first time sweep by myself -- how does it look?

[trguitar]

I just swept the chimney this weekend with the Sooteater. I had it professionally done last year, but wanted to try myself this year.

It looks like black coffee grounds, which I think is good. But, there was a little less than 2 gallons of it. That seems like a lot.

Attached is a photo. It is in a 17 quart pail, and is a little less than half full.

 

[Ashful]

2 gallons is a lot, but for a better response, please post your chimney height. A 30 foot pipe will contain more than a 15 foot pipe.

 

[Woody5506]

Yeah seems like a lot. I do mine with a sooteater usually twice a year and get maybe a cup of dark/brownish ash. But my chimney is about 15 ft.

On the plus side, you effectively got all that out instead of paying someone else. The sooteater is pretty easy to use.

 

[Rickb]

Mines 20 foot and I only get about a cup worth once a year. I only burn about 1.5 cords tho.

 

[trguitar]

Chimney is about 20 feet. And I burn 24/7. About 4 cords last year.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Consistency of the build up looks good . The amount is on the high side though. While the pros here will chime in about what could be causing it, you now know how to sweep your chimney. Probably do a mid season cleaning if weather allows. Be careful, the smallest bit of frost can make a roof very slick.

 

[toddnic]

I just swept the chimney this weekend with the Sooteater. I had it professionally done last year, but wanted to try myself this year.

It looks like black coffee grounds, which I think is good. But, there was a little less than 2 gallons of it. That seems like a lot.

Attached is a photo. It is in a 17 quart pail, and is a little less than half full.

trguitar, 2 gallons is definitely a lot for a 20 ft. chimney. I got 7 cups from my 15 ft. chimney this year but with almost half of that from the stove pipe (and I thought that was a lot). I would definitely recommend a mid-season cleaning just to make sure that you are burning safely. Also, what is the moisture content of the wood that you are burning? And, how hot do you normally run your stove?

 

[trguitar]

The wood was all standing dead locust, red maple, and white pine that was cut, split, and stacked for a year. I have never measured the moisture content.

This years wood will be red oak CSS for 3 summers, and more of the above.

Most of the time I load up, and when the stove top temp tops 400, I engage the cat, and let it go for 12 hours or so. That keeps the house plenty warm. I only get it up around 5/600 when it gets below 20 or 15.

 

[mountain man 2]

The wood was all standing dead locust, red maple, and white pine that was cut, split, and stacked for a year. I have never measured the moisture content.

This years wood will be red oak CSS for 3 summers, and more of the above.

Most of the time I load up, and when the stove top temp tops 400, I engage the cat, and let it go for 12 hours or so. That keeps the house plenty warm. I only get it up around 5/600 when it gets below 20 or 15.

Get yourself a descent moisture meter to make sure your wood is 20% or under. I would count on time when it come to well seasoned firewood...

 

[toddnic]

The wood was all standing dead locust, red maple, and white pine that was cut, split, and stacked for a year. I have never measured the moisture content.

This years wood will be red oak CSS for 3 summers, and more of the above.

Most of the time I load up, and when the stove top temp tops 400, I engage the cat, and let it go for 12 hours or so. That keeps the house plenty warm. I only get it up around 5/600 when it gets below 20 or 15.

You definitely need to check the moisture content of your wood! You want to burn wood that is below 20% moisture. You probably were burning wood that you thought was dry but was still wet. Moisture meters are cheap and you can find them on Amazon. Burning wet wood will create more creosote than dry wood.

 

[bholler]

Yes that is quite a bit of buildup. But the type of dirt looks pretty good. There is definatly room for improvement probably with dryer wood but it isnt that bad.

 

[kennyp2339]

Interesting, could be a combination of things, wood that has moisture above 20%, is a big contributor, what type of chimney ? just curious

 

[trguitar]

I do have a moisture meter. Just never use it. The wood always lit up immediately. I never had problems getting very quick ignition, except in March. But then I stopped burning because I could tell that that wood was not ready to burn.

The chimney is internal for about 15 feet. It was installed by the previous owners.

I'll try out the meter on the wood I'm going to use this year, and we'll see where it is.