Creosote on outside of pipes

[VanBurn]

Hey guys, I'm new to wood burning so please be patient. We moved into our home recently and it has a Timberline single door wood burner in it. Just had the chimney swept and inspected and we were told the pipes were all set and in good condition. He swept it from the roof and didn't spend much time inside the house, but now I'm starting to think our pipe coming from the stove was not installed properly. Not sure if that's something he could have seen from scoping down from the roof, but who am I to say.

We had a fire in it all day yesterday with no problems. Today however when I came home from doing some running around my girlfriend said she noticed some liquid dripping out of the pipes so she stopped using the stove and let it burn out. I took some pictures to hopefully get some insight as to what I've got going on here. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[jatoxico]

Typically the pipes are oriented to keep the creosote in the pipes so they may be backwards in the house anyway. The big concern is the liquid creosote is called glaze and is very difficult to remove and dangerous if it lights off. You need to employ practices that will stop that from forming in the first place. It comes from wet (unseasoned) wood and from cutting the air too much.

That appears to be an old box stove (non-epa). As such it will tolerate wet wood more than a newer stove but the wood still should be cut split and stacked off the ground in an airy location for a year. When you burn maintain a brisk bright fire.

Thermometers for the stove top and the chimney are cheap and very helpful for reference as you run the stove. A stove top around 500-600 or so at peak is pretty good. If you need less heat then make a smaller but still brisk fire.

 

[begreen]

The piping appears to be upside down. The crimped male end should be on top pointing toward the stove. The female end should be point toward the chimney.

That is a lot of creosote for one fire. It makes me wonder about how well seasoned the wood is and whether the fire is being turned down too quickly. I would get a thermometer for the stove pipe and watch the temp there. Keep it hot enough to avoid creosote build up.

 

[bholler]

The piping appears to be upside down. The crimped female end should be on top pointing toward the stove. The male end should be point toward the chimney.

The crimped male end should point away from the chimney and toward the stove. I am sure that was a mistake i know you know the right way but had to correct it for him

 

[begreen]

Ha ha, thx.. Now corrected. I need sex counseling or less wine.

 

[VanBurn]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to remove it when I get home and try to clean it out before I put it back on. Would it be worth using some sort of creosote removal log or powder? Or with only having 2 fires in the stove so far will my future fires kept at a better temperature get rid of the problem for me?

 

[jatoxico]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to remove it when I get home and try to clean it out before I put it back on. Would it be worth using some sort of creosote removal log or powder? Or with only having 2 fires in the stove so far will my future fires kept at a better temperature get rid of the problem for me?

I guess ideally you should get a new inspection maybe by a different guy since the last one didn't pick up on your problem. Considering you just paid I could understand not wanting to do that.

To self evaluate pull the pipes as you planned and see what you got. Get on the roof or use binoculars to look carefully at the cap. The cap is the coolest part of the system and prone to clogging. If the amount of creosote is minimal go ahead and burn. With better technique you will be OK. I was using Creo-Soot spray that was left in the house when I bought it and it did work to convert any creo into a fluffy ash but I had no liquid or glaze. Hopefully one of the pros will chime in with their take.

 

[zig]

My .02, find another sweep. He didn't catch something as simple as backwards stovepipe, what else didn't he catch/do?