I thought I knew what I was doing...

[Swedishchef]

Hey guys

Some of you know that last weekend I cleaned out my chimney with a sooteater. I think I was able to get about 1 gallon of dry fluffy stuff from my stack. My stack is a little over 18 feet tall + the T.

I was disapointed..I thought I would get less. I made a fire this morning and tried things a little different. I let my box temp rise longer and my stack temp rise longer as well before turning down the primary air. I think it made a huge difference. My stack temps never reach more than 500 (unless I leave the bypass open too long) and normally cruise at 400 for the first couple of hours. Today my stove top temp was about 500 before I turned down the primary air and the stack was 500 (I have checked the accuracy of my stove top thermometer before but not my stack).

I took a picture of what I had going about 30 mins after I turned down my primary air. How does it look to you guys??

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Fire looks good but by your description it does sound as if your wood could be a bit drier. As for the soot you got, if it was brown there is no problem. If it is black, that is some concern but it does not sound extreme. Good luck.

 

[Swedishchef]

Unfortunately it was not brown, it was black. However there's no creosote or tar like substance anywhere. The wood I had that was wet was maple that was over 10 inches in diameter and simply never seasoned...my bad. This year I won't be having any of that to burn!

Andrew

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sounds like you are getting a handle on it Andrew. Good luck.

 

[Dustin]

I found the same with my stove, so I stopped shutting it down at 500. I let it climb and then close her down, and get what you show. A nice solid secondary burn with no smoke

 

[Swedishchef]

What kind of stove do you have??

 

[begreen]

That's a spectacular fire shot Andrew. Drier wood is going to be your best bet. If you do a once a day hot fire, plus burn drier wood I think you'll find a much cleaner flue. Clean it in late Dec. to see if this is the cure.

 

[corey21]

Looking good to me.

I have found also to wait a bit to turn the air down it helped me also.

 

[Swedishchef]

Thanks BeGreen. Quality cameras pay for themselves quickly The nice pic is certainly not due to the talent of the photographer I will be cleaning it out in December to see what things are looking like. I think I simply did not let my firebox get hot enough in the past. At what temps should the secondaries start?

Corey: I think the key is to get the entire firebox HOT. Not just the stove top thermo. That is where I believe I went wrong...

 

[corey21]

Thanks BeGreen. Quality cameras pay for themselves quickly The nice pic is certainly not due to the talent of the photographer I will be cleaning it out in December to see what things are looking like. I think I simply did not let my firebox get hot enough in the past. At what temps should the secondaries start?

Corey: I think the key is to get the entire firebox HOT. Not just the stove top thermo. That is where I believe I went wrong...

Your correct these stoves cant burn smoke if it is too cool.