Expert: James Ball - 3/23/2011

Question
QUESTION: I have a Preway forced air circulating fireplace and the flu will not open.  I learned that the company has been out of business for many years and have not been able to find anyone who can fix it.  It is located in an added room on a slab and was apparently used to heat the room as the one vent is insufficient.  I have been using an oil space heater which does a good job.  However, I now need to sell my house.  I am a senior on a very limited budget.  What would you suggest I do?  Any suggestions you can provide will be appreciated.

ANSWER: Hello Angela, I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep www.csia.org, (there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have, they should be able to help, might just need some WD-40.
Hope this helps
James


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have talked with several chimney people over the years who were licensed & certified.  The flu is not stuck.  It's the lever.  The last people who came out had it working for a day, then the lever stopped working again.  It moves but doesn't open the flu.

Answer
Angela, how old is this unit, as they have a life of 20-30 years, if it is not working and several sweeps have tried to fix it then you might have to replace the entire system (fireplace and chimney).
They make a top mount damper (Seal Tite, Lymance) with a cable that runs down the inside of the chimney to open and close the damper, I am not sure if they make one that will work on a pre fab chimney but you might be able to contact a manufacturer and find out.
James