Help with creosote evaluation on new liner.

Checked my chimney today and here is what I found. I installed my liner in Dec. of '11 and it hasn't been cleaned yet. I checked at the beginning of the season and it looked good. So this is over a years worth of buildup. This is at the very top and gets progressively less the further down it goes. The shiney part at the top is where I tapped the outside and it fell off so it isn't sticking very much. My only experience with chimney cleaning was this chimney with my old dragon and a slammer install. Lots of the shiney creosote with that one. I don't have any brushes yet but need to get some soon. I think this is pretty good for over a year of 24/7 burning but wanted wanted some more experienced eyes to evaluate it.

For the top that is great, all fluffy ashy looking creosote, I would keep burning and clean in in the spring/fall.

Top is always the worst looking. That is where it is the coolest. Wouldn't hurt a thing to run a brush down that, but wouldn't hurt a thing to wait 'till the end of the season either. I wish I had a picture(s) of some of the flue blockages I saw in Europe while I was stationed over there. I think there are about 4 people in the whole Army that know how to run a stove. But every GP medium comes with one..

I am of the mind that anyone who checks their pipe in the first place, is pretty sure to be the type of person who NEVER has a flue fire.

A few have also reported their worst build-up where the stovepipe meets the liner, presumably due to fresh air entering (and locally cooling) at that junction.

Looks good.

Thanks for the feedback and confirmation. I'm running this without insulation but jammed about 2' of Roxul up from the bottom and about 3' down from the top. Because of what I have learned here I'm burning only truly seasoned wood and burning hot complete cycles.

You're doing better than I am...

Your putting many others to shame. Well done.

Lookin' good! I would get a poly brush, then hit it at the end of the season.

Damn, I hope my liner looks that clean when I get it installed... Currently it's slammer style and I've got a nice thin layer of the glaze stuff I'm working at getting off with a brush and chemicals. (ACS powder in chimney with the liquid in the stove) I just picked up a sooteater but haven't had a chance to try it out yet, I'm not expecting it to do much for my current setup, but it will be my main cleaning method when the liner shows up, hopefully within the next week or so.

Sure looks like your burn habits are based well! And you can sleep easy when the stove is raging hot and you're slipping into bed, priceless.

Better than me... I would finish off the season then clean.

Anyone have any recommendations on where to get an 8" poly brush and a set of rods?

I bought my 8 inch poly brush at Sales Service. The rods at Lowes. By the way your liner looks fine.

You're doing fine.

Brushes and rods are seasonal by me. Maybe over the net?

Your flue looks pretty darned good to me, that is almost textbook as to how it should look after a season of burning.

I bought both of my brushes and all of my rods off of ebay for a great price. Shop around, you may have a local shop that will have an even better price......

Always figure the shipping with the item when pricing on the 'net. Sometimes people try to rape you on shipping when you buy on ebay...

Just ordered rods and a brush. 20' of rods and an 8" brush for $42 including shipping. Gotta love Amazon.
Rods here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQWW6S/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Brush here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FKBZH2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is going to be SOOOO much easier than trying to clean the terra cotta tiles of the shiny sticky creosote with a steel brush. Used a rope and a weight with that setup and it took a lot of scrubbing up and down to break it loose.