First year burning, creosote drip

[benphanna]

Hi guys. This is my first year burning wood. I bought a house in August '14 that I'm heating with a Jensen wood furnace (24A I think, it's from 1982). Getting into the house later in the season didn't give me a whole lot of time to get my wood dried out at all so we've been burning relatively wet wood. It's going well, it's keeping the house warm and we fire it up to higher temperatures on a daily basis to help reduce creosote build-up (our chimney is also internal and insulated). I also make sure to keep the flue/chimney about every 3 - 4 weeks.

The only issue I'm recently seeing is that I've got some creosote that's dripping down the outside of the pipe at the very top of the chimney. The chimney currently doesn't have a cap on it (I recently put one on for a bit but it just wound up causing more tar build up, because the stack isn't at optimal temperatures).

The chimney is a double-wall insulated pipe. I'd like to keep the outside of the pipe relatively clean so I don't have a larger/thicker mess to clean up during the spring/summer. So my question is what would be the best way to get the creosote off the outside of the insulated pipe? Does it make sense to just burn it off with a propane torch (since it'll basically turn to ash once it's cooked)?

 

[JA600L]

There are spray on products I have seen at stove shops for removing tar like creosote. You may also want to feed that thing a creosote catalyst sweeping log once a week to turn that creosote to soot. How high is your chimney?

 

[benphanna]

I'd say chimney is about 18 - 19ft high. I've got the Rutland Creosote removing powder and generally throw some of that in every couple days to help prevent any excessive build up.

 

[Grisu]

Those creosote removal products don't prevent buildup. They transform the hard, glazed creosote in more manageble powdery soot. That soot can then be swept away with a thorough chimney cleaning. However, it does not "disappear" by itself. It is a good thing that you are sweeping your chimney regularly.

 

[FTG-05]

Stop burning as much wet wood. Go buy a pallet or so of those Eco-bricks (or equivalent) from Tractor Supply et al.

Good luck!

 

[NickatBestQuality]

Yep, your problem is simply that "wet" or unseasoned wood is just too full of sap. Bite the bullet and buy some good seasoned firewood and you will never have this problem.
Also - all those "creosote burning" products are complete hogwash.
Call a licensed chimney sweep and have him clean your chimney pipe before you have a fire. He'll clean the drip with the appropriate chemicals, and if that cap is still in existence, please have him install it correctly. (Just sayin'.)

 

[benphanna]

Well the "creosote burning" products are working for me. Been using some every other day until I got the chance last week to go up again and clean it. The inside of the chimney was nice and sooty. Torched the old drip that was on the side and then brushed it off. Burning the same wood and just firing longer when feeding, haven't had anymore tar building around the rim since then.