Problem needs solving

[JCass]

I need the experts to weigh in here. I swept my chimney two days ago. Since then I seem to be having some smoke problems.

Here is what I did. I gently removed my baffle and found that the baffle gasket was destroyed. So, I used some Roxul to fabricate a new one. Fairly easy. Then I went up the roof to sweep. I ran the brush (poly) down the SS flex liner (in an exterior chimney). About 10 feet down I met some resistance. I didn't want to force the brush for fear of damage. So I came back up. I was left with about a 1/2 cup of goodies in the floor of the stove. Cleaned it up and replaced the baffle.

Had some fire since then, and I feel that I am having smoking problems. I get the fire up hot (550-600). Secondaries are firing. Wood is at 10% with the moisture meter. What could possibly be causing the smoke? By the way, I'm fairly certain it's not water vapor, but I could be wrong.

Also, what is with the resistance part way down the chimney? I know there is a slight bend part way down that I had to deal with during installation. Before the sweep the stove ran flawlessly.

JC

 

[Corey]

You say 'smoking problems' - sounds like you mean up the flue, not backing up into the house? Assuming at the flue, is it possible the baffle hasn't sealed completely? That may allow some smoke to get around the secondary combustion zone and leak up the flue - but I wouldn't think it would be so much as to notice.

 

[JCass]

You say 'smoking problems' - sounds like you mean up the flue, not backing up into the house? Assuming at the flue, is it possible the baffle hasn't sealed completely? That may allow some smoke to get around the secondary combustion zone and leak up the flue - but I wouldn't think it would be so much as to notice.

No smoke in the house, just coming out of the top. Sometimes it's worse than others. I guess when my fire is rolling, I don't want any smoke coming out.

 

[webby3650]

Well, how tall is the flue? With no baffle in place, there should be nothing in there to cause any major resistance. So, if you only went down 10', I doubt that was the end of it. If it's just more smoke than normal from the top, it really couldn't have anything to do with the cleaning, or lack there of, either. Are you sure it measures 10%? Did you split it first? It's pretty hard to get firewood down to 10%, unless it's stored inside.

 

[Grisu]

Maybe there is really something in your flue? When you cleaned you dumped some more stuff into the obstacle restricting the chimney even more. I would certainly try to figure out what is there. Have you thought about a bottom-up cleaning? Maybe just with the poles alone to see if you can poke whatever is there out? Or calling a pro?

 

[Hogwildz]

Did you cover the secondary air channel top before sweeping? If not a bunch of that crap went right down the channel and you need to get it out. Get yourself a steel brush and clean the entire liner right down to the insert outlet.

 

[begreen]

Good point! This comes up every year and I missed it completely. Thanks for the reminder Hog. Another way of cleaning it out is with a length of tubing like 3/4" hose taped onto the end of a shopvac nozzle.

 

[BrotherBart]

Dang foreign stoves.

 

[JCass]

Did you cover the secondary air channel top before sweeping? If not a bunch of that crap went right down the channel and you need to get it out. Get yourself a steel brush and clean the entire liner right down to the insert outlet.

Great tip. I most certainly did not cover that opening. Will clean it as soon as the stove cools enough. Also, I think I may have mucked up the insulation on the backside of the baffle. I was cleaning some caked on goodies, and managed to pack the insulation. Could that allow smoke to escape from behind the baffle? If so, can I stuff some Roxul back there to tighten it up?

As I mentioned above, it's not a lot of smoke. But, it's more than I would like with the secondaries cranking. I just might be a proctologists dream in this situation!

 

[Hogwildz]

Not sure why your getting smoke with secondaries burning. I wouldn't worry about roxul, just dust off the existing insulation and fluff it back up some. Should not be causing the smoke either. What & where were the "caked on goodies"?