Cleaned today - too much ash?

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osagebow

Minister of Fire
Jan 29, 2012
1,685
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Took about 3/4 gallon of this out of my 17', 6" SS liner and DW duravent pipe today.

Have burned About 1&1/2 cords of mostly 8 month - CSS covered single row maple and sass, and 1 and 1/2 year CSS covered single row locust through so far this year. Is this an acceptable result, or am my burning temps too low? Wood never hisses or shows signs of wetness. Only burned half of last winter, and not as much. I should be caught up next year - Have more of the above wood, plus some mulberry, and plenty of oak and hick going on on year 3 for next years menu.

thanks for the advice.

[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?


Liner top before - coated with thin, sticky layer, and after brushing, and after -that's the "rescue rope" on my 6" poly brush.

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[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?




[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?



Lid before, and after scraping a bit. Stuff came off pretty easy, but is it dangerous?


[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?



[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?


Gratuitous view shots:


[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?


[Hearth.com] Cleaned today  -  too much ash?
 
EDIT - switched before and after pics of liner :p
 
Is that liner insulated? Is it an interior or exterior chimney?

Regardless, if everything else stays the same, I'd be increasing the cleaning schedule.

While that is not terrible, that's still not the type of creosote (that's heavier creosote like #2, not the ashy light stuff that's more reasonable) that I like to see in that quantity.

There's room for improvement, but nothing too scary as is. Good on you for getting up there and getting the job done.

What temps are you running the unit at?

pen
 
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While that is not terrible, that's still not the type of creosote (that's heavier creosote like #2, not the ashy light stuff that's more reasonable) that I like to see in that quantity.

pen

x2
 
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Is that liner insulated? Is it an interior or exterior chimney?

Regardless, if everything else stays the same, I'd be increasing the cleaning schedule.

While that is not terrible, that's still not the type of creosote (that's heavier creosote like #2, not the ashy light stuff that's more reasonable) that I like to see in that quantity.

There's room for improvement, but nothing too scary as is. Good on you for getting up there and getting the job done.

What temps are you running the unit at?

pen


Thanks pen -
Liner is in a sound masonry interior chimney, but not insulated. gonna fix that with bats of f-glass or the slurry they sell.

I try to run stove top temps run 400-600, but had a faulty rutland saying 600 was "900", and ran it low for about 4 weeks. Kept thinking I was overfiring or close to it, but didn't have the experience not to know. An IR thermo may be in order.

Gonna give it more air at night also - probably running at 200-300 too much in the wee hours.
 
Thanks pen -
Liner is in a sound masonry interior chimney, but not insulated. gonna fix that with bats of f-glass or the slurry they sell.

I try to run stove top temps run 400-600, but had a faulty rutland saying 600 was "900", and ran it low for about 4 weeks. Kept thinking I was overfiring or close to it, but didn't have the experience not to know. An IR thermo may be in order.

Gonna give it more air at night also - probably running at 200-300 too much in the wee hours.

Do the pour down and/or roxul where appropriate. No fiberglass as that stuff isn't meant for liner applications.

I agree, the rutlands are a crap shoot and for the price of a decent IR anymore, they are indispensable and used for many other things than simply the stove.

400-600 is a bit on the low side if you are measuring the hottest spot on the top (The IR makes this easier too). For clean burning (even with just 3 pieces of wood in the right arrangement) there's no reason not to see 525 and for full burns, a redline of 750.

Now that you have your baseline down, it'll be easier to be able to judge the success of any changes you make.

It's a fun process!

pen
 
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I don't think cool running in the wee hours is much of a concern regarding build up if it was running hot(correct) from the beginning. Fire is going to go out sometime and most, if not all of the bad stuff and moisture has long since been burned up by the coaling stage.
 
and most, if not all of the bad stuff and moisture has long since been burned up by the coaling stage.
you are correct sir...the coaling stage is a clean burning stage
 
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