MY creosote concerns, and overnight burn temps with pics

It's hard to get a perspective on the creosote thickness from the pics. The first one looks 1/2" thick, but I can see the seam of the pipe so maybe it's an illusion.

Its hard to keep the glass clean on the oakwood, but at least the lower part shouldn't be getting covered.
Are you burning a good hot fire to clean it, before shutting it down?
Where are you keeping your air control over night?
And what's your outside air temp at night? Remember that 40 might not be cold enough to get a good draft. And that you'll have to run the stove hotter/with more air to compensate.
Also I agree it's hard to make out how much cresote we are talking about here.

I burned for 2 @ weeks in 30-40 deg. temps.
The horizontal pipe had some light brown "cornflakes" and the chimney just had some light brown "dust" on it.

If the temp is going to be above 50 during the day I let it go out in the morning, or at the very least I open the damper and turn the air to down 1/3. Its just not going to draw well enough to get a good burn. I'd rather restart it at 5 and burn good and hot for an hour than smolder all day. Unfortunatly I go through more wood this way since it'll take 5 or 6 pieces to get back up to temp in the afternoon. But I think its worth it. I'll go 24/7 when the day time temp stays under 45 or 50.
At night the air is usually mid way or higher. The only times I've tryed it under that with the damper closed the stove sooted up bad.

Really I don't think your burning the stove hot enough. Wait for colder weather, it'll come and in the mean time put in less wood. When I talk about filling my stove with the exception of Jan-Feb I'm only talking 3 or maybe 4 chunks of wood.

I moved the thermometer to the stove top lately and it'll run 300ish by morning, maybe lower with small wood loads.

Me thinks you have air infiltrating the pipe at that junction!

Possibly wood on the too moist side.

A 300 degree temp a couple feet up the pipe should be more than hot enough to keep creosote at bay. Try to measure the temp on the pipe. IF a magnetic thermometer won't work, they make ones with a spring type band that wraps around the pipe.

Ya know, after looking at those pics some more it seems to me the pipe could be installed incorrectly. It does not make sense to me, that there is a lip on the inside of the pipe that it appears the double wall sits on. Look at how the creosote is peeling away at the lip. To me, the lip is obstructing your draft. Probably swirling smoke around,creating creosote, instead of it being expelled quickly out the top. Draft is also important to prevent creosote. Boils down to the temp and velocity of the draft up the pipe. Sure seems like the problem is localized to this spot. Almost like installed upside down. Male couplings should face up, female down if I remember correctly(well this seems to be system manufacturer dependent). Inside of pipe should be smooth and unobstructed all the way up. No lips, bumps, ridges.

I keep a thermometer on my pipe about the same spot you have creosote. Even a low burn will keep it at 300 up there in my Napoleon.

I would see about the same amount of creosote in my open fireplace(clay tile flue) after 1.5 cord of burnt wood.


I wouldn't burn anymore until resolved.

On my TL-300, if it drops down to 350 stovetop with a load of wood it would normally indicate the ab stalled and I need to crank her back up. After an 8 hour burn when everything if charcoal then 350 and below is fine.
I would try to burn smaller quick fires just to take the chill out.

On the warmer days I'll do a fairly small fire in my Oakwood with the bypass open just to take the chill off. At night I get a good coal bed and my stove top is 600+ with little or no primary air. When I shut the bypass, again with little or no primary air except a 10-minute boost to get the load charred, the stove likes to cruise at 450-500. I only see temps below 400 much later when I'm back down to coals.
My temps are a bit high I believe, but I have been burning mostly fairly small, and very dry, branch wood and hardwood pallet scrap. I'm guessing you are burning larger/moister stuff and getting lower temps and more smoke. Next time you get a really chilly day, try a daytime burn just as you would an overnight burn and then keep a close eye on your smoke output. By doing this I found there were certain times that I expected no smoke but was getting lots, and vica versa.
I love my Oakwood, but don't expect I'll perfect my use of it until the end of my first season. Until I know all the ins and outs I'm just gonna try to burn dry and burn hot.

Brider you wood sounds seasoned to me if the stove will get too hot.

400 is better than 300 but I don't think you'd have that problem at 450-500. When you in and about the house just throw 1 log in at at a time and burn hotter. When you lock down for the night or an away mission then load up the stove. Get everything burning good for about 10-20 minutes then try shutting down the primary air half way for longer burn times. Maybe you can shut it down 3/4 or more with experience.

By burning hotter 1 or 2 logs at a time you'll always have abundant hot coals to supercharge the burning operation for longer/cleaner burns imo. Maybe by burning hotter that creosote will clear up it did in my old non EPA stove...it doesn't hurt to try ...but if it don't and it continues to build up.. yeah you're going to have to attend to it on a mild day for peace of mind and safety's sake.

For the most part it seems that the problems I'm having with my Oakwood seem to be common. Glass becoming dark needing to keep the air at about half way to maintain a stove-top temp of 350-425. Can you hear your AB when the temp goes below 400? I think I may also have a draft issue?

PS3696 said:

For the most part it seems that the problems I'm having with my Oakwood seem to be common. Glass becoming dark needing to keep the air at about half way to maintain a stove-top temp of 350-425. Can you hear your AB when the temp goes below 400? I think I may also have a draft issue?

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From what it sounds like is that you have a stall.
Your temps should stay above 400 on low once you get it working properly.

Until it's good and cold out it may be hard to say for sure if you have a real draft problem. I do know my Oakwood likes to be good and hot for the AB to cruise smoothly, and it only falls below 400 if the fire is down to coals.
Sometimes the house gets warmer than I need with the warmer outdoor temps. So if it's a shorter, smaller fire, then the damper stays open and yes, my glass soots up. I find the only time my glass cleans up is with a really good fire and the air opened halfway or more. If I open the air to full with a deep coal bed the glass will go from mostly black to nearly clear in about 15 seconds - it's amazing!

Is it damaging to the stove (TL-300) to run that by-pass damper open for a long period of time and the air controls in the middle?

ksburner said:

Is it damaging to the stove (TL-300) to run that by-pass damper open for a long period of time and the air controls in the middle?

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It would depend on what your stove temp is.
With the damper open the stove can get pretty hot. what temps are you running?
If you haven't gotten it yet, get yourself a wood stove thermeter.
Maybe even 2, one for stove top one for your pipe.
I wouldn't run the stove over 650 for extended periods of time.
My normal operating temp is between 400-550 when AB is engaged.