and all outlets, leaving only the chimney pipe open.
- We evaluate the nature of the clogging, determine its quality. If the blocking element is a specific object, then we determine the depth of its occurrence.
- We use brushes and weights to clean the pipe.
- We remove the residues from the cleaning process through the damper.
Before, it is necessary to understand exactly what caused its clogging. After all, if this is a regular preventive cleaning from soot deposits, then a brush with brushes of different sizes is enough.
If a piece of brick, a bird's nest, a bunch of leaves or any other foreign object fell into the pipe, then weights and loads are indispensable.
The rest of the process is pretty trivial. We only recommend being very careful on the roof. You can’t climb outside without insurance, this can lead to very sad consequences.
In the absence of insurance, at least a minimum experience and a set of tools, we do not recommend you to clean the chimney yourself. It is better to turn to the help of specialists. They will do the job faster and do everything safely.
Self-cleaning the chimney chimney (video)
Chemical cleaning
We have already mentioned that it is possible to clean the chimney not only with the help of physical impact, but also with the help of special chemistry. In this case, we are talking about a unique type of fuel that emits a special smoke.
This smoke is unusual, it contains chemicals that dissolve soot. In particular, the chemistry interacts well with various kinds of condensed deposits.
The process of applying chemicals will surprise you with its simplicity. All you have to do is unpack the fuel and then throw it into the fire. Make sure you read the instructions in advance and know what process the manufacturer intended.
Some types of fuel must be thrown into the fire when fully ignited. When the temperature in the stone or boiler is at its maximum. That is, you must first melt ordinary firewood, and then throw special fuel on top of them.
Other species, on the contrary, can and should be thrown into the fire at the time of ignition. And to be more precise, then just put the firewood together with the usual ones, and then set it on fire.
To ensure their efficient use, it is desirable to overlay the chemical fuel with ordinary firewood so that it is at the epicenter and takes on the maximum temperature.
Since it is very easy to clean the pipe with chemical fuel, we recommend that you perform such operations at intervals of 2-3 months.
