Basic Woodstove Maintenance and Inspections

[Woodbee burner]

I am wondering what maintenance I should be performing along with what I should look out for in between visits by the chimney sweep. I took these pictures of my insert while doing a safety inspection (to the best of my abilities).

Should I be sweeping this out or leave it alone for the most part? Also with what? Do the rotating drill kits work well or are you best served to just buy traditional tools? Should I be lubricating something (my air control seems to be draggy at times)?

Last, is this a normal amount of build up for around a cord of mixed wood burning (pine walnut oak almond)? I am new to this and just getting comfortable with the actual burning, but now I am curious about this part of the equation.

 

[pen]

I don't know anything about the Timberwolf insert, so I really can't speak to how to get that air control smoother, but often, some graphite can be used to help things along if you can access where it's binding a bit.

What I'm looking at seems good to me. Your baffle plate and firebrick look nice and white / clean, indicating some good clean burning. Some build-up near the exit is not a big deal, for what I'm seeing here. If you were doing something wrong, I'd expect that your chimney cap would be a mess, and if fitted with a mesh screen, you'd see it getting plugged (as viewed in person or with a set of binoculars or camera with good zoom and good pic) or you'd be getting smoke spillage back into the house from the cap being plugged...... generally, since the top of the chimney is the coldest part of the system, it often has the most accumulation.

So long as you aren't having the stove behaving strangely, and you are burning well seasoned wood, then from what evidence you've shown here, I see nothing to be concerned about. Not sure how easy it is to access your chimney, or take pics of the cap, or even down it if it's easy to get to, then go for it, and perhaps folks here can give you more advice.

In all, keep reading and learning. Good on you for asking and being cognizant.

Have fun and stay warm.

pen

 

[Woodbee burner]

Thanks for the reply, and taking the time to read my post I was going to try to get on my roof to take a look at the cap, but haven't had an opportunity (snow /ice and I hate waking on a slippery roof). Do I need to clean up in there (above the fire box) or do most just leave it be till it is time to clean the chimney? So far all I really do is scoop ash and clean the glass. Is that all there is to it?

PS I just had a really bad day. I have been by myself all night watching the fire and feel very good about life. Very therapeutic for me tonight. Generally I look at it as a heating appliance, but tonight I think I have found additional value for my stove.

 

[BobUrban]

WoodBee - I call fire the "Outback" Television and when the secondaries are rolling it is more therapeutic than ESPN

From what I can see in your pic the stove looks spotless - what's going on inside the flu is undeterminable but Pen has pointed you in the right direction for sure. As far as cleaning tools the dealio that works with a cordless drill is very popular and from what others here have said, very effective as well. I personally use a brush and rods but your system will dictate the tools by set up and ease of access. I have a straight shot through the house so it is simple to clean from the inside. Elbows and 45's make that tougher with traditional rods so the drill tool works best. If you can avoid the roof altogether and clean from the inside I recommend it for safety no matter what tools you choose. With a little research here, some pre-planning and careful execution it can be done w/o much mess at all despite what you think.

I was sure there would be clouds of black soot billowing all over but in truth it is just a few flecks of creo and dust that can be vacuumed up.

 

[xman23]

Thanks for the reply, and taking the time to read my post I was going to try to get on my roof to take a look at the cap, but haven't had an opportunity (snow /ice and I hate waking on a slippery roof). Do I need to clean up in there (above the fire box) or do most just leave it be till it is time to clean the chimney? So far all I really do is scoop ash and clean the glass. Is that all there is to it?

PS I just had a really bad day. I have been by myself all night watching the fire and feel very good about life. Very therapeutic for me tonight. Generally I look at it as a heating appliance, but tonight I think I have found additional value for my stove.

Yes, a good stove with good wood is load wood, and when necessary remove ash. If you burn correctly, never clean the glass except the white haze. Brush the chimney as necessary. Don't overfire, and replaces door gaskets and cracked fire brick when there bad. My stove had two door gaskets in 15 years. That's about it if you have all your ducks in a row.

I'm woke this morning 5:30, to load the stove. Seven outside, 68 in the house. The only heat running in the house. A full load burning now for 15 minutes, hearing the the creak and ping of the expanding stove. The flames are rolling to the front, cleaning the haze off the glass. I could watch it forever. It doesn't get any better. Good for you discovering the therapeutic benefits of wood burning.