I will apologize up front for no pictures, but after two seasons of burning and with the third season starting soon I decided to sweep the flue.
First step was to remove the baffles from the Osburn. Should have went smoother but the cotter pins were a nightmare to pull out of the secondary burn tubes. Latched on with pliers and had to curly them out using the tube as fulcrum. Only removed the middle and front tubes and the middle tube was tough to slide to the side to remove. Once out I noticed some brazing lumps left on the inside and filed those down and reinstall was easy. I purchase replacement baffle insulation before I started and glad I did because it did rip as the weight was too far back to get off the insulation and had to pull towards me. Upon reinstall I placed the weight where it could easily be removed after the first baffle is out. Baffles were nicked a bit but not bad overall. I did switch their locations and thought of flipping them over to maybe prolong their life if anyone as tried that before?
So now to the purpose of the exercise. Once up the ladder I was surprised how little tar/creosote was on the cap and how little creosote was in the liner. No glassy stuff and just a fine dust with no more towards the top than anywhere else along the length I could see. I purchased the stiff brush for the 6" stainless insulated liner but wish I had purchased the soft as I had to trim all the bristles to ensure it would pass through. Tested the brush first on a cutoff piece of the liner. If I didn't trim the bristles most assuredly would have been stuck as I could not get past the bend in the liner where it snakes past the smoke shelf and had to pull back up. After a good inspection up top I put it all back together.
In the insert there was maybe 1.5 to 2 cups of fine dust/ash from the sweeping. Very pleased as the last two seasons I was burning the best seasoned fuel I had, but not ideal by any means. Currently have two years split stacked and two years bucked on poles in the field drying. I feel safer though after seeing the flue.
First step was to remove the baffles from the Osburn. Should have went smoother but the cotter pins were a nightmare to pull out of the secondary burn tubes. Latched on with pliers and had to curly them out using the tube as fulcrum. Only removed the middle and front tubes and the middle tube was tough to slide to the side to remove. Once out I noticed some brazing lumps left on the inside and filed those down and reinstall was easy. I purchase replacement baffle insulation before I started and glad I did because it did rip as the weight was too far back to get off the insulation and had to pull towards me. Upon reinstall I placed the weight where it could easily be removed after the first baffle is out. Baffles were nicked a bit but not bad overall. I did switch their locations and thought of flipping them over to maybe prolong their life if anyone as tried that before?
So now to the purpose of the exercise. Once up the ladder I was surprised how little tar/creosote was on the cap and how little creosote was in the liner. No glassy stuff and just a fine dust with no more towards the top than anywhere else along the length I could see. I purchased the stiff brush for the 6" stainless insulated liner but wish I had purchased the soft as I had to trim all the bristles to ensure it would pass through. Tested the brush first on a cutoff piece of the liner. If I didn't trim the bristles most assuredly would have been stuck as I could not get past the bend in the liner where it snakes past the smoke shelf and had to pull back up. After a good inspection up top I put it all back together.
In the insert there was maybe 1.5 to 2 cups of fine dust/ash from the sweeping. Very pleased as the last two seasons I was burning the best seasoned fuel I had, but not ideal by any means. Currently have two years split stacked and two years bucked on poles in the field drying. I feel safer though after seeing the flue.