Creosote in Firebox and Firetubes and Excessive Ash???

[KenLockett]

Can anybody definitively say whether I have creosote in my firebox and firetubes based upon the photographs below? These photographs are after a rigorous cleaning today with the wire brush provided with the boiler. At this point I have been running the boiler for approximately 6 weeks and have burned a little less than 1 cord of kiln-dried hardwood with moisture content of 10% or less and generally less than 6% measured with a moisture meter. In addition, my flue temps have been consistently 400-600 DegF. I do not have storage so obviously there are idling periods but as far as I can tell never more than 1 hour and generally around 15-30 minutes at a boiler temp setpoint of approximately 180-185 DegF. Also in general draft is 0.005 InWc although when windy outside the draft does spike intermittently to 0.008 InWc. In addition, I have only run the boiler when the outdoor temps are 40 DegF or lower.

Based upon the conditions above I do not understand how I could have creosote in the firetubes if indeed that is what it is. The dimples in the photographs in the tubes are very hard as the wire brush does not take them off. If I pick at them with my fingernail and/or putty knife I can knock them off.

If indeed this is creosote, can anybody offer any advice on how to remove it or is it even worth the effort. I appear to be getting decent heat transfer as evidenced by my flue temps.

One other thing that seems a little off to me is that I seem to get a lot more ash than I expected. I have already removed 15 Gallons of ash and have only burned a little less than 1 cord. Is this typical with the Tarm Solo Plus units?

Any help and advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[heaterman]

10% moisture content is going to want to take right off and burn. HOT. You might find it advantageous to mix a little wood in there that has a higher MC to help slow things down a bit. Your picture does not look like good old tar type creosote. More like the ash left by a burn that is almost too hot. I would bet that the amount of ash would be reduced also and that much ash is an indication of incomplete combustion. Being that dry, your fuel wants to burn faster than the air supply will allow, so you get more combustion by products building up. 15 gallons for 1 face cord is on the high side.

 

[barkeatr]

doesnt look like creasote to me, not at all. the small bumps will probably fall off but I would keep an eye on them. what kind of wood are you burning?

 

[KenLockett]

I am burning kiln-dried mixed hardwood. Moisture meter will not read below 6.0% and generally that is what the meter reads on this kiln-dried wood. Have just a little bit of this kiln-dried batch left and am now burning red oak, cherry, and a little bit of locust at 15-25%. First light-off with this new wood and so far so good.

 

[jebatty]

Based on appearance your smoke box (the pictures are not the firebox) looks very normal and a shows a normal buildup of flyash. I brush and clean the firetubes and the smoke box every 2-4 weeks, normal burn is every other day. Keeping these clean will help increase the efficiency and decrease flue temp. Also, after brushing, if there are any small deposits of creosote they likely will quickly burn off. I also regularly clean the gasification chamber by pulling out the accumulated ash.

 

[KenLockett]

Based on appearance your smoke box (the pictures are not the firebox) looks very normal and a shows a normal buildup of flyash. I brush and clean the firetubes and the smoke box every 2-4 weeks, normal burn is every other day. Keeping these clean will help increase the efficiency and decrease flue temp. Also, after brushing, if there are any small deposits of creosote they likely will quickly burn off. I also regularly clean the gasification chamber by pulling out the accumulated ash.

Jim
Thanks for the clarification. I meant smokebox. I have to been cleaning every two to four weeks. I clean smokebox and tubes as well as scraping out firebox and removing ash from firebox and secondary chamber. As I mentioned getting ton of ash so hoping this wetter wood will help with more complete slower combustion and thus less ash. I feel much better with regard to the perceived creosote buildup. This forum is great for newbies like myself to woodburning. The distributor who sold it to me sure has not been much help as of late.

Ken

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Can anybody definitively say whether I have creosote in my firebox and firetubes based upon the photographs below? These photographs are after a rigorous cleaning today with the wire brush provided with the boiler. At this point I have been running the boiler for approximately 6 weeks and have burned a little less than 1 cord of kiln-dried hardwood with moisture content of 10% or less and generally less than 6% measured with a moisture meter. In addition, my flue temps have been consistently 400-600 DegF. I do not have storage so obviously there are idling periods but as far as I can tell never more than 1 hour and generally around 15-30 minutes at a boiler temp setpoint of approximately 180-185 DegF. Also in general draft is 0.005 InWc although when windy outside the draft does spike intermittently to 0.008 InWc. In addition, I have only run the boiler when the outdoor temps are 40 DegF or lower.

Based upon the conditions above I do not understand how I could have creosote in the firetubes if indeed that is what it is. The dimples in the photographs in the tubes are very hard as the wire brush does not take them off. If I pick at them with my fingernail and/or putty knife I can knock them off.

If indeed this is creosote, can anybody offer any advice on how to remove it or is it even worth the effort. I appear to be getting decent heat transfer as evidenced by my flue temps.

One other thing that seems a little off to me is that I seem to get a lot more ash than I expected. I have already removed 15 Gallons of ash and have only burned a little less than 1 cord. Is this typical with the Tarm Solo Plus units?

Any help and advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

Ken, Is that a typo or is the draft really that low? My Atmos is .100 WC spec. Randy

 

[maple1]

I'm thinking there's one too many 0's to the right of the .

 

[KenLockett]

Your are correct. One too many zeros. According to Tarm:

The chimney draft must be stable and between -0.025†(-0.6 mm) and -0.05†(-1.25 mm) water column.

 

[rkusek]

Those tubes look similar to what I see on my EKO when I clean, you might have a little more flyash which might be due to the kiln dried wood. I would lightly mix what you have left with the 15-25% to get rid of it. I only brush my tubes once or twice a year because I have to remove the turbulators. I'm not sure how clean they keep them though doing the 10 shakes after loading. Ordering a stack temp controller today so I can see if more brushing is necessary. I can usually go a week or two before cleaning the ash pit. I don't think it is necessary to have the tubes spotless. The EKO manual shows a tool for tube cleaning that is basically a circle with a handle welded to the middle. I didn't get this tool but mine was a scratch and dent special. Others here on hearth were making their own using washers, etc. so it may only be something that only came with the non turbulator models which were the early versions. I would think that would knock off those little pieces easy enough and would be easy enough to make.