a little confused

Just now with my ir meter, stove top 530 °F and pipe @ 12" 250 °F -pipe straight up and out.

All this talk of magnetic versus probe when the black crunchies is the concern.

stocker said:

...when I was new to running stoves I had a lot of black crunchies on porch and roof (I know why then) but I just noticed for the first time with this stove I had a few also (first time). Flue was swept prior to season and only a quarter cup was there (Jan-april 11) I run my flue no less than 300 on my double wall and stove is run 500-600 not usually any more..glass stays clean, wood is seasoned so what is causing this?

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If they are truly crunchy, it is creosote plain and simple and the problem would be the wood, not the flue temps. Well... flue temps are cyclical by nature so creosote will wax and wane. Hot fires will knock it off (self-cleaning) and straight-up prevents any collecting in a Tee.

I say your wood is not as seasoned as you think but as long as you run hot fires it will continue to self-clean. The fact the glass stays clean is a good sign that the wood isn't too bad. If you have high humidity in the house near the stove, it too could be contributing to the creosote.

Ja, cap designs could vary how the crunchies are produced. Also the use of newspaper as starter is a factor. Think of creosote crunchy production like the making of snowflakes... Snowflakes start with a grain of dust and build from there. The small flakes from burning newspaper form the foundation that crunchies build on and some caps with screens hold them in place like a lattice.

stocker said:

Would using newspaper be the cuprit? That is another thing different from last year. Also the "crunchies" aren't crunchy they are black flakes. They disinigrate when touched.

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If they're flakes that disintegrate when touched, no worries. It's not any kind of creosote you'd have to worry about, and newspaper sounds like a good possible culprit.

I noticed what sounds like the same thing one day a few years ago and freaked out mildly, but I showed them to my expert chimney cleaner when he came a couple days later. He laughed and said it was just something that happens from time to time under certain wind conditions and not to worry about it. He proceeded to clean my chimney and found only a couple cups of powder creosote in it, so he was right. I think some of this stuff can accumulate around the chimney cap, and then stiff gusts of wind at just the right angle can blow it off.

stocker said:

I will hold off on newspaper for a while and see...I just can't believe it didn't dawn on me...since I had this happen about 4 yrs ago..Thanks again. As for the flue temp, its been fine for this long, no smells and not glowing and no flames, I am gonna just watch my fire and judge by that...

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I think you're fine on the black flakes, but the flue temp is a whole different issue. Mine is also double wall, and after reading this thread, I stuck the mag thermometer on it about 12 inches up and didn't get more than about 150, either.

You might want to start a new thread on the flue temp because 300 on a double-wall sure sounds weird to me.

+1 on the black flakes being from burning newspaper. No crunchies, no worries!