A little fall pre-fire assistance needed

[highanddryinco]

This will be season number three for me and I'm getting ready for my pre-fall clean-up. I did the first year chimney clean with a pro. Last year I did it myself with the Soot-Eater. Both times proved minimal crud in the flue. I lurked here for a while before I started, learned a lot, and always tried to keep a hot stove.

While cleaning up the house for company coming over, I noticed this little ball of very dry crumbly stuff was laying on the stove top. It would certainly appear that it came out between the inner wall and outer wall of my 6" black DVL. It is the consistency of the small bits of burned creosote that I got when I clean ed the chimney previously.

Any real concerns or do you think it was just minor smoke leakage at the joints during start-up that had accumulated and finally fell down?

 

[Highbeam]

Look up to the ceiling. Is there any other source for the grit. Like sheetrock debris from the install? I've never had anything but dust fall onto my stove top.

 

[highanddryinco]

No. Nice clean install up to the support box. It would be tough for anything to get between the inner and outer pipe which I'm 99% certain was the origin of stuff. The photo is a little misleading. The clump ball was on top of a small pile right up against the inner pipe. It got spread around the stove top after I started poking at it.
Your "install" comment makes me think though...I wonder if that's not some of the burned up and crystallized joint sealant from around the stove-to-pipe joint?