Mid season ss liner cleaning

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etiger2007

Minister of Fire
Feb 8, 2012
1,255
Clio Michigan
So I cleaned the ss liner today because I wanted to see how the new insert was doing with the hell I have put it through the first two months of everyday burning. Being new to this insert and having a much larger firebox than the old stove I have tried many burning techniques and I know I wasnt always generating a clean fire. I last cleaned the liner two months ago. I estimate I got about two cups of powder from the 16-18 ft liner. The wood I have been burning this year was mostly ash between 16-22% moisture. This is an uninsulated exterior chimney. I did expect some creosote because of the burning habits I have been using, now that i have my routine somewhat down and next year the wood will be that much better I should be in better shape.
 

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how do you feel about the quality of wood vs the 2 cups that came out of the SS liner? and how much you figure you'e burned? Im a new burner and only fire occasionally but am waiting for my sooteater to arrive before i fire any more. have run about 7 wheelbarrows thru my defiant.
 
how do you feel about the quality of wood vs the 2 cups that came out of the SS liner? and how much you figure you'e burned? Im a new burner and only fire occasionally but am waiting for my sooteater to arrive before i fire any more. have run about 7 wheelbarrows thru my defiant.

I feel for the quality of wood I'm burning then two cups was expected ( two cups spread throughout the walls of a 16-18ft liner is nothing in my opinion) , most of the ash burned measured in at 22-20% I had some smaller splits that measured in around 15/18%. I plan to shift my wood piles soon so they get more wind and this should help out next years wood supply a great deal. As you can see in the first pic I was along way from being clogged, I could have made it to summer before I cleaned it. I would say I have burned three face cords this year so far maybe a little less. Have you looked down your chimney liner to see how it looks? When I first checked mine today the thought crossed my mind to let it go but I had the brush with me so I just did it.
 
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Just finished my mid season cleaning and got a couple cups of powdery soot from my 34 foot flue. From the looks of the photos you are doing just fine, considering the uninsulated exterior chimney
 
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Looks like your doing good.
 
Mine is exterior/uninsulated and for the first 2 years I was burning quality wood....just wet as hell! That is what mine looked like. This year much better seasoned and the liner looks pretty much the same. I get my flue blazing hot at least once a day. I also took a bunch of roxul that I had, broke into small pieces and filled the chimney.
 
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@ etiger i have not yet... my chimney is kind of wonky - theres nowhere to stand to be able to look down it. its a new install, im thinking of going up there this afternoon and disconnecting the top 6' of pipe so i can access the liner. anyone ever done that in lieu of creating some kind of scaffold to be able to look all the way down?
 
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