update.. p68 making creosote

[titanracer]

Are you people taking about creosote or carbon build up. They are different. I get carbon build up at times in burn pot & on end of auger. Especially with this ton of Somerset I'm trying to get used up. My 2nd ton of somerset, doesn't seem to have anywhere close to the carbon build up as the 1st ton has produced. Creosote is a sticky like tar build up on things. I do get at times, but not very often, on the back wall, inside the burn area, but that seems to happen when it gets extremely hot inside house & it continues to run because I don't have a t-sat. Carbon will just chip off if tapping with something like a screw driver. Creosote stays sticky/tacky to the touch & everything sticks to it.

 

[Honda]

I guess we were talking about carbon and creosote. two separate issues. Yes, i get carbon buildup in my burnpot as well, scrape a couple time/week. there was discussion of carbon causing a squuking in the auger tube from time to time, but wears off after a day or so. the creosote issue is on the back wall of the stove, and is not supposed to happen. mine is not sticky, rather black, hard and shiny, and will scrape off. will also burn away with a hot fire.

 

[mikesj]

What harmanator described is what I have experienced also

 

[titanracer]

I guess we were talking about carbon and creosote. two separate issues. Yes, i get carbon buildup in my burnpot as well, scrape a couple time/week. there was discussion of carbon causing a squuking in the auger tube from time to time, but wears off after a day or so. the creosote issue is on the back wall of the stove, and is not supposed to happen. mine is not sticky, rather black, hard and shiny, and will scrape off. will also burn away with a hot fire.

Scrape carbon from mine everytime I clean it. Sometimes it builds up at end of auger tube & on end of auger & it will sqeak. Sometimes I will get creosote on back wall, but it will burn off usually. I never had to scrape cresote off back wall. I was told the cresote comes from green wood being in the pellets.

 

[Honda]

Interesting about the green wood in the pellets. Too much moisture I'm guessing, that makes sense as well. that would cause a dirty burn as well, which I am experiencing. So many variables. I hate to jump right to the conclusion that it is the pellets, but it could very well be, if there were a few bad pallets of pellets I would be sure to get them. I guess a simple test for me before I go buying a bunch of parts and getting my dealer here would be to try some different pellets for a few days and see if there is any difference. Would be an easy way to check one more thing off the list. I have always been under the assumption that my pellets are good due to past experience, only difference from previous years is that they are a bit shorter.

 

[titanracer]

Yea, just because a certain pellet burns good 1 year, doesn't always mean it's going to burn good the next. I've learned that over the years. Like this year, I bought 2 tons of somerset because with past years experience, they always seemed to burn good, no issues of any kind. The 1st ton I opened & just about thru, had good heat as always but left everything carboned up so bad. I tried a couple bags from 2nd ton, mid stream, with the same settings used from 1st ton, I had NO carbon issues at all. I just had this 1 ton that was worse then the 2nd ton. I will still buy somerset when I can find them though, for the most part, they are a good pellet. One issue, won't keep me away unless it starts to be a big issue, with years to come.

 

[Honda]

Well folks, I'm feeling kind of foolish after all my posts and headscratching. I replaced my flameguide right around christmas. My old one I thought was not that bad, had a little play at the back vertically, but wasn't a bad fit. After I put the new flameguide on, there was immediately alot of flame behind my logset, bluish and dark orange. My immediate thought is that it was going to be worse and something was majorly screwy. Anyhow, after an hour or so, was all cleared up, the creosote buildup I had was gone, and everything seemed to be normal. I would say the flame I had in the back was the creosote burning off. I have since gone back to my original settings I have been running since I have had the stove for 6 winters. Feed rate about 3 1/3, low voltage draft at original position as was set by my dealer. Everything seems to be running smooth, bright flame, low carbon buildup, no creosote. I have been taking my pellets from a different part of my pile, which would have come from a different pallet than when I was having issues. The only other thing I noticed was that my feed dial is a bit loose, I wiggled it a bit and since then the feed seems to be normal. When I was having problems it seemed that it was overfeeding all the time, huge flames and smoke, and no matter where the dial was it seemed to be the same. Also wondering if it could have been my feed dial. But, brings me back to the point that the stove should not overfeed as I was told by my dealer, and by different posts on here.
In any event, the stove is running good now. Still get some whoofing on low flame, and seem to be going through alot of pellets, but they are burning bright and flame is normal. I'm running through 2 bags/day on stove temp #4 and feed 3 - 3 1/3. Seems to me previous years this would = 1 bag to 1.5 bags/day. only other thing is that the ash on the sides of stove and under burnpot is still black not gray, but nowhere near as sooty as before. Could be the pellets, could it also be bad window or door gasket? that is my next project, replacing the window and door gaskets.

Thank you all again for your feedback. This site rocks, there is great comfort knowing that when you are having problems you can not get to the bottom of, all you have to do is come here and someone always is able to help to find a solution!

I hope my problems are solved for this winter! Been over a week of no problems, possibly all due to a $25 flameguide.

 

[Honda]

An update from last year. Replaced ash bin door gasket over the summer. Burn is good, flame is bright, ash on inside of stove is fluffy and gray, whoofing noise is gone. Was an easy job, worst part was scraping all the old gasket glue off. Next project is the firebox door gasket.