Anyone ever try using a beer can to help with creosote buildup? I was told that tossing a can or two into the firebox will cause the creosote to flake off.
I've heard stranger things, and I don't have a problem drinking beers so I have some empties available, but I'd feel more comfortable if others were putting this into practice.
Ive heard the same, something about the aluminum can burning acts in the same way as a chimney cleaning log (they both contain aluminum which reacts with the creosote somehow)
I do not know it could be problematic for me to "have" to empty a beer can :D
it works to an extent.
Here in Mich. that's the same as throwing dimes in the fire ;D :)
I drink bottles, will they work? 8)
I always see that on returns and wonder why MI and other states are different than Maine. Only be throwing a nickle on the fire here.
Some states thought it was a bright idea which proved not to be .
Kind of funny because often people living near Detroit will sneak into Ohio to buy beer because it's cheaper then pawn the cans off in Mich .
Quote from: Al_Smith on January 05, 2012, 09:02:34 AM
Some states thought it was a bright idea which proved not to be .
Kind of funny because often people living near Detroit will sneak into Ohio to buy beer because it's cheaper then pawn the cans off in Mich .
I remember when NYS did it back in the early 80's Seemed to clean up the sides of the roads and streets pretty quick as people were not so apt to just chunk cans and bottles out the windows.
Yes it did to a point .However after cans got to about 50 cents a pound scrap they hunted them about like they hunt mushrooms .
Cans aren't really a problem but those danged glass bottles are at least in Ohio .I will say though it seems people are a little more less polluting that in previous times of yore .
Maybe they figured they didn't want to live in a trash heap or something .Now if they can figure out how to make a deteriating plastic bag that will hold stuff for a period of time they might be on to something .Lordy me those things remind me of "lovers lane " back in the days of my youth without going into details . :D
Don't knock our bottle law especially if you don't live here >:( ::) It's one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed in this state. The rare can or bottle that's thrown out doesn't last long on the roadside. Non-profit organizations, schools, Scouts, churches you name it benefit from bottle/can drives. Many people won't return them and give them away to charity. There's a regular can rush when the snowmobile trails are driveable in the spring and the locals pick up the beer cans and bottles the out of state snowmobilers threw out all winter. I've seen pickup loads of empties from a day of two tracking picking up returnables. It's an all around good thing. Unfortunately the push to put deposits on non-carbonated drink containers like sports drinks, juices, and teas failed a few years back.
They pick them up around here too. Like I said said the roadways are much more cleaned up than in the 70's for example .
You still have the occasional butt hole that dumps off garbage but how do you legislate against idiots .
I wish Tennessee had a deposit law. It disgusts me to see the trash in the side of the road there. Every time I go up I pick up cans and bottles along the road.
a beer can will not ''burn'', it will melt at approx 1221f, so if you put one in your fireplace and it melts, you have had a good hot fire going, creosote will ignite at approx 451f, therefore, all tars etc are gone after the can has melted eh........
John
Quote from: Corley5 on January 05, 2012, 05:00:53 PM
Don't knock our bottle law especially if you don't live here >:( ::) It's one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed in this state.
Well now okay if you say so .However let's look at this thing .Now I know for a fact things cost more in Mich ,been there .You won't see any more cans on the road ditchs in Ohio than you do in Mich but we aren't saddled with toting cans full and empty to and fro .Not to mention the retailer dealing with those empties who is going to pass that cost to the consumer .
I remember not so many years ago went Ohio had returnable beer and pop bottles at 2 cents a pop .Some of the larger retailers had a full time person just checking the returns .Along came easy to open cans ,cheaper .The bottles are in a museum now .
Now what you do in Mich is none of my biz and if you want to charge a dollar a can it doesn't affect me in the least .I just think in my opinion it's political mumbo jumbo .FWIW we recycle our cans . ;)
It doesn't matter to me what you do in Ohio. We aren't saddled with returning cans. We can throw them out just as well. No fewer carbonated beverages are sold here because of our law than are sold anywhere else. The last time I bought pop at gas station in Ohio it cost the same as it did over here.
Probabley so in a plastic bottle . ;)
Beer it wouldn't make any difference I don't imagine .I don't think if I wanted to wet my whistle in Mich .I'd whine too much about a dime a can .I'm not so sure though if Mich suds tastes the same .
You should lay off that pop now ,it's poison ,kills rats etc .,nasty .Beer on the other hand contains carbohydrates ,one of the food groups plus is loaded with vitamin p which flushes the kidneys .
Lest we not soon forget the words of one of the founding fathers of the US ,Ben Franklin .Mr F was to have said "beer is proof that God loves and wants us to be happy " .He didn't go on to say however to burn the cans in the wood stove .
