Recent poor performance with Jotul C550

Tried it how you suggested , worked fine. Only wish my drill spun a little faster. Going to run it up again tomorrow. Any feelings on the soot I posted? Crunchy and dry but not powdery.

Less than a cup of creosote I'd say is great! My old stove puts out several times that in just the first 2 or 3 foot section! Even mixing in some not well seasoned stuff my 550 with ~23' duraliner has always burned pretty darn clean.

The baffles lock together such that if its not right it should be obvious (big gap or not level, etc). No other changes in how your loading and running the stove? I have no other suggestions. With good dry BL mine takes off like a rocket, no problems(except for keeping it under 750!) as long as I am loading it on a really hot bed of coals. Any issues with poor performance I have had has been using other less than ideal wood.

Thanks for the reply and vote of confidence. Wasn't too worried about the amount of creosote but a little worried about what type it is. Read as much as could find on the forum and it seems what I got was pretty common.

Most was found a few feet up I guess where it starts to cool off. Not sure if any was residual from the last cleanining. Now that I can sweep myself I will be to tell.

I've only cleaned my flue/chimney once and got about the same amount and type you got, so I don't feel qualified to comment. I've assumed it was all good and have continued burning with no problems.

Looks like what I get out of mine. Would not be concerned about that.

Agreed, looks like you are burning pretty clean. fyi, my stove seems to be running much hotter/better today. Have you started burning again yet? Draft should be pretty good today, cold out there!

Just got everything back together. Had to go and pick up another extension kit so I could get to the cap. Got another cup of the same stuff. Once I measured (yes I'm a dork) totalled about 2+ cups.from 26' of 6" chimney. More than I would have liked but should be decently clean now.

Makes sense that you got more toward the end of cleaning. As I understand it, the cooler your chimney gets (that is, the further up you go), the more creosote is deposited on the inside. Which means the last few feet is the most important. (My chimney is only 18', which may be why I only got a cup or so).

Thanks Dan. Running now and temps came up better and it's burning pretty nice. This is the first time I personally have done a sweep. I'm going to keep notes on the date etc from now on and maybe down the line I'll be able to tell if the cleaning is the reason it's running better or if it was more weather related.

I'm back baby! I took this pic of a medium load and I notice that on the lower hinge side of the door there is some blackening outside the gasket. Too much? Do I need to tighten?

It is not your imagination but its not always the case. I think a N/S split way laying on the brick the last burn. Just about to search dollar bill test to see how tight is good enough when I saw your post. Freaky .