Glowing stainless T from my Dauntless woodstove.

[ResetGT]

Hi All,

A bit new to burning. I have about 2 seasons under my belt with my new Dauntless stove. I have a full stainless steel liner in my chimney that is about 23-25 feet approx.

I had an incident last year where the T that comes out of the back of my chimney started glowing red, my guess was a small chimney fire from all the build-up over a month of burning non-stop. I get my liner cleaned every season as well. Occasionally after that happened, I let the stove go completely out I will take the bottom cap off the T and clean that out and also take a vacuum and suck out all the creosote from the stove pipe itself that goes into the T.

The wood I am burning is seasoned as it has been stacked under 2 tarps for 2 years and was seasoned when it was delivered and the previous owner of the home had 3-4 cords stacked and ready to go as well. (Still could be damp I guess, but I am a newbie)

ANYWAYS, this happened AGAIN this morning to me and it was crackling so loud and sparks were coming out of the cap on the bottom and it was glowing red hot again. What is the protocol you recommend?

Here is what I did:
Shut damper down completely
Turn air vent off completely
Did not call the fire dept
Moved family out of the room
Watched the temps go down.

The pipe isn't too discolored or anything right now. How do I prevent this from happening? How often should I do a full cleaning? I know every set-up is different but I am hoping some people here have some experience with this. I appreciate any help.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Wow that is some bright glowing.
How is the wood covered by tarps? I ask bc it’s not a good idea to have wood completely covered. Instead just cover the top of the wood and have the sides open to the air.
Have you tested the moisture of the wood?
I would sweep the entire liner more frequently.

 

[ResetGT]

Wow that is some bright glowing.
How is the wood covered by tarps? I ask bc it’s not a good idea to have wood completely covered. Instead just cover the top of the wood and have the sides open to the air.
Have you tested the moisture of the wood?
I would sweep the entire more frequently.

Yeah it was concerning... the top is covered and sides are open to air.

 

[DonTee]

Wow that’s scary. I assume it’s caused by creosote building up in the bottom of the tee there, and then igniting. That’s gotta be exceeding the temp the pipe is rated for. I mean I would think so at least.

 

[mellow]

Take us through your usual burn, I am wondering if you are getting air leaks on that T and having creosote form.

At 20+ft of liner you shouldn't have a draft issue but I would check your cap and see if it is getting clogged. Are you getting smoke rolling out the door during reloads?

 

[ResetGT]

Take us through your usual burn, I am wondering if you are getting air leaks on that T and having creosote form.

At 20+ft of liner you shouldn't have a draft issue but I would check your cap and see if it is getting clogged. Are you getting smoke rolling out the door during reloads?

Hi Mellow! Appreciate you helping me out here.

I start my fires (if they completely go out which is rare) with newspaper/kindling, after it's going pretty good and it has caught, I will drop in some smaller thinner pieces to get the fire up to 450-500 which is hot enough to get the damper closed so I can play with the air vent.

I will keep the fire burning around 4-500 because on paper I consider that "clean burn range"...

When reloading the stove I will drop in nice dry & seasoned wood and close the damper about a minute after that. Some say that is too soon, however, the dilemma I have is, that the pull from my chimney is good and the stove gets way too hot too fast if I don't shut the stove down sooner.

The chimney cap looked good at the season start about a month or so ago. No black smoke or really bad staining. Do you think I need to clean/sweep more often? I can take the bottom cap off the T to clean it out, which is something I do now but I think I should be doing it more.

As for smoke rolling out the door (top loader) only happens if the damper is shut, which I was told is normal since it's taking air from the bottom.

 

[begreen]

Is the liner insulated?
Does the stove have the catalyst installed?

 

[mellow]

As Begreen mentioned, I wonder if you are burning with the cat engaged, check out this thread and see if it helps.

Dauntless Smoke

Hi everyone. I'm trying to figure out if there is a problem with my VC Dauntless stove or if there is a pressure problem outside. I started a fire this afternoon and smoke was pouring out of the sides of the stove. Damper was open, temp control on high. We've also noticed some smoke lately when...

www.hearth.com

 

[ResetGT]

Is the liner insulated?
Does the stove have the catalyst installed?

Non-insulated, goes through an existing masonry chimney. Catalyst is an option but I do not have it.

 

[begreen]

My guess is that the stove's secondary combustion system is not firing all the time (stove gets too hot complaint) which is causing creosote buildup. Then when it does kick in, it is igniting the creosote.

I recommend getting the cat for this stove. The catalyst will allow a more moderate, steady burn and should insure a cleaner output. For proper operation, be sure to get a cat thermometer with the cat. An insulated liner would be safer and it would keep the flue gases hotter which may reduce creosote production.

 

[Highbeam]

Sounds like you're running it relatively cold.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you're running it relatively cold.

