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Cleaned today - too much ash?

Post in 'The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces' started by osagebow, Jan 28, 2013.

  1. osagebow Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 29, 2012
    740 posts
    Shenandoah Valley, VA
    Took about 3/4 gallon of this out of my 17', 6" SS liner and DW duravent pipe today.

    Have burned About 1&1/2 cords of mostly 8 month - CSS covered single row maple and sass, and 1 and 1/2 year CSS covered single row locust through so far this year. Is this an acceptable result, or am my burning temps too low? Wood never hisses or shows signs of wetness. Only burned half of last winter, and not as much. I should be caught up next year - Have more of the above wood, plus some mulberry, and plenty of oak and hick going on on year 3 for next years menu.

    thanks for the advice.

    [IMG]

    Liner top before - coated with thin, sticky layer, and after brushing, and after -that's the "rescue rope" on my 6" poly brush.

    .[IMG]



    [IMG]


    Lid before, and after scraping a bit. Stuff came off pretty easy, but is it dangerous?


    [IMG]


    [IMG]

    Gratuitous view shots:


    [IMG]

    [IMG]
    osagebow, Jan 28, 2013
    #1

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  2. osagebow Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 29, 2012
    740 posts
    Shenandoah Valley, VA
    EDIT - switched before and after pics of liner :p
    osagebow, Jan 28, 2013
    #2

  3. pen Super Moderator

    joined: Aug 2, 2007
    6,065 posts
    N.E. Penna
    Is that liner insulated? Is it an interior or exterior chimney?

    Regardless, if everything else stays the same, I'd be increasing the cleaning schedule.

    While that is not terrible, that's still not the type of creosote (that's heavier creosote like #2, not the ashy light stuff that's more reasonable) that I like to see in that quantity.

    There's room for improvement, but nothing too scary as is. Good on you for getting up there and getting the job done.

    What temps are you running the unit at?

    pen
    pen, Jan 28, 2013
    #3
    rdust likes this.

  4. rdust Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 9, 2009
    3,338 posts
    Michigan
    x2
    rdust, Jan 28, 2013
    #4
    osagebow likes this.

  5. osagebow Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 29, 2012
    740 posts
    Shenandoah Valley, VA

    Thanks pen -
    Liner is in a sound masonry interior chimney, but not insulated. gonna fix that with bats of f-glass or the slurry they sell.

    I try to run stove top temps run 400-600, but had a faulty rutland saying 600 was "900", and ran it low for about 4 weeks. Kept thinking I was overfiring or close to it, but didn't have the experience not to know. An IR thermo may be in order.

    Gonna give it more air at night also - probably running at 200-300 too much in the wee hours.
    osagebow, Jan 28, 2013
    #5

  6. pen Super Moderator

    joined: Aug 2, 2007
    6,065 posts
    N.E. Penna
    Do the pour down and/or roxul where appropriate. No fiberglass as that stuff isn't meant for liner applications.

    I agree, the rutlands are a crap shoot and for the price of a decent IR anymore, they are indispensable and used for many other things than simply the stove.

    400-600 is a bit on the low side if you are measuring the hottest spot on the top (The IR makes this easier too). For clean burning (even with just 3 pieces of wood in the right arrangement) there's no reason not to see 525 and for full burns, a redline of 750.

    Now that you have your baseline down, it'll be easier to be able to judge the success of any changes you make.

    It's a fun process!

    pen
    pen, Jan 28, 2013
    #6
    osagebow likes this.

  7. ArsenalDon Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 16, 2012
    611 posts
    Meadow Valley, CA
    Great investment for peace of mind
    ArsenalDon, Jan 29, 2013
    #7
    osagebow likes this.

  8. BobUrban Minister of Fire

    joined: Jul 24, 2010
    941 posts
    Central Michigan
    I don't think cool running in the wee hours is much of a concern regarding build up if it was running hot(correct) from the beginning. Fire is going to go out sometime and most, if not all of the bad stuff and moisture has long since been burned up by the coaling stage.
    BobUrban, Jan 29, 2013
    #8
    corey21, pen and osagebow like this.

  9. ArsenalDon Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 16, 2012
    611 posts
    Meadow Valley, CA
    you are correct sir...the coaling stage is a clean burning stage
    ArsenalDon, Jan 29, 2013
    #9
    corey21 and pen like this.

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