Did my mid season cleanout

[rudysmallfry]

I'm very surprised. I've had some very bad smoldering crappy burns this year due to some funky wood. I took advantage of the 50 degree January day and cleaned it all out. As usual, my class A chimney was squeaky clean even at the very top, but the single wall pipe had a good 1/2 coffee can of black crud in it. Biggest chunks I've seen yet. I will definitely be upgrading to double wall next season. I've had the same results over and over. For reasons I will never figure out, that single wall pipe is a magnet for buildup.

 

[Nick Mystic]

It might be your fire is not hot enough. I have an old Woodstock Classic in the lower level of our house and it connects to an 11"x8" clay tile flue using two 90 degree elbows and about three feet of single wall pipe into a thimble. I burn the stove between 400 F and 600 F measured on the top center. The cat always fires off nice and my single wall pipe is staying very clean.