I'm sorry folks but it is that time of year once again

You will soon have to give all your heating systems some TLC (Tender Loving Care)

You need to clean inside the boiler chamber and door. Ensure the damper works freely. Take the pipe off the rear exhaust and clean well remove all old soot and crud. Clean the metal pipe and then clean the stack. If you cannot do this yourself then get someone to do this for you. Many fires occur due to blocked chimney stacks. The better you clean the more efficient your boiler will run.

Even though you will now have completed the task this will have to be repeated at least another twice through the winter, again a clean soot free boiler is a good boiler.

Finally you will need to finish the job off by putting in some sticks of favorit which is soot remover. This has to be done in a working boiler, be careful, it is a harmful product but instructions are in English as well as other languages. It is available at most DIY places.

Happy cleaning.

Tony

Thanks for that tip. Did not know it needed doing more than once a year.

1abroad wrote:

Thanks for that tip. Did not know it needed doing more than once a year.

It's quite funny that this topic came up again today of all days

I went to top up my boiler earlier today only to notice that I had a small fire glowing in the bottom of my chimney stack. I let the boiler go out by starving it of air and once the pipe to the stack had cooled I then went about taking it off and removing the crud that had accrued over the last 3 weeks. It is worth doing at regular intervals maybe once a month as when the crud builds up it becomes like a big piece of charcoal. In the cold weather we all tend to have the burners hotter. Basicaly there are all the right mixes for a fire:- Fuel, Air and Ignition. But again DIY Don't Injure Yourself make sure that everything is cold to touch and when removing the pipe be careful that the sudden in rush of air doesn't ignite the smouldering fuel. Also make sure that you have a fire extinguisher at hand and plenty of cold water. Burns hurt and can leave an everlasting reminder on your body.