I'd imagine for two reasons ,first he hadn't invented the stove yet and two the can wasn't even thought of back then .Besides I doubt you could stuff a wooden beer keg through a stove door any way so that's out too .Geeze though can you imagine how much deposit would be on a beer keg ,mercy me .
Welcome to the FF thenorth. I agree with you if you can burn or melt aluminum then you have a very hot fire that can certainly ignite creasote. I did find 1 article that says burning beer cans works to eliminate creasote but i do not agree with it. If the fire is that hot it's the fire not the aluminum. Holmes
If the aluminum burning does help with creosote removal it would be easier to burn aluminum foil that was not crumpled up. First you should use the foil to bake a potatoe in the ashes or in my Portage & Main I do them in the smoke passage above the burn chamber.
Hmm I grilled a steak in the stove once, never did a baked potato though .My wife thought I acted like a nut .What she didn't know was it wasn't an act . 8)
Once again, a FF thread turns to food...
Well yeah you can't live on the beer alone you have to drink to feed the fire with the cans . :D
I have heard of people using copper, but never aluminum cans cans.
In the summer, you can put a bowle of amonia in there and it will flake off any creasote, that you couldent get scraped off.
Quote from: Logginglogginglogging on March 01, 2012, 04:08:35 PM
I have heard of people using copper, but never aluminum cans cans.
In the summer, you can put a bowle of amonia in there and it will flake off any creasote, that you couldent get scraped off.
Do you just leave it sit there?
I wonder if it will keep the blue birds from trying to nest in mine. They end up dead in the firebox every year.
I have a friend thats a bona fide chimney sweep and he recomended that I put a few cans in from time to time...Banjo
Probibly al. cans cut into smaller pieces would self distruct better.I cook potatoes and squash in my outside furnace all the time quick and hot.I should have built a longer shelf so I could do pizza. Frank C.
yup u just let the amonia sit there.... in the bowle....and it makes creasote flake off... I have done this for years and head good luck with it.
as for the bluebirds, just put a bucket over the chimney.
Quote from: Raider Bill on March 01, 2012, 04:23:25 PM
Quote from: Logginglogginglogging on March 01, 2012, 04:08:35 PM
I have heard of people using copper, but never aluminum cans cans.
In the summer, you can put a bowle of amonia in there and it will flake off any creasote, that you couldent get scraped off.
Do you just leave it sit there?
I wonder if it will keep the blue birds from trying to nest in mine. They end up dead in the firebox every year.
yup, see comment below
Quote from: Logginglogginglogging on March 02, 2012, 09:13:02 AM
yup u just let the amonia sit there.... in the bowle....and it makes creasote flake off... I have done this for years and head good luck with it.
as for the bluebirds, just put a bucket over the chimney.
I wish I could get to the top of my chimney but poor planning on my part sort of put's a stop to that. My roof is 6-12 metal and the pipe 8' above the roof surface. I can't reach the top and I'm not all that comfortable being up there to begin with.
yeah lol 6-12 metal sounds like a fun climb
So you keep your stove indoors I take it?
Yep it's just a simple wood stove where the pipe goes straight up though the ceiling and roof no bends. It doesn't get used much actually because it is a second house 11 hours away. I clean it yearly by going up from the bottom with the brush after moving the stove out of the way, it's a pain. Another piece of poor planning on my part was I didn't put a screen on the cap.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/woodstoveff%7E2.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMG_4072.JPG)
Raider
Can see your problem.
If you clean it the next time, maybe a screen plug with large openings (3/4 at least) could be fashioned and poked up from the bottom to the top with the cleaning brush when done cleaning. Then make a new one to shove up there the following year when cleaning. Shove the old one out the top.
Just a thought to get you a screen.
NO beer cans in these stoves ! :( Where did this Urban Myth originate ?
Hey, we burn trees. One extra "hot" fire/day does burn any accumulated creosote from the overnight burn. ;D
For the steep pitch ( 9/12 on this ), a 1" climbing line with spaced knots secured on the ridge by a carabiner allows easy access to the ridge. Two flues with screened caps, an on-air HD antenna, and an internet sat dish sometimes need maintenance such as shoulder season buildup on the cap, snow filling the dish, or high winds moving the antenna. She makes me go up when the roof is icy. ::)
Every day I get home I pull the coals to the front of the stove, open the damper and drink my 1 beer. When I'm done the can goes in the stove. This makes the creasote powdery so it can be sucked up the chimney pipe better.
Now as far a my heat goes, I burn a very hot fire every morning for my wife as i leave for work. I have not had a chimney fire as of yet (knock on wood). When i don't use the cans i get a lot of creasote. It does work!
Sliding off a roof is not fun,tried it once.I always build a platform out of pressure treated wood to stand on and leave it on the roof.Laying a ladder on the roof helps to. Frank C.