A bit paranoid, but...what does a rain cap/spark arrestor look like post Flue Fire?

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Phoenix Hatchling

Phoenix Hatchling

Minister of Fire
Dec 26, 2012
713
New Fairfield, CT
Looking at my flue cap this evening, it looked darker, but not covered in black. There are areas which look somewhat rusty colored, and shiny black on the grating (what I perceive as more than before). Tomorrow I can post a pic, and I'm going up on the roof to take a closer peek, but what are the tell tale signs? There is no soot or ash anywhere on the roof or gutter from what I can see. Pics of your own would be helpful.
 
I thought maybe the couple of pieces of black locust I put in while I was gone was too much for it and fired something off?? I have been burning dry wood and hotly at that.
 
Some days it's a little discolored, others it's shiny. I figure it's shined up by the rain or something.
 
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Requested pic from 9pm:

black-windows_54293.jpg
 
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Phoenix Hatchling said:
Looking at my flue cap this evening, it looked darker, but not covered in black. There are areas which look somewhat rusty colored, and shiny black on the grating (what I perceive as more than before). Tomorrow I can post a pic, and I'm going up on the roof to take a closer peek, but what are the tell tale signs? There is no soot or ash anywhere on the roof or gutter from what I can see. Pics of your own would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Are you wondering if you had a chimney fire without knowing it?

I don't know what a chimney cap looks like after a chimney fire because I've never had one, and it's much harder to do with a modern stove than an old one. But mine also has coloring like you describe, and I've never had a creosote problem despite sometimes having to burn less than perfectly seasoned wood, and having gone through a lot of crappy low-temp fires my first year while I was learning the ropes.

I'd suggest cleaning the chimney, or getting it cleaned, just to reassure yourself.
 
Its black cause its a pic of his chimney at 9pmm
 
Ok, sorry about the joke if it was inappropriate. There's not much of a photo that can be taken at night. I'll drag the camera out and take a pic tomorrow morning.

Matt
 
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image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg Looking at it in the daylight, it seems all is probably well. I would imagine if there had been an issue, there would be warpage or burnout of the screen. Still need to look down the hole though.
 
Here's mine. On the West side it's fairly clean. One the East side it's dark. Go figure...

East side:


West side:


There's the good the bad and the ugly. NC 30 burning 3-4 year old mixed hardwoods. 25 ft external chimney with 5.5" insulated liner. The top 2 feet or so of the liner have extra kaowool stuffed around it. The T at the bottom of the liner has Roxul stuffed around it. I used to have a temp gauge on the stove but it's been pirated off for something else and I haven't replaced it yet so I might be burning a bit cold. I start turning down the primary air when the secondaries start going.

I didn't cut the overhanging bracket off because I figured it might shield the joint from rain and keep the caulk in good shape longer.

Matt
 
EatenByLimestone said:
Here's mine. On the West side it's fairly clean. One the East side it's dark. Go figure...

East side:


West side:


There's the good the bad and the ugly. NC 30 burning 3-4 year old mixed hardwoods. 25 ft external chimney with 5.5" insulated liner. The top 2 feet or so of the liner have extra kaowool stuffed around it. The T at the bottom of the liner has Roxul stuffed around it. I used to have a temp gauge on the stove but it's been pirated off for something else and I haven't replaced it yet so I might be burning a bit cold. I start turning down the primary air when the secondaries start going.

I didn't cut the overhanging bracket off because I figured it might shield the joint from rain and keep the caulk in good shape longer.

Matt
Click to expand...

I see yours also has the bluing (rainbow) effect on the steel. It was my impression that this came from the steel being super heated, which I don't think would normally occur at the top of the flue?? I have nothing stuffed around either end. No T, just a straight shot up from the top of stove.
 
Here's a pic of it burning. I don't think the camera can pick out the steam.

I took the above pics on a cold stove before reload. I reloaded it and left the door cracked. Loaded the pics to photobucket and then posted them. Remembered the stove was just loaded and went downstairs to a cranking fire. Here's what the chimney looks like when the stove is giving me the warm metal smell.

 
I have that rainbow effect also and some shinny stuff. I went up there and the rainbow stuff just wipes off so i guess its not from extreme heat like we would think!
 
Here's what I found... Everything was flakey, shiny and flakes right off. This is the top of a 20 foot flue liner.
image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
 

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Looks pretty normal for early in the season. How much wood has gone by that flue since the last cleaning?

If you want to keep the build up down, let the first fire of the day get the flue hotter for about 30 minutes.
 
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Cleaner than mine has been in six years.

Burn on.
 
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begreen said:
Looks pretty normal for early in the season. How much wood has gone by that flue since the last cleaning?

If you want to keep the build up down, let the first fire of the day get the flue hotter for about 30 minutes.
Click to expand...
I would say roughly 2 cords since last. So is it safe to say there is no sign of any damage/fire in the flue?
 
Looks clean enough that I would not think a fire is possible.
 
Heres mine with an arial view from the bucket! Lol just threw in some splits hence the smoke! I know hard to see but its cool up in the air!

image.jpg
 
I agree with rick B there is nothing to burn there!
 
You can have that stove melting into a puddle and the temp of the pipe up top will probably be around 250-300 degrees. Max. I know. Years ago I climbed up there with the IR thermo with the stove at full gallop. Don't believe it, your ladder is in the garage. >>

The reason I think pipe thermos are useless. They don't tell you what the temp is ten feet past the thermo.
 
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begreen said:
Looks pretty normal for early in the season. How much wood has gone by that flue since the last cleaning?

If you want to keep the build up down, let the first fire of the day get the flue hotter for about 30 minutes.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I let my first fire of the day (when it doesn't just burn all day) rip hot as sin for a full hour before I add more fuel and choke it down. I have a lot of chimney exposed on the outside so it's good practice for me.
 
RockyMtnHigh said:
Agreed, I let my first fire of the day (when it doesn't just burn all day) rip hot as sin for a full hour before I add more fuel and choke it down. I have a lot of chimney exposed on the outside so it's good practice for me.
Click to expand...

And this accomplishes exactly what?
 
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