HELP !!!! Chimney smokin !!!!

[El Finko]

I'm burning seasoned hardwood in my 30NC since Sept/Oct and last week had an overfire. Not sure how hot it got but the doublewall stove pipe smoked a little bit and the cheapo stovetop thermo was pegged at 800.
Since then I've noticed that, even though I have nice secondaries going same as before, I cannot get rid of all the smoke coming out of the chimney, whereas before I would see nothing but heat rising from the chimney cap. Any ideas?
Baffle boards look same as before. Could I have a pile of creosote that cracked off during the wild temps and fell down into my cleanout tee that is smoldering? Help me...

 

[begreen]

At what stage of the burn are you looking at the chimney. For the first 10-15 minutes after a reload it's not unusual to see a little smoke. Also, is this "smoke" white and rapidly dissipating or is it grey and lingering? White "smoke" is often steam vapors.

 

[El Finko]

hey bg.
No, I have visible smoke for the entire off-gas process. It's not a thick billowing cloud like you'd see from an outdoor boiler, but it's enough to convince me that something is off.

 

[blades]

By whose determination is this wood seasoned? If you answer a firewood dealer you already have you answer, it isn't. Heck I have 3" and 4" rounds cut several years back slice them down the middle still wet inside, enough so that I can feel it, no moisture meter needed. NC 30 needs less than 20% in the middle of a split. so suggest investing in meter.
As to over fire, If there is no visible damage on out side of stove, you could pull the first secondary tube and remove the baffle boards then with a light source inspect the top of the firebox for warpage or cracks.
Every once and a while I get up around the 800 mark, got remember this stove will cruise at 400-600 although I never have had my double wall pipe inside glowing. I have experienced that though with a different stove, not an experience I wish to repeat ( is was living in a mobile home at the time. They do make one heck of a bon-fire but it doesn't last long)

 

[El Finko]

Wood is seasoned- checked with moisture meter.
It never smoked before. I am seeing the smoke now when stove is cruising along anywhere between 500 and 700.
I'm thinking that either smoke is getting past the baffle (which appears to be intact) or the smoke is originating in the flue. Guess I need to inspect the flue, huh?

 

[El Finko]

Half a load of slab wood cruising along at 600 with secondaries burning for 30 minutes now and smoke coming out of the flue. Getting a little frustrated...

 

[begreen]

Make sure the baffle is all the way to the back and not letting flue gases get up behind it. If all is ok, resplit some of the wood and check the moisture on the fresh face of the wood.

 

[laynes69]

Not saying it's impossible, but at those temps I highly doubt it's smoke. This morning it was in the low 20's out. I loaded our furnace at 4:00 am and left at 4:30. When I pulled out, the chimney had a line of water vapor probably 50+ feet long. Bright white and fluffy looking. I knew it wasn't smoke, but one could confuse it. When I arrived at work, all the stacks had the exact same exhausts from their Natural gas boilers. Our chimney is 32' tall, and our flue temps run on the lower side. Because of that we see alot of vapor.

 

[El Finko]

bg- I thought about that too. I've done shoved those baffles from one side to the other and all the way back I don't know how many times. Makes me think that maybe you and laynes are onto something with the steam. I'd just never seen steam like that, it really looks like smoke, and I didn't think it could travel that far from the chimney.
Temps have dropped considerably around here the last couple days- roughly coinciding with this. But so did my first nuclear experience, though, so I jumped to the worst conclusion.
If you guys think that steam stretching ~15 feet from the flue is normal, then I feel better about it. Thanks for the input. I will sleep with both eyes closed tonight.

 

[blades]

You ought to see what looks like on a relatively calm morning at -10F.

 

[Wood Duck]

Around here the weather has finally gotten cold after a long period of rather mild weather. Maybe the change in the appearance of a plume is due to the weather more than due to a physical change in the chimney or stove.