Recently I began to notice the smell of burning and smoke in my house. After "consulting" the internet, I realized that the root of the problem was poor cravings. Before moving on to fixing the chimney, I needed to determine the reason why the draft was gone.
Often the secret lies in an improperly assembled chimney (for example, a leaky pipe connection). But it is not always a matter of crooked hands and shortcomings during construction. Other prerequisites include:
- clogging of the channel (clogging provokes soot or debris from the street);
- atmospheric phenomena (high humidity, temperature drop);
- ventilation problems (poor air flow).
The first thing I decided to do was clean the pipe. It should be admitted right away that I did not pay due attention to the condition of the exhaust pipe and its "fouling" with layers of soot seemed to me quite logical. To clean the chimney, I used a proven method - mechanical. As a "helper" I took with me a brush-ruff on a long rope. I carried out the cleaning on the roof, which caused surprised looks from the neighbors.
My acrobatic runs did not lead to a tangible result, and I continued to "dig" further. The next step was to check the gate. Shiber is responsible for several functions:
- covers the pipe to keep warm;
- regulates traction;
- controls the degree of fuel combustion.
If the damper is installed correctly, then it does not dangle, does not get stuck and opens freely. Nothing to do, climbed back to the roof. To my regret, a thorough check of the gate did not give any results - it stands firmly, does not stagger, opens and closes without unnecessary effort.
Desperate, I finally decided to use a hint called "Call a friend". I don’t like to use my friends for practical purposes, but I had no choice. Nikita, a builder with twenty years of experience, kindly agreed to inspect the chimney. Imagine my surprise when the problem was in the trees. The house is indeed surrounded by tall trees, but it would never have occurred to me that this factor mattered.
It turns out that due to the regular gusts of wind over the roof, there are turbulences that impede normal air circulation. To enhance traction, Nikita advised me to buy a deflector. No sooner said than done. Outwardly, it looks like a turbine that is installed on the top of the chimney.
Due to the force of the wind, the deflector pumps up smoke from the pipeline shaft. This design serves three main purposes: protects the pipeline from debris and weather conditions, increases traction, and suppresses flying sparks.
The deflector contributes to the forced discharge when the air flow passes through its tapering channel. At first, the gases end up in a rarefied space in the throat of the chimney, after which they leave the pipe due to the increased traction.
After installing the deflector, the haunting smell of burning left all rooms - hopefully, forever.