Too much Creosote

Do you have a clean burning EPA compliant stove, or an older conventional one? Wood is thelikely culprate either way. Something I've not tried but people I know have is mixing in with your sub-optimal wood some of those "Bio-Brix", which hearth dealers sell. They're wicked dry, and ya' can buy 'em in small quantities to try . Might help.

Double wall stove pipe will also help keep the pipe warm and in doing so help keep cresosote from condensing out.

Good luck,
Bill

If you have single wall pipe, and it is rather old and used, you might have a leak in the pipe. This would draw colder room air into the pipe and allow the flue gases to condense. Of course you'd think it would happen all the way up the flue, but it is a thought you might want to check.

Welcome DSP! Neighbor too,

Do not trust your supplier to provide properly seasoned fuel. It is the biggest variable. Yes, sure sounds like it has built up in your flue.
Time to clean it. Do not risk a chimney fire. Then to make it though the winter.

Try to plan ahead for wood fuel this spring for next winter, if at all possible.
Good to have you here on Hearth.com!

Keep in touch.

Pagey said:

If you have single wall pipe, and it is rather old and used, you might have a leak in the pipe. This would draw colder room air into the pipe and allow the flue gases to condense. Of course you'd think it would happen all the way up the flue, but it is a thought you might want to check.

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Plus at least one. If your wood is truly seasoned, and nothing else is different, this is a very likely cause. The closer the leak is to the stove, the more pronounced the effect.

Other than that, invest in a moisture meter and confirm that the wood is truly seasoned. Either way, try smaller hotter fires.

Are you taking flue temps, and is there any change in stove temps from past years? I would expect if your wood was wet you would notice differences in burning, above and beyond the creosote. Would be interesting to see how hot the flue is running, not just the stove, to produce that creosote. The fact that it is near to the stove, instead of the cooler end of the pipe, does make it sound like a leak is cooling the flue. Is there anything like a cleanout tee that could be the problem?

What would a leek in the pipe look like. I mean you cant get it all air tight do you seal it with anything?

dsp210, anyone who is buying wood definitely should buy at least one year ahead of time in order to stay away from this sort of thing. To really be sure, having a 2 year supply on hand would be really great. Yes, it means having a wood stack all the time but if it is kept neat it need not be an eye sore. Once people start doing it this way they will never go back to buying the same year as they are burning.

dsp210 said:

I am running flue temps the same as previous years somewhere between 350 and 550 on the pie that is getting creosote buildup. I store all of my wood in the garage

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I hate to say it but storing the wood in the garage may add to the problem. The reason is that if that wood is not seasoned, and most likely it is not when you buy it, the wood needs air, especially wind, in order to evaporate the moisture from the wood. If it were stored outdoors in a windy area and some sun if possible and left there for a year you would find you would burn a lot, a whole lot, less wood and you would have fewer problems with it.

It really matters not how long people have burned wood; I know a few folks who have burned longer than we have, but some folks still do not realize just how much difference there is between properly seasoned wood and marginally seasoned wood. Once you try it, you won't want to go back.

Here is one good case: I recently let someone cut some wood on our place. They are burning it now...right after they cut it. Well, it is dead so that means it will be drier than what they are even used to. Still, I would definitely not burn that wood until next year at the earliest but they will continue to burn that stuff....and have problems. Some folks do not learn nor do not want to learn. I've tried to help this fellow before but he is the type that you can not teach because he knows! After all, he has been burning wood for most of his life!

I have another friend who is close to my age and he also has burned wood all his life. Yet, he will, year after year, burn freshly cut wood. As for me, I'll continue burning wood that has seasoned for two years or more; preferably 3 years or more. Why?

This year we are burning some wood that I cut during the 2008-2009 winter. It was split and stacked in April 2009. It was dead when we cut it. I can compare that to the 6-7 year old wood we've been burning and can also tell you there is a big difference in the burning of both woods; I'll take the 6-7 year old wood any time.

btw, we are burning with our new stove and chimney now into the 4th year. We've cleaned our chimney one time for about a cup of soot; no creosote. The chimney is still extremely clean. Yes, I'll take extra time to dry the wood before burning.

I hope this helps and good luck to you.

You can certainly cover the top of the stacks. We usually do all our splitting in the Spring (April) and do not cover the stacks until just before the snow flies in the winter months. So if you were to get wood now, you certainly could and maybe should cover it. Yet, many long time burners who cut their own wood never cover their wood. Quads, on this forum comes to mind. He cuts and burns all oak and never covers. Yet, in the winter months he does put about a cord to a time on his porch so doesn't have snow to contend with before bringing it indoors.

For covering, my least favorite is tarps. We are blessed with having some old galvanized roofing that we use to cover the wood. Also, we cut poles to lay down under the wood. This raises the wood a few inches off the wet ground and allows air circulation. Here are a couple pictures of some of our wood:





Notice the poles under the wood. I just cut some saplings to use. After using a couple of times we'll cut them into firewood and cut more poles or else just use until they have rotted. Some folks like pallets to stack on but I've never been a fan of pallets. For one thing, when wood is not stacked on them, it can be an eyesore to have the empty pallets stacked around. But it does work for a lot of folks. Some folks even cut up pallets to mix in with marginally seasoned wood and that can work quite well too.

dsp210 said:

I will also try to find a moisture meter.

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Someone here on the forum recommended a moisture meter to me from Northern Tools. I don't have one, but this one was around $10, give or take a buck or two. Haven't actually used one myself.