It's been a little over a month since we've started using the Drolet HT2000. So during today's mild weather I decided to inspect the chimney. This is what I found
Thoughts??
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It's been a little over a month since we've started using the Drolet HT2000. So during today's mild weather I decided to inspect the chimney. This is what I found
Thoughts??
Nick Mystic
Minister of Fire
If your flue was clean before you started burning you've got some problems to deal with. What is the size of your clay tiles and what size flue does the stove specify? What temperature do you burn your stove at? Is that an inside chimney or outside? It's pretty hard to remove that glazed creosote so you don't want to get it built up any more than what you already have. Tell us more about your set up and we can give more specific advice.
Nick, a family member cleaned the chimney using a brush and poles. He said there wasn't much that came out. The tiles are 6"X6" and the chimney is a total height of about 20'. Most of the wood I'm using came from a reputable saw mill that stated that it was seasoned wood but didn't state how long it had been seasoned. I purchased a moisture meter and found that most of the wood is below 20% while there are a few pieces here and there that are in the 25% range. In colder weather I burn full loads and try and keep the stove top temps around 500f. This usually gives me a pipe temp of around 230f. I am running single wall pipe and am checking it 18" above the stove top with a Fluke IR gun. I have run the stove top temps a little above 700f and got a pipe temp of around 340f. I'm afraid to burn stove top temps higher than this but realize I need to get the pipe temp. up to the 400f range. It appears my pipe temps are running about half of my stove top temps. During the cooler days I'm loading two or three smaller splits and keeping stove top temps around 400f. I reload, get the fire hot, decrease damper till flames get lazy, wait a bit then repeat the damper decrease. I make sure the flames and secondaries are going good.
I realize my problems are a combination of things. New to me stove, wood thats not perfectly seasoned yet, some milder days when a "hot" fire isn't needed. I'm learning as we go.. Thanks to this forum I've picked up alot of useful information. As for the creosote, I picked up some Rutlands Dry Creosote Remover and am ordering some of the ACS spray to use later in the week when low temps drop back into the 20's. I'll use these creosote removers and monitor the buildup closely.
I realize my problems are a combination of things. New to me stove, wood thats not perfectly seasoned yet, some milder days when a "hot" fire isn't needed. I'm learning as we go.. Thanks to this forum I've picked up alot of useful information. As for the creosote, I picked up some Rutlands Dry Creosote Remover and am ordering some of the ACS spray to use later in the week when low temps drop back into the 20's. I'll use these creosote removers and monitor the buildup closely.
I've used Rutlands before and it will help quite a bit. My chimney was a lot worse and it's not a replacement for a good wire brushing. With that and dryer wood I think you'll be fine. Try adding pallet wood since their mostly free if you ask or 2x4's if you have them until your wood is seasoned better. The first year with a new stove always sucks until you learn how it burns the best.
Nick Mystic
Minister of Fire
Slacker,
If you are burning as you described my guess is most of that glazed creosote must have been inside your flue before you started burning. You mentioned a friend brushing the chimney and not much came out. That's not surprising because the type of glaze in your photo would not come off with just a regular sweep. That stuff is tough to remove and when I had some in one of my flues I had to use a chisel with a sharp edge to scrape it off. Good luck with the plan you outlined. I agree with you that you shouldn't shoot for 700F stove top temperatures. If you are burning 20% moisture wood at 500F I doubt you will be building up creosote like what you already have in the flue.
If you are burning as you described my guess is most of that glazed creosote must have been inside your flue before you started burning. You mentioned a friend brushing the chimney and not much came out. That's not surprising because the type of glaze in your photo would not come off with just a regular sweep. That stuff is tough to remove and when I had some in one of my flues I had to use a chisel with a sharp edge to scrape it off. Good luck with the plan you outlined. I agree with you that you shouldn't shoot for 700F stove top temperatures. If you are burning 20% moisture wood at 500F I doubt you will be building up creosote like what you already have in the flue.
It's time to resurrect this post. Here are the Picts I took before clearing the same chimney last week. I used anticreasoot to get these results.
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