Chimney cleaning log contents?

[Larry Edgerton]

I have been using chimney cleaning logs rather than climb up on the roof for a couple of years but they are expensive. I'm sure like many things it is something fairly common that does the trick, but how would you know?

Anyone know whats in them?

Larry

[David Weaver]

Not sure, but I know that they were banned from being able to say they clean a chimney.

I notice when I go to the actual page for CSL, they say they are tested and certified. However, the certification that they are tested for is whether or not they are safe to burn in a fireplace, basically meeting the standard for a man made log. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with cleaning.

Here's the MSDS for the CSL.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/94/94a7aac4-0220-46ad-ac9e-7f16da5ba7f9.pdf

[Kevin Bourque]

You still need to clean the chimney when you use those logs. They just make it a little safer between cleaning.

[Sean Troy]

Not sure, but I know that they were banned from being able to say they clean a chimney.

I notice when I go to the actual page for CSL, they say they are tested and certified. However, the certification that they are tested for is whether or not they are safe to burn in a fireplace, basically meeting the standard for a man made log. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with cleaning.

Here's the MSDS for the CSL.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/94/94a7aac4-0220-46ad-ac9e-7f16da5ba7f9.pdf
I saw one of there commercials yesterday and it said it cleans your chimney so you don't have to. So much for the ban.

[Wade Lippman]

I saw one of there commercials yesterday and it said it cleans your chimney so you don't have to. So much for the ban.

Their website claims that it makes the creosote more brittle so that some flakes off and the rest is easily removed.
Is that what the ad claims?

[David Weaver]

All I can find is old references to a court case that ordered one of the makers to cease any claims about cleaning chimneys.

But there are scads of people who declare that the logs work, and other claims by various marketers that the logs turn creosote to powder and cause it to drop. Does anyone see that?

When we had too much creosote as a kid, it dripped into the fire. These logs didn't exist back then.

Presume that with the newer catalytic stoves, there won't be the kind of build up we had on our non-catalytic airtight stoves back then (and there was a lot of creosote from those stoves because combustion was incomplete and the stack temperature was low. When we removed the the woodstove and made a fire in the fireplace, despite having the chimney cleaned annually, the much higher heat of the fireplace caused the creosote to literally swell the chimney shut and we had a serious problem - one requiring the fire company to come out for several hours).

[Larry Edgerton]

Thanks David.

They probably don't do as advertised, but they do enough. When I put one in the next day I get about 5 gallons of loose creosote out of the cleanout door that was not there the day before. Could be coincidence.........

I burn it hot once a day for about an hour and that keeps it down, wood is two years seasoned. Been burning wood long enough I can tell how my chimney is doing by how it is burning on a given day. Just don't feel like climbing as much as I used to.

Larry

[David Weaver]

Larry, when someone like you says that you get loose creosote, I'm inclined to believe they do work to some extent..if you can repeat that, it's not coincidence, of course.

Like you, we had a brush to do ours, and we hire a guy once every several years. In our case, we didn't ever have the stack temperature to reduce the buildup, though, and between us and the sweep, it wasn't clean enough.

[Dave Lehnert]

Same company that markets the Chia Pet and the Clapper also markets the CSL

[Charles Wiggins]

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/94/94a7aac4-0220-46ad-ac9e-7f16da5ba7f9.pdf

Sound like it's mostly wax, sawdust, fertilizer, and pee.

[Sean Troy]

Their website claims that it makes the creosote more brittle so that some flakes off and the rest is easily removed.
Is that what the ad claims?
No, it said it cleans so you don't have to.

[Larry Edgerton]

Just to clarify I I have a masonry chimney with clay liners. In the interest of keeping the stack temp up next summer I am going to insulate with polyiso. I wanted the chimney in the middle of the house but rather than argue with the building department I have it on an outside wall.

Larry

[Ole Anderson]

I have a fireplace and burn oak almost exclusively, going on 40 years now, about a half cord a year. Never used the cleaning logs and never had a proper chimney cleaning, although finally last year I had my ducts cleaned and they stuck their air hose duct cleaning thingamajig up there. Whenever I look up the chimney (8"x10" tile) all I see is a loose soot, no shiny creosote and never have any drip down into the fireplace. And never a chimney fire (knock on wood). I would think burning pine or using a non-catalytic airtight stove would be a whole other matter.

[Jim Matthews]

I can supply two out of three components.
I wonder if I can "roll my own"?

There's no substitute for a professional sweep.
They're cheap, compared to the cost of a chimney fire,
or monoxide poisoning.