falling creosote

[bostock]

heard it this evening, fired up the stove and after maybe 45 minutes or so, at about 500* (stovetop; i do not have flue thermometer), i heard it for maybe 15-20 seconds..just faintly. Is this occassionally to be expected? some numbers: installed everything (including liner) in late november, so burning 10+ weeks. We burn only on weekend, and 2 days during the week - so cumulative say 4 days per week. first 8 weeks i had only oak with 3-4yrs seasoning. Last few weeks, all oak and ash under 2 yrs seasoning (maybe 16 months). I usually cruise at 500-550.

Should i expect to hear this every so often?

 

[Wyld Bill]

I'm no woodstove expert but I'd say yes. When I was burning quality, dry wood the last two years this happened to me. It was great I never had to clean my chimney. Just shoveled the crustys out of the clean out. I could still see the orange of the liner all the way up through. THis year I had some junk wood though & my chimney got plugged with creosote.

 

[wkpoor]

Should i expect to hear this every so often?

Yes, if your chimney needs cleaned. Most generally it occurs from a rapid change in flue gas temp that can occur when you open the stove door or maybe just after closing when temps are fairly hot. I would inspect chimney at nearest convenience. Also tap on the stove pipe and see if it dislodges a bunch.

 

[bostock]

yeah i'll clean it within the next few days....i tap on it almost daily - never heard anything til tonight. (is that the non-flammable stuff that falls, vs. the dangerous stuff that stays in place?)

 

[wkpoor]

Well I can't say it can't be ignited, but I do consider for myself the dry flaking creosote to be pretty harmless. What I think about is if the stove pipe and or lower part of the chimney is flaky then what must the upper part look like since flue gases chill up there.

 

[snowleopard]

I've had this in the past with several stoves I've lived with. I tended to give it more than a gentle tap--I'd give it a good, balanced, two-handed whomp--like a handclap with a stove-pipe in the middle--as so not to dislodge the pipe. I wanted to `shock' the pipe enough to dislodge anything dislodgable. And from some pipes, this was an inevitable--not a what-if?, but rather a how-much? question.

I have whomped away at the one I have, but nothing has come down this one, so it's not inevitable. I haven't been able to slide my telescoping stovepipe up, and I"m not going up on the roof this winter, so will have to wait until spring to satisfy my curiosity about build-up.

 

[weezer4117]

Go outside and see if any of it blew out of the cap, when i hear this, I open the primary air so that it blows out.