Meeco FireEx - Fireman's friend

[yooper08]

First of all, glad everyone made it out ok.

Based on what I've read so far, I'm leaning towards some sort of blockage - what and how is the question. I can't see it being an animal since it would have to be climbing around a hot flue to begin with, which in my mind is unlikely.

 

[Highbeam]

Ice in the flue right after the burn in seems unlikely as well.

 

[Poindexter]

According to the mfr the product is non corrosive. Post one edited

 

[maple1]

So when is your guy coming out? The suspense is palpable.

I had a low draft episode with my boiler last weekend, one I hadn't seen before. Almost completely killed the fire. But it was snowing like crazy out (a Nor'easter), and it was the thickest stickiest snow we had seen for a long time. I think that stuff simply built up and partly blocked my cap opening - it was hanging a foot thick on everything the next morning.

 

[Poindexter]

So when is your guy coming out? The suspense is palpable.

I had a low draft episode with my boiler last weekend, one I hadn't seen before. Almost completely killed the fire. But it was snowing like crazy out (a Nor'easter), and it was the thickest stickiest snow we had seen for a long time. I think that stuff simply built up and partly blocked my cap opening - it was hanging a foot thick on everything the next morning.

Dunno. I am pretty much to wanting a camera on a string after the professional brushout.

This is the worst possible time of year to be up on roofs, melting snow, exposed ice dams out over the eaves, might be a couple months.

Stuff is supposed to be non corrosive, i probably will clean out my firebox tonight.

 

[begreen]

If possible it might be good to also lower the camera down there before the brushout. That is unless the chimney is obviously badly restricted at the top.

 

[maple1]

Can you run a camera up from the bottom?

 

[Highbeam]

Zinc is noncorrosive but kills cats. Heck water is noncorrosive but steel corrodes. Especially in the presence of that high pH ash. I think that there are varying degrees of corrosiveness and that meeco has a marketing department.

 

[begreen]

Fire Ex is a fire suppressant. There are other main ingredients like ammonium chloride, sodium nitrate and sulfur that are corrosive. I would assume the corrosive effects to be minimal if this is used rarely in the stove's lifetime and one cleans out the stove after use. They may also poison a cat. I guess we'll find out soon in this case.

 

[jetsam]

I use old cellphones for that stuff. The one time I dropped an old phone down my flue I used "IP Webcam" for android to stream video from the old phone, and watched it with VLC on my regular cellphone from the roof. It was kind of dizzying... I did have it on a string so getting it to face a particular direction was challenging. If I developed a reason to want to do that again, I'd tape the old phone to the fiberglass rods I sweep with.

 

[bholler]

In this case i think a professional inspection with a good camera may be waranted. Just to make sure nothing abnormal is going on. It sounds to me like a sheet of stuff probably came off the side and blocked the flue but i would want to know.

 

[jetsam]

In this case i think a professional inspection with a good camera may be waranted. Just to make sure nothing abnormal is going on. It sounds to me like a sheet of stuff probably came off the side and blocked the flue but i would want to know.

Is that common? I burned wet wood low and slow a LOT the first year with the new BK, and I never saw anything that could have formed a sheet in my flue. But you see a LOT more flues than I do!

Whatever blocked it should still be in there, I'd think.

 

[bholler]

Is that common? I burned wet wood low and slow a LOT the first year with the new BK, and I never saw anything that could have formed a sheet in my flue. But you see a LOT more flues than I do!

Whatever blocked it should still be in there, I'd think.

No not common but it happens

 

[TradEddie]

Technically it's correct to claim those ingredients are not corrosive, very few dry powders are corrosive, they only get corrosive when you add water...
Ammonium chloride is a chloride salt which will certainly be corrosive over time, and Sulfur will burn to form Sulfur Dioxide and eventually Sulfuric Acid.

Those ingredients are very odd, I suppose it depends on relative quantities, but apart from the Ammonium Chloride, it looks like a basic incendiary mix of oxidizer and fuel. The Zinc, Sulfur and Sodium Nitrate will burn vigorously together, presumably the intent is to create a dust cloud of inert agents, to coat the burning creosote. I'd get all those swept out of my flue as quickly as possible, but I wouldn't worry about it beyond that. Continue to worry about the original cause.

TE

 

[Turd Ferguson]

@Poindexter did they drop chains down the chimney to break up the alleged obstruction? If so, that may have eliminated any evidence of a blockage, or will at least make the chimney sweep’s job that much more difficult trying to re-construct what caused the smoke condition in your house to begin with.

 

[ben94122]

So @Poindexter did you ever figure out what happened? Any learning points other than the 30 min char?