Crumbly Stuff Falling Inside My Stovepipe?

[plasmaflux]

Hello All!

I just installed my wood stove around 6 weeks back. It's set up in the main living space of our little log cabin, in a room with vaulted ceilings that go up around 20 feet. The stove is in the center, with the pipe going straight up for around 16' before hitting an elbow for 1 length of pipe, then another elbow shoots it straight back up through the ceiling/roof.

In the past week I've started noticing the sound of flakey/crumbly stuff falling down the pipe whenever I shut the door or otherwise shake the stove a bit.

Is this something I should be concerned about? The stove is fairly small, and is a secondary burn type thing with a big metal plate in between the firebox and the opening for the pipe. In other words, I imagine whatever it is that rattling around in there is piling up on top of that plate. I don't know what it is or if it's just burning off once it settles on top of that plate.

After only 6 weeks of use, I wouldn't imagine I'm having a dangerous creosote problem, but being a totally newbie I have no idea.

Can anyone tell me what the stuff might be, and what action I should take to ensure I don't burn down my house?

Thanks!

 

[quads]

Sounds like burnt creosote. Clean the chimney/pipe and check it out to be sure. If it is creosote, you may have to clean/check it once a month until your wood is seasoned better.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

When new at burning it's always a good idea to check the pipe monthly.

Matt

 

[pen]

A bunch of different information would help here.

1. How seasoned is your wood and what kind of wood are you burning? Is this stuff you have had cut, split and stacked for a year at least?

2. How much wood have you burnt in this period of time?

3. How hot do you burn the stove? Do you use a thermometer on the stove top or 18inches up the stove up? If you don't use a thermometer, do you need to run the air control fully open the whole time or does it burn well when it is only 1/4 open or so?

4. How much smoke do you get from the chimney and for how long after refueling?

A picture is worth 1000 words. Usually a chimney will be dirtiest at the top. How hard is it to take the rain cap off and take a picture of what you've got?

Otherwise, most people say that if the creosote is greyish - brownish -blackish and sooty like, then you should clean when the pipe gets built up to about 1/4 all the way around. The worst type of creosote is stuff that is very smooth and glassy black looking.

How hard is it to clean your chimney? As others have mentioned, if you plan on doing it yourself doing it once a month or so to get an idea of how much creosote you are getting and what "normal" is, will help give you peace of mind. Hate telling you to hire someone to do the job so early into your burning but if that's what it takes to make sure you are safe and helps you sleep after you get their analysis on how things are going, then it is worth it.

Odds run, so long as you are not building a smoldering fire w/ wet wood, you most probably are ok.

pen

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum plasmaflux.


Good post Pen.

I agree that new burners should clean their chimneys monthly.

It does sound to me like there is probably not much to worry about but I'd want to take things apart to be sure. The difficult part is that horizontal section. When you take that apart, double check that horizontal section also to make sure it has some rise and is not level. Recommended is 1/4" rise per foot of horizontal pipe.

Good luck.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hmmm . . . six weeks of burning isn't very long . . . but if the wood isn't as seasoned as it should be and/or you're running the stove at too low of a temp this could be creosote. As mentioned, I would most definitely check and clean the chimney if necessary.