Yes, the non-cat version needs to get the afterburner kicked in to burn cleanly. That makes for a hot stove. Otherwise it is a creosote machine.

 

[ResetGT]

Yes, the non-cat version needs to get the afterburner kicked in to burn cleanly. That makes for a hot stove. Otherwise it is a creosote machine.

Makes perfect sense, I hear it sometimes and sometimes I don't when closing the damper. This is super helpful.

 

[ResetGT]

Yes, the non-cat version needs to get the afterburner kicked in to burn cleanly. That makes for a hot stove. Otherwise it is a creosote machine.

I need to definitely take the fire brick off and clean the chamber good.

 

[sargeott]

Here is what it sounds like is happening.
First, Begreen is 100% correct. These stoves need to be ran super hot without the cat. I own one btw.
Anytime the stove temp drops down into the low 400s your getting more smoke output and that equals crosote build up potential. I too recomend getting the catalyst.
It will allow you to run the stove in a larger range of temperatures and reduce the creosote build up. FYI, this will take some getting use to. The stove will run differently. It will also give you extended burn times. Meaning you wont have to run with the primary air as far open, which will give you about 25% longer burn durations for the same load of wood.
Also, people have reported getting a more effective temperature output from the stove ( I have not seen that personally).

In the mean time:
that T is gathering material when your stove temps drop down. Its the lowest part of the chimney and over time that material is gathering in the base. Liquid Creosote drips with gravity.
Its a ticking bomb waiting for an ember to spark it. My suggestion would be to inspect that T-cap every 3 weeks. If you see significant gunk in the bottom every 3 weeks, maybe inspect every other week. Obviously do it when its cold and use an old broom stick and bang on it when the cap is removed. You need to create a base line on how often to clean that section out. This will also tell you a few things.
-You will learn how much wood is creating the issue, how the wood is burning after many cycles and the over health of your chimeny.
-Get a magnetic flu thermometer and stick it on that T.
-Monitor the flu temps during your burn. Without the cat in the stove, that flu will need to be consitantly in the 300 degree range to minimize the build up. The cat drops this temperature need because it burns off those extra gases. If you see the flu temps climb into the 600s+ this will tell you something needs to be adjusted.

 

[ResetGT]

Here is what it sounds like is happening.
First, Begreen is 100% correct. These stoves need to be ran super hot without the cat. I own one btw.
Anytime the stove temp drops down into the low 400s your getting more smoke output and that equals crosote build up potential. I too recomend getting the catalyst.
It will allow you to run the stove in a larger range of temperatures and reduce the creosote build up. FYI, this will take some getting use to. The stove will run differently. It will also give you extended burn times. Meaning you wont have to run with the primary air as far open, which will give you about 25% longer burn durations for the same load of wood.
Also, people have reported getting a more effective temperature output from the stove ( I have not seen that personally).

In the mean time:
that T is gathering material when your stove temps drop down. Its the lowest part of the chimney and over time that material is gathering in the base. Liquid Creosote drips with gravity.
Its a ticking bomb waiting for an ember to spark it. My suggestion would be to inspect that T-cap every 3 weeks. If you see significant gunk in the bottom every 3 weeks, maybe inspect every other week. Obviously do it when its cold and use an old broom stick and bang on it when the cap is removed. You need to create a base line on how often to clean that section out. This will also tell you a few things.
-You will learn how much wood is creating the issue, how the wood is burning after many cycles and the over health of your chimeny.
-Get a magnetic flu thermometer and stick it on that T.
-Monitor the flu temps during your burn. Without the cat in the stove, that flu will need to be consitantly in the 300 degree range to minimize the build up. The cat drops this temperature need because it burns off those extra gases. If you see the flu temps climb into the 600s+ this will tell you something needs to be adjusted.

This is extremely helpful, I am likely going to get the cat for this as other people here and others in my friend group recommended. Here are 2 pictures now that it's cooled off of the internals. I don't see a crazy amount of build up in the reburner.

 

[begreen]

Looks like it may have burned the crud out with the last burn. Tell Santa to get you the cat.

 

[sargeott]

Sort of hard to tell. I would drop that cap off the bottom of the T and inspect that if you can. I see lots of fly ash in the refractory area, which makes sense.
Have you owned this stove since new? I see you have 2 burn seasons with this unit. I can't tell in the photos if you have ceramic spaaling or if that's just fly ash build up.

 

[mellow]

Whenever I hear refractory and downdraft I run as fast as i can! I do like the roaring sound the afterburner makes when it works but it always makes me leary. But hey you got a top loading stove, something to be said for that.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Looks like all the secondary burn air outlets at the bottom of the combuster are covered in ash. These need to be kept open. If these are kept covered maybe there is no secondary combustion happening at all?