UKH

Mine has warped and I was hoping to get by till the spring without having to replace it but it's now warped in such a way that it's split and pressing against the water jacket so I'm concerned it might pierce it.

I'm aware that the stove wont function as well and more heat will be lost up the chimney but I'm worried that the flue pipe might overheat. The stoves built into the wall so I can't access the flue to monitor the temperature.

I'm off work on Thursday so I can see to it then but it wont come out without knocking the last remaining support off for it and that means redoing the fire cement. Not sure if there are any stove experts about, will it be alright without for a couple of days?

The stove will be very inefficient and you will have to take great care of the heat going up the chimney. When was your chimney last swept, is the fuel you have burnt well seasoned, have you been burning sooty coal, has the stove been running for long spell at low out put. Any of these can result is a sooty/tarry chimney, which without the baffle plate , therefore allowing extra heat up the chimney, there is a risk of a chinney fire. 

You flue should be easily accessible to allow for cleaning and checking and as such should not be a problem as long as you maintain it correctly in accordance with good practice and insurance guidelines. 

Excellent advice above. ^

Thanks for the advice. I've just burned kiln dried wood and composite block this year so everything's been 13% or less. I don't think I've swept it since before Christmas so I might give it a sweep, it's never been a very tarr-y chimney. Not sure what you mean with the flue being accessible, it's more common for them to be free standing but you can still buy stoves that are built into the wall especially boilers as it neatens the pipes, you just sweep from the top down.

I took the baffle plate off so will see how it goes, seems to be burning ok and it's not too cold just now so hopefully a smallish fire and a fresh chimney sweep should be ok until I can get it sorted properly. They don't make the metal supports for it anymore and one has disappeared so I'll have to fabricate something new. I was hoping to do a nice job of it in the summer when I had more time

Thanks for the help

All stoves and fires should be sweepable from the bottom up. Any stove that can only be swept from the top up contravenes the regulations and also means domestic fire insurance is invalid! Bottom access is a requirement for all class one appliances (solid fuel/wood burners.) 

How are you meant to sweep inset stoves like these from the bottom, where the flue is set about 1.5 feet into the wall?

https://www.directstoves.com/charnwood-slx20-inset-multifuel-stove.html?gcl...

They should be made so that access is available. Usually through an outside wall. If they are not on an outside wall, a flue access should be made into the flue above the stove, or an access should be available through the stove.

I would like to say I didn't make the rules, but unfortunately I was on the committee that did make the rules, for safety reasons. I was unpopular with several manufacturers and installers!

A member of the Wells family, who owned Charnwood Stoves was also heavily involved. The Wells family are very nice people and will help you out if you contact them directly via their stove company!

Thanks for the info. Looks like when I replace the stove it will be more work than I'd hoped. I got a quote last year for a replacement stove and after visiting the house to see what I had already they said it would just be a like for like swap provided it was the same dimensions. I just had a quick look through the scottish building regs and what you say is there in section 3.20.13, "Access should be provided for inspection and cleaning of the flue and the appliance".  I expect it's one of those rules that installers don't always follow, my previous two chimney sweeps came equipped for top down sweeping and never mentioned the lack of access. Give me gas central heating anyday!

Can you cut/grind off the offending part to make a bit more clearance between the plate and water jacket? Would perhaps buy you some time, without having to run the risk of a chimney fire.

I've managed to source a new throat plate which should hopefully be here by Friday. I managed to get the old one out without damaging the support so hopefully it'll slip in and see us through the rest of the month without too much work but I've got a tub of fire cement ordered as well so if it needs the support gluing back in so be it.

I did suggest grinding it down but it wasn't greeted with enthusiasm by my other half! It's not too cold just now so I think we'll be ok just letting it tick over for a couple of days and I've got the house to myself for a bit after that so it wont need to be on.

How did you get that gig? Just interested in the story behind getting onto the standards panel. It's the kind of thing that fascinates me...  

On our (Esse) inset stove one just removes the baffle plate, no tools needed, and commence sweeping. 

It's certainly possible to get to the flue from inside the stove but surely that's true of all stoves and I assumed John had meant additional access. Perhaps I misunderstood. I'm a little confused now, the scottish building reg's talk about access for cleaning and inspection of the flue but just re-reading John's post it sounds like the full chimney needs to be sweepable from the bottom. Surely that's dependent on how flexible your poles are or how small segments they come in? You could certainly clean the flue with a hand brush and inspect the inside but there's no access to inspect the outside and you wouldn't be able to sweep the full chimney from the bottom unless there are more flexible or shorter poles available than the ones I have.

I don’t have any problem getting brushes up a SLX45 (and more importantly getting them out again). Take off the front grill and there is plenty of flex in the brush rod to allow them to bend as they are going in.

With A small boy 

As posted above don't run the stove too hot. The throat plate is really a sacrificial part that protects the stove top as well as the flue, and you don't want to crack the stove.

That's the stove I was looking to replace mine with, looks like a nice stove