The Winter didn't get off to a good start this year, when we tried to light the oil fuel stove on the first really cold day. The kitchen filled with smoke, belching out of every opening in the stove.
Last year, the cowl at the end of the chimney liner came off, and over the Summer some birds must have decided to make a nest in the chimney - or, at least, that was my first guess for the blockage. I went to see the local hire place to get one of their high reach cherry pickers (15 metres up and 5 metres across (to get over the lean to utility rooms). I had to try them several times before this one was available and the weather was going to stay dry. I needed to get up to the top of the chimney to clean it with a brush and drain rods, then attach a new cowl (anti down draught with bird guard) and if time was available, paint the gable end of the house above the utility rooms which is easier to do from the cherry picker.
The hire company delivered the hoist, and I asked the driver if I could run it from mains power, like I had done with one I got from them several years ago. Maybe he picked me up wrong, but he said that would be ok.
After he left, and Janice went to Dumfries, and granny went on a trip, I started by levelling the legs (it doesn't work otherwise) by the hydraulic rams (it was hand cranking a jack the last time). I set off on the ascent to the chimney. When I got up to the chimney, the rams went dead: the batteries were completely flat. I was stuck 15 metres up, going nowhere, with no-one left at home. Fortunately, I had taken my cell phone with me and called the hire shop. First of all, he told me I shouldn't have gone up with no-one at home (that's why they give you two harnesses and hard hats) and secondly he told me it has to run on the diesel engine for the main part of the lifting and only switch it off when you are in position and only require small movements. He tried to talk me through starting the diesel engine from the cage, but this seems to only be possible after it has warmed up and it refused to start despite several attempts. So the hire shop arranged for one of their service men to come out as he wasn't happy I hadn't been shown how to start the engine. At 52, you can imagine what was next on my mind at that height with a bitterly cold air coming from the North. Yes, I was starting to get desperate. I tried the rams again, and this time they moved. Just leaving them a few minutes allowed enough of a charge to build up , and I managed to get down to earth and relieve myself. I had started the diesel engine myself before the service man appeared, but he helped me put the harness on properly.
When I got back up to the chimney I managed to push 8 rods down (roughly 24 feet), before it would go no further. I thought it might just be a bend in the pipe and tried running a short heavy chain tied to a rope down it to see if it would dislodge whatever was stuck. I couldn't believe a few bits of straw and feathers could withstand this.
After these attempts, I knew if there was anything stuck in the chimney , I would have to clear it from the ground, so I secured the new cowl onto the chimney with its hooks and bolts, and then wired it down to the outside of the chimney, otherwise it would blow off again.
The rest of the day I spent painting the wall, and just finished before it was completely dark and hoped the rain would stay off until it had dried (which it did)
Next day I lit the stove again but smoke still came into the kitchen, so there was still most of the nest stuck in the chimney. The next idea was to use a torch and mirror to look up the stove chimney (you can take a cap off the end). Lo and behold, at the top of the steel pipe where it joined the liner was a dead end of straw. There was nothing for it but to use a metal double spiral with hooks at the end which fits onto the drain rods and hope they wouldn't break when I bent them at 90 degrees to get up the chimney as there is only just over 12 inches clearance at the bottom of the pipe, then shove my arm up the pipe and keep twisting and pulling the nest to break it up and have it drop up my sleeve (I wore a dust mask if that helped any with the soot and dirt), until I had cleared as far as I could with one rod, then attached a second rod, got some more nest down, then the rods moved up and down without any trouble.
After clearing up, and attaching all the bits and pieces to the stove, and taking half a box of straw outside, I lit the stove again. This time... no smoke and a lovely warm glow from the fire.
I hope I don't have to repeat that experience any time soon.
Last year, the cowl at the end of the chimney liner came off, and over the Summer some birds must have decided to make a nest in the chimney - or, at least, that was my first guess for the blockage. I went to see the local hire place to get one of their high reach cherry pickers (15 metres up and 5 metres across (to get over the lean to utility rooms). I had to try them several times before this one was available and the weather was going to stay dry. I needed to get up to the top of the chimney to clean it with a brush and drain rods, then attach a new cowl (anti down draught with bird guard) and if time was available, paint the gable end of the house above the utility rooms which is easier to do from the cherry picker.
The hire company delivered the hoist, and I asked the driver if I could run it from mains power, like I had done with one I got from them several years ago. Maybe he picked me up wrong, but he said that would be ok.
After he left, and Janice went to Dumfries, and granny went on a trip, I started by levelling the legs (it doesn't work otherwise) by the hydraulic rams (it was hand cranking a jack the last time). I set off on the ascent to the chimney. When I got up to the chimney, the rams went dead: the batteries were completely flat. I was stuck 15 metres up, going nowhere, with no-one left at home. Fortunately, I had taken my cell phone with me and called the hire shop. First of all, he told me I shouldn't have gone up with no-one at home (that's why they give you two harnesses and hard hats) and secondly he told me it has to run on the diesel engine for the main part of the lifting and only switch it off when you are in position and only require small movements. He tried to talk me through starting the diesel engine from the cage, but this seems to only be possible after it has warmed up and it refused to start despite several attempts. So the hire shop arranged for one of their service men to come out as he wasn't happy I hadn't been shown how to start the engine. At 52, you can imagine what was next on my mind at that height with a bitterly cold air coming from the North. Yes, I was starting to get desperate. I tried the rams again, and this time they moved. Just leaving them a few minutes allowed enough of a charge to build up , and I managed to get down to earth and relieve myself. I had started the diesel engine myself before the service man appeared, but he helped me put the harness on properly.
When I got back up to the chimney I managed to push 8 rods down (roughly 24 feet), before it would go no further. I thought it might just be a bend in the pipe and tried running a short heavy chain tied to a rope down it to see if it would dislodge whatever was stuck. I couldn't believe a few bits of straw and feathers could withstand this.
After these attempts, I knew if there was anything stuck in the chimney , I would have to clear it from the ground, so I secured the new cowl onto the chimney with its hooks and bolts, and then wired it down to the outside of the chimney, otherwise it would blow off again.
The rest of the day I spent painting the wall, and just finished before it was completely dark and hoped the rain would stay off until it had dried (which it did)
Next day I lit the stove again but smoke still came into the kitchen, so there was still most of the nest stuck in the chimney. The next idea was to use a torch and mirror to look up the stove chimney (you can take a cap off the end). Lo and behold, at the top of the steel pipe where it joined the liner was a dead end of straw. There was nothing for it but to use a metal double spiral with hooks at the end which fits onto the drain rods and hope they wouldn't break when I bent them at 90 degrees to get up the chimney as there is only just over 12 inches clearance at the bottom of the pipe, then shove my arm up the pipe and keep twisting and pulling the nest to break it up and have it drop up my sleeve (I wore a dust mask if that helped any with the soot and dirt), until I had cleared as far as I could with one rod, then attached a second rod, got some more nest down, then the rods moved up and down without any trouble.
After clearing up, and attaching all the bits and pieces to the stove, and taking half a box of straw outside, I lit the stove again. This time... no smoke and a lovely warm glow from the fire.
I hope I don't have to repeat that experience any time soon.
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