Chimney Sweeping.

[Pattree]

Very happy with the air flow as it is.

It’s an ordinary open fire place but it pulls smoke and dust from six inches or more in front of the grate opening.

My manometer is home made each time I use one. Still, water is water so I dunno.


Whatever it reads, all I want is that it remains the same or improves after the job is done.

 

[Stew]

Liner brush sizes are made for specific liner diameters, about 1/4-1/2 wider than the liner. So you have probably got the wrong size brush for your size liner.
The other thing that can vary is how stiff the actual bristles are, there is a grading. Stiffer ones are generally only needed if you are not burning properly and consequently getting tarring. If you've got a metal brush - chuck it ! Or will damage just about everything, liners are thin.
Either buy a new brush for your liner (measure it, most are either 6 inch or 5 inch dia) or have a go at trimming it down. It's not something I've tried to do. Suggest you get something the desired size, like a ring or pot/tube, to mark up/check the size as you trim.
Yes, more passes are good, if you pause after each push, and can still hear stuff coming down - keep sweeping. Eventually you hear very little or nowt = clean liner

Super - thanks!

 

[Pattree]

@Falstaff
I defer to your professional advice without reservation but I’m confused.

Has measurement of chimney draw changed in the last thirty years or so.

Esse, of blessed memory, told me that if my chimney didn’t pull an inch of water they wouldn’t install it. That was thirty years ago and a different chimney in the same stack.

I’m in no way contradicting you, just puzzled.

 

[Falstaff]

@Falstaff
I defer to your professional advice without reservation but I’m confused.

Has measurement of chimney draw changed in the last thirty years or so.

Esse, of blessed memory, told me that if my chimney didn’t pull an inch of water they wouldn’t install it. That was thirty years ago and a different chimney in the same stack.

I’m in no way contradicting you, just puzzled.

Interesting, I was using an online calculator, but think there is a confusion as to where the decimal place goes, and can see 2 different sites quoting approx the same number but with the decimal point in a different position.
I fished out my own manometer to check, 1cm = 98.0638 Pascals, but the fireplace industry refers to this as 9.8 pa therefore my 400 pa (actually about 396) could be read as 40Pa but is still very high. A standard fireplace efficiency is about 15-20%, but with that draw you are losing a lot of heat and probably only getting the radiant heat off of it.

The tech has changed but the measurement principles haven't.
Esse's inch is a lot less and comes out at 24.5 Pa - much more likely in an open flue. Most shop-employed installers want an easy life and tend to be very cautious, it would work with less, but might be a bit harder to light when cold. Conversely, it would produce more heat once warm as less air rushes up the chimney.
Sweeping it can only improve matters, unless you knock a brick out and it jams rather than falls - unlikely but sometimes happens, there is only a half-brick between two adjoining flues and the mortar joint gets worn away. You'll soon know if you do, either the smoke comes back into the room or the draw is massively reduced.

 

[Pattree]

Are you trying to scare me The flu was 100 years old last year!
The retired sweep didn’t have any problems and other than a mess I’m not really anticipating any.

The sweep at my childhood home used to put rods up the chimney without a brush and then go outside to see how far above the pot he’d gone. Then he counted the rods and counted them back up with the brush on.

I have no idea why that might have been.

Edited to add:
The chimney breast is about four feet away from the outside walls and well inside the rooms. Heat may well be vanishing up the chimney but the big brick radiator does a wonderful job. My daughters moved their beds so they could sleep against the walls

 

[Falstaff]

Are you trying to scare me The flu was 100 years old last year!
The retired sweep didn’t have any problems and other than a mess I’m not really anticipating any.

The sweep at my childhood home used to put rods up the chimney without a brush and then go outside to see how far above the pot he’d gone. Then he counted the rods and counted them back up with the brush on.

I have no idea why that might have been.

Some times the brush goes up easy and you don't realise you're thru'. It's a way of making sure you go the full length but not too far, otherwise the rods and brush bend over the roof and can get caught on say, the TV ariel (done that), a gutter (done that too) or a nearby tree (nearly).
It also tells you which pot you are coming out of, sometimes (if that brick is missing) it's the wrong one or someone has terminated the chimney below the roof then sold it on. (Have had several like that, one was a real horror story - had to fail the entire building refurb works).
I'm sure it'll be fine, most are, but this is why insurance Co's prefer a pro sweep/certificate - so they have someone to blame/sue!