I finally got around to inspecting the baffle and cleaning the top part of my firebox. After 2 seasons, here is what I discovered. I also wanted to pull the baffle so I could clean the bottom 3 feet of my liner (interesting bend). First, I had to remove the burn tubes. After that, I had to pull the front baffle support plate. Following this, I had to slide out the top 3 front fire brick. After this, I was able to pull the baffle plate forward and get my hands on the bypass damper assembly and additional firebrick. I can't tell you how many times I had to run to the sink to wash my hands and or turn the shop vac on to clean as I worked. In terms of creosote, I thought what I found was not too much and was "soot" like. Through out this process, I noticed that the baffle plate has a slight "belly" in it and one of the firebrick that sits atop the baffle is cracked in half. I will be contacting Travis industries about this.
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110225-c8e3ef9d32154061f43f70764e6a1dc6.jpg?hash=wljRrcwkRV)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110219-c4812f501173d695df2c6c6d0ba8a78e.jpg?hash=2dbsoE3x0H)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110220-56b0b2325b8a150298de1c7a22afcf0d.jpg?hash=Pnl63Ithgz)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110221-2d30e986117fbeabcbf7bffee214314e.jpg?hash=k7HGGeR9Z0)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110222-fc84a6fd744ab0125ff7980ef84611c0.jpg?hash=XGGjnySngg)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110223-3d7a15d56c29ffd8a23d9bfe647b1333.jpg?hash=QWU-JGz_PH)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110224-45d90b86c8ebda66a60a21cda127d328.jpg?hash=9QQLdupMhX)
![[Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics) [Hearth.com] Baffle Cleaning (Pics)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/110/110225-c8e3ef9d32154061f43f70764e6a1dc6.jpg?hash=wljRrcwkRV)