Creosote Behind Damper/Smoke Shelf

[PistolPeets]

Hello again all. It's been a while. I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy.

I recently tried to pull my 6" liner to my PE insert and clean the flue and I discovered a buildup of creosote located behind the damper on the smoke shelf. I spoke with my chimney sweep, and he said there are two options basically. Suck it up with a shop-vac, or cut the steel fireplace firebox out and clean it that way. It seems that cutting it would be quite difficult as it would require me to pull the stove out. I've attached a diagram I found on google. What they label as "firebrick", I have a metal plate in there that angles down towards the floor. I've also attached pictures of my setup. It's very hard to get a picture of the back side of that damper where the creosote sits.

I guess I have two unanswered questions.

1. How deep is this smoke shelf area behind the damper (does it go all the way to the floor and can a shop vac get all of the creosote in this area)?
2. If there is creosote remaining in this area, is there a possibility of it igniting?

My sweep tells me that the area around the insert and the single wall liner doesn't get that hot but I thought I would get a second opinion here.

Thanks in advance!

 

[armanidog]

Is the creosote crystallized or partially melted on the smoke ledge? Harbor Freight has a telescoping inspection mirror for $4, I'm sure Lowes and Home Depot have them too. You could take a look behind the damper by putting a work light above it and using the mirror to see how much of the creosote is loose and crystallized and if there is melted creosote behind. If it all fell down the chimney and can be vacuumed you should be good to go.
The smoke shelf is usually a shelf so that any rain that comes down the chimney does not penetrate the base of the chimney.

 

[begreen]

Vacuum the area out. This is another strong argument for an insulated liner. Was there an appliance connector on the end of the liner?

It's good you discovered this but normally there is no need to pull the insert to clean. Instead, remove the baffle, stick a rag in the secondary supply tube and then brush.

 

[PistolPeets]

Vacuum the area out. This is another strong argument for an insulated liner. Was there an appliance connector on the end of the liner?

It's good you discovered this but normally there is no need to pull the insert to clean. Instead, remove the baffle, stick a rag in the secondary supply tube and then brush.

Thanks for the replies guys. Armanidog - I'll see if I can get one of those telescoping inspection mirrors. I could use it for other applications as well. I don't know much about the stages of creosote but there appear to be some chunks that look bubbled but it's mostly chunky sandy like in texture.

begreen - I think it's an appliance connector attaching it to the stove. It looks like this: https://www.northlineexpress.com/6-...8y4RrTVX1cgmBtGI3blRJhDbvvwE5JhxoCrUkQAvD_BwE

The reason for pulling the insert was because creosote has continued to fall down from up top of the chimney somewhere. I think when the previous owner installed the stove, he didn't clean the chimney out prior to running the liner up. So the intent was to give the chimney a good cleaning and this was discovered. So, I'll proceed with vacuuming the area out to the best of my abilities. It's up about 3 feet from the top of the fireplace opening so I've got all I can do the reach the area. I agree, normal cleanings consist of pulling the baffle and cleaning the liner from inside the stove. I hope once I get this area cleaned out and knock down any remaining creosote I see in the chimney, I'll be good to go.

 

[bholler]

Thanks for the replies guys. Armanidog - I'll see if I can get one of those telescoping inspection mirrors. I could use it for other applications as well. I don't know much about the stages of creosote but there appear to be some chunks that look bubbled but it's mostly chunky sandy like in texture.

begreen - I think it's an appliance connector attaching it to the stove. It looks like this: https://www.northlineexpress.com/6-...8y4RrTVX1cgmBtGI3blRJhDbvvwE5JhxoCrUkQAvD_BwE

The reason for pulling the insert was because creosote has continued to fall down from up top of the chimney somewhere. I think when the previous owner installed the stove, he didn't clean the chimney out prior to running the liner up. So the intent was to give the chimney a good cleaning and this was discovered. So, I'll proceed with vacuuming the area out to the best of my abilities. It's up about 3 feet from the top of the fireplace opening so I've got all I can do the reach the area. I agree, normal cleanings consist of pulling the baffle and cleaning the liner from inside the stove. I hope once I get this area cleaned out and knock down any remaining creosote I see in the chimney, I'll be good to go.

The liner probably should be pulled so the chimney can be cleaned as well

 

[PistolPeets]

The liner probably should be pulled so the chimney can be cleaned as well

The liner was pretty stuck and we couldn't get it out, but we knocked any visible creosote down with another smaller brush. I'm confident we cleaned it well. I shouldn't have any more creosote falling down on top of the stove anymore. And I vacuumed that smoke shelf/behind damper area today and feel as though I got a lot of it. I was starting to suck up refractory-like pieces so I would assume that was the smoke shelf itself.

 

[begreen]

A band clamp is on a proper appliance connector for the liner to the insert. Something like this.

 

[PistolPeets]

A band clamp is on a proper appliance connector for the liner to the insert. Something like this.

View attachment 264049

That looks better than what I have. Mine is basically a collar with 4 self tappers holding it to the liner.