ash buildup in flue

[Indiana]

What might cause excessive amounts of ash to be deposited out the flue? My exhaust cap and surrounding area are black with soot and as. Any ideas?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What might cause excessive amounts of ash to be deposited out the flue? My exhaust cap and surrounding area are black with soot and as. Any ideas?

Why do you feel it is excessive?

Poor air flow, too long a vent, too many elbows, too much horizontal run. venting going down instead of up, high ash content pellets.

 

[DexterDay]

If its black, then you have a rich burn and should increase air or decrease feed. A slight brown to grey ash is what your looking for. From the firebox all the way to the cap.

Horizontal sections collect more ash as Smokey stated. The cap is a natural collector because of the varmint/bird gaurd (mesh at the end). Once it starts to accumulate, it builds up quickly.

Is the black on the siding? Got any pics?

 

[Indiana]

I have my cleanout right off the back of the stove. Then a solid 3 foot section, a 90 degree going right into the 1 foot ss section going through the wall thimble. Attached to the 1 foot section is the termination cap. Looks like a dryer vent with the opening pointed down. Black soot is covering the surrounding area.

 

[imacman]

What settings are you running the stove at? Last FULL cleaning was done.....??

 

[Indiana]

1-4-3, and 3-4 on heat. Last good cleaning was a month ago and 25 bags.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If you are running on a t-stat in on/off mode there is a lot of purge mode running going on where the stove tries to clean out under the burn pot, also if you run the stirrer a lot it will stir up a lot of ash this all goes out the venting.

 

[Indiana]

No t-stat mode since December. Just seems odd that so much soot is being deposited. Normal temp of the flue is 145-150 degrees. I just might pall the exhaust blower out again and oil it. Just cleaned it a month ago.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You might want to change that stirrer cycle timing (I believe that is the what the third number is all about on your unit).

 

[imacman]

Try burning with settings of 2-5-1....give the stove some more air to lean out burn. The AOT is supposed to be at 1.

Inside of my pipes is always grey colored.

 

[Indiana]

You might want to change that stirrer cycle timing (I believe that is the what the third number is all about on your unit).

I changed it in January to a 3 because I was having burn pot pellet fill up problems. 3 cleared up my burn pot fill up, but the black soot has been a problem always.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You might want to change that stirrer cycle timing (I believe that is the what the third number is all about on your unit).

I changed it in January to a 3 because I was having burn pot pellet fill up problems. 3 cleared up my burn pot fill up, but the black soot has been a problem always.

How do you clean your stove, what is the pellet you burn the most of, when did you last test your gaskets?

 

[Indiana]

Pulled apart every nut and bolt. Vacuumed every inch. Replaced the gaskets 6 weeks ago. Thought that might be the problem. It wasn't. Been burning AWF and Green Team. Wasn't a problem until January. So that's why replaced the gaskets.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

When was the last time you checked your OAK screen and connection to the stove?

 

[Indiana]

Never. I'll check in the morning.

 

[imacman]

Never. I'll check in the morning.

Easy check w/o going out of the house is to simply take the OAK off the back of the stove and then burn for a while.

 

[Indiana]

Got to the oak on tuesday. The oak screen was completly clogged. Now that it's clean, burning like a champ. Able to go back to 1-3-1. Silly oak.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Glad you are back on the clean side of things again. What was clogging the OAK?

 

[Indiana]

Fine ash and soot on the screen of the OAK.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Sounds like your OAK is too close to your vent if that is the case.