Chimney question

[laynes69]

We have been burning wood for a while now. Today I came home and wife said the woodfurnace wouldn't get over 350, which is rare. I thought the chimney was plugged, and I found some buildup. When I looked in the cleanout at the base of the chimney, I seen a ball of creasote glowing. I poked at it and found it to be quite a bit. It caught fire, but I smoldered it right away, and I will let it burn out tonight. Well upon inspection, I noticed it appears to be a hole in the liner at the base of the chimney. Is this possible? She hadn't left the ash door open, or done anything to rage the fire. This is odd, I have never seen a fire at the base. What I was wondering is since this area never sees any heat, can I plug that hole with some concrete? Its no more than 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

 

[savageactor7]

Holy cow! this may be the 2nd liner melt down I read about this week. Good thing you caught it, in my unprofessional opinion I would call a sweep stove tech guy get it cleaned out inspected and go from there. Keep us posted with what happened.

 

[laynes69]

There was alot of mortar at the cleanout of the chimney. I think last time I swept the chimney, I may have chipped some mortar off thinking it was creasote, now that I think about it. I didn't have a chimney fire, just some creasote at the base that caught. The rest of the chimney is in very nice shape, including the liner. It needs to burn out, but its still glowing, and its been a few hours now. I'll let it put itself out.