by blogediter | Jul 10, 2019 | Chimney Problems
Q: Jason, I have a top style damper with a wire that comes down into the fireplace to pull tight. When I install a chimney pillow, should I open the top damper? I know doing this will allow the pillow to seal better at the location where the wire comes down, but I don’t know if it is ok to leave the top damper open. I have a terrible smell that I am trying to seal off and hope the pillow will help solve this. Also, I have an ash pit opening on the bottom of the fireplace – should I seal this with a pillow as well? – MF
Q: Hi MF,
HI Mike,
Your application is exactly like an application I walked through for a customer in Rockford, IL and we got it resolved quite easily. I attached some pictures of the Rockford install for your reference.
The trouble you are running into is the top damper is bottling up the chimney at the top, so when the cold air conducts through the chimney bricks the cooler creosote-laced air in the chimney has no place to go but come down into the house. Often the negative pressure in the house that the HVAC introduces, coupled with the open portal between floors through the ash cleanout, will amplify the smell problem.
So here is how we fix it…. Install a Chimney Balloon just above your old low metal damper frame (top left photo). For now, install it with the Chimney Balloon top damper open so the cable is slack. This will allow your chimney to vent the smell out the top, but not let the smell in the house. For the ash cleanout, take the cover off the chute for the cleanout and measure the hole going down (bottom left photo). Most of the time it will be smaller than a 9×9, so you can just install a 9×9 upside down into that chute. This effectively stops the air exchange through the Chimney Balloon and the ash cleanout. After a few months, you can close the top damper after it has time to air out.
One side note though. Make sure your Chimney Balloon top has a built-in screen over it to keep squirrels and birds out? – Jason
by blogediter | Aug 31, 2017 | Fireplaces
#50: I Have a Chimney Top Damper with a Cable Coming Down. How do I Plug the Flue?
50-1 Chimney Top Damper Cable Coming Thru Old Damper Frame
50-2 Chimney Top Damper Cable Entering the Firebox
50-3 Lymance Brand Top Seal Damper on Chimney Top
50-4 Damper Cable Decending Flue Tile and Smoke Shelf
50-6 Damper Cable Descending into Firebox
Fireplace #50: Chimney Top Damper with Cable Down the Flue
These retrofitted chimney top dampers come in a variety of styles and brands. They are currently a very popular solution for replacing traditional throat dampers. These are their characteristics of top-sealing dampers:
- They have a long cable or chain that descends from the damper apparatus at the chimney crown (image 50-3) to the firebox (image 50-6).
- The chimney cable locks into a bracket mounted on the side of the firebox. (image 50-6)
- If there was a lower traditional throat damper in this fireplace, it was removed or cut out to allow the cable to come down (image 50-1).
- These top-sealing dampers can be used in round flue liners, or in square flue tile (image 50-4)
The nice thing about these chimney top dampers is they are easy to open and close, and they are suitable replacements for aged and rotted throat dampers that are hard to get parts for or rebuild. The downside to these top-dampers is they tend to trap in chimney odor and can sometimes feel drafty even when they seal tightly. Bottling a chimney at the top is problematic in many ways.
The Flueblocker is the durable solution
For this application, go with a Flueblocker. Here is a video on how the Flueblocker works.
- Take a quick measurement of the narrow opening just above your firebox (Image 50-1). Often this will be the old metal damper frame of an old throat damper
- Buy a Flueblocker that a little large than the hole. It pressure fits, so it doesn’t hurt to have a little extra material. Just don’t buy one that is too small.
- The Flueblocker is a wool pad with extra hems, so you can trim it to size with sharp scissors.
- You can cut a small slit in the edge of the wool pad for the top-damper cable to come down through. That way you can keep the top damper closed ,and have the Flueblocker installed.