Burt flakes outside

[chutes]

So, went out today to remove tarps from wood because we have full day of sun. As I'm doing so I see black flakes everywhere which clearly have come from my chimney. This is a brand new install and I hadn't seen it before. I used a lot of paper recently to get fire going and wonder if it is just that (embers going up with flue open and falling to ground) or if I should be concerned that it is something more serious? I have another stove on other side of the house and I could shut this one down and just use the other one, but this one heats house better. It is purring along perfectly right now and I don't see anything coming from chimney. Any thoughts?

Thanks-Dave

 

[Bostontom]

Def burnt paper nice and light and runs right out

 

[chutes]

I have an update. Just reloaded. Open flue as I always do on reload. Went outside while flue was open and more flakes coming out even though I didn't add paper or anything on reload. Close flue and it stops. Is it likely that there is still paper flakes in there. Should I just leave flue open for awhile and let everything out? Or, shut her down?

 

[bholler]

is it soft like burnt paper or crusty?

 

[chutes]

it is like slivers that when i touch them instantly just become a black smudge on my fingers. there's no real substance to them. they disintegrate basically when touched and just leave a smudge.

 

[bholler]

probably just paper you should not use so much paper if you have creosote build up in flue and burning paper goes up there it can light off the stack

 

[brogsie]

Had the same thing last year. I think it is from the newspaper. Have not been using paper and have not had the problem since.

 

[CenterTree]

Burt flakes outside
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Who's Burt Flake? And why is he outside?

Since it is a new install,,,,is it possible that it could be paint flakes from somewhere inside of the stove??

 

[BrotherBart]

What do you mean by opening and closing the flue.

 

[chutes]

haha. oops. not Burt. thanks for the responses. i doubt it is paint as i've fired this thing at full steam for many months now. i did use quite a bit of paper this am because after i did my usual morning start up routine i realized that i had grabbed my kindling from the wrong bin so it was not firing up so kept adding paper. any thoughts on if i should open up flue and clean out the pipes? got a nice fire going and i'm certainly not worried about a runaway this early.

 

[chutes]

Brother Bart - sorry if my terminology is off. This is a stand alone wood stove. Lopi Liberty. It has a damper (i think it's called) that controls flow through the piping running up side of house. open fully on reload. close for burning (per manual). when i opened it last time on reloud, the flakes started coming out again. close it and they stop. hope this helps.

 

[bholler]

what do you mean not worried about a runaway this early?

 

[chutes]

I mean i'm not worried about leaving things fully open. probably good for the pipes to do so once a day anyway. at least my installer and sweeper have both suggested as much to me

 

[bholler]

do you mean the bypass damper or a stack damper?

 

[bholler]

well you should leave it open every time you load it till you get up to temp then shut it down a bit and how is that a runaway?

 

[chutes]

i'm lost on the terminology so forgive me. my liberty has two controls. one that controls the air flow going into the box and one that controls the draft. i'm talking about the one that opens and closes the draft.

 

[chutes]

let's pretend i never used the word runaway because my question is: stove is up to temp already. any thoughts on if i should leave draft fully open to clear out any paper particles in there, or just operate as normal and let them come out little by little on my reloads?

 

[bholler]

I would clean it but you probably don't have to. and the stove wont be up to temp soon after you load a new load if you don't open it up again

 

[chutes]

i do open it on reload. thought i said that, but sorry if i didn't. i wait for it to get up to temp. i close it. while open flakes come out. after closed they don't. thanks again for the help. much appreciated!

 

[bholler]

ok then I don't think it is much of an issue but don't use so much paper in the future

 

[chutes]

will do. thanks again and welcome to the board

 

[lopiliberty]

I'm getting those same black flakes too. When you pick them up they turn to smudge. I looked up the flue today after the stove went cold and the brown powder soot is flaking off plus there is very very small amount of stuff at the top of the flue but that's to be expected with all the cold lately. I do run my flue temps up to 450 or so every reload and when I do it sucks like some kind of industrial sucking machine

 

[ArsenalDon]

Not that unusual....I have that happen often with the soot flakes, yet when I do a cleanout twice a year there is less than a coffee can of gunk and nothing shiny or sticky so I would say do not worry.