Many people don’t realise that stainless steel flexible liners are not a permanent fix, they have a limited lifespan. I need to qualify that statement with the fact that you can now purchase flexible liners that do have a lifetime guarantee (If you follow the terms and conditions) Click HERE for a good example. Most liners installed have a 10-20 year guaranteed lifespan. Many liners we see collapsed are well under these times, here is how you can significantly extend the life of your liner.
Fuel is an obvious factor. Burning the correct fuel (low moisture content wood and no solid mineral fuels mixed with logs for example) at the correct temperature (get a flue thermometer and NEVER slumber your stove overnight) will help considerably.
Regular sweeping (the lifetime guarantee terms state twice every year) is obvious, soot and tar, particularly when exposed to moisture can become corrosive, even to stainless steel.
This brings us nicely to the subject of when to sweep.
Most customers believe you should sweep your chimney every year just before Xmas, i.e. when you are about to start using it. This is a bit like leaving your car dirty all year and then having it valleted just before winter and the salt spreaders sprinkle corrosive salt on the roads; your car is always covered in dirt and corrosive elements apart from one day when you clean it. Common sense states that you clean your stove liner as soon as you have finished using it, probably in the Spring sometime, leaving it clean and free from any corrosive elements for the longest period possible. When you think about it it is fairly obvious.
Give us a call when you have finished using your stove and consider a refurbishment/deep clean service at the same time to bring your stove back to as new.