How Do You Repair A Fireplace Damper

Not existence able to open your throat damper makes your fireplace unusable. If you light a burn, smoke volition menses out of the fireplace into the room, if the damper is closed. Information technology's non unusual to discover that the handle that opens and closes the damper is stuck.

(If the damper handle is not stuck , but you just aren't certain how to open or close the damper, click here for directions .)

Put on goggles and a dust mask. Look upwardly inside the fireplace with a flashlight. Look for testify that the damper is jammed by debris, nests, or dead animals that have fallen into the chimney. If you suspect a jam, it'south best to permit a chimney sweep clear information technology. Bird and bat droppings can contain bacteria that are extremely dangerous to humans. A chimney sweep has the equipment to clear the jam safely.

The most likely cause of a stuck fireplace damper is a build-up of rust, soot, and creosote on the hinges of the damper. Soot and creosote can build up from the normal use of the fireplace. Dampers rust when rain comes down the chimney because there is no chimney cap or the chimney cap has deteriorated.

Rusty fireplace damper

The damper will accept pins on each end that drop into grooves in the sides of the fireplace, forming hinges. If the damper is non resting in these grooves, it will non open and close properly. And then you must re-seated it in the grooves. (Y'all can remove most steel plate pharynx dampers by detaching the damper handle and and so lifting the damper out of the grooves.) You lot tin accept a chimney sweep clean the damper area, or y'all tin can do it yourself.

First Repair Steps

Lay 4-mil plastic sheeting on the floor in front of the fireplace and tape some to the sides of the fireplace. Put on quondam clothes or a disposable paper suit, and a chapeau. You lot'll need safety goggles , a dispensable grit mask or respirator and a wire brush .

Offset, brush the damper, giving special attending to the hinges.
If the step higher up doesn't piece of work, you volition need to clean the track that the handle runs in and the bespeak where it is attached to the damper.
If the prior two steps don't cure the stuck damper handle, tap the handle with a sledge hammer after applying WD-40 to the role of the handle that is inside the fireplace.
Once you have the damper opening and closing easily,apply some loftier temperature lubricant to the hinges and you're done.

WD-40 was showtime used to forbid rust on the Atlas missile in the 1950. The WD actually stands for water dispersal. Spray WD-xl on your chimney damper to protect it from rust. Information technology will too keep information technology lubricated and then information technology opens and closes hands.

How to Fix Stuck Fireplace Damper

To begin with, if the handle of the stuck fireplace damper is cleaved , there are replacement damper handles for both fireplace throat dampers and chimney top-sealing dampers.

Vestal Poker Style Damper Handle

If the steel plate in the pharynx damper is as well rusted , you need just a replacement damper plate .

Replacement damper plate or replacement throat damper?

If the whole pharynx damper has rusted through , yous need to replace the pharynx damper (which includes the damper plate.)

Finally, if the damper is missing , supersede it with a superlative damper , then chosen considering it installs at the top of the chimney. A cablevision running down the chimney to the firebox allows you to open and close the damper. Top dampers fit more than tightly than most throat dampers. Therefore, they pay for themselves in free energy savings by keeping heated air within the abode.

Last updated by Susan at October iv, 2